There is a scene in The House of Sand and Fog where, in the ER waiting room, Ben Kingsley falls to his knees in prayer for the first time in years. It comes to me often, this fleeting image of the unimaginable--what would cause me to remember every prayer of my childhood, to kneel, to plead...

שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל, יְהֹוָה אֱלהֵינוּ, יְהֹוָה אֶחָד

During that longest night, our friends and loved ones--awake, frantic, terrified of retaliation--passed through one dreadful tunnel and emerged in the eternal sea of grief.

בָּרוּךְ, שֵׁם כְּבוד מַלְכוּתו, לְעולָם וָעֶד

How do we speak of the unspeakable.

וְאָהַבְתָּ אֵת יְהֹוָה אֱלהֶיךָ
 בְּכָל לְבָבְךָ וּבְכָל נַפְשְׁךָ וּבְכָל מְאדֶךָ

We do not speak. 

We cover our eyes. We pray in silence. We find each other. 

We offer our hands in the darkness. 

یادتون گرامی

May your memories be an everlasting blessing upon us.