Elul Reflection - 9.8.23 - Rabbi Scott Segal

Hope can be dangerous.
Not all the time of course.
I hope that the Cincinnati Bengals win the Super Bowl.
I hope that we get enough rain.
I hope that I will live long enough to see flying cars become a real thing.
I have no control over these.
I have no role to play.
So I hope.
I do not hope that our nation becomes more just, compassionate, and kind.
I do not hope that the struggles people of color, the lgbtq+ community, and other long-persecuted groups can be addressed and alleviated in substantive and significant ways.
I do not hope to see a decrease in anti-Semitism.
I do not hope for these because to “hope” implies I have no control.
To “hope” implies I have no role to play.
So as we prepare to enter the New Year of 5784 I do not hope.
I believe.
I work.
I fight.
So I no longer need to hope.
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Shanah tovah,
Rabbi Scott Segal