Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Gam Zeh Ya'avor

Gam zeh ya'avor, this too shall pass.  One legend has it that King Solomon, although wise, was depressed.  He feared that the good in his life would end, but the bad would stay.  One day he said to his most trusted servant, I dreamed of a magical ring that will help me.  It has the power to give the wearer peace of mind.  It makes anyone who looks upon it happy when sad, but also sad when happy.  I want you to find me this ring.  The servant searched far and near.  For months the servant could find no one who had ever heard of such a ring.  Eventually, returning empty-handed to Jerusalem, the servant came to the poorest quarter of the city.  Wandering through the streets, the servant came to a tiny hovel.  Inside there was a poor jeweler.  The servant, desperate, entered the store.  He described the ring to the poor jeweler.  Without a word, the jeweler picked up a ring from his worktable, and engraved it with the words, Gam zeh ya'avor," "this too shall pass."

We are almost three months into this deployment.  It has had ups and downs, but this too shall pass.  As expected, orders have been problematic.  As expected, pay has been completely screwed up.  And as expected, we still don't really know what's going on.

Today, Sean bought me a ring.  On the outside it says Gam zeh ya'avor.  On the inside there's a special joke between Sean and me.  It says BOHICA, a great military acronym.  I love the combination of these two sentiments.

Gam zeh ya'avor.