Overcoming Story

By Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie

On the very first Friday of all Fridays, Adam and Eve were created. But the world’s most famous couple was too overwhelmed by the sensory overload of Eden to notice that the sun had set on their first night. Saturday rolled around, first morning, then afternoon. As the sun sank in the sky, their stomachs sank, too—with a feeling that would one day be called fear. They thought the world has ended, that the looming darkness would mean their deaths.

The couple cowered and groaned with fear. The first “Oy!” in history was uttered. But then an angel came down and gave them fire—God's afterthought—and they were no longer afraid of the dark. Life continued! They waited it out, and when the sun rose again, they realized, this is just how it is.

What gets you through your darkest nights?

Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie is the founding director of Storahtelling and the spiritual leader of Lab/Shul.