There is a famous Jewish teaching by the Rebbe Nachman of Breslov, who lived about 250 years ago. He said, “The entire world is just a narrow bridge, and the essential thing is not to be afraid at all.”
I have been thinking a lot about that teaching lately, because the world has indeed felt more and more like a narrow bridge. What does it mean to “not be afraid,” when there is so much to be fearful of?
And instilling fear seems to be the point. Declarations of mass deportation have undertones of a roundup. Executive orders targeting transgender people increase real threats of violence. Removing security details of public servants who have been threatened, while pardoning others convicted of violence toward public servants, sends a clear message. Be afraid.
How can we understand this amplification of fear? Turning to the Bible for insight, I am reminded that in the first chapter of Exodus, Pharaoh instills fear in his people. He tells his people to be afraid of the Israelites, who are the migrants and refugees in Egypt. “Look,” he tells the Egyptians, “the Israelite people are much too numerous for us … they may join our enemies in fighting against us and rise from the ground” (Ex. 1:9-10).
So he tells the midwives to kill the Israelite baby boys they deliver. The midwives, however, like the healthcare workers of our day devoted to their calling and to the public good, do not obey this order to murder because, as Exodus says, “they fear God,” (Ex. 1:17) which is a Hebrew expression for having faith in God.
And so Pharaoh needs another way to strike at the most vulnerable. He “charged all his people” (Ex. 1:22) to carry out his orders. He knows that he cannot succeed without enlisting everyone. He cannot succeed without tearing apart community and civil society itself.
This story has resonance for our own times. Once again, fear is instilled so we stop trusting one another, so community ties and collective commitments to the public good are frayed. But we do not need to participate in the unraveling of compassion and decency. We can be true to our faith and our highest values. We can continue to care for each other.
The Island is a remarkably special place because of community. Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan defined community as when “the welfare of each is the concern of all, and the life of the world is the concern of each.”
Caring and kindness in our communities have never been the domain of one political party or one kind of voter. Rather, it has always been a shared vision. That vision is being challenged now, so we need together to hold it up even higher. We hold it higher by showing each other kindness. We need to hold it higher by treating each other according to the biblical principles of “love your neighbor” (Lev. 19:18) and “in the image of God each person is created” (Genesis 1:27).
Yes, there is much to fear. But by strengthening community bonds and by committing ourselves to work together for the benefit of all, we can create a bridge that is wide enough to cross — hand in hand.
Caryn Broitman is the rabbi of the Martha’s Vineyard Hebrew Center.
