Transcription:
I’m always puzzled when one has an identity of a Jew and yet seems to, in a way, put aside the knowledge of what it means to be a Jew. I’m puzzled by it because identity is so heavy. It carries on so much. Then why wouldn’t a person want to explore this in some way? And at times, funeral and the loss is the first step in growing that wisdom. I think if we got anything right, I think we got this right. The modesty of burial, the Shiva of seven days of being apart from the world, trying to heal, to deal, to be comforted, to be loved, 30 days that continue, and then 11 months of saying Kaddish, if you can, in the presence of the community, it’s huge. People form very deep relationships with others who’ve lost. People learn meditation, prayers that can help them, and it is a discipline that also makes you get up in the morning, even if you don’t want to.