The Havdalah service contains words to live by: “For the Jews there was light and joy, gladness and honor – so let it be for us.”
But locating that light is a daunting task during these troubling times.
Inspired by the unbridled bliss of the Simchat Torah holiday, I promised myself that whenever I am overwhelmed, I will focus on things that remind me of why I should be grateful.
Remembering that I am part of the greater Jewish community
When I was growing up in New Jersey, I learned that a low-stakes way to find out if someone was Jewish was to ask “MOT?” If the person was indeed a “Member of the Tribe,” he or she would nod “yes.” If instead it produced a puzzled look, the answer was “no.” What a joy it is to meet other Jews throughout the country and the world. They almost always make you feel welcomed. It is reminiscent of Robert Frost’s classic verse: “Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in.” How comforting to be part of a community that does the same.
Attending religious services
While I love both Kabbalat Shabbat services on Friday night and the full set of services on Saturday, many of my Jewish friends seldom attend synagogue. Going to temple provides me with the strength to get through the week, and I suspect that if they gave it a chance, some of them would understand why. So put aside any bad memories of tedious sermons and long, boring services performed for the most part in a seemingly incomprehensible language, and experience the joyful worship of today. If you want a low-stakes way to try it out, stream a service. Here is a suggestion: tune in to the Yom Kippur sermon, “Claiming Zionism,” from Rabbi Angela Buchdahl of Central Synagogue in Manhattan. You will not regret it.
Bursting with pride over the accomplishments of fellow Jews
My favorite part of “Nobel season” is recognizing how many of the recipients are Jewish. Jews comprise one out of every 500 people in the world, barely a rounding error, but have been awarded more than one of every five Nobel Prizes in history. A fabulous example is my Northwestern colleague Joel Mokyr, who shared the 2025 Nobel Prize in Economics for his pathbreaking work on the contribution of technological change to economic growth. Professor Mokyr was born in the Netherlands in 1946 to a family of Dutch Jews. While three-quarters of the Jewish population there were murdered in the Holocaust, some of Joel’s family managed to survive, and when he was a young boy he and his mother emigrated to Haifa. And then there is Henri Kagan, a French academic, who was just awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Professor Kagan hid with relatives in a village in the south of France during the Nazi occupation. Mokyr’s and Kagan’s families endured against all odds, but think of how many brilliant Jewish lives were lost.
Taking solace in the support we are getting from non-Jews
It is easy to spend our time lamenting the fact that some of our “friends” failed us when we needed them most. The demise of such personal relationships cuts to the bone, and then there are the painful public examples that are regularly in the news. It isn’t hard to list actors, politicians, writers, musicians and others who are, at best, insensitive to the situation of Jews and at worst, have fanned the flames of Jew-hatred. Let’s not forget their names. But neither should we forget the righteous gentiles from all spheres of life who have unselfishly put their careers on the line by supporting the Jewish people. From Boy George in the arts, to U.S. Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) in politics, to Van Jones in the media to Jalen Brunson in sports, Jews everywhere are in their debt. So take comfort in the words and deeds of heroes, rather than merely focus on those who have abandoned us.
Light, joy, gladness, and honor. If we are able to open our eyes wide enough, we might just discover that they have been right in front of us all along.
Morton Schapiro served for more than 22 years as President of Northwestern University and Williams College. He taught almost 7,000 undergraduates over his more than 40 years as an economics professor.
