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When we study texts related to Moses’ climbing of Mount Sinai to receive the Torah, I like to ask myself the following recurring question, "Which was the most difficult step for Moses?" Was it the first step into the unknown, that step alone, that step away from his people, his community, and his familiar yet unfamiliar role with the Israelites? Was it the last step when he was so close to accomplishing his goal that he feared its completion, for what comes next after the striving? Was it the intermediary steps, the hundreds of thousands of them, where his body ached and he had every reason to turn back, turn away, chart a different course?

While my conclusions are not the same year after year, perhaps the truth of the matter is that there is no difference between the first, the last, or the hundreds of thousands of steps in between. Every step forward represents overcoming the urge to stop or take a step backward. Thus it becomes clear: each step taken is the hardest step…until it is the last step that was taken, at which point it becomes one of the many steps showcasing our journey from start to finish, from beginning to end, from “I can’t do this” to “Look what I have been able to do.”

As we close our reading of the Book of Leviticus, may we take these traditional words to heart and apply them to the steps still untaken: chazak, chazak, v’nitchazek – be strong, be strong, and may we find strength in each other.