Hazak; hazak; v’nit’hazayk.
Be
strong; be strong, and we will strengthen each other.
(Recited when completing a book of the
Torah.)
Thus ends the
book of Shemot. Thus ends the story of our beginnings, Breishit, the narrative
of our slavery, Shemot, our book of laws, Vayikra, the story of our wanderings,
B’midbar, and the retelling of it all, D’varim. We begin as all people, but we
overcome so much to be a kingdom of priests, to become more numerous than the
sands of the seas or the stars of the heavens. We will become a community of
judges and of artists, a community of law and of beauty, where anyone can be a
leader or a scholar.
We end each
book of the Torah the same way. Hazak;
hazak; v’nit’hazayk. Be strong; be strong, and we will strengthen each
other. The formula printed in the Humash contains even more. We note that which
we have just completed. We note the middle words of the book. The book of
Shemot contains 1,209 p’sukim, 11 parshiyot, 29 according to the triennial
cycle, and 40 chapters. The Torah has 69 p’tuchot and 95 stumot (open and
closed paragraph breaks), all in all 164 parshiyot.
At the end of
each book, we mark how far we’ve come, and how much we have. Each of these
verses, readings, chapters, paragraphs is precious to us. Our story never ends.
It continues through Vayikra, B’midbar, and D’varim, and begins anew. And every
time, each of the words, the verses, the parshiyot, the chapters, and the books
has the power to move us forward in learning and in our connection to God. With
every word we read, every pasuk we chant, and every parasha and book we
complete, we are made stronger as individuals, as a community, and as a people.
Shabbat shalom.
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