“Star of David”

By Lauren

The air was always hot and dry back in the Old Country. Sand seemed to get everywhere and the air pushed down on you, causing your burden to grow heavier with each step. Everyone seemed to carry some type of hidden weight. Maybe it was due to the problems that filled the land or the high levels of religious belief. At that time, my only burden was a silver chain, the pendant being the Star of David. My mother had given it to me as a child, before she was taken away and killed by her own people. All because she wanted peace- because she associated with all good people, no matter their race or religion.

When I was a little girl, I saw this object simply as a thing left to remind me of the huge absence, the massive gap that was in my heart. Now I see the true burden of my star and my mother’s soul. Her death created in that absence of my heart a hate for my own people, yet also the reason why we must find peace.

Within that chain, that glistening metal, there is the burden of this peace. I will never have my mother back, which is what I will always want, and for her I must shoulder the struggle for peace, no matter the cost. I know that road will be tough and the chain, along with my pain, will drag my head down, but my star will shine. Peace, my mother’s soul, my Star of David, will shine throughout the land. It will be the burden that will release all others from their own heavy load. My mother’s simple massive gift to me.