I spend a lot of time checking-in with people. It’s kind of a thing I do. Staff meetings, one-on-ones, committee meetings, colleague gatherings – in the course of a day, I likely ask and answer “how are you doing” at least a dozen times.
I love giving space for this. It feels important in a society that doesn’t leave a lot of space for evaluating how we feel about something and sharing what we find. For the past many many months, though, the answers to this question have become fairly standard: “I’m tired.”
Indeed.
How could we not be? Perhaps you have even yawned since opening this message.
Tired, I have been hypothesizing, is another word for “numb.” Don’t get me wrong: I believe every single one of us when we say we are tired. This is often my answer too and it is certainly true that I feel tired. But I want to move away from any way in which I have become numb.
This week’s torah portion has a useful reminder in the words often translated as “you shall not be indifferent.” (Dvarim 22:3) The Hebrew words themselves could also be translated as “you will not be able to conceal yourself/hide” with a connotation that “you will be unable to avoid responsibility.”
This is not telling us how we will or will not feel – it is telling us that responsibility is not something we are able to avoid. No matter how much we might want to ignore a situation, it is telling us that we matter, and we are responsible.
So, as we continue in the month of soulful accountability/cheshbon nefesh, let us find space to interact with that which we might hope to ignore. Let us realize our responsibility where we may have avoided it. Let us know that this is Jewish and we have the company of Jews all over the world, throughout time, working to realign ourselves in this season.
For more on accountability, resilience, and community in this season, register for High Holidays with Kadima here.
Shabbat shalom,
R’ David
I love giving space for this. It feels important in a society that doesn’t leave a lot of space for evaluating how we feel about something and sharing what we find. For the past many many months, though, the answers to this question have become fairly standard: “I’m tired.”
Indeed.
How could we not be? Perhaps you have even yawned since opening this message.
Tired, I have been hypothesizing, is another word for “numb.” Don’t get me wrong: I believe every single one of us when we say we are tired. This is often my answer too and it is certainly true that I feel tired. But I want to move away from any way in which I have become numb.
This week’s torah portion has a useful reminder in the words often translated as “you shall not be indifferent.” (Dvarim 22:3) The Hebrew words themselves could also be translated as “you will not be able to conceal yourself/hide” with a connotation that “you will be unable to avoid responsibility.”
This is not telling us how we will or will not feel – it is telling us that responsibility is not something we are able to avoid. No matter how much we might want to ignore a situation, it is telling us that we matter, and we are responsible.
So, as we continue in the month of soulful accountability/cheshbon nefesh, let us find space to interact with that which we might hope to ignore. Let us realize our responsibility where we may have avoided it. Let us know that this is Jewish and we have the company of Jews all over the world, throughout time, working to realign ourselves in this season.
For more on accountability, resilience, and community in this season, register for High Holidays with Kadima here.
Shabbat shalom,
R’ David
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