Rabbi Jonathan Kligler: Remember to Breathe
Dear Friends,
In the opening of this week’s Torah portion, Parashat Va’era (Exodus 6:2-9:35), Moses delivers a message of great hope and promise to the Israelite slaves: God has taken note of their suffering and cruel bondage, and God is going to liberate them and lead them back to their native land!
This is the second time that the Israelites have heard this message. The first time they responded with hope: “And the people believed that God had taken note of their plight, and they bowed low in homage” (Exodus 4:31). But Pharaoh set about to quash those hopes, mightily increasing their labors and wearing the slaves down. Now, when Moses tries to arouse their enthusiasm once more, the Torah tells us,
וְלֹא שָׁמְעוּ אֶל מֹשֶׁה מִקֹּצֶר רוּחַ וּמֵעֲבֹדָה קָשָׁה
V’lo sham’u et Moshe mi’kotzer ru’ach u’mei’avodah kashah (Exodus 6:9)
This verse is typically rendered, “But the people could not hear Moses, for their spirits had been crushed by cruel bondage.” And we understand: the slaves’ spirits could not be roused. Pharaoh had succeeded – for now – in quelling any uprising against him.
But I want to examine the Hebrew more closely, specifically the phrase “kotzer ru’ach.”
Kotzer means “shorten” or “cut off.” Ru’ach means “spirit” or “breath.” So the phrase kotzer ru’ach means “cut-off breath” and “shortness of breath” and also “cut-off spirit.” The Israelites could not take in a message of hope and possibility because they could not breathe fully.
English shares with Hebrew the linguistic connection between “spirit” and “breath”. When we breathe in, we inspire, we receive inspiration. The more fully we can breathe, the more inspiration we can receive. If our breath is short, if it is shallow, if it is constricted, whether from exhaustion or anxiety or fear, we become dispirited, disconnected from spirit, unable to expand our lungs towards fullness and unable to extend our spirits toward hope or possibility.
As I write these words, I am remembering to breathe fully and deeply.
We know that breathing fully and deeply will not solve the challenges we face. We also know that breathing fully and deeply calms us, invigorates us, brings us into the present, and enables us to think and act more clearly and purposefully.
I invite you to breathe, to sigh, to allow your lungs to empty and to refill with fresh oxygen…
In Hebrew and English (as in many languages, I would assume) states of being are described with metaphors associated with our bodies, which are our central points of reference for our experiences. Think open-hearted, hot-headed, heavy-handed. As such, the Hebrew term for “patience” is erech apayim, which literally means “long-nostriled.” That is, patience is the practice of taking long breaths. Ain’t that the truth! Those long nostril breaths – erech apayim – are also the antidote to kotzer ru’ach, the shortness of breath that results from fear, from impatience, and from exhaustion. Erech apayim is such a prized quality in Jewish tradition that it is identified as one of the key attributes of God, which we are meant to emulate. So go ahead, breathe some more…
As we breathe deeply and fully, may we calm ourselves enough to hear the chirping of the birds nearby, to hear the voices of our loved ones, and to hear Moses’ message of hope. We know that struggles lie ahead, but it is within our power to not have our spirits crushed by circumstance. It is within our power to calm ourselves so that we might be present, patient, steadfast, strong, and even joyful. Remember to breathe.
Shabbat Shalom,
