An uplifting talk by Rabbi Suzanne Singer of Temple Beth El in Riverside, California titled “How Do We Find Hope in a World with Unending Problems.”
As the daughter of a Holocaust survivor, Rabbi Singer is keenly aware of the need to make our world a better place. In the midst of a global pandemic, war in Ukraine, the climate crisis, and the rise in anti-Semitism and hate crimes, it can be hard for many people to feel optimistic.
Rabbi Singer believes that we need hope now, more than ever. She agrees with anthropologist Jane Goodall that “Hope is not a Pollyannish attitude towards life, believing that problems will magically disappear; it is a choice about actively tackling problems.”
Originally inspired by Goodall’s The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times, Rabbi Singer finds hope to be a particularly Jewish value. With reference to our traditional stories as well as modern voices, such as Elie Wiesel and Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, her talk will focus on the deep roots of the Jewish commitment to believing in and building for a better future.
