Gam Zeh Ya’avor

If you were to draw a timeline of your own life, of your community’s or even Judaism’s, what would it look like? Most people draw a line, from a beginning to an end, it’s usually one-directional, and there are no retakes or returns. That is how we experience life, we move from the present into a new and unknown future. And yet, Jewish time, nor our lives, are not a linear process from start to finish, we don’t read the Torah once and then never again, we don’t experience Pesach only once and then tick it off our list.

Time is cyclical in Jewish tradition and experience, which is why we say the Shehecheyanu at any given opportunity, as a reminder that though we are here again, we are not the same as last time or last year. The best description of time is probably as a spiral staircase, it is cyclical, but every time we return, we return in a slightly different way, slightly altered. We might be a bit more bruised from life, but hopefully also a bit wiser, our perceptions and understanding a bit changed from the past year. 

And so, here we are again, with one eye on the news app, constantly on the lookout for changes to the law due to rising Covid numbers, always alert to how it might affect our lives and ability to interact socially. And though we’re back again in the same place as last year, it is still different. We have been through this before, we know how it can affect us, and hopefully we have developed coping mechanisms to best help us through the next months of uncertainty.

It’s at a time like this that the phrase Gam zeh ya’avor is a good reminder. Jewish tradition claims that it comes from a story about King Solomon who was known for being wise but often also sad or depressed. He asked a trusted servant to find him a magic ring; if a happy person looked at it, it would make him sad, and if a sad person looking at it, it would make her happy. The servant returned after many months of searching, and when the king read the inscription he smiled, for the inscription read; ‘This, too, shall pass’. 

‘Gam ze ya’avor’ is realistic without being pessimistic, it’s helpful especially in times like these, where the world is once again unpredictable and scary. Times are difficult, but gam zeh ya’avor - they, too, shall pass.  Gam zeh ya’avor - we will find ways to cope, to protect others and ourselves, and to reach out to those who need it.