Prepent Day 20: Emergency Soul Contact
Image by Jacqueline Nicholls
By Amichai Lau-Lavie September 11, 2017
Who is your emergency contact? I’ll confess that as someone who’s been single for a while this question, asked by medical staff or an airline booking agent, can trigger some anxiety. On this day, unbelievably 16 years ago, the world woke up to a global crisis and terror gone wild that now dominates so much of our existence. 9/11 defined emergency for this generation. Living in downtown NYC, what I recall most from that day was how much more I felt more in touch, connected, to everyone. I had a beloved emergency contact then and he was the first one I thought of when evacuating. I remember the relief of knowing he was alive.
So today I challenge myself, you, single or not, to think of who is your soul-emergency-contact. Who do you go to when the soul cries, when fears rise, when despair takes over? It’s not always the same person as the one who would take you to the doctor; it’s not necessarily a doctor that’s needed. May memories become blessings and today’s legacy remind us to love..
Why I became the Forward’s editor-in-chief
You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.
And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.
, editor-in-chiefSupport our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
