Paul & Hillary Unger

In verse 31:6 we read, "For it is indeed the Eternal your God who marches with you: [God] will not fail you or forsake you."

By ourselves we cannot find rebirth. We imprison ourselves. We are tempted to accept our not-so-bad self.

But the repeated verse gets our attention: "Be strong and resolute." And before we can once again protest our weakness we are assured, "It is . . . God who marches with you. [God] will not fail you or forsake you."

What has become clear to us over the course of the Ten Days of Repentance is that we can't do it alone.

Whether we locate God in our most authentic core, in the interaction with the Jewish community, or in the chain of tradition that makes our personal trials part of the story of the Jewish people, we need to relate our struggle with our people's in order to cross over to the Promised Land.