Rav Shira Shazeer – MetroWest Jewish Day School
It was really intense. It was calm and quiet. It made me think about death. What does it mean? This week in some of my music classes, I played settings of Kol Nidrei, the iconic and haunting opening prayer of the Yom Kippur evening service, as a listening and drawing exercise. After several minutes of letting the music guide their artistic imaginations, students shared their impressions and feelings raised by the music. Though the text of Kol Nidrei is far less dramatic, the tune reliably evokes the themes of the yamim noraim, the “days of awe”, as the high holy days are known in Hebrew, and the students picked up on it intuitively.
As we reach the end of the Jewish year, we come closer and closer to the end of the Torah reading cycle. After listening to Moses’ sermons to the people these last many weeks as he tries to fill them with the lessons they will need to move on without him, this week, he seems to have come to terms with the impending end of both his leadership and his life.
This week’s parsha is not so much about filling the people with knowledge. Instead it shifts into the emotional and spiritual preparation that they need to go on without him. In a few weeks, when we finally reach the end of the Torah, as we do at the end of each of the five books, the final verse of the Torah is followed by everyone calling out chazak chazak v’nitchazek, be strong, and we will all be strengthened. Why is it that the act of completion inspires us to wish each other strength? We do the same thing when a member of the Jewish community finishes leading the community in prayer, reading from the Torah, reciting the blessings on an aliyah, or really any other act of ritual agency, and we wish them, yeshar koach, continued strength. In sefardic communities, instead of yeshar koach, it is traditional to say chazak uvaruch, strong and blessed, to which the answer is chazak ve’ematz, be strong and courageous.
The blessing, or maybe injunction, chazak ve’ematz, be strong and courageous appears with slight variation several times in TaNaKh, and three times in this week’s parsha, Vayelech. First, Moses, goes to the people and acknowledges that his time is up and that Joshua will lead them into Israel. He tells them chizku ve’imtzu, be strong and courageous, do not fear, because God will be with you. Moses then calls Joshua over and, in front of everyone tells him, chazak ve’ematz, be strong and courageous, because you are entering the promised land with the people and it is you who will settle them there. A little further on, God speaks to Joshua and tells him, chazak ve’ematzi, be strong and courageous, because you will bring the people into the land and I will be with you.
It seems that in the completion of the Israelites time wandering in the desert, there is a natural anxiety building, a sense of fear creeping up on the people, who have only ever experienced God with Moses as their leader, ready to mediate, and on Joshua, who will now have to take on the mantle of leadership. The response: be strong and courageous, God is still with you, supporting you, even when you lack the means to initiate a connection.
Rabbi Nachman of Bratzlav relies on these words as he discusses the fear and worry that threaten to overtake seekers who feel that no matter how hard they try to approach God, they are still far away, mired down in their mistakes and their bad habits, unable to see the progress that they are making towards living a holy life, and being their best selves. He encourages his reader, or listener as his words were originally shared orally, saying chazak ve’ematz achi, be strong and courageous my brother. He continues, explaining that everyone goes through the same process, that many have reached the final spiritual gate that remains to pass through, and are turned back by fear and worry. If they had been told by a mentor, be strong, I’ve been there too, they could have made it. It is in this teaching that his well known metaphor appears; everyone must cross a very narrow bridge, and the key is not to be overtaken by fear.
This Shabbat between the high holy days, Shabbat shuvah, the Shabbat of repentance, we read about our ancestors on the precipice, ending a familiar journey, saying goodbye to the only leader they have ever known and perhaps doubting their ongoing relationship with the divine. They stand in a place of anticipation, awe, and yes, some anxiety and fear. The response; be strong and courageous. Acknowledge the anxiety, but do not let fear overtake you. The mood of the yamim noraim, the days of awe, can be similar. The old year is ending, and we are encouraged to reflect, to repent, to repair relationships and resolve to grow into better stronger versions of ourselves. It is natural to fear that we will fail to do these things, to doubt our capacity to forge the spiritual connections that are called for at this time, to label ourselves as “bad Jews”. When the Jews in the pews rise to hear Kol Nidre, I suspect the array of reactions mirror those of my students, some experiencing a calm, awe filled moment, others drawn to worries, and thoughts of death and sorrow. Parshat Vayelech reminds us three times, chazak ve’ematz, be strong and courageous. As Rabbi Nachman explains, we must not let the fear and worries overtake us. We may well find ourselves standing on the metaphorical narrow bridge, but we are not there alone. And we have the capacity to encourage one another through the anxiety. May we all enter the coming week with strength and courage, so that the yamim noraim are filled with awe and not overcome by fear.