Every time we reach the conclusion of a book of Torah, we chant together, “Hazak Hazak V’nitkhazek! Be strong! Be strong! And may we be strengthened!” This practice occurs five times every year – providing special opportunities within our Torah service, the pinnacle of our communal worship, to appreciate and encourage strength – of character, of intellect, of memory, of connection.
The reading of Torah, just like the rhythm of life, is cyclical. Each time we conclude D’varim/Deuteronomy, we begin again with B’reishit/Genesis. We don’t do this because we forgot the words or the stories or the lessons, or because we just can’t get enough of a “good book.” Rather, each time we read Torah, regardless of the “sameness” of the black letters on the parchment, the “white fire” – the midrash/interpretation – that we find in or bring to the text causes the message to emanates differently. Reading Torah is an exercise in learning, incorporating, wrestling, and growing. All of these require hazak/strength, and building fortitude requires attention to all parts of us:
- Strength grows within us when we nurture spiritual growth within our neshama/soul.
- Strength grows within us when we nurture intellectual development and ethical growth.
- Strength grows within us when we care for our bodies with exercise, healthy nourishment, and rest.
- Strength grows within us when we care for our emotional well-being through both communal and private connections.
Judaism recognizes the delicate balance of all of these components of our humanness. Examples abound. The very literal message of our Asher Yatzar prayer is blessing the One in acknowledgement of the extraordinary vessel of our bodies and noting, with wonder, the miracle of the human body’s design and function. Our Mi Shebeirach prayer for healing links refuat hanefesh and refuat haguf/healing of body and healing of spirit as essential to a refuah sh’leima/whole or complete healing. All of our lifecycle rituals address, in some way, both our bodily vessel and psycho-spiritual contents, in a very holistic way. This Shabbat, as we complete the 3rd book of Torah – V’yikra/Leviticus, with the double portion of B’har/B’chukotai, we are taught that everything (people, animals, land – animate and inanimate) needs a Sabbath, a rest, an opportunity for 
restoration and refreshment. That rest, a most essential element of hazak/strength, to be
a prominent message of the end of the middle book of Torah, seems more than mere coincidence. As we continue to wander bamidbar/in the dessert on our way from “the beginning” to “the end” of our narrative of growing to Peoplehood, we are reminded of two parallel and interrelated life-messages:
- Rest and provide rest for all that surrounds us, AND
- Be strong and be strengthened by all that surrounds us.
May your Shabbat be filled with rest, strength, and shalom!
Jessica K. Shimberg, Little Minyan Spiritual Life Coordinator; art image from adlerdesigns.com
We won’t get you to the airport in a big blue van. That’s Super Shuttle. We won’t decide who is the champion of the National Football League. That’s Super Bowl. We’re not a format of Kodak film, a scifi movie or a nationwide budget hotel chain (Super 8, Super 8 or Super 8). Better then all of these, we will have delicious, warm food, delightful company and a moving maariv service.
Dinner begins at 6:15 p..m. at Covenant Presbyterian Church, 2070 Ridgecliff Road, Upper Arlington, 43221; Kabbalat Shabbat will commence with song at 7:00 and services at 7:30. Thank you to our oneg Shabbat sponsors, Bill and Randi Cohen, and our d’rash presenter, Jerry Tinianow. Services will be led by Jessica Shimberg with musical accompaniment by Bill Cohen and Julie Sapper.
