By Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback
I was seven years old when “Star Wars: A New Hope,” was released in May of 1977. Last week, over forty years later, I witnessed the final episode of the Star Wars saga, “The Rise of Skywalker.” As I pause to contemplate the impact this series has had on our shared culture, I am struck by a theme, beyond the special effects and light sabers, that resonates today.
As the title of the original “Star Wars” film suggests, it’s ultimately about hope. A small group of misfits and outcasts works against all odds to oppose the tyrannical Empire. Together they destroy the Death Star, the Empire’s most powerful weapon. Seemingly the forces of good are victorious. But evil is not yet vanquished. The next installment ends with Han Solo captured, the Empire resurgent, and a sense of despair – can good triumph, or will the dark side of the force prevail?
Here we are, at the dawn of our secular New Year, at the dawn of a new decade. We find ourselves similarly suspended between despair and hope. Antisemitism in America and around the world is on the rise. Jewish Americans have been attacked in synagogues and supermarkets. Hate-speech, gun-violence, a general lack of respect for divergent opinions, as well as deep political divisions cause us to question the civility of our society. On top of this, the consequences of global climate change, previously thought to be a far off concern of future generations, already are affecting life on earth.
There is much that might fill us with a sense of despair at this moment.
And yet, there is also so much to be hopeful for, so much to be thankful about. Nicholas Kristof points out in a recent column that we may, in fact, be living in the best of times, when measured by the declining number of people in poverty, greater access to clean water and electricity, reduced infant mortality rates, and increased literacy throughout the world. To him, notwithstanding the calamities the world faced in 2019, it may well have been the best year in human history.
More personally, despite our concerns about our safety and our place in this country, we must remind ourselves that we are living in a unique moment: as a Diaspora community, we continue to enjoy freedoms, opportunities, and protections that are unprecedented throughout Jewish history; at the same time, we are privileged to witness our People’s return to sovereignty and to be partners in the upbuilding of the State of Israel.
To be sure, there remains much work to be done. But we mustn’t let the challenges we face diminish our optimism about what is possible.
Let us give thanks for the goodness in our world, for friends who provide support and encouragement, for allies who rise to our defense, for the eternal values of our tradition that guide us through life’s challenges, and for the many, many reasons we have to hold onto hope.
The great 20th century Rabbi and theologian, Mordechai Kaplan, taught that “God is the sum of the animating, organizing forces and relationships which are forever making a cosmos out of chaos.”
What could be more hopeful, more uplifting, more inspiring than the notion that we can be God’s partner in bringing order to the universe?
May we – in this New Year and always – be part of that force that brings goodness, harmony, understanding, peace, and meaning to our world. In this New Year – and always – let us choose hope over despair.
