By: Katherine Podolak
Young Adult Division (YAD) Manager
Have you ever been carrying too much and not realized it until someone asked, “How are you doing?”
We often move through our days checking boxes, attending meetings, and responding to emails, all while still trying to show up for the people who rely on us. We tell ourselves we can handle it all, and then, suddenly, we reach a point where we can’t.
In this week’s Torah portion, Beha’alotecha, the Israelites are continuing their journey through the wilderness. Along the way, the people complain, tensions rise, and Moses becomes overwhelmed by the enormous responsibility of leading an entire nation. Finally, he turns to God and admits what many of us struggle to say out loud: “I cannot carry all this people by myself, for it is too much for me.” (Numbers 11:14)
Rather than telling Moses to work harder or push through, God responds by appointing seventy elders to help him share the burden. Leadership, God seems to be teaching, was never meant to be a solo endeavor.
This supportive reaction by God comes at a particularly interesting time as the Israelites are still in the wilderness. They have left Egypt, but they have not yet reached the Promised Land. They are in that uncomfortable space between where they were and where they hope to be. And while the wilderness is often thought of as a place of uncertainty, perhaps it is also a place where people learn they need one another.
At JEWISHcolorado, much of our work centers around helping people find connection and belonging within Jewish community. Whether through engagement at events and community gatherings, philanthropic and volunteer opportunities, or countless other touchpoints, the goal is not simply to create programs-it is to create relationships.
The older I get, the more I realize that belonging is not about finding a place where everything is easy or comfortable. It is about finding people who help carry the load when the journey becomes difficult.
An important person in my life used to tell me, “Many hands make light work,” and maybe that is one of the lessons we can take away from Beha’alotecha: the wilderness is easier to navigate when we walk through it together.
Please email Katherine Podolak at kpodolak@jewishcolorado.org with questions or comments.