Recently, I had the pleasure of seeing a new play on Broadway called Suffs. It is a musical that detailed the struggle of Suffragettes to pass legislation that allowed women the vote. Remember, this was justice delayed and denied until the early part of the last century. The play—which I highly suggest—details the story of Alice Paul through song, dance, and dialogue. I mention this play because it is uplifting in so many ways and because it details a story that speaks to the power of resilience. Despite years of setbacks and internal tensions, as well as a world war, this group of dedicated women eventually succeeded. They believed in a cause that transcended their own person. One of the most important messages of the play was the idea of generation to generation, that progress does come, at times, very slowly, but that progress does come and that what one generation does really helps shape the opportunities for the next.
This is, of course, a very Jewish message. As we get older, we may sometimes get the impression that what we have lived, what we accomplished may, in the end, be meaningless. It is very easy to fall into that trap. Yet, as the play teaches, as well a Jewish tradition, what we do in our life does make a difference and the people we touch, the ideas we share and the actions we take impact others, often without our realizing it. This is a kind of resilience, isn’t it? After all, as one colleague wrote, Resilience is “the ability to manage life’s challenges in ways that promote health and wholeness, to bounce back from stresses and adversity, and to do so using means that are life affirming”.
Our lives now are so complicated, and our own aging is replete often with challenges and stresses that often tax our ability to hold on to a positive life view. But this is all part of the challenge and possibilities of being alive. We know people who, faced with those challenges, keep moving and living, staying positive and focused on those aspects of life that affirm and bring joy. In Suffs, the goal of the vote was often sidetracked. However, as one of the show stopping songs reminded us, in those times when we are tested and it may seem easy to just give up, we “keep marching on”!
Life is too precious to give up or give in. Keep marching!
Shalom,
Rabbi Richard F Address
Rabbi Richard F. Address, D.Min, is the Founder and Director of www.jewishsacredaging.com. Rabbi Address served for over three decades on staff of the Union for Reform Judaism; first as a Regional Director and then, beginning in 1997, as Founder and Director of the URJ’s Department of Jewish Family Concerns and served as a specialist and consultant for the North American Reform Movement in the areas of family related programming. Rabbi Address was ordained from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in 1972 and began his rabbinic career in Los Angeles congregations. He also served as a part time rabbi for Beth Hillel in Carmel, NJ while regional director and, after his URJ tenure, served as senior rabbi of Congregation M’kor Shalom in Cherry Hill, NJ from 2011-2014.
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