The heartening coincidence between the victories of Israel's Paralympic team and the Hebrew month of Elul might be the most powerful gift we've received at the end of this difficult year – a gift meant to help us endure the approaching High Holy Days and remind us that we have hope.
Ami Dadon, the 24-year-old Paralympic swimmer, is a world champion and record holder, adorned with medals. Watching him swim, it's hard to imagine that he was born prematurely with cerebral palsy and is disabled in all four limbs. Despite his disability, Dadon refuses to let it dictate his life. His willpower and infectious zest for life keep him moving forward, never giving up on himself – or on us. His sense of national pride brings him to tears when he hears the national anthem from the winner's podium.
In different times, we might view Dadon as just another inspiring personal story of triumph over adversity, but in these days, Dadon represents all of us as we find ourselves in the midst of Elul. This is a month of dreams and hopes, and yet here we are again, facing the pain of wounded and killed loved ones, with 101 hostages still in captivity. We stand broken and hurting at the threshold of the High Holy Days, uncertain how we’ll make it through, and unsure how we can even think about celebrating the start of a new year.
Elul is our pool. We enter it carrying our pain, disabilities, traumas and fears, and slowly learn to swim forward. We rely on the living waters that fill this pool, allowing them to envelop us and help us move our bodies and souls once again. This isn't a sprint, and the waters are deep and turbulent, but that’s precisely why we prevail.
Israel’s Paralympic team’s success surpasses that of its Olympic team. This is no coincidence. There’s a hidden, powerful force within our people that bursts forth in times of crisis and hardship. It's a force that refuses to surrender, transforming the impossible into possible. This is the strength of the Israeli spirit, which might not always be apparent in calmer times but blows fiercely in moments of difficulty and challenge. It's a collective victory of spirit over matter. We are a nation that, in many ways, is one large Paralympic team.
Tamar AsrafWe’ve had a tumultuous year. We’re all carrying some form of disability, but if we can learn anything from Ami Dadon and his fellow Paralympic teammates, it’s that we don’t have to let our pain define or limit us. This is a month of mercy and forgiveness. It may not always seem that way, but if we refuse to let sorrow overwhelm us and dive into the waters of this month, we will discover that these waters help us bear the pain and show us that we are capable of much more than we imagined. When we understand this, we gain the strength to face the new year full of hope.
Hope allows us to accept that while the past year’s events cannot be undone and will remain with us forever, we have the vitality to keep moving forward – boldly. We possess the determination and faith in the righteousness of our path. And despite all the disagreements, in the darkest moments, we have each other. That gives us incredible strength.