Galut (Exile)

What I encounter is a matter of life and death. Not death as an end, but as non-life, a state of dormancy. The potential for life is unexpressed. It is curled up, head lying lifeless between its knees. Complete in formation, but inactive and unthinking...

This was the Purim miracle. Where there had been the disorder of sleep and exile, where evil was able to domineer the good, there was now order. The Jews could overcome their enemies...

How can I fathom G‑d's pain, when He is the cause of our remaining in this bitter exile? Should I feel sorry for someone who in the process of hurting or punishing others gets hurt himself?

With their extremely detailed brains, people with ADD are often plagued by an unattainable pursuit of perfection, which in turn, prevents them from completing almost-finished tasks, in a vicious cycle of running off to the next thing and then the next…

As I gaze at them, I wonder about their perceptions of their home: Do our fish realize that this twenty gallon tank is just a tiny miniature replica of their authentic home, in some faraway lake or sea?

Physical darkness obscures and dims our vision, significantly handicapping one of our more sensitive senses. Nighttime can be frightening and misleading. Harmless objects appear menacing and take on lifelike properties . . .

I am constricted, I am uncomfortable, I am in pain. I am in exile from my body, my emotions and my true state of being. I am anxious and annoyed and annoying. I am actually experiencing galut for the first time

If past experiences are correct, these feelings will accompany me for a number of months. Nine, in total, to be precise...

I have come so far. I have not enjoyed the suffering, or the unrest, yet I have accepted that it will come to an end, a glorious end that will create a beautiful new beginning.

Exile is not just a physical displacement from our land; it is a spiritual displacement.