We come to the end of this telling of the story of the daughter of Jephthah, and to a beginning. For now comes the invitation to remember, and to choose how we will carry her story from here.
In one of her final diary entries, about a year before she was murdered at Auschwitz, Etty Hillesum wrote, “If I have one duty in these times, it is to bear witness. I think I have learned to take it all in, to read life in one long stretch. And in my youthful arrogance I am often sure that I can remember every least thing I see and that I shall be able to relate it all one day. Still, I must try to put it down now.”
How will you bear witness to the tale of the daughter of Jephthah?
Sunday
We rose and gathered our things the next morning, moving with quiet purpose. Before the sun had crested we were back in Mizpah. We walked toward Jephthah’s house with a curious and somber crowd following after us. Jephthah sought to make Miriam’s companions leave, that we might not witness his murder of our friend. But we stayed. Our journey was not finished. And Jephthah did with her according to the vow he had made.
Five years have passed since that time. Still our journey continues. Each year many of the women of Israel make a four-day journey into the mountains to honor Miriam. I have not married and do not plan to, but I have a niece who is old enough to make the journey this year. We will go, and we will visit some of the places we visited on the first journey with Miriam. We will tell the stories, we will sing the songs, we will dance, and we will break bread and drink wine. We will vow, for ourselves and for our daughters, Never again shall such a thing happen in the land of Israel. Never again shall such a thing happen to the daughters of the Holy One.
And we will remember.
Questions for reflection
How will you remember the daughter of Jephthah? How would you tell her story? Are there points of connection between your life and hers? How is your story different from hers, and where do the points of difference invite you and challenge you? Is there a situation of injustice and suffering to which you feel especially called to respond, and by your words and your actions to say, Never again?
Blessing
Blessed are you
who struggle against forgetting,
for the silenced sisters of the past
will live in you.
From Sacred Journeys © Jan Richardson
