rivkah / rafeka

Yesterday at a party, I had a long conversation with a Palestinian Christian man. He asked me the meaning of my name, and I told him that Rivkah means “bound” - which to me can evoke commitment, destiny, or sometimes a sense of tetheredness that can be constricting. He told me that in Arabic, Rivkah or “rafeka” is a word for “friend” - yet another kind of bond.
After sharing some silly stories about ourselves and our families, we began to share more deeply about our lives - which evolved into a thick and intense conversation in which we attempted to communicate clearly about the narratives we’ve each grown up within and around, ancestry, and our own thoughts and feelings re: the conflict on this land - which slowed down into a conversation about healing - turned into a conversation about the sacred- and we ended up salsa dancing.

Then, today as I was acquiring some housewares, I was gifted this well-loved Muslim prayer rug which had once belonged to a dear friend of a dear friend. I may never meet her, but the rug is worn where her knees and feet rested in what must have been countless hours of devotional practice. I’m humbled to own such a precious thing.
Ideas and stories of otherness can be so loud, but I know that we are all inexplicably interconnected, and I’m devoted to finding the friendship, love and unity in the ties that bind us. In the presence of this sacred weaving, my mind is quiet. The holy One works in mysterious ways - I am grateful to receive unexpected gifts.

שבת שלום