Subject: SHIRI
From: Unicorn (unicorn@indenial.com)
Date: Sun Jun 23 2002 - 10:10:52 EDT
SHIRI (my song)
Tuesday , June 18th , 6:00 PM,
We arrived at 'Har Hamenoohot' (Mountain of Rest) cemetery our hearts
heavy with grief.. "Shiri", our thoughts screamed..
Nestled in the majestic hills of Jerusalem, we saw neat rows of
rectangular headstones stretching endlessly below. They looked like a
miniature city made of stone. In the not too far distance , stood, a group
of apartment buildings, made of Jerusalem stone of the same whitish,
grayish hue as the headstones ..For a moment it looked as if the
headstones were a mirrored reflection of those tall buildings.. An eerie
city of the dead below, reflecting the city of the living above.
For the last day we kept hearing warnings of a suicide bomber that had
entered the city. Jerusalem was on high alert leaving each of us to deal
with our feelings of dread and apprehension. "Whose time was up now?" we
wondered. "Keep safe" we told each other as we went about our daily lives.
In the morning, when I learned that the bus of death, had started out from
the Gilo neighborhood of Jerusalem, the first thought that came into my
mind was "Shiri".. I calmed myself reasoning, that it was highly unlikely
that the one person I knew from Gilo would be on that bus..what were the
odds? As I watched the terrible carnage I grew restless and I had to call
my daughter Sarah..Shiri's friend. There was no answer. Around noon, the
second I heard Sarah's choked voice on the phone, I cried out "
NO , not Shiri, please tell me it isn't Shiri!!" We both sobbed , our
piercing pain and disbelief mounting.
Shiri :
The first thing you noticed every time you met Shiri was her long, thick,
blond braid reaching her calves, that adorned her beautiful, lively face.
Her disarming smile, her kind and intelligent eyes and her delicate, lovely
frame belayed her inner strength .Over a year ago , after serving in the
army as a teacher who prepared soldiers for their Bagrut (H.S.matriculation
exams, ) she told her family and friends that she was going on a trip to
South America for a year on her own. The reaction was one of misgiving. How
would such an innocent girl fair in the big wide world on her own? Who will
watch over her?
Though she had shown maturity, responsibility and caring, beyond her
years, she was still Shiri the beautiful girl with the longest hair, who
looked like a teen rather than someone age twenty... She proved these
concerns misplaced. She visited far flung places, drinking in the
culture, lovingly connecting with those around her. ..She sent home
exciting, insightful, emails , keeping people breathless for more ,
signing them "Shiri, world traveller.. "
When the year was up, realizing how Shiri was blossoming , her mother told
her there was no rush in coming back home to Gilo. After all times were
stressful and a little more enjoyment, couldn't hurt.
She could stay longer if she wished, but Shiri missed home. She returned
right before Passover and fell right into shouldering the pre- Passover
chores without skipping a beat. She reunited with her friends, tended the
garden, painted her room and planned to go to dental school, all with the
enthusiasm, joy and love that so characterized her.
Sarah, my daughter met her several weeks ago and was so happy to reconnect
with her. Just this past shabbat , as we sat at home talking, Sarah talked
about Shiri with such warmth. "Of all the girls from our H.S., , there's no
one as special as Shiri" she said. "Her goodness , her caring, her
intelligence and her sense of humor is unmatched, I'm so lucky to be her
friend." I totally agreed.. They planned to meet again this week and Sarah
was looking forward to it .
I'm told that Shiri once playfully contemplated her slight 'obsession'
about her refusal to cut her hair since birth. It was a curious anomaly in
this day and age. She wondered what this meant about herself , and what
it may symbolize, if anything.
Some years back, when she visited a concentration camp in Poland with her
H.S. class , one of the exhibits had a display of human hair. One of the
girls, pointed to a long blond, thick braid, JUST LIKE Shiri's. They
always thought of her as the girl with the longest hair...yet here she met
her match, and there were yet others that came close..
A strange thought struck Shiri then. Perhaps her obsession was somehow
connected to the terrible tragedy that befell her people and family in the
holocaust? Maybe in some crazy symbolic way, she was connecting with those
innocent girls with the long braids, whose young lives were cut down so
brutally during the most tragic time of our people? Who knows...
Yesterday hundreds of weeping people followed Shiri,' world
traveller', on her last journey to her eternal resting place in the
Jerusalem hills..We stood there unable to say goodbye. "We cast our eyes to
the mountains, from where will our salvation come?" we prayed.
We asked how this could have happened to one so pure and young..the same
question she had asked when she visited Poland. "Please G-d, we wept,
help us find a way to make these murderous suicide bombers who are filled
with such hate-- STOP.. "How much more can we take?" we cried as we slowly
made our way back down the hill.
Strangely, somehow, we felt Shiri's presence with us. We were slowly
filled with renewed strength and hope and as we hugged each other for
comfort, we knew more than ever, that "Am Yisrael Chai", - the people of
Israel live..
Tova L.
Jerusalem, Israel
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