TV Appearance and Discovering What's Next

A favorite Jewish teaching comes from a nineteenth-century rabbi named Nachman.

He said, "The whole world is a narrow bridge, and the most important part is to keep walking amidst the fear."

A week after the terror in Israel, this teaching aptly describes how many of us feel right now.

We walk along a narrow bridge. And the bridge feels wobbly. We could fall off at any moment.

Our bodies sense the fear. We may be turning our heads and looking back.

How can we go on living with joy when everything can be lost in a moment?

How can people murder grandparents and target innocent teenagers dancing at a music festival?

Will we ever reach the end of the bridge, the place of peace and love and shalom?

But as I said on television this morning, fear must paralyze us. We need to keep on walking.

We need to hold each other up. And God needs us to hold on to the vision of turning the world as it is into the world as it ought to be.

What’s Next?

So what's next? No one knows. I pray for wisdom and success.

Wisdom for leaders who need to do everything in their power to protect their citizens and prevent future acts of murder and terrorism.

And success in one of Israel's highest priorities: avoiding civilian deaths.

While Hamas celebrates the death of Jewish and Palestinian civilians, including children, Israel seeks to prevent them. All people of goodwill share this hope.

A traditional Jewish blessing ends with the words, "May God grant strength unto our people. And may God bless all people with peace." Amen.