The Blessing of Self-Awareness: Parshat Vayechi

Abstract

Dear Friends,

On this 83rd day of the war, it is getting harder and harder to stay spiritually and emotionally strong. Just as good news builds us up, bad news brings us down. At a lecture recently, I asked how many people feel that they haven't been themselves since this war started. Almost every hand in the room went up.

With the war intensifying in the South and rocket fire increasing in the North, Israel faces immense military challenges. It's hard to imagine an end in sight. As of today, 500 soldiers have been killed; 167 of them died in ground operations in Gaza. Difficult news about hostages and the tragic accounts those freed have shared have contributed to the weariness we are feeling.

It is precisely at this time that we need a bump of faith and vision. We cannot lose this war. We will not lose this war. We triumph not by changing who we are to adjust to the world's norms but by intensifying our existing commitments and expressing our deepest values. In Faith in the Future, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks wrote that, "There is a deep connection between ethics and the human spirit, between morality and morale. If we lost the former, the latter begins to fail."

Perhaps this is the reason Joshua was told four times in the first chapter of his eponymous book to be strong and of good courage - chazak v'amatz. This message was communicated to Joshua three times by God and once by his people. When the challenge is great, we must match it with multiple reminders of our own inner greatness: our inner courage, our bravery, and our strong moral compass.

Shabbat Shalom,

Erica

Dr. Erica Brown Vice Provost, Rabbi Sacks-Herenstein Center for Values and Leadership