A Kavanah for the New Year — Kendell Pinkney

Well, friends, we have arrived at a New Year and have come to the end of our yearly reading of Genesis. I do not have any profound meditations to offer on vayechi, even though Torah is so deep and wide that there surely are meditations to be had. Instead, what I will offer all of us is a simple kavanah, an intention, based on the first word of the parasha: וַיְחִ֤י which translates to “and he lived...” The sheer process of living has been anything but easy this past year. Much like the trials of Joseph that we have read over the last several weeks, we have pressed forward into an uncertain reality where we have suffered real setbacks and losses, all the while hoping that, in the end, life will take a turn for the good. With that in mind, my intention and hope for all of us is that we may all find use for the hard-won wisdom of 2020, and may we experience a wild abundance of joy, love, and learning in 2021. Many blessings, family.

Kendell Pinkney is the Rabbinic Fellow at Ammud: The Jews of Color Torah Academy