Spiritual Reflection, March 2023

Equanimity

After over a decade hiatus, I have recently begun again to engage in the Jewish spiritual discipline of mussar. I’m struck by the fact that, this time around, the middah (character trait) that I am most intrigued by and drawn to is the one that, during my previous experience of mussar, was the most baffling and opaque to me. This is the middah of equanimity.

The dictionary definition of equanimity is “mental calmness, composure, and evenness of temper, especially in a difficult situation.” Jewish sages are quick to point out that equanimity is not, however, numbness or aloofness. In the words of Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, “the Jewish approach to life considers the man who has stopped going—he who has a feeling of completion, of peace, of a great light from above that has brought him to rest—to be someone who has lost his way.” Similarly, according to Alan Morinis, “if you have come to a place in your life where all the waters are becalmed and the waves have been stilled, there is a very good chance that you are in a coma, or at least deeply asleep. It is not a good place to be.”

The middah of equanimity, then, is about feeling deeply all of the tensions and challenges that arise from within and without, while not being unsteadied or tossed about by them.

I wonder if my own continual wrestling with the ongoing tensions inherent in being a Jewish follower of Yeshua have brought about in me both a deeper clarity on what equanimity actually means and a deeper desire to cultivate it in my everyday life of faith. For us, it is all too easy to be influenced by the attitudes of those around us, whether Jews or Christians, who are often quick to criticize or dismiss the complex path we find ourselves on.

My prayer for us all is that we may learn to embrace the tensions that surround us, and that our ability to bear them would be strengthened by our fellowship together and our individual journeys toward greater equanimity.

Jen Rosner