Believe in Yourself
This morning, Susan told me she has never seen the movie The Wiz.
So I played my favorite song from the musical, “Believe in Yourself,” sung by Lena Horne. I lip-synced the song, and we made this funny little video together.
“Believe in Yourself” has been one of my favorite songs since I was a kid. While I was in rabbinical school it became the song that got me through the program. And more than that it has gotten me through a lot of challenges, more that I can even remember
Rabbinical school was hard in many ways. The academics were challenging, but what weighed on me most was everything else. The racism. Some people’s inability to understand intersectionality—that I experienced racism, sexism, homophobia, and the ways those identities intersected to create forms of discrimination that couldn’t be understood one at a time. On top of that was the constant feeling that I always had to prove I belonged. It was a lot.
After I was ordained, it didn’t suddenly get easier. There were jobs I didn’t get where racism was so blatant.
Through all of it,
“Believe in yourself as I believe in you.” Stayed with me
I took that pain and turned it into purpose. Today, I’m one of the most well-known rabbis in the country. I’m grateful for that. At the same time, it came at a cost. During and after rabbinical school, a veil came off. I already knew that some Jews are racist. What I hadn’t fully reckoned with was that Jews could direct antisemitism at other Jews and that Jews who benefit from whiteness can use Jewish values to hide their racism, and some even use their Jewish values as an excuse for their racism. All of that made me question the Judaism I loved.
Thinking about all of this, it brings me to this weeks Torah portion
Moses stands before the Israelites knowing he won’t enter the Promised Land with them. He spends much of this portion reminding them who they are. He tells them to remember where they’ve been, what they’ve learned, and the covenant they carry with them.
Maybe Moses was doing what Glenda does to Dorothy in The Wiz.
“Believe in yourself, right from the start.”
After forty years in the wilderness, that’s what the Israelites needed to hear.
Moses is reminding them that “no one can change the path that you must go.” The wilderness has shaped and prepared them. They have everything they need for what comes next.
Then comes my favorite line in the song:
“Believe all these things, not because I told you to.”
Sometimes we spend so much time waiting for someone else to tell us we’re ready, worthy, or enough that we forget we’ve already become the person we needed to be.
Moses couldn’t walk the next steps for the Israelites. Glinda couldn’t take Dorothy home.
They could only remind them of what had been true all along.
Believe in yourself.
Sometimes that’s the most faithful thing we can do.
Believe in yourself. Not because I told you to. Yes believe in yourself as I believe in you.
Thank you Rabbi Sandra for reminding me that before some Jews were accepted into this prison called "whiteness" we were a generation of wandering slaves right at the border between an unknown future offering self-determination and a loss of faith leading us back to enslavement. We both know what happened after crossing that once great stream that has declined to the narrow, dried up trickle it is today.
Thank you not only for this bit of Torah but for unlocking a memory. I am a white Jew and I attended an intermediate school and jr high school that had mostly Black students and many Black teachers. We would sing this song at assemblies. This is back in the late 70s and early 80s. I'd forgotten about it and now I need to rewatch The Wiz.