Vampire Weekend's Surprising Jewish Stories
5 min read
How to nurture hope in the face of an uncertain future.
As I lit an extra set of candles this past Shabbat for the Jewish women in captivity who could not light their own candles, I whispered a prayer, not of despair, but of hope. It’s not that I am falsely optimistic about the future, but I am still hopeful. And there is an essential difference between optimism and hope.
As Professor Arthur Brooks explains in Building the Life You Want, optimists tend to believe in a better future and are often painfully disappointed when tomorrow is just as heartbreaking and challenging as today. But hope is different, because hope involves you choosing to be proactive to do what you can to improve a situation, without distorting the painful reality that you are facing. In other words, optimism is the belief that everything will be okay, and hope is the belief that no matter what, you can take some action, however small, to make something better today even if everything will never be okay again.
Optimism is the belief that everything will be okay. Hope is the belief that no matter what, you can take some action to improve today even if everything will never be okay again.
Whether you are naturally optimistic or pessimistic, hope is a trait that you can work on, no matter what your individual tendencies are. Here are three hope-building questions to ask yourself to cope with anxiety about the future.
In these times of intense chaos and uncertainty, sometimes figuring out what to do for the whole day can feel overwhelming. On some days you may need to ask yourself what you can do in the next hour or even the next minute that would be helpful. When you don’t know what to do, pick one specific, small action that is easily within your reach. Maybe it’s an unexpected act of kindness for a stranger. Maybe it’s giving a smile or a compliment to someone who needs it. There is always something you can do now, no matter how seemingly insignificant it may seem, to make things better.
When both the present and the future are so unpredictable and scary, it can seem like there is nothing consistent in your life. But there are parts of your life that you can still rely on. Make a list of those things and people in your life that are reliable sources of support for you. Include healthy habits and routines that help you control what you focus on each day. What you believe in and how you choose to respond to challenges is within your control. Focusing on all that is within your control strengthens your ability to be hopeful regardless of the circumstances.
Both the shock and the turbulence of the past couple of weeks have jolted many of us into reconsidering some of our choices and life directions. What are you learning about yourself from what is happening? How can you use these lessons to shape your future goals and choices? Trauma and uncertainty about the future can lead you to reconsider your priorities and perhaps reflect on your true identity. Who are you and what do you stand for? What are you willing to die for? And more importantly, what are you willing to live for?
I am continuously awed by the power of hope that the Jewish people are harnessing together every day as we face this uncertain future together. Over two days, our community raised over $100,000 to buy much needed equipment for IDF soldiers. Our Rabbi got on a plane this past Saturday night with all of the supplies and personally delivered them to dozens of army bases around Israel.
My aunt sent money for groceries to a woman in Jerusalem who is hosting a displaced family from the South. My daughter in Israel volunteered as a lifeguard in Jerusalem for children from the South; it was hosted at a private pool that a family opened up to any of the children who wanted to swim.
One of the most powerful images of hope I’ve seen this past week is the musical Hallel that my daughter attended on Rosh Chodesh with families from the South who are currently staying in Jerusalem. The men’s section was half empty since most of the men had either been killed, kidnapped or were serving in the army. But the women’s section was full. It was full of tears, and prayer. It was full of song, and hope.
It reminded me of what the author and Holocaust survivor, Viktor Frankl, wrote in his book Yes to Life in Spite of Everything. In the Buchenwald concentration camp Frankl recalls that his fellow inmates would sing a song with the following lyrics: “We still want to say yes to life. We don’t know what our future will hold. But we still say yes to life.”
As we continue to fight against the horrific antisemitism all around us, and as we continue to grieve all the precious lives that have been lost, we are still here to say yes to life in spite of everything. We will never lose hope and we will never stop building a better tomorrow. The Jewish people will go on. Today, tomorrow, forever. Am Yisrael Chai.
Shalom to our Jewish brothers and sisters. With you in spirit and praying for Israel. Forever in the fight against the radical behaviors you encounter.
Blessings! From a Christian sister.
Great article. We are not helpless, even here in America miles from the front, we have power. We can shoot missals of truth into the national and international conversation by expressing our opinion online, social media, comments section of magazines and newspapers and counter the lies being fed into our public.
We can fire grenades of funding to Israel in her time of need, supporting those who were driven from their homes.
And We can pray. The power of our prayer is the power of Hashem, Uncreated Goodness
As you can guess by my name I am Christian. That does not weaken me in this battle. I can say things in the national conversation that you cannot say, in places you cannot reach. We are fighting together for Israel.
Thank you!
Beautiful! I signed up to learn
There is always an opportunity for hope and optimism. It's what feeds the human spirit.
Nurture yourself through nurturing others.
When you serve other people, you forget yourself. It happens all the time. This is valid too.