Breeze of Shalom

I for one was not looking forward to the funeral. I said my goodbyes to Raquel at the hospital and was not looking forward to this ceremony. Again I was blown away by the Lord.

As the time of the ceremony approached (keep in mind that these folks had 1 day of notice) people started coming into the funeral home. First family which I expected to see. Then some close friends from my synagogue then other friends, and others, and others. I was overwhelmed with the number of people there for the grave site service. There had to be nearly 100 or more people present. Considering there was only one day notice and that we really invited everyone to the memorial service I was amazed.

Once it was time we all drove to the grave site. The Lord blessed us with a shaded grave site under a cedar tree. The weather was absolutely perfect with clear skies and in the 60s. The day before it was 40 degrees and the day before that it had been snowing.

When we sat down and before the Rabbi started talking a cool breeze blew over us. As that breeze came all my inhibitions about the service melted away. I was at total peace and was so very blessed to be there.

Terry had been led by the Lord for Psalm 119 to be read in its entirety. While it is the longest chapter in the book it turned out to be perfect! Rabbi Kevin Solomon did such an awesome job with the ceremony that it truly was a blessing to all who were there.

We stayed true to the Jewish traditions of the Rabbi placing a shovel of dirt on the grave first then the parents and rest of the family. We all participated in the ceremonial hand washing afterwords. We are part of this Messianic Jewish community and we wanted to honor these beautiful traditions.

The one tradition we didnt adhere to was the cutting of the black ribbons signifying the tearing of garments in agony and grief. We were at a celebration because unlike our traditional Jewish brethren we knew where little Raquel was. She was along side our Messiah in her perfect state without sin, without pain, and without a care. Praise be to God.