Here & There

Before his passing on the 18th of Tishrei, Rebbe Nachman of Breslov moved to a house in Uman that overlooked the old Jewish cemetery. In in Chayei Moharan #138, his disciple Reb Noson related a conversation he had with Rebbe Nachman on the subject of a person's awareness of his own mortality:

He started to speak about life and death saying, "Surely the only difference between life and death is very minimal: now a person is here, then afterwards he lives there" - and he gestured with his hand to the cemetery.

Indeed, our lives in this world our only temporary and there is only a thin thread separating us from death. Sitting in the sukkah these past few days has helped me reflect upon the things in my life that are not as secure as I imagine them to be. It makes me grateful to Hashem for His constant protection in this vulnerable world.