The evil inclination causes us to sin through despair. It forces us to see our shortcomings and inadequacies and makes us loose hope of fulfilling God’s service. We thereby fall into the net of sinfulness. We need to strengthen ourselves by acknowledging that we are precious to God and that each of contains a piece of the divine.
- What, in you experience, is the connection between despair and sin/wrongdoing?
- What is so dangerous about despair?
באש ולא נבכה אמר להן לכך אני מצחק ומה לעוברי רצונו כך לעושי רצונו על אחת כמה וכמה שוב פעם אחת היו עולין לירושלים כיון שהגיעו להר הצופים קרעו בגדיהם כיון שהגיעו להר הבית ראו שועל שיצא מבית קדשי הקדשים התחילו הן בוכין ור"ע מצחק אמרו לו מפני מה אתה מצחק אמר להם מפני מה אתם בוכים אמרו לו מקום שכתוב בו (במדבר א, נא) והזר הקרב יומת ועכשיו שועלים הלכו בו ולא נבכה אמר להן לכך אני מצחק דכתיב (ישעיהו ח, ב) ואעידה לי עדים נאמנים את אוריה הכהן ואת זכריה בן יברכיהו וכי מה ענין אוריה אצל זכריה אוריה במקדש ראשון וזכריה במקדש שני אלא תלה הכתוב נבואתו של זכריה בנבואתו של אוריה באוריה כתיב (מיכה ג, יב) לכן בגללכם ציון שדה תחרש [וגו'] בזכריה כתיב (זכריה ח, ד) עוד ישבו זקנים וזקנות ברחובות ירושלם עד שלא נתקיימה נבואתו של אוריה הייתי מתיירא שלא תתקיים נבואתו של זכריה עכשיו שנתקיימה נבואתו של אוריה בידוע שנבואתו של זכריה מתקיימת בלשון הזה אמרו לו עקיבא ניחמתנו עקיבא ניחמתנו:
הדרן עלך אלו הן הלוקין וסליקא לה מסכת מכות
Rabbi Akiva and his companions were traveling past the site of the destroyed Temple.
When they arrived at the Temple Mount, they saw a fox coming out of the place that had been the Holy of Holies.They began weeping, and Rabbi Akiva was laughing. They said to him: For what reason are you laughing? Rabbi Akiva said to them: For what reason are you weeping?
They said: This is the place that was once so holy that only priests could tread there, and now foxes walk in it. Shall we not weep?Rabbi Akiva said to them: That is why I am laughing!In the prophecy of Uriah it is written: “Therefore, for your sake Zion shall be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become rubble, and the Temple Mount as the high places of a forest” (Micah 3:12), where foxes are found. In the prophecy of Zechariah it is written: “There shall yet be elderly men and elderly women sitting in the streets of Jerusalem” (Zechariah 8:4). ...
Now that the prophecy of Uriah was fulfilled, it is evident that the prophecy of Zechariah will also be fulfilled....The Sages said to him: Akiva, you have comforted us; Akiva, you have comforted us...
(translation adapted and abridged for clarity)
- What are some strategies for hope used by Rabbi Akiva here?
- Do they entirely depend on a literal belief in prophecy?
- Are there aspects of these strategies that we might be able to adapt for our own times?
Fred Rogers, Newspaper column 1986:
I was spared from any great disasters when I was little, but there was plenty of news of them in newspapers and on the radio, and there were graphic images of them in newsreels.
For me, as for all children, the world could have come to seem a scary place to live. But I felt secure with my parents, and they let me know that we were safely together whenever I showed concern about accounts of alarming events in the world.
There was something else my mother did that I’ve always remembered: “Always look for the helpers,” she’d tell me. “There’s always someone who is trying to help.” I did, and I came to see that the world is full of doctors and nurses, police and firemen, volunteers, neighbors and friends who are ready to jump in to help when things go wrong.
- Who are the helpers that you have observed in recent days?
- How does "looking for the helpers" change our understanding of a situation?
- How does BEING a helper change our experience of a crisis?
הוא היה אומר לא עליך המלאכה לגמור. ולא אתה בן חורין ליבטל ממנה.
[Rabbi Tarfon] used to say: It is not your responsibility to finish the work, but neither are you free to desist from it.
- What are the kinds of work in the world that we may never finish?
- How, and why, do we keep working anyway?
- Can you think of people, relationships, ideas, or spiritual practices that sustain you as you keep going?