A POEM ABOUT OUR WORK
There is a Gate
When you need to eat on Yom Kippur,
or eat chametz on Pesach
When you need to use a device on Shabbat
that isn't part of your community's typical practice,
there is a gate that you must pass through.
The gate could be your health professional.
It could be your rabbi.
It could be first your health professional and then your rabbi.
It could be your own learning,
your own evaluating,
your own decision.
There are many ways to get to the gate,
and there are many ways to pass through it, but once you do…
You will eat on Yom Kippur
or eat chametz on Pesach
You will use your device on Shabbat,
or, if needed, you will do all three.
And you might feel completely fine.
Or, you might discover emptiness.
Pain
Isolation
Suffering.
When you walk through the gate,
you might feel profound loneliness.
You might encounter questioning and shaming.
You might even feel so awful
that you try to return to the other side.
But, consider staying.
Because this time when you pass through the gate
into the emptiness,
into the pain,
I will meet you there.
I will meet you at the gate.
I will reach out my hand.
We will walk in together.
We will walk into the A Mitzvah to Eat community
on this side of the gate,
Joining people from around the world
Greeting you with
Prayers
Resources
Support
Presence
We will meet you at the gate.
We are here.
You are not alone.
We are here.