Ships that pass in the night and speak each other in passing
Only a signal shown and a distant voice in the darkness
So on the ocean of life we pass and speak one another
Only a look and a voice; then darkness again and a silence.
Longfellow – “Tales from A Wayside Inn”
So often our lives are compared to a journey of sort; by air, by sea, by land or beyond. We have by example the popular “Midrash” on King Solomon’s statement in his book of Ecclesiastes; “The day of one’s death is better than that of his birth.”
The Midrash presents the parable of the two ships to help us understand the deep wisdom hidden in this statement of the most wise King Solomon. Two ships set out to sail upon the great ocean blue. One of them is departing from the harbor, and the second, arriving. Everyone at hand was rejoicing celebrating the great send off of the ship that was setting sail from the harbor. But over by the ship that was returning from its great and successful voyage, no one was celebrating. Quiet. Unnoticed.
A wise man observing the scene commented on the contrast: “I see a reason for the very opposite to happen. You ought not to rejoice for the ship that is leaving the harbor, for no one knows what will be its fate; how many days the ship will have to spend on the voyage, what storms and dangers it will encounter. What challenges will it confront? Will it in fact be a successful voyage? But as to the ship that has arrived safely in port, all should celebrate with great fanfare, for the ship has returned safe and sound.
The Midrash goes on to explain how that when a person is born, our natural reaction is to of course celebrate, and when a person dies, we mourn. But it should not be so. Rather, at one’s birth no one has yet cause to rejoice, because no one knows yet to what future the newborn will confront. Will good or evil befall this person? However when a person dies, we all then ought to rejoice if the departed is leaving a good name, a legacy, and has gone out of this world in peace.
By definition, the idea represented by ships that pass in the night refers to a phenomena that inevitably occurs to us all too often in our lives. We may meet someone once or twice by chance for a short time and then not ever see each other again. In my way of thinking, a “short time” is relative. We form relationships, sometimes even close ones, with different people at different stages of our life only to see these relationships mostly end over time for one reason or another; it could simply be a matter of our High School graduation or the end of our college years, a change of jobs or relocating from one place to another.
True, in today’s “modern” world, with all of the hi-tech social networking which is available, one can easily reconnect “virtually”, if one so desires, with those people we knew in our previous lives. Still, to return to “the way it was” is rarely reincarnated. Such is life.
I recently had good cause to dwell on this concept. Throughout my life, under all types of circumstances, I have been very fortunate to cross paths with a wide range of people. And it’s in my nature and maybe yours too, to sometimes wonder as to what has happened to this or that person from our past. Sometimes we may even dwell upon the cause of our departure from each other and wonder if the cause can possibly be rectified. Can we possibly reignite the relationship we once had? Sometimes it can, but more often not.
I was thinking about this recently because 10 years ago, together with my wife and children, we made Aliyah. Some of our children who came with us returned to the USA. That also happens. Sure today there’s e-mail, VOIP, Skype, Twitter, Blogs, (snail mail) and what not, but it’s still, obviously, not the same. Relationships, even long time relationships with friends and family, solid relationships were disrupted by our departure, even broken. It’s inevitable. Aliyah is a quantum leap from your past.
We were blessed recently with the birth of 2 grandchildren here in Israel. (I confess. I celebrated!). As word spread, out of the blue, Mazal tov wishes came pouring in from so many of those other ships I have been blessed to cross with throughout my life. It was such a very good feeling. The connections we made throughout our lifetime transcended time and space.
Enjoy the journey.
PS King Solomon has been in the news lately. It is believed that remains of his Jerusalem Palace have been discovered.
