Mourning one of our own...

I have to admit, I had really hoped we would never have this day - when we would mourn the loss of one of our own. I know this is VERY difficult and scary time for many you in the ROH community. We are absolutely devastated to have lost a wonderful friend and beloved member of our group. Baruch Dayan HaEmet, blessed is  the ultimate judge. In Judaism, we say these words upon learning of a death. They are, in fact, often THE hardest words to stay at exactly that time - at the time you most want to CURSE God. I have always taken this as Judaism way of reminding us, even in our lowest moment, that while this point is low, all of life is not that low and we will, eventually, be reminded that despite the bad, the sad, the evil, or unbelievable -there is going to be good again. Right now, we sit in mourning, but I want all of my ROH teens to know that now matter HOW bad they feel right now, there is always hope that they will feel better, be in a better place, and that they are ALREADY loved by their ROH community. If you need to talk, of course, I will also have my cell phone on and ready to receive your call (message/email me any time to get my number). But you can also always call the Trevor Project. The Trevor Project is the leading national organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) young people ages 13-24.

If you’re thinking about suicide, you deserve immediate help - please call the Trevor Lifeline at 866-488-7386.

With sadness and in mourning,
Rabbi Sarah