Sighing Towards The Source of Life

Last updated on: February 6, 2020 at 3:40 pm by Hebrew College

Sighing Towards The Source of Life 2020-02-06T15:40:29-04:00 Hebrew College

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Parashat Beshalach (Exodus 13:17-17:16)

By Rabbi Jordan Braunig

Parashat Beshalach (Exodus 13:17-17:16)

This week we are treated to a thrilling journey from bondage to freedom, complete with a quick escape — oppressors at our heels, a trek on dry land between spectacularly split seas, a song of liberation on exultant lips, and, finally, jubilation on the shores of deliverance. The high drama, suspense and intense joy make Parashat Beshalach undoubtedly among the great mythic moments of the Torah. Less appreciated is the fact that it’s followed by an epic comedown replete with grumbling, general dissatisfaction and complaints. The turnaround time from miraculous salvation to deep discontent is both staggering and not completely surprising. Those whose lives were transformed in their trek from enslavement to freedom grew thirsty and, no matter how supreme your spiritual high might have just been, when you need water, you need water.

We are used to recalling the Exodus; the glory of our redemption from Mitzrayim is called to mind liturgically on a daily basis. Yet, this week we are more apt to focus, instead, on the role of our complaining. The midrash imagines this grumbling beginning even in the midst of the sea. One journeyer turns to another and says, “We had mud there and we have mud here.”[1] For me, this feels like a top-notch complaint, completely ignoring the wonder of the moment and fixating on the petty discomfort. The Torah text itself provides ample examples of groaning and kvetching in the days after the people’s miraculous deliverance from slavery.

The Song of the Sea has barely ceased when the children of Israel recognize that they have a serious water shortage on their hands. In a place named for the bitterness of the water, the people realize their predicament and they complain. The bitter waters of Marah are only the beginning. In Chapter 16, it is the people’s grumbling about a lack of food that precipitates the giving of manna. And then, only a chapter later, another situation unfolds in which fear spreads that there will not be enough to drink. In each case, Moses is confounded by the kvetching, while the Holy One seems to listen and respond in kind. A careful reader of parables could only come to one conclusion in reading these stories: complaining catches the attention of the Divine.

A New York Times story a few weeks back was headlined “Go Ahead and Complain. It Might Be Good for You.” (Not that any of us were waiting for permission from the NYT!). In the article, journalist Micaela Marini Higgs reports on new evidence that complaining may be a useful tool in coping with life’s adversities. She writes, “The most obvious reason we complain? Life isn’t perfect. That’s why expressing negative feelings is not only normal, but also healthy.” The personal benefits of venting are complemented by a societal function; the article explains, “We’re not very good at expressing our feelings as a society, so it’s pretty common to complain in order to express a feeling,” said Tina Gilbertson, a psychotherapist and the author of “Constructive Wallowing.” And since, as she said, “any time we are sharing emotional content with someone, that is a vehicle for bonding,” we’re especially fond of using complaining as a social tool.”[2] Perhaps, according to this thinking our journey to peoplehood was successful because, from the start, we knew about the cohesive power of the collective complaint.

We live in a moment in time rife with groaning and grumbling; how often we seek out the ear of someone willing to share in our sorrow. It can feel connecting to express our disillusionment and disappointment to those around us, and, in turn, to hear that others are feeling the same way. Of course, we recognize that complaint alone will not be enough, that times such as these require political action. But sometimes we just need the time and space to name the emotions that we’re feeling. Perhaps the Torah that we encounter this week is meant to teach us that such complaining has the potential to be productive, to bring about solutions, whether those come from above or from below.

While complaining can feel second nature, I have also recognized that there are times when articulating the particulars of my anxiety can be challenging. Even if the Torah and the New York Times are trying to tell me that it’s okay to kvetch, what happens when I can’t find the words? Here, a teaching of Rebbe Nachman arrives to offer some solace and support. The great master and mystic of Breslav teaches that even a sigh has the potential to connect us to the spirit of life. “The sigh or the groan of a person brings wholeness to where there was lack.” When we are dispirited, our breath has the potential to connect us back to the breath of life, to renew within us all that was created through breath.[3]

We are living through an era of grumbling, an age of the mournful sigh. We would be wise to seek meaning in these coping mechanisms. May we be blessed to find connection in our complaint, to understand our sigh as an extension of the original Divine breath, and to return renewed afterward to our work of recreating a more whole world.

Rabbi Jordan Braunig, Rab’14 was ordained at Hebrew College in Newton, MA and is the Director of Community Building at Tufts University Hillel.

[1] Shemot Rabbah 24:1

[2] Higgs, Micaela Marini, New York Times, “Go Ahead and Complain. It Might Be Good for You.” 1/13/20

[3] Likutei Moharan 1, 8:1

Previous Post

January 27, 2020

Classification of Plantlife

Next Post

February 10, 2020 Aligning Our Visions, Systems & Actions

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Uncategorized

Select a Month April 2026 March 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz