The Stories We Tell Ourselves

We tell many stories throughout the Jewish holiday cycle. Narratives of our ancestors’ journeys, their accomplishments, and their challenges; historical victories and  devastations – these and more are retold.

Living and telling our story is a central component of Passover. We gather with family, friends, and community for a meal in which we tell (and eat) our meta-story of redemption. We add personal and family stories to the printed haggadah (the seder book itself is called a “telling”) and thus we add meaning and layers.  (Remember the year that we opened the door for Elijah and a stray animal came in the house? Remember the year you were for allowed to drink wine instead of grape juice and how you felt? Remember when…..)

Telling our stories – communal, familial, and personal – is powerful. The weight and impact may magnify for difficult stories. Stories can push us to confront our weaknesses, to address pain, to acknowledge what we need to grieve. Telling may challenge us.

It is when telling challenges us that possibilities are especially potent. Framing a painful family moment differently may bring new understanding. Telling what others need to hear (but don’t want to hear) may bring relief. (Thus is only possible if the environment is safe.)

As we prepare our homes and hearts for Passover, think about what stories you want to tell, which ones you need to tell, and which ones you need to hear.

18 thoughts on “The Stories We Tell Ourselves

  1. axxx,epitelous…to change pou toso lauratoxsame…ti omorfo einai na vlepeis tis proseuxes na pianoun topo…ola auta ta tears…kai pleon no fears…kai psifiste malakears…KI AN UPARXEI ‘ANTHROPOS’ POU PERIMENEI APO POLITIKOUS MERES EUMARIAS KAI EIRINIS,E NAI RE FILARAKI,EISAI GIA GAZES…meshuggener

  2. I recently cast-off this locality to lay ones hands on repiping service and I couldn’t be happier with the results. The search was straightforward and I appreciated the ornate profiles and customer reviews instead of each contractor. It мейд comparing options and reading nearly other clients experiences easy. The contractors I contacted were willing licensed and offered competitive quotes. This locality is a alien resource in behalf of anyone needing reliable haven form services. Enthusiastically recommended payment its understandable interface and trait listings

Leave a Reply to Generationuap Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published.

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.