Rabbi's Message

On Sunday evening, just before I headed into the celebration for our Confirmation Class, I saw the breaking news—a peaceful march for the hostages in Boulder, CO.  People injured, burned.  An attacker who yelled “Free Palestine.”  Another violent antisemitic attack.  This was about all I knew as I shut off my computer for Shavuot and went to join our Confirmation class.  

By now, we all know the terrible details.  We pray for the healing of the 15 people who were injured, and wonder once again what our world is coming to. As I thought about this over Shavuot, I was reminded of a story told by freed hostage Or Levy.  For a time, Or was held hostage by Hamas in Gaza with Hersh Goldberg-Polin ^z’’l, who Hamas murdered in August.  After Or was freed, he sought out Hersh’s parents, Rachel and Jon, to tell them about a quote that Hersh shared with him.  Hersh told him: “He who has a why can bear any how.”  This is a quote from Viktor Frankl’s book Man’s Search for Meaning.

Frankl, a psychoanalyst and Holocaust survivor, used these words to describe the mental strength required of him to survive the Holocaust.  While there is obviously a big difference between the Holocaust, October 7, and the antisemitism that we are experiencing today, Frankl’s quote has a lesson for us too.  There are many ways to fight antisemitism – education, advocacy, allyship, unity – and each has a role to play.  Still, we mustn’t let the threats we face allow us to forget who we are and what it is all for.  

As I shared with our Confirmation students on the first day of Shavuot, articulating that “why” is something we each need to be able to do on our own.  For some of us, it might be our history, our traditions, or our values.  For others, it might be family, past, present, or future.  Our “why” might be having a safe and secure Israel and Diaspora, or perhaps it is the need for Jewish Peoplehood.  Our “why” is something that needs to be nurtured through study, community, and celebration, like we will be doing here at our Annual Meeting tonight.  The hard truth is that antisemitism is not something that we can solve on our own; it requires a broad and sustained approach, and thank God, many organizations are our partners in confronting it. 

Ultimately, what we can control is how deep our connection is to Jewish living and learning, to Jewish community, all of which contributes to having a deep sense of pride in what it means to be a Jew.  “He who has a why can bear with any how.”  When we have a sense of purpose, then, together, we can overcome the challenges our people and our homeland are facing today.