Blog

During this stretch of time between Pesach and Shavuot, we engage in counting the seven weeks, day by day in a ritual called Counting the Omer. During the Omer it is traditional to turn inward and work on sharpening our personal character traits called middot. These weeks mirror our ancestors’ time in the desert making their way from the Red Sea to Mount Sinai where they received the gift of Torah. Our Spirituality committee has prepared excellent teachings to lead us through each of these weeks with introspection and intention on our Counting the Omer webpage here.

One of the middot is called Netzach, meaning endurance/perseverance/discipline. Without endurance, any worthwhile effort may never come to fruition. Anyone who has trained for a race knows what kind of discipline it takes to make it to the finish line.

The Israelites as they traversed the desert, had to center on that trait of netzach to power through uncomfortable conditions, an unknown wilderness and an uncertain future. How familiar this sounds as this year+ of pandemic has been itself a marathon--also through the uncomfortable, the unknown and the uncertain. When we push through an uncomfortable or difficult moment we are called on to find our strength, focus, tenacity and faith-all ingredients of netzach.

As our people made their way toward Mount Sinai, God’s presence led them; a cloud by day and fire by night, reminding them they were not alone. So too is it with us now. We are not yet at the “Mount Sinai” of immunity. In the coming weeks as more are vaccinated we will inch closer to that glorious moment. Until then, as a community, we must practice netzach knowing that God is with us-through every mile of vaccine distribution, every database entry and every shot into every arm. We are still in this together, still in the desert, and our collective strength and discipline will be the key to our endurance. May the coming months deliver us to the moment when we can say, “May Your steadfast love reach me, O God, Your deliverance, as You have promised (Ps. 119).”

Shabbat Shalom,

Beth