Where Can I Find Hope?

Read the following refrain from Leonard Cohen’s song “Anthem.”

(You will have the opportunity to listen to and engage with the full song later on, for now, just focus on this refrain.)

Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in

Facilitator reads for framing:

Hope is a value which reflects a confident yet uncertain expectation of achieving a future good. Hope is forward-looking, and can be a way of feeling, thinking and influencing one’s behavior.

In a collection of essays about hope, Hope in the Dark, Jewish author and activist Rebecca Solnit writes: “Hope locates itself in the premise that we don’t know what will happen and that in the spaciousness of uncertainty is room to act... Hope is an embrace of the unknown and the unknowable, an alternative to the certainty of both optimists and pessimists.”

In other words, hope is that which we hold onto in order to keep us going. But in moments of crisis and devastation, with so much loss, pain and trauma, it is natural to veer into a deep sense of hopelessness. How do we hold onto hope for a better future when all seems bleak? Does being hopeful mean that we don’t also hold onto the tragedy and suffering? How do they sit together?

Where does the light get in?

PART I – Listen

Facilitator reads the following for background:

Leonard Cohen(1934-2016)was a Canadian singer, songwriter, poet and novelist. His music was strongly influenced by his Jewish roots, as he engaged with themes such as faith, love, loss, and mortality. In 1973 when the Yom Kippur War broke out, he left his then home on the Greek island of Hydra to fly into the warzone to sing for and boost the morale of the Israeli soldiers.

In 1992 he released the song Anthem, as part of the album The Future. It took him more than a decade to compose, perhaps because of its complexity of holding different feelings and values together at once. It is a song that reflects light – even just a sliver – during moments of darkness.

Facilitator prompts the group:

• In havruta/pairs, read the following text and answer the prompts that follow.

The Book of Mishlei/Proverbs contains guidance for living a wise, moral, and righteous life, in the form of poems and short statements. It consists of both general observations about human nature as well as lessons directly instructing the listener to take a course of action

In Perek/Chapter 13,Pasuk/Verse 12 it states:

PART I– A Phrase of Hope

Facilitator reads and prompts the group:

• Return to the key line of Leonard Cohen: “There is a crack, a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.” Using that as inspiration, come up with a phrase of your own in a similar style that captures hope.

[Allow the words to spill out of you. Do not be concerned with judging your personal artistic merit, speak from the heart.]

PART II– Committing to Find Hope:

Facilitator prompts the group:

Now is an opportunity for you to commit to finding and holding onto hope. Ask yourself – how can I stay motivated, and put one foot in front of the other to keep on going when all seems so dark? What propels you forward? What holds you back? Where and how can you find hope during such moments? Once found, how do you hold onto them?

• What is one immediate commitment you can make that will enable you to find hope amidst the darkness?

-The commitment can be a positive action – I commit to DOING something – or refraining from doing something – I commit to NOT ...

• Write down your commitment and keep it with you. Return to it throughout the day, and especially when you start to feel particularly hopeless.

Facilitator prompts the group:

• Using the metaphor of Leonard Cohen, in the cracks you feel and see right now, who or what is the light that for you offers hope?

Facilitator prompts the group:

• Using the metaphor of Leonard Cohen, in the cracks you feel and see right now, who or what is the light that for you offers hope?