What’s Missing

It’s numbing. Lethal political-violence and the tidal online-contempt it unleashes. A close friend suddenly gets diagnosed with a fatal condition. It’s overwhelming. Between our private traumas and public wrongdoing, suffering that commands our attention and support these days is too vast. 

And our degraded culture of discourse isn’t helping. It typically does little more than claim, “You’re either on the right side of history or the wrong side of it.” “You’re either good or you’re bad.” Thankfully, your Jewish tradition has better things to offer. And, of course, as is its way, Judaism’s tools run against the grain of prevailing trends. 

Take for example how we get information and process it. Sarah Hurwitz points out in her immensely important new book, how a typical social-media visit finds her toggling between “How dare they think that? outrage, and “Yes!” triumphalism. But she rarely walks away thinking any differently. By contrast, when she sits over a text in conversation with somebody else, “that person almost always sees things I miss.” That’s why she nicknames Jewish study with a partner, the anti-social media. 

For me, the early words in this week’s portion of Torah, which begin the Declaration of First Fruits, picture an essential vantage point that seems so absent today. Being answerable. Addressed. Accountable to someone beyond oneself. As our ancestor presented the fruitbasket to the Priest, the passage instructs: “And you shall answer and say, My Father was a wandering Aramean..” (Deut. 26:5). The opening of the Declaration is a response. As if to say, I am indebted to my Maker for lots of things. I didn’t choose my parents. My place of birth. To be born after the discovery of penicillin. Hovering over me is an air of expectancy. And when I respond graciously to it, that air turns into fresh air. 

“And you can’t just take something into your heart and be Jewish. That’s how we think of religion in America. But that’s not how Judaism works” Sarah pointed out this week. “Read some stuff. And then figure out, “What lights you up?” Are you excited about weekly Shabbat with friends? Are you excited about music, history, literature, the arts, Jewish spirituality? And whatever you explore will be hyperlinked back to the rest of it.” Meet her and respond for yourself this Wednesday. 

“Am I missing something here?” is a great New Year’s question. May it lead to discovering how sustainable your life can be when you treat it less like a soliloquy and more like a response.