Shalom and Hello to everyone from Harduf, Israel. It is a great honor for me to participate in this Interfaith call to healing. It’s quite amazing that I am able to be with you even though I am 7,000 miles away so that despite how far apart we are in distance, we are still together.
I want to take this time to talk about Judaism’s wisdom on hope and inner strength. Judaism has many great verses of biblical wisdom and prophecy that has provided Jews a spiritual strength to persevere and survive for thousands of years. As you are likely aware, Jews are a people familiar with difficulty and hardship. So I want to discuss a bit about a Judaism of hope.
Judaism is ultimately, a faith that by its very structure holds out to hope for the future. Rabbi Johnathon Sacks of Great Britain brilliantly points out that what makes the Hebrew Bible different than most other works of literature is that it has an amazing beginning but no satisfactory ending. There is no “and they lived happily ever after.” It ends with the Jews in exile in II Chronicles. That’s because the Jewish story has yet to end. We believe that we are constantly and regularly adding to our story of what it means to be a Jew and every single Jew is adding to the Jewish story regardless of where they were in Diaspora or whether they remained in the Holy Land. And it also means that God is still with us as we work to build a better world. Our story does not have to be in the Bible for it to be relevant to us. I find that understanding to give me a lot of hope for the future. That my story is not complete and that I have a chapter to add to the Jewish story.
But while our story is ongoing, the Hebrew Bible still has plenty of relevance. Not only does it describe the origins of Judaism, it also provides plenty of wisdom to deal with a multitude of challenges. The Torah provides wisdom. The Nevi’im or Prophets provide wisdom. And the Kethuvim or Writings provide wisdom. And it has a fascinating way of providing comfort when needed. I want to share some words from each of the 3 sections of the Hebrew Bible in hopes that it will provide for you some comfort and strength regardless of your faith.
Every week Jews around the world read a portion of the Torah which is called a Parshah. This practice has helped keep the Jewish story alive. It keeps the Torah on our mind as we think about it, discuss it, argue about it, and wrestle with its deeper meaning.
Last week, Jews around the world read the Parshah Nasso, in the Book of Numbers, which holds what I believe to be one of the most beautiful blessing in the Torah.
Numbers 6:24-27 ‘May the Lord bless you and watch over you. May the Lord cause his countenance to shine to you and favor you. May the Lord raise his countenance toward you and grant you peace. They shall bestow My Name upon the Children of Israel, so that I will bless them.’
God conducted this blessing through Moses as the Israelites were crossing through the Sinai Desert.
In the Prophets, Isaiah reminds his audience about who God is and tells them to have hope and faith in God. This is Isaiah’s message of hope and strength:
Isaiah 40:28-31 ‘Do you not know-if you have not heard an everlasting God is the Lord, the Creator of the end of the earth; He neither tires nor wearies; there is no fathoming his understanding. Who gives the tired strength, and to him who has no strength, He increases strength. Now youths shall become tired and weary, and young men shall stumble. But those who put their hope in the Lord shall renew their vigor, they shall raise wings as eagles; they shall run and not weary, they shall walk and not tire.’
At last, I want to conclude by sharing a portion of a Psalm. It is believed that David wrote the Psalms with every Jew in mind so that when tough times come, the Psalms will help provide hope, comfort, and strength.
Psalm 91:9-16 ‘For you said, “The Lord is my refuge”; the Most High you made your dwelling. No harm will befall you, nor will a plague draw near to your tent. For He will command His angels on your behalf to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you, lest your foot stumble on a stone. On a young lion and a cobra you will tread; you will trample the young lion and the serpent. For he yearns for Me, and I shall rescue him; I shall fortify him because he knows My name. He will call Me and I shall answer him; I am with him in distress; I shall rescue him and I shall honor him. With length of days I shall satiate him, and I shall show him My salvation.’
These are powerful words that have provided a lot of comfort, strength, and hope to Jews across the centuries no matter where they were. I find that they not only help me in finding hope but also in looking deeper into who I am as a human and as a Jew.
I hope these words have brought you some comfort, strength, and hope. I know we will get through these difficult times and what I hope is that our suffering and loss was not in vain. That we learn from this so that we can better protect each other and our society in the future. May the memories of those we lost forever be a blessing. May God grant us the strength to get through this difficult time and make a better world. May we carry with us strength, courage, prayer, and hope.
Amen.
