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October 26, 2001/Cheshvan 9, 5762, Vol. 54, No. 7
Learning how to healA special portrait
In addition, few bodies have been recovered, delaying burial or memorial services. The Jewish tradition has a step-by-step healing process, starting with shiva, the emotion-filled week after the burial of a loved one. This is followed by shloshim, the 30-day mourning period for a parent, child or sibling. Ideally, after this block of time, mourners have achieved a sense of closure from the shock, anger, frustration or pain. However, psychologically, one of the most difficult stages of mourning follows shloshim. After one month, many emotions remain unresolved. In addition, there are fewer phone calls and visits from friends and loved ones. Those who have suffered a loss can feel all the more isolated and alienated. The Sept. 11 disaster has only magnified unresolved emotions - anger, frustration, depression - and has prevented mourners from cultivating hope and healing. However, the tragedy has opened the possibility for contemporary ways of coping, in addition to a bridging of the divide between Diaspora and Israeli Jews. First in this special portrait is an article revealing how Israeli trauma counselors are helping the New York Jewish community by tapping into the Zionist state's painful experience of struggling with terrorist attacks. A second article reveals how the attacks transported a witness of Kristallnacht back to those hours of shattering pain and loss and how the continued threat of terrorist violence could dredge up memories Holocaust survivors thought were long-buried. The last article presents scenes from New York worship services marking shloshim. |
