Leap of faith: Reasons to be cheerful for 5785
The Jewish imperative to see the light and dark
Even in the darkest moments we need to find pockets of light in order to stay the course. This is no easy feat as our anxieties, fuelled by a mixture of actual and perceived stresses, often cloud our ability to stand back and objectively see reality; a muddled mess of cheer and gloom.
In Yiddish, suffering is often referred to as tsuris which is taken from the Hebrew root meaning ‘narrow’ or ‘tight’. This is appropriate as when we suffer our natural response is to constrict, focusing only on the bad, and closing ourselves off to all the joy that continues to exist in the world.
Jewish tradition asks us to observe and hold both suffering and pleasure alongside one another. Indeed many of our chagim (festivals) see us simultaneously mark and relive moments of horrific cruelty and delightful bliss. To take one example, the Passover matzah recalls our time as slaves in Egypt as well as our subsequent liberation. That is why we refer to this matzah as both “the bread of affliction” and “the bread of freedom”. In this sense Judaism does not ask us to be overly pessimistic or cynical nor overly optimistic or naive. Our suffering must never let us lose sight of all the good humankind and the natural world has to offer us.
As we approach 5785 there are indeed reasons to be cheerful. In environmental news the past year has seen deforestation in the Amazon Forest halved and European wind power production (renewable energy) is finally outpacing gas plants (fossil fuels). The human capacity for generosity also made headlines with the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) World Giving Index 2024 reporting that people are constantly and increasingly giving their time and money to help strangers. In fact it reported that 4.3 billion people helped someone they did not know in 2023. That is three quarters of the world’s adult population helping others!
Yet it is rarely the newsworthy events that make us smile in our day-to-day lives as more often we find joy in the little things. This includes lifecycle moments like births, bnei mitzvahs and marriage but also seeing family, connecting with friends or coming together with community.
As this week’s Torah portion, Parashat Ki Tavo, reminds us: “And you shall enjoy […] everything that the Eternal your God has bestowed upon you and your household.”
Let us enter the New Year with our eyes open to all the wonder and joy that the world has to offer.
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