In the practice of tashlikh, תשליך, Jews symbolically “cast off” our sins by tossing pieces of bread into a body of water. This is done during the High Holy Days renewal ~ to unburden ourselves, give our transgressions physical form, watch them disintegrate and float away. Without changing or reducing the ripple effects of our misdeeds, this vital release prompts us to move on, to flow with the current.
The intent is to cleanse, not erase. What’s done is done, said, thought ~ can’t be undone, unsaid, unthought. But what about wrongs that aren’t just crumbs, fluffy enough to dissipate without making much of a dent? The ones so dense and heavyweight that they raise tidal waves when deposited? Or soak up every drop and lay bloated like an impermeable dam?
Naming the offense is a must, tearing off a chunk of bread its size and scope and bracing for the throw. Confrontation with our sometimes odious selves means looking in the mirror first. I’m getting my homemade, molding breadbits off my chest in this series. I’ve procrastinated so long in finishing this piece that it coincides with Indigenous Peoples Day. (A day late for even that.)
Meanwhile, the original sins of US nation-formation are being laid bare, those stale, rock-hard loaves that landed like bricks, causing sea swells that continue to scar all that they wash over. The genocidal history itself, compounded by silencing, falsification, and misuse. One day of commemorating first nations is purely symbolic, yet it’s a conspicuous (baby) step in the direction of public reckoning. Like tashlikh.
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SeeknSea 