All the world, all of it, is a very narrow bridge, but the essential thing is never to be afraid

This afternoon I would like to share with you a wise saying that has helped me to be here today:

Rabbi Nachman of Bratzlav said:

Kol-ha-olam kullo gesher tzar m’od,

v’ha-ikar lo l’phacheid k’llal

All the world, all of it, is a very narrow bridge,

but the essential thing is never to be afraid.

What does this cryptic aphorism mean? Many, many things, to many different people, I should guess…

Perhaps, it is an attempt to focus our attention beyond the everyday world we inhabit to ‘the world come’. Perhaps… But this is not the meaning I wish to explore today.

As a tzadik and a mystic, Rabbi Nachman had, both, an acute awareness of ‘the world to come’ and a profound sensitivity to the material reality of God’s creation.

When I read his words I sense his despair with the world…

Kol-ha-olam kullo gesher tzar m’od

All the world, all of it, is a very narrow bridge…

How might we translate this phrase?

Creation is prey to division and disintegration…

Humanity is at war with the planet…

Peoples are divided from one another…

Each and every individual is alone…

Each and every person occupies a narrow, inhospitable, lonely place…

But that is not the end of it. A bridge, however narrow, is also a possibility…

Rabbi Nachaman believed that God is in every place – even in the realm of evil – and for this reason, it is possible for us to heal divisions and so encounter God and one another:

There are bridges between us – we just have to cross them…

But, in order for us to do this, we must overcome our fears – which can be overwhelming… And certainly quite realistic: after all, the bridge before anyone of us may be very, very narrow – so narrow, that it is only wide enough for one person…

Kol-ha-olam kullo gesher tzar m’od

All the world, all of it, is a very narrow bridge,

v’ha-ikar lo l’phacheid k’llal

but the essential thing is never to be afraid.

A bridge may represent a possibility, but Rabbi Nachman seems to be demanding the impossible from us:

How can I not be afraid if I have to step onto the bridge alone?

Because I am not alone: However narrow it may be, a bridge connects two places, two points of departure: Perhaps as I am walking alone on the bridge, I will encounter another lonely traveller emerging from the other direction – coming out to meet me? …

Bridge-travellers in the world have to be very brave – and so, too, bridge-builders:

With very rare exceptions, bridges are not natural phenomena: Before we are able to begin our crossing, the bridge has to be there, it has to be built…

The Leo Baeck College is such a bridge, and I offer my deepest thanks to all its brave builders – all those who have had the vision and the determination to reach beyond the boundaries of a self-contained community, and create a meeting place for all travellers.

Within our tradition we have a prayer for travellers – T’fillat Ha-Derekh, ‘the Prayer of the Way’. This afternoon, as I prepare to face a future of bridge-building and bridge-crossing, I would like to offer my own short ‘travellers’ prayer’ for this task – a task which we all share:

God of hope, help us to muster the courage and the strength to overcome our fears, so we may venture beyond the islands we inhabit, and work to repair Your world, and our broken relationships. And let us say: Amen.

 

 

Rabbi Elizabeth Sarah

Leo Baeck College Ordination Service

West London Synagogue

9 July 1989 / 6 Tammuz 5749