09/29/2025
Rabbi Earl Grollman wrote:
"Grief is not a disorder, a disease, or a sign of weakness. It is an emotional, physical, and spiritual necessity-the price you pay for love. The only cure for grief is to grieve."
Whether it's been months or decades, these words can be a lifeline.
Because grief convinces vou that you're doing it wrong. It whispers that you should be stronger, quieter, further along by now. It makes you question why the pain is still sharp, why the tears still fall, why the emptiness hasn't eased with time.
And then the world piles on, urging you to "be strong", to "get over it", to "find closure." As if grief were a course to complete, or a project to finish.
But Grollman's words dismantle that illusion. They tell the truth the world won't:
Grief is not weakness. It's not failure.
It's not a disease to be cured. It's a necessity - what love demands after
It's not a sign that something is wrong with you. It's a sign that something was right. That you lived and loved, and were loved in return.
It's the way love survives absence. The body and soul learning to carry the weight of that love in the aftermath of loss.
That's why his words matter so much.Because they don't dismiss grief, they dignify it. They don't minimize it, they meet it. They give permission: to cry without guilt, to hurt without apology, to grieve loudly or quietly, suddenly or endlessly.
Because grief isn't something you "get over." It's something you learn to live with. A reflection of your love. A love that persists.