Faith can help us find a way through crisis

So how does one cope with those moments of almost enveloping darkness, when it seems that, as the Torah describes the paralysing darkness of Egypt, “No person could see his fellow, nor could anyone move from his fixed position” (Exodus 10:23)?

Perhaps, unless one has experienced this, one cannot fully relate to it, however empathetic one may be.

I recall an individual who suffered from deep bouts of depression and who had fallen into debt due to unpaid bills, explaining to me how he had felt, at the nadir of one of those bouts; so lifeless and devoid of energy and motivation, that even though he was generally a responsible, punctilious and financially comfortable person, he just could not muster the energy or interest to deal with day-to-day routine tasks and settling of outstanding bills.

Rabbi Abraham Twerski, with whom I was privileged to have had a few personal interactions at various times over the years, shared an insight with me into how pervasive “mood swings” can be.

King David says in Psalms (139:8), “If I will scale the heavens, You are there, and if I will plumb the depths of the nether world, behold You are there!”

Said Rabbi Twerski: King David apparently knew what it meant to experience the highest of highs and lowest of lows, the single common denominator linking them being the presence of the Omnipresent. The knowledge that our Creator is with us in our darkest moments shines a ray of light into even such unfortunate and painful moments.

Similarly, especially in a day and age in which, according to a World Health Organisation report of 2021, over 5 per cent of the world’s population — some 280 million people — are suffering from diagnosable forms of clinical depression, it is of some comfort to know that one of the greatest Jewish spirits understood, and maybe even himself experienced, the almost inescapable ups and downs of life.

Perhaps, even more dramatic, is to focus on the words of three of our great prophets, Moses, Elijah and Jonah, all of whom experienced moments of such despair that they apparently considered their lives as no longer worth living and prayed for their own imminent demise.

Moses: “And Moshe said to Hashem, ‘Why have You dealt badly with Your servant and why have I not found favour in your eyes, to place the burden of all this nation on me? … And if thus shall You do to me, then please kill me, if I have found favour in Your eyes and let me not behold my downfall’” (Numbers 11:11 and 14).

Elijah: “And he [Eliyahu] traversed the wilderness for a day, and he came and sat under a rotem bush and asked that he be allowed to die and he said, ‘It is enough now, Hashem, take my soul for I am not better than my forefathers’” (1 Kings, 19:4).

Jonah: “And now Hashem please take my soul from me for better that I die than that I live” (Jonah 4:3).

There are three important points to note immediately.

Firstly, in none of the above cases did the great individuals concerned entertain, even for a moment, the possibility of taking their own lives. Secondly, all three of them transcended their moment of “crisis” and proceeded to continue to live good, meaningful and fulfilled lives. Thirdly, each of these moments of crisis was precipitated by a threat to the very essence of these great prophets’ raison d’etre.

They saw an apparently insurmountable threat to their lifetime’s core spiritual and religious mission, and it was that which led them to consider their lives as no longer worth living.

(It is important to clarify that traumatic events can cause a deep sense of worry and despair. It is also possible that such events can be a trigger for the onset of actual clinical depression or that a person may be suffering from clinical depression even without the presence of an identifiable cause. In any such instance, one must consult a qualified medical/mental health professional without delay.)

But if adversity, disappointment and despair are, to some extent, unavoidable components of our lives, how are we supposed to cope with and overcome them?

The Sefer Hayashar ascribed to Rabbeinu Tam (12th century) suggests two critical elements to charting a course out of moments or episodes of despair. Firstly, not to completely abandon one’s regular pattern of avodat Hashem (service of God).

Secondly, to be aware and remember that previous negative experiences were followed by positive and happy ones and to cling to the certain knowledge and belief that this will, sooner rather than later, be the case once again.

We previously referenced King David’s recognition of God’s presence at the highest and lowest points of a person’s life. In Bereshit, we find that Hashem appears to Jacob as he is on his way down to Egypt (46).

In verse four, we see that a critical part of the words of reassurance and comfort offered to our clearly worried patriarch is,: “I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will assuredly bring you back up (from there).”

True recognition and acknowledgement of God’s presence alongside us in times of uncertainty and travail is one of the most reassuring things on to which we can hope to hold. Similarly, consider the well-known words of King David in Psalm 23, “Even though I may walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for You are with me.”

The Jigsaw Puzzle of Life — A Rabbi’s Perspective, Rabbi Mordechai S Ginsbury, Mosaica, which is out now at £20. The author is Senior Rabbi of Hendon United Synagogue