Holding Our Breath
It is Tuesday morning, November 5th, Election Day. I have no idea what tomorrow will bring, and neither does anyone else. I am anxious. The hospital chaplain in my head reminds me that this kind of anxiety is about uncertainty and my unrealistic wish to be able to control what has not yet happened.
I have finished my morning walk, singing my abbreviated version of the weekday morning liturgy, listening to the birds, stopping in the usual places, attending to the nusach shifts as they come along. Hardly any birds are up and about. It feels like the entire world is holding its breath.
I think of what we have to get us through whatever comes next. We have Torah, given to us with love to teach us how to live. What are we taught? That we are meant to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation, to be a blessing and bring blessings to others. That we are to care for the widow and the orphan, to leave the corners of our fields and the dropped fruit of our vineyards for the poor. Most of all that we are to love the stranger, because we were strangers in strange lands, and must love each other as we ought to love ourselves.
The words of Rebbe Nachman of Bratzlav (which have been adapted for singing - try googling “gesher tsar meod”) occupied my mind for the rest of my walk. "Know that a person needs to cross a very very narrow bridge, and what is essential is not to be afraid."
With blessings for a week of peace and health. Do not forget to breathe.
Hazzan Steve
החזן שלמה זלמן עיט בן מרדכי מרגלן
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