Hope Amidst Uncertainty

Once again, we enter Shabbat this week holding our breaths. We are living through an especially scary and uncertain time—nationally, globally, as Jews, and as human beings. This broader reality forms the backdrop to whatever personal challenges, large or small, we also may be facing. The weight of it all is overwhelming. How do we keep moving forward?

I began and ended this week with celebrations for BJ’s bicentennial birthday. On Sunday, the Family Life and Learning community gathered for a birthday party. The morning was filled with moments of deep gratitude: a beautiful and playful tefillah that captured the essence of who we are as a spiritual community; a delicious brunch lovingly prepared by some of the women who attend our Thursday night migrant dinners; and teens decorating birthday cakes for all to enjoy. Children painted flowers for new murals in our stairwell, each flower representing the unique beauty every child and person brings to our community. Parents connected over coffee and conversation with BJ staff. Everywhere you looked, there was joy—a joy born from connection and our shared love for this community we so deeply cherish.

Last night, hundreds of us came together once again to celebrate BJ’s bicentennial through centuries of Jewish music. The concert was both playful and moving, capturing the diversity of who we are with melodies from around the world, across denominations, and through generations. Each prayer and song became a kind of time machine—transporting us back to a Yom Kippur when we were praying for a loved one in the hospital, or to a Friday night when we danced and celebrated together. And then as news broke during the concert of Israel’s attack on Iran, we were reminded of all the times of pain and uncertainty that we have come to BJ: to pray, to sing, to protest, to mourn. To be together.

There’s something about these milestone moments—both communal and personal—that collapses time. They remind us where we’ve been and give us the chance to look ahead. I’ve been thinking a lot about birthdays lately—not just because of BJ’s bicentennial, but also because I have a four-and-a-half-year-old who lives in a constant state of birthday anticipation. “It’s almost my birthday,” she declared in October. (Her birthday is in August.) In January: “Can we get rainbow plates for my party?” Some days she’ll just turn to me and exclaim, “I’m inviting Grambam and Papa, Saba and Savti to my birthday!” For her, every day is a step closer to cake, presents, and joy. What’s not to look forward to?

But as we grow older, birthdays become more layered. While they may still bring joy, they can also stir up more complex emotions—gratitude, disappointment, hope, fear, even guilt.

One of my oldest friends—my college roommate, who became my havruta and fellow rabbi—introduced me to a birthday ritual I’ve come to treasure: the birthday questions. What were three highlights from the past year? What are three things you’re looking forward to in the next?

Jeremy and I have been asking each other these questions every year since college. We even ask them of anyone we happen to be with on their birthday. This simple ritual has become a sacred practice—a chance to reflect and to dream, to honor who we’ve been and who we’re becoming. It’s a practice of gratitude for the past and hope for the future. 

In a world where pain feels relentless and fear is woven into our everyday lives, celebrations, both big and small, can be lifelines. They ground us. They remind us that connection and joy are essential. Smahot—birthdays, b’nai mitzvah, weddings, holidays, graduations, even our weekly gift of Shabbat—aren’t just markers of time. They are invitations to be fully alive. To reflect, to connect, to give thanks, and to dream. To grasp hope amid uncertainty. Smahot show our will to keep growing and believing in a better future even when it feels impossibly far away. 

As we continue to mark BJ’s bicentennial in a time when celebration feels complicated, let’s use this moment of gratitude and hope to ask ourselves the birthday questions: What are three highlights from our time as BJ members, or from our shared past? What are three things we look forward to as we enter BJ’s third century? What have we done—and what can we continue to do—to build the world as we know it can be?

May our answers reawaken our ability to hope.
May our celebrations continue to ground us in what is most important. 

And may we — עבדו את ה׳ בשמחות — serve God in our celebrations, using this sacred recharge to keep moving forward. Together.

Shabbat shalom,

Rabbi Rebecca Weintraub