This Rabbinic Reflection marks the completion of 10 years of this column. I looked back over many of the previous articles, and I found a number of themes that I would like to highlight. Interestingly, my first article talked about graduations and the need to include ritual while also personalizing the experience to derive meaning. My retrospective is meant to be a kind of old-new ritual, looking back in order to bring meaning to going forward.
Not surprisingly, a recurring theme in my articles has been the Jewish notion of the circularity of time. The seasons come and go in their order, with holidays to mark them. The liturgical cycle repeats itself, offering us a chance to revisit and see how we have changed since the last time. The ups-and-downs of life are just that when we realize we will constantly have both sides; as King Solomon is attributed as saying, “this too shall pass.” I find it so helpful to have an alternative to the linear perspective of much of Western thinking that tries, and often fails, to demonstrate or to demand progress. I prefer the lifecycle to a lifeline.
The next most prevalent theme I found is relationship. The significance of the relationship starts with the idea that each human being has unique value, is created in the image of God, or contains a spark of the Divine, or is just like me; we are all equally important. When we recognize our own and another’s value, we become responsible to each other. We serve as helpers, mentors, moral supports, and all the other ways of talking about guardian angels on the challenging journey we call life.
When we are in a relationship and sense the circularity of time, we are better able to tap into the next theme: abundance. Abundance thinking starts with a Jewish version of God’s love: God created us from dust and ashes and created the whole world for each of us alone. God has a relationship with us, with Jews, and with humanity in all its shapes and forms. That is an infinite resource. Less theologically, abundance thinking relies on ethics and communal norms to counter the scarcity perspective that pushes us into zero-sum games where, too often, lives are at stake. When we embrace abundance, we widen the narrow bridge of life, we open the constraints that hold us back, and we are better able to work together to improve our conditions, personally and collectively.
The last theme I want to highlight is just that, light. Light is a demonstration of abundance thinking. Sharing light does not diminish one’s own; it spreads, illuminating new possibilities. That being said, light does require action. When faced with darkness, from Adam and Eve’s first evening and first winter to the latest news report, we must light lights, kindling fires, real and metaphorical, to carry us onward. Proverbs 20:27 teaches that the human soul is God’s lamp. I look forward to continuing this column so that our souls might be touched in such a way as to brighten that light. Until the next time around, embrace time, your value and relationships, abundance, and light.
About Rabbi Jeremy Winaker
Rabbi Jeremy Winaker is the executive director of the Greater Philadelphia Hillel Network, responsible for West Chester University, Haverford, Bryn Mawr, and other area colleges. He is the former head of school at the Albert Einstein Academy in Wilmington and was the senior Jewish educator at the Kristol Hillel Center at the University of Delaware for four years. Rabbi Winaker lives in Delaware with his wife and three children.
