From Optimisim to Hope

A favorite fridge magnet of mine says it all:

‘They said “Cheer up – things could be worse.” So I cheered up… and sure enough, things got worse.’

Sometimes its very easy to put on a smile, redouble our efforts and just then, when we tentatively walk out the door ready to face the world – that’s when things get worse. That’s when hope comes in. It happens to be the name of the shul I have just joined, Beth Tikvah (The House of Hope). It also happens to be one of the most important attitudes and emotions we can have.

As Chief Rabbi Sacks writes:

“There is nothing inevitable or logical about hope. There are cultures in which it does not exist. There is no reason – based on scientific law or historical experience – to believe that tomorrow will be better than today…”

It may be superficial to think that everything’s going to work out fine ‘because it has to’. I call that wishful thinking ‘optimism’. Hope on the other hand comes from a deep place within us that says, we are here because someone wanted us to be, who hears our cries and believes in us more than we believe in ourselves. People can live without optimism; I suspect most people in the world do. People can not live without hope.

And that’s what I see my role being here in Montreal; an agent of hope. So please come and introduce yourself to my wife and I. We look forward to meeting you, welcoming you into our home and creating a deepened sense of community among the Beth Tivkah family.  

Someone once asked me if I could describe the job of a Rabbi without using the term ‘rabbi’ in my answer. It was a good question and this opening post goes some way in presenting my response. Life, if we will it to be so, can be full of happiness, full of humanity, and ultimately full of hope.