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June 2007

By Rabbi Simkha Y. Weintraub, LCSW

K-V-H: On Waiting and Hoping

The excerpt below is from The National Center for Jewish Healing's new publication, Jewish Spiritual Companion for Medical Treatments.

One of the most challenging aspects of the treatment experience is the waiting — whether waiting for an appointment, for test results, for treatments to take effect or end, and so on. Waiting can be maddening and intensely boring; it can feed worry and exacerbate stress. But it is part of life, and certainly a feature of any medical journey or illness odyssey.

What to do about The Wait?

Biblical Hebrew may help us here. In Hebrew, the three-letter root "K-V-H" does indeed mean to "wait," but it also means to "hope" (readers may recognize the name of Israel’s national anthem, HaTikvah, "The Hope.") During some Waits, if not all, we can reach for Hope; we can decide that this waiting is but a pause, a plateau on our climb out of suffering. We await health and joy, freedom and growth — all worth waiting for.

Imagine seizing The Wait by the hand and making it your opportunity to envision a return of healing and wholeness, even against official odds:

"My soul waits only for God in silence; for my hope is from God.
God alone is my rock and my salvation; God is my refuge;
I shall not be moved."
— Psalm 62:6-7

Alternatively, The Wait might utilize one other meaning of the Hebrew root "K-V-H", which is "to collect." (A "mikvah" is where fresh water is collected.) The Wait is my time to collect myself and to assemble nurturing, sustaining resources — whether the reservoir of pleasant memories, readings that might lift the spirit, cell phone calls to loved ones, or other transformative tools.

If nothing else, try meditating on Isaiah’s promise at the end of Chapter 40:

"But those who wait for Adonai shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings as eagles;
they shall run, and not be weary;
and they shall walk, and not faint."
— Isaiah 40:31

These "Spirituality Notes" are excerpts from our monthly E-newsletter. Articles are © JBFCS Rita J. Kaplan Jewish Connections Programs and may be reprinted free of charge as long as this credit line is included.

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