How can I engage in something so humdrum and trivial when the world is trembling?

“The heart has more than one chamber.” (Rav Yitzchak Berkowitz)

I’ve heard so many powerful quotes recently, probably in the hundreds. Lines of sorrow, lines of strength. Lines that prompt introspection, lines that promote inspiration. Maybe it’s because I’ve worked in cardiology for over ten years, but what I keep coming back to is one of the first I heard: “The heart has more than one chamber.” It’s that line I keep replaying over and over during this excruciating time. It’s become a mantra of sorts.

I think about it as I make my morning coffee. I watch the cold brew swirl with cold milk glassy-eyed, as if I’m in a daze. How can I engage in something so humdrum and trivial when the world is trembling?

And I think, the heart has four chambers. It routinely pumps while powered by electric energy. I’m capable of living day in and day out, keeping to routine while allowing the powerful undercurrents to shake that routine to a higher level.

I think about it as I put my little ones to bed. Sometimes, I can barely look at them without wanting to cry, thinking of those sweet, sweet children who had been in the clutches of evil itself. All I want to do is cry and cry and cry for those children. But Hashem gave me my beautiful ones right here to take care of; I’m their only mother. I reflect on how the chambers of the heart can contract and relax. I can carry the wringing pain of the children I never met while carrying the calm I need to take care of the ones G-d has blessed me with.