Preparing for Rosh Hashanah - A Message Shared With Masorti Europe

The year has been dominated by the attacks of 7^th October and their aftermath. My deepest prayers are for the immediate release of the remaining hostages and turn from violence. For so many of us across Europe, the attacks of 7^th October also resulted in an immediate spike in our experience of antisemitism arriving at a time when we were already, in the language of Deuteronomy, Ayef v’Yagaya – weary and pained.

It's the great Chasidic teacher, Rebbe Nachman of Braslav, who taught, “אָסוּר לְיָאֵשׁ עַצְמוֹ כִּי אֵין שׁוּם יֵאוּשׁ בָּעוֹלָם כְּלָל” - it is forbidden for a person to despair for there is no despair in the world at all. I looked up the original teaching in his work of collected sermons Likkeutei Mehoran (2:78).

Likkuetei Mehoran, is a Hebrew book, based on oral teachings originally shared in Yiddish.  But at this point the editor (Reb Noson) breaks away from relaying the teaching of his master in Hebrew translation to say this;

וְאָמַר אָז בְּזֶה הַלָּשׁוֹן: קַיין יִאוּשׁ אִיז גָאר נִיט פַאר הַאנְדִין, וּמָשַׁךְ מְאֹד אֵלּוּ הַתֵּבוֹת " קַיין יִאוּשׁ אִיז גָאר נִיט פַאר הַאנְדִין " וַאֲמָרָם בְּכֹחַ גָּדוֹל וּבְעַמְקוּת נִפְלָא וְנוֹרָא מְאֹד, כְּדֵי לְהוֹרוֹת וּלְרַמֵּז לְכָל אֶחָד וְאֶחָד לְדוֹרוֹת, שֶׁלֹּא יִתְיָאֵשׁ בְּשׁוּם אֹפֶן בָּעוֹלָם, אֲפִלּוּ אִם יַעֲבֹר עָלָיו מָה

And he said this in this exact language: Kein yiush iz gor nit fahrhandin! He drew out these words, said them with great power and wondrous depth and awe, in order to teach to each and every person throughout the generations not to despair under any circumstances, no matter what happens to them.

Kein yiush iz gor nit fahrhandin! – There is nothing to this thing of despair at all. Who is he trying to fool? Despair lurks all around. The point, I think, is that withstanding the call of despair takes effort. It can’t be taken for granted. But there are many ways to steel ourselves in the fight against it.

The extraordinary journey of so many of our communities across Europe is a source of excitement, as is the incredible quality of my European colleagues. We have an approach to our faith that is thriving in this complex modern world even this year, even after everything European Jews have experienced. I urge us all to connect to our local Masorti communities at this time.

Acts of Hesed or Tzedakah – kindness and justice - are incredible ways to dispel any gnawing sense of despair. Just sitting with our concerns risks making us feel worse. Doomscrolling will guarantee our misery. Taking agency to mend the world with acts of kindness and justice will lift your hearts, I’m sure. It always lifts mine.

And finally, take a moment to appreciate the turning of the seasons. This is a remarkably beautiful world which will connect us to hope and awe. Abraham Joshua Heschel wrote of his battle against despair walking the streets of Berlin in the 1930s. “I felt very much alone with my own problems and anxieties.” He recalled, “Suddenly I noticed the sun had gone down, evening had arrived. From what time may one recite the Shema in the evening? I had forgotten God — I had forgotten Sinai — I had forgotten that sunset is my business.”

May we all, in this year to come, banish despair and be greeted with a year of sweetness health and peace,

Shannah Tovah