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Sermon

Rabbi Miriam Berger, Founder Director of Wellspring

From Darkness to (Festival) Light(s) – Rabbi Miriam Berger

Biblical Egypt had a lot to grapple with: civil unrest, water pollution, environmental disasters and outbreaks of health epidemics, including boils and lice. The list was seemingly endless until society was plunged into darkness. This biblical narrative explains the uprising of the lower classes as being down to a charismatic leader who promised them a future free from oppression and explains the “natural disasters” as plagues cast onto the masses to further the cause of the slaves’ uprising. But if we put ourselves in their primeval shoes, would the people of Ancient Egypt have felt any differently from those experiencing financial hardships, floods, war and prejudice today?

It seems, since Eden, that the world around us is, and always has been, a hard place to exist. It is hard to rationalise, to understand why we have to endure such trying realities. The Midrash teaches us about the fear and loneliness that Adam grappled with in the Garden of Eden, assuming the darkness of night was a punishment for his offensive behaviour and his response was to stop eating and to weep (Avodah Zarah 8a). The Torah itself alludes to the perception of injustice that caused Cain distress and his violent behaviour (Genesis 4:5). In every generation since the beginning of time, we have had to deal with a world that is hard to live in and behaviours (either our own or others) that can feel inexplicably hard to understand. Although it doesn’t make it any easier for us to live with mental health conditions, simply knowing that their existence is as old as time itself does make it a bit more bearable. We are also one of the first generations to experience living with mental health conditions in a society that is so much better equipped to help and support us. And this is because we now have a language to explain our experiences and our behaviours, and the pathways to access support.

Yet, the challenges of the world have also become harder to shelter ourselves from, ever present, moment by moment, as they play out on our doorsteps or thousands of miles away. The perception of other people’s lives being better or easier than ours can also taunt us, however we allow that perception to manifest itself.

The world, especially at this difficult time in the UK, feels like we have been plunged into darkness. It is at its hardest to navigate for so many and it isn’t surprising that the rate of us struggling with our mental health is at a record high. The British Psychological Society quotes figures published by the NHS, revealing that 1.75 million people were in contact with mental health services at the end of June 2023. The majority of these (1,136,347) were in contact with adult services, with 431,855 people in contact with children and young people’s mental health services at this time. During June, mental health services received 424,645 new referrals. If all of these were people actually seeking help, imagine the true extent of need when you include all those who struggle under the radar without seeking the support they need. It means that those of us who struggle should know we aren’t alone.

We should no longer see mental health issues as a shameful taboo. But where do we take this knowledge? If Torah paints the picture of a world where people have always struggled, and where darkness has always been a reality for people since Eden, in Egypt and still in our world today, does it also give us a solution?

I certainly think it alludes to one – one that has for millennia tried to hold and contain us, and that we can all continue to turn to today. The Parasha explains it in three ways.

First, the plague of darkness is described as a time when “people could not see one another” (Exodus 10:23). When people are struggling with their mental health, this is when they feel most invisible, most unseen. Being part of a community can make a difference. When we create spaces for others, at times when they are most likely to feel invisible, we are better equipped to see their needs more acutely and ensure that they are brought into the community’s heart and supported. Whether these spaces are created through synagogue communities or by Jami at its Head Room cafe, they ensure that at our darkest times, we can find places where we will be seen.

Secondly, the plague of darkness leads to a conversation around the use of livestock for worship – the need for the Israelites to take their cattle with them for sacrificial purposes. In doing so, The Torah is reminding us that even in our darkest times, we need to find the resources to remember there will be things to be grateful for as well. The blessings may not seem visible to us at every moment, but the goodness will emerge and we need to have the resources to express that gratitude. We always have the ability to dig deep and find the glimmers of things that we are truly thankful for. In our darkest moments, can we see the blessings in our lives?

Finally, the narrative of the plagues suddenly breaks between the darkness and the final plague. We step out of the present and into the future, describing how every year, for evermore, we will tell the story of the Exodus from Egypt, alluding to our sederim and some of the Pesach practices of today. This not only reminds us that however bad things feel, we are living through just one moment in a continuum during which we will experience both our best and our worst experiences. It also frames the darkness in the rituals which come around routinely. They root us. They mark time. They allow us to see where we have come from and to think about where we want to aim for. Whether it is the need for a daily minyan (to pray in a group of at least 10 people), the weekly act of lighting Shabbat candles or the annual Pesach seder, these all give us a structure to remind ourselves that we are part of a community, part of something that can hold and see us, and a place where we will be able to experience blessings and feel gratitude soon. If we frame our lives with rituals, we will have the structures to support and hold us if we allow ourselves to keep looking forward with them.

Find your minyan of support and bring light into the darkness with them.