Entering the Panama Canal.
About a year and a half ago, I took a cruise through the Panama Canal. I was the rabbi on the ship and my job was to offer Sabbath services while we were on board, and to orchestrate and lead a Passover Seder. We went through the Canal on the day leading up to the First Seder.
For me, going through the Canal was a dream come through. Like Passover, it was a journey in “real time” and it was also a process of transition and growth.
I chose this photograph as the first photograph for this temporary home for my new blog because looking at it reminds me that growth, change and healing is often a process of passage through narrow straits like the Panama Canal. The Hebrew word “Mitzrayim,” which is often translated as “Egypt” actually means “the narrow place.” The Israelites escaped from Mitzrayim – the narrow place – so that they could be born as a new people consecrated to the Eternal. A baby must pass through a very narrow passage to come into full life.
Bringing this new blog to life is very much such a journey for me. I look forward to the new life that I am passing into.
Rabbi Jo David 