I recently attended an event for StandStrong, a Jewish organization that empowers communities to be confident, safe, and proud of their identity through self-defense. This class was led by MMA fighter Natan Levy. While I was talking to him about protecting myself, he told me that it is very important to always keep myself calm and my body balanced.
This summer, we will read Parsha VaEthanan, where we are retold the Ten Commandments, which are a great example of balance. The first four commandments focus on our relationship with G-d, and the last six help us build better relationships with other people. The lesson here is that we need a balance between spirituality and interpersonal relationships.
I understand that conversations at Shabbat meals revolve around the state of the world, but they should also include laughter and Torah.
Jonathan Haidt wrote the book, “The Anxious Generation.” He believes that children in this generation are becoming increasingly anxious due to social media. While I am sure that social media isn’t helping Jewish children nowadays, they are going to be anxious without social media. They can feel the fear in their parents, grandparents, and teachers’ voices. It’s important to give children balance by making Shabbat meals and synagogue fun. After services, let the children run around and have fun. Let them have a balance to this unbalanced time.
It is very hard to stay calm in these times, but I do believe the best way to do so is through balance. We can consume information without it consuming us. We can look at social media after we move our bodies and see the sun in the morning.
Maimonides said, “If a person studies too much and exhausts his reflective powers, he will be confused, and will not be able to apprehend even that which had been within the power of his apprehension. For the powers of the body are all alike in this respect.” (The Guide for the Perplexed, Chapter 32)
We all want to be educated on the important issues concerning Jewish people. However, reading and listening to more information doesn’t always make us more educated. It can cause us to only absorb information that has a singular slant and increase our anxiety.
Carmel Gat was one of the six beautiful souls who were found murdered in a Hamas terror tunnel. Eleven months before her death, Carmel had just returned from a trip to India, where she had been practicing meditation and yoga for months. After a long trip, she went to stay with her parents for Simchat Torah, as every Jewish girl would. From her parents’ home, she was taken by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, while her mother was murdered. A nightmare for any person, and Carmel was still able to help others.
According to the hostages who were released a couple of months after Oct. 7, Carmel used mindfulness techniques to help other hostages cope with the horrific situation they were in. She would teach people yoga or use occupational therapy techniques to help children while they were held captive. She was keeping herself calm and balanced in the most difficult situation possible.
I hope and pray we are never in another situation like the one Carmel was in. I don’t know how she managed to maintain such a balance, but from her we should learn to seek it in difficult situations.
Natan Levy was teaching me self-defense. He helped me with the correct stance and movements so I can feel confident and protected. While I find all of this useful, I feel like I left the class really focused on maintaining my physical and emotional balance for myself and my family. I know we all need to keep both feet planted, look forward and stay calm and balanced for our future.
Dana Fine is an acupuncturist in the Chicago suburbs. She is also the author of the Children’s book “Finding Balance.”
