I am very excited for the opportunity to share words of Torah with you. Each week, in this spot, I look to share an idea I've found that speaks to me and that I think will resonate with you as well. This week, I share with you an excerpt of an article by Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks ZT"L entitled "The Courage to Live with Uncertainty" with a timeless message that is so poignant in these difficult moments for Klal Yisrael.
[... T]he Midrash [Rabbi Dr. Nachum Rabinovitch] quoted to us was extraordinary. [...] The text is in two parts, and it is a commentary on God’s words to Noah: “Then God said to Noah, ‘Come out of the ark’” (Gen. 8: 16). On this the Midrash says: “Noah said to himself, Since I only entered the ark with permission (from God), shall I leave without permission? The Holy One blessed be He said, to him: Are you looking for permission? In that case I give you permission, as it says, ‘Then God said to Noah, Come out of the ark.” The Midrash then adds: “Said Rabbi Judah bar Ilai, If I had been there I would have smashed down [the doors of] the ark and taken myself out of it.”
The moral Rabbi Rabinovitch drew – indeed the only one possible – was that when it comes to rebuilding a shattered world, you do not wait for permission. God gives us permission. He expects us to go on ahead. This was, of course, part of an ancient tradition, mentioned by Rashi in his commentary (to Gen. 6: 9), and central to the sages’ understanding of why God began the Jewish people not with Noah but with Abraham. Noah, says the Torah, “walked with God” (6: 9). But God said to Abraham, “Walk on ahead of me …” (Gen. 17: 1). So the point was not new, but the drama and power of the Midrash were stunning.
Suddenly I understood that this is a significant part of what faith is in Judaism: to have the courage to pioneer, to do something new, to take the road less travelled, to venture out into the unknown. [...] Faith is precisely the courage to take a risk, knowing that “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me” (Ps. 23: 4). It took faith to challenge the religions of the ancient world, especially when they were embodied in the greatest empires of their time. It took faith to stay Jewish in the Hellenistic age, when Jews and Judaism must have seemed small and parochial when set against the cosmopolitan culture of ancient Greece and the Alexandrian empire. [...]
In many cases – such is the fate of innovators – the people concerned had to face a barrage of criticism, disdain, opposition or disregard. You have to be prepared to be lonely, at best misunderstood, at worst vilified and defamed. [...] To be a pioneer – as Jews know from our history -- you have to be prepared to spend a long time in the wilderness. That was the faith of the early Zionists. [...] Some Zionists were religious, others were secular, but most importantly they all knew what the Midrash Tanhuma made so clear: when it comes to rebuilding a shattered world or a broken dream, you don’t wait for permission from Heaven. Heaven is telling you to go ahead. [...] Faith is the courage to take a risk for the sake of God or the Jewish people; to begin a journey to a distant destination knowing that there will be hazards along the way, but knowing also that God is with us, giving us strength if we align our will with His. Faith is not certainty but the courage to live with uncertainty.
If I may add, this message rings so true in these very uncertain times. We are seeing this response from the Jewish people all over - from those who voluntarily put themselves in harms way to protect their fellow Jews to those the world over who continue to jump at any opportunity to help and support in any way that they can. May we continue to have the courage and perseverance to endure through the challenges and uncertainty we face as a people and may our efforts, with G-d's help, quickly see us to salvation.
Hoping and praying for a Shabbat Shalom in every sense of the term,
Rabbi Davies
Rabbi@SOICherryHill.org
