Kislev and Trust in God

"Kislev and Trust in God" by Miriam Hale explores the concept of trust within Jewish tradition, moving beyond a simple expectation of desired outcomes. The book delves into Jewish sources that acknowledge a spectrum of experiences, including dependence, protest, fear, gratitude, action, and uncertainty. Hale presents Psalms, biblical narratives, rabbinic arguments, medieval thought, Hasidic teachings, and modern testimony in their historical progression, carefully distinguishing between genres and affiliations. Midrash is identified as interpretation, Kabbalah and Hasidism as mystical traditions, and specific teachings from Chabad or Breslov are named. The text avoids inferring Halakha from meditation and differentiates between the Maccabean historical record, the Al HaNissim prayer, and the Babylonian Talmud's formulation of the oil tradition in its Hanukkah chapters.

Readers will encounter exercises designed to foster engagement, such as writing protest prayers, inventorying personal agency, seeking practical support, studying with a partner, and contemplating unresolved language. The book offers parallel questions for non-theistic and uncertain readers regarding inherited vocabulary and communal trust. It explicitly rejects the notion that illness, loss, or fear signify spiritual failure. Instead, trust is presented as an evolving relationship, manifested through argument, memory, obligation, and the readiness to act despite incomplete control. This work functions as a resource for spiritual reflection and contemplative practice, suitable for those seeking a nuanced understanding of faith and resilience.