Once there were these two sages, walking and talking all night about lofty matters, when they noticed the dawn beginning to rise. “This is what our redemption will look like,” said one of them, “first it will rise slowly, like the first light of dawn, and then, the more it grows the more light shines on all.”
רבי חייא ורבי שמעון בן חלפתא הוו מהלכים בהדא בקעת ארבל בקריצתא ראו אילת השחר שבקע אורה, אמר רבי חייא כך היא גאולתן של ישראל בתחילה קימעא קימעא כל שהיא הולכת היא הולכת ומאירה
This story is found in the Jerusalem Talmud and I vividly remember the painting that describes this dawn scene, along with the Talmudic words, hanging on the walls of my childhood synagogue in Israel. During long hours of prayers I memorized every details in that painting, every word in the quote. I think of this painting today, this story, this vision of hope, as the sun rises over New York City, over sirens and birdsong, uncertainty and fears. We are all waiting for redemption.
I think of this story today as Israel prepares for it’s 72nd birthday, with so many of us hoping for the light to grow stronger, for the promise of redemption to equally shine on all, everywhere, on Jerusalem and Ramallah, on all of us, everywhere, who are tired of the nightmare and keeping alive the dream of the dawn of a new chapter of compassion, dignity and justice for all.
Here and now is all we’ve always got, along with the ancient recipes from our past for the brightest futures we can hope for, work for, believe in and co-create together, patiently and with persistence.
“Hope begins in the dark,” wrote Anne Lamott, “the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. You wait and watch and work: you don’t give up.”
Happy Birthday Israel,
Hope and Healing to us all,
Rabbi Amichai
