A Thread of Hope

The following originally appeared on the Gateways and Tents blog. 

Earlier this fall, the Israeli author Etgar Keret wrote in The New Yorker: “we have to believe that hope is not just another word in Israel’s national anthem but rather is a powerful force that can lead to change.”

 

On Sunday, we asked Anat Hoffman, executive director of the Israel Religious Action Center: “In light of the many challenges you’re fighting, what gives you hope?”

 

She pointed out that the first time that the Hebrew word for “hope,” tikvah, appears in the Bible, it appears in reference to a thread of string (see Joshua 2:18). She reminded our group that hope doesn’t come off the spool already wound into a rope, or a cord, or a thick, robust cable. Rather, hope comes from the tiniest of places—even as narrow as a bit of thread.

 

That evening, as our group gathered at the Western Wall, we wound ourselves in a circle around one of our female group members who wished to be wrapped in a tallit. As she put on the fringed garment—itself a visual reminder that whole cloth is woven only of loose stings—we tied together our own of little thread of hope. HaTikvah—not just the title of Israel’s national anthem, but a powerful force that can lead to change.