Remarks from Hopefest 2024

I need hope; we need hope; the world needs hope—because hope is a line that drives us from where we are to where, we trust, someday we will be.

The Hebrew word for hope, tikvah, encapsulates a faith to which we are obligated. Kav, this word’s root, literally speaks to a cord—a rope—which we use to measure. Hope helps us measure ourselves and give context to our circumstances. Hope is intention; it is direction; it is conviction.

Hope is intention, because when we would otherwise be aimless, lost and wandering, it focuses our minds. It gives purpose to our movements. Hope is a source of direction, because it is a light that guides us. It is the arrow that points forward, outstretched beyond the horizon. Even if we can’t yet see where it leads, we know it will bring us somewhere better. Hope is conviction: It is a rock, and it is power. We rely on it to trust that what we are doing will be worth it, even if it doesn’t yet feel that way.

When we look around our world and sense a palpably bleak attitude amongst our peers—as, I think, many of us can now—then we know it’s our duty to use the cord of hope to lead people back somewhere better. The power of hope is needed now.

I need hope. We need hope. The world needs hope.

An ideal lesson comes from the Biblical tradition. The Hebrew word, tikvah, shows up in the Book of Ruth when Naomi—Ruth’s mother-in-law—expressed her aimless sorrow. As Naomi bid Ruth leave her, she (Naomi) said, “Turn back, for even if there were hope, tikvah, for me…my lot is far more bitter than yours” (Ruth 1:12, 13). But Naomi was wrong: The cord of hope, in fact, bound the women together, and Ruth uttered unforgettable words of connection: “Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you lodge, I will lodge, your people will be my people, and your God will be my God” (Ruth 1:16).

Forever bound together, now measured by the world as kin, these two women show what hope means. Intention. Direction. Conviction. Even though the two remain lost, they move purposefully. Even though they could not know what their futures would bring, they trust it to include goodness. Even though they feel the pain of loss, their conviction brings them stability, succor, and comfort. That cord of hope that tied them together led them onward.

In times like these, that’s how it must be with our fellows—especially those most likely to say or feel they have no hope. We must bind ourselves to them in common purpose, in compassion, and guide them along their way. Those with the least hope need us. Even more, those who cause us sadness, or anger, or frustration—they probably need our love, our hope, more than anyone else.

And so it is, I do very much believe I need hope; we need hope; they need hope; and yes, the world needs hope.