Amen

The “Amen Effect” is a new book written by Rabbi Sharon Brous. She returns to ancient Jewish wisdom to renew our spirituality with insights that can help us show up in times of hardship. Her book comes at a time when individuals, families, and countries are facing challenging conflicts. She invites us to walk together, holding hands as we find our way through the forest together.
 
Her experience as a Rabbi brought her to confront both raw beauty and pain. “It is there that I have learned the power of saying “Amen” to one another’s grief and joy, sorrow and celebration with our very presence. Of bearing witness to profound suffering and protesting injustice with our very presence” (Brous, 2024, p. xiii). Rabbi Brous refers to this relational approach as sacred companionship. She believes that we who hold the dream of building a different kind of society must begin by building a different kind of community.
 
She explains, “That very longing for connection—in our most intimate relationships, in community, with strangers, perhaps with God—is what I call the amen effect. It is a spiritual strategy, a sacred call to the spiritual and the cynical, the believer and the atheist, perhaps especially to those alienated by religious certainties, but still yearning to find meaning in moments both sacred and mundane. It is rooted in the ancient, hard-won wisdom that offers us tools to navigate times of heartache and uncertainty with a deeper sense of meaning, direction, and connection” (Brous, 2024, p.xiv). Connecting with others allows us to find meaning and companionship, as we offer our presence to those walking with us.
 
So, during this sacred holiday season, may we find our way toward one another, sharing in both the heartfelt joy and the pain of heartbreak. Through our relational connections and witnessing, may we help each find our way into the New Year, with renewed hope.
 
You can browse the Amen Effect by clicking on this link: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/720048/the-amen-effect-by-sharon-brous/

You can also listen to an interview she gave with Christiane Amanpour with this link:
https://edition.cnn.com/videos/world/2023/12/18/exp-israel-gaza-conflict-rabbi-sharon-brous-intv-fst-121801pseg2-cnni-world.cnn