Hannah and Matthew Cole
Personal Prayer, Rosh HaShanah 2015
H: This summer, we had the opportunity to visit Israel for the second time to celebrate Matthew’s Bar mitzvah. While we were there, we saw many amazing things, but the best part was meeting our many uncles, aunts, and cousins who live in the Tel Aviv area.
M: It was an amazing experience to meet these people we didn’t know and immediately feel a connection. We were overjoyed to see each other, and even though we live in different countries and spoke different languages, we were still able to express our love for each other.
H: One touching example of this was seeing our youngest cousins, who hadn’t learned any English yet in school. Although we shared very few words in common, we soon discovered that we can still laugh, hug, and play with plastic dinosaurs regardless of the language barrier. As it turns out, dinosaur roaring is kind of a universal language.
M: Our trip to Israel also allowed us to learn more about where we came from. Our uncle Jack had a collection of photos from when he, my grandmother, and all of their eight siblings were our age living in Baghdad, Iraq. It showed us a glimpse of the life they lived and gave us a deeper understanding of family relationships. Even though they grew up in a different time and a different part of the world, the siblings still shared fun times and adventures just like my sister and I do today.
H: This experience was really special for us and was representative of the strong bond a family creates: a bond much stronger than distance. We shall never forget the special moments that we experienced in Israel, meeting some family members we had never even heard of, and reuniting parts of our family we thought we had lost.
M: YehiRatzonmilfanecha… May it be your will that we can stay connected to our roots, and learn more about ourselves from those who came before us
May it be your will that one day our cousins in Israel can live in a peaceful country, and we will see our family in Israel many more times, and share more fun experiences with them
H: May it be your will that we can stay close to our families even if it seems difficult
May it be your will that we can find connections with those who are different from us regardless of language or background.