Rabbi Nahman of Breslov lived a very short and difficult life. He lost four children and his first wife to tuberculosis and saw his house burn down in a fire. Shortly after his engagement to his second wife, he discovered he had tuberculosis as well and died from it a few years later in 1810, only 38-years-old. Rabbi Nahman was also a religious visionary of genius and left profound stories and teachings. Among the most important was his lesson about despair.

Rabbi Nahman told his disciples that it was forbidden to despair. He went so far in one recorded teaching as to say there is no such thing as despair. He knew people could feel it, but he taught it was a kind of illusion, that in fact hope always existed, and the sparks buried at the beginning of creation could be unearthed. In today’s Torah portion, we can see just such a spark and what Rabbi Nahman meant.

For Jews all around the world this is a time when it is easy to despair. Where do we see that spark in the Torah? Read verses 25:8,9 from the book of Genesis: “Abraham breathed his last and died in a good old age, an old man and full of years, and was gathered to his people. His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah near Mamre, in the field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite.”

Ishmael and Isaac had not grown up together. They had different mothers – Hagar in the first instance, Sarah in the second. Traditionally, each is the father of different people: Ishmael of the Arab nation, and Isaac of the Jews. We see they joined to do the mitzvah of burying their father.

Right now, it is very hard to believe in a lasting peace. Some will say that this is an eternal battle, between Arabs, or Muslims, and Jews. Yet I hear the voice of Rabbi Nahman saying that we are not permitted to despair. We can be angry, we can be shattered, we can rage and shake our fists against the sky, but we cannot despair.

Then we read this remarkable verse and recognize that the Torah is telling us to hope. Peace will not come tomorrow or next week or perhaps anytime in the near future. But if the children of Abraham in ancient times could join together at the grave of their father, we cannot give up hope that one day, we, too shall join together in peace.

Rabbi Nahman also said, “If you believe you can damage then believe that you can heal.” We have seen how much damage hatred can wreak in this world. Let us not give up on the hope that we can heal.