Spiritual tips for creating space for each other – Williams Record

The Jewish holiday of Rosh HaShanah, which literally means “head of the year” in Hebrew, begins this Wednesday evening. It is the beginning of the Jewish year. Taken together with the previous Jewish month of Elul and the holiday of Yom Kippur, which begins next Friday evening, this time of year is dedicated to personal and social reflection, honest assessment of how we show up in the world, and attempts to repair relationships. .

The fact that the Jewish tradition invites members of its community to begin each new year with a process of reflection offers important lessons about what it means to begin anew. Beginning anew requires us to see clearly who we are and what our life means, to identify where we provide healing and connection to the world, where we cause damage and separation, and to take concrete steps to align our lived experience with the world. the ideals and vision we want to live by.

At the beginning of this academic year, I shared some thoughts with students at Williams who identify as Jewish. I did this after talking to many people inside and outside this community. It has been a very difficult year on this campus, and I have had the opportunity to work closely with many in the Jewish community for whom this year has been particularly difficult. So, I have been thinking about actions and approaches that each of us can take to create space for ourselves and others in the College community. Most importantly, I think we need to bring renewed attention to how we interact with each other.

Below are some thoughts I’ve been jotting down since the beginning of the summer. While these thoughts relate most obviously to the Jewish community, I hope they will play a role, even in a small way, in how you interact with others in our community more broadly, regardless of your identities or affiliations.

Our Jewish community at Williams is diverse. Members of our community come from different families, practice Judaism differently, and have different political affiliations. Many of us are trying to understand what it means to be Jewish for the first time while living outside our parents’ homes. Our community is consciously pluralistic, and as a result we emphasize interaction with each other as humans, encountering the fullness of our humanity. Whatever you feel or believe; No matter how preoccupied you are with Judaism and Jewish identity; whatever Jewish practices, if any, you follow; Whether you describe yourself as Zionist, anti-Zionist, sophisticated, passionate, confused, or agnostic about Israel; Each of you belongs here and has a place here.

Even though we may disagree on things that are critically important to us as individuals, we should strive to engage with those differences and try to never forget that we are part of a single community. This understanding requires us to always see each other as human beings deserving of honor and respect. Even though the past year hasn’t been easy for us at Williams (I don’t think it’s been easy anywhere), I think that determination has helped us overcome the challenges. I believe we will keep this in mind this academic year as well.

To this end, this summer qualifications or midpoint I think we need to take Hebrew to the Jewish community and beyond to help us be there for each other and get everything we can from being together. This is an incomplete list, but I think the following five midpoint is critical.

Humility: In Jewish tradition, humility is not about meekness. Rather, it’s all about being in your own place, which allows others to have theirs, too. humility (anavah) invites us to get to know who we are, what we know, and what we experience. It also invites us to see others in their shoes and honor their experiences. It acknowledges that we are each experts in our own experience and reminds us that others may know much more about a particular topic than we do.

Curiosity: Given what humility can teach us, we are invited to learn more about what we don’t know. In addition to humility and curiosity (walnut) reminds us that everything we know or learn is only a partial picture. Curiosity, especially when we experience the joy of being in a higher education institution, always pushes us to learn more and fill in the gaps of what we do not know.

Mercy: Mercy (my rahamim) is having awareness and concern for the experiences and suffering of others. This can be so difficult to get along with the people we are in relationships with or live with. I think over the past year we’ve all seen how limited our compassion is. But I think it is critical that we work to expand our capacity to show compassion to others, especially those directly affected by the events of October 7, 2023 and their aftermath. To the Israelis who were attacked and killed on October 7, their families, and those who were forced to flee their homes. To Palestinians who face death, violence, hunger and discrimination in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel. To Jews around the world who have been traumatized by open and frightening expressions of anti-Semitism. To Palestinians around the world who are traumatized and feel ignored. Since we are in connection and relationship with all beings, our duty is to expand our capacity for compassion and to be as aware of their pain and suffering as possible.

Respect: Respect for the other must be the basis for a commitment to compassion and humility (k’vod ha-bryiot). This includes those in our community and those beyond it. People we get along with and people we don’t get along with. Recognizing that all human beings are imprints of the divine, respect calls us to preserve the dignity of others, especially in times of conflict.

Vulnerability: These continue to be worrying times. In times of stress, when it is so easy to lash out, we often need awareness and sensitivity (regishut) to ourselves and to others. When we feel triggered and angry, we often react by yelling, posting something provocative on social media, or saying hurtful and harmful things. Inevitably, these behaviors cause others to shut down, prepare to fight, or further close off the possibility of connection. The call to sensitivity invites us to see when we and those we are in relationship with are triggered and to respond in ways that help us connect.

Over the summer, I listened to a podcast in which guests talked about how they navigate being part of a Jewish community with people whose policies they don’t always agree with. I was particularly impressed to hear political activists committed to their positions offer valuable advice about the importance of prioritizing interaction with others. They talked about the importance of speaking up so others can hear you and the feeling that anyone who wants to belong to the community should feel welcome. You may not have all your needs met in a particular community, but that doesn’t mean you reject it, especially if that community is small. They spoke the same way importance Invest in your community to make it best for everyone.

As the Jewish community moves into major holidays like Rosh Hashanah and then Yom Kippur, I hope we reflect on these ideas. I hope we can continue to learn from and with each other even as we deal with the terrible events unfolding around the world and the conflicts that continue to shake our society.

Rabbi Seth Wax is the College’s Jewish Chaplain.