R. Avi Strausberg on Lag Ba'Omer: From Wave to Wave to Wave

Ta Shma

When my dad died in my early 20s, I remember being wowed by the ways in which grief came in waves. One minute, I was crying and couldn’t imagine ever moving through my sadness and several hours later, I was surprised to find myself laughing—actually able to laugh—within the first days of my dad’s death. With confidence, I realized, this was the way it was going to be. Each time that I cried and each time that I laughed, I knew it wouldn’t be the last time. The grief and the joy—they would keep coming in turns, like waves rolling in and out in their own time.