When I was in college, I had gone to see “Good Will Hunting” with few friends. It was well past midnight when the movie was done, and once outside, we found ourselves in a deep, thick fog. The kind that is a master of disguise and hides everything tangible before one’s eyes. As we clicked the alarm of the car, the dim light of the headlights was our only lead to where we were headed. From a distance, it was like hope riding on a wind, and even the darkness of the night or the thickness of the fog could not stop it’s brightness, no matter how slight it was.
I have thought a lot about that night these past months. As our country has be thrown into an unprecedented pandemic, the terrible way in which countless cities and towns have been destroyed due to riots and looting, the rising up of different voices demanding justice, increased antisemitic sentiments, and the tense feelings around the upcoming elections, and it’s clear that everyone is on-edge and even afraid. And as I look at everything that we have gone through, i feel as thought we have all been swallowed by that thick fog, unable to see two feet – or two days – ahead of us. 2020 has been like walking in that heavy air, where it has enveloped all our senses and our hearts, and filled our minds to the point that we can no longer see beneath the veil of uncertainty.
And as we make our way through, each of us is hoping to not bump into anything, or fall into a ditch, all the while holding on tightly to the hands of the ones we love. 2020 has been a year in which vagueness has come over everything, proving that colors and lines are dispensable. A simple question as to whether our children will remain in school for the duration of the school year is still an enigma for most of us, proving further how much hangs in balance.
But as l look back, I realize that there was a glimmer of light leading me that night. So could it be possible that there is a light that could help us seek clarity of mind in the vast grayness that is 2020? There is yet months left of this year about which, undoubtedly, books upon books will be written.
I believe there is hope for us yet.
As we approach the holiest days of the Jewish calendar, perhaps this is the second chance that we have all been waiting for. After all, what better way to hit the reset button on 2020 than on the anniversary of the date that the world was created and the first man and woman walked the earth.
Hope.
Hope where the heavens are listening And books are opened and we have the chance to turn to the one that makes the world turn.. And we beg for guidance. For hope. For peace. And for life.
And isn’t ALL of life one big leap of faith? The truth is we never know what tomorrow will bring. We get married based on a leap of faith and take on careers hoping it will all work out… some can argue that even having children is based on hope … we hope… we hope for a better tomorrow, for health, for joy, for happiness and…
And at the end of the day, deep in our hearts and souls we know that there is something bigger than all of us…a force so grand and powerful, an all-knowing power who is orchestrating it all, and managing all our hopes and dreams…
And on this Rosh Hashanah we hope and pray that He hears the voices of all His people – all the people of the earth – and answers them with health, joy, peace, happiness and faith. And keeps that light alive, no matter how dim it may be.
Shana tova.
