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3 Elul 5780

Drawing Upon Miracles

Among the most profound experiences I have as a rabbi are those spent with individuals facing an illness or life crisis.  For example, a member of the congregation came to see me because her husband had left her.  She was bereft – he was the love of her life, and now the marriage was over. How would she survive on her own?  How would she help her kids?

“Have you ever felt such despair before?” I asked her.  She began to talk about her father, who had passed away when she was a teenager.  Her world had been shattered.  “How did you ever get through it?” I asked.  Along with the support of her mother and her friends, she spoke about finding an inner strength she didn’t know she had.  “It seemed miraculous at the time,” she reflected. 

“I know it feels impossible, but I believe that you will find the same strength in this crisis as well,” I offered as comfort. “I believe it was embedded when your soul was created, and is always a part of you.”

The Talmud teaches, (Avot 5:8, translation in Siddur Lev Shalem): “Ten things were created on the eve of [the] Shabbat [of creation] at twilight:  the mouth of the earth, the mouth of the well, the speech of the ass, the rainbow, the manna, the rod, the shamir, the script, the writing instrument, the tablets.”  While cryptic references, each of these was destined to provide a miracle to humanity or the Jewish people at a moment of crisis or re-creation.

As we approach the anniversary of the world’s creation, I have faith in the miracles that have been placed within us.  May drawing upon them give us the strength and inspiration to survive and even thrive in these challenging times.

Rabbi Jacob Blumenthal,
CEO of the Rabbinical Assembly and United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism

Visit https://www.bnaiamoona.com/elul2020 to view this and our previous Elevating Elul messages.