“Proactive Positivity,” Rabbi Elaine Zecher’s Shabbat Awakenings

January 2, 2026 | 13 Tevet 5786

Welcome to Shabbat Awakenings, a weekly reflection, as we make our way toward Shabbat. You can also listen to it as a podcast.

“To Life! To Life! L’chayim!” may be familiar from Fiddler on the Roof but its meaning sits at the bedrock of Jewish tradition. Such an exclamation assumes and promotes a proactive positivity in our tradition.

This week’s Torah portion begins with the words, “Vay’hi Ya’akov.” And Jacob lived. (Gen 47:28) A similar start to a Torah portion occurred earlier in Genesis with Chayei Sarah, Sarah’s lifetime… (Gen 23:1) And yet both will proceed to tell of their deaths. Inherent in the choice of conveying what happened, Judaism asks us to focus on the truth that they lived. They, like us, only have one life and we get to determine how we approach each moment of our lifetime.

Let’s consider three ideas:

There are those who come after us like saplings of a tree, growing new roots because we lived.

There is the impact we make in how we positively affect others like the ripples on the water that move beyond our view because we lived on this earth.

There is our attitude that is in our control despite what negativity or challenges come before us that has the potential to create joy, faith, and a sense of the sacred.

This does not mean that we ignore the hardship. There will be much of it and for sure, some have much more than others. No one wishes for it. As Victor Frankl, the Jewish psychiatrist held captive in a concentration camp, recognized, what might be taken away from us or happen to us does not and cannot determine that we have control of how we can respond.

As we enter the (secular) new year, let’s infuse it with sacred intention of a proactive positivity fully in our control so that we raise ourselves up and lift those around us in a newfound appreciation of the life we have before us.

Shabbat Shalom! שבת שלום

May we share a Shabbat of peace and a happy new year!

I welcome your thoughts and experiences here.

Rabbi Elaine Zecher