It’s election day in the United States. Today marks the official end of a, frankly, crazy election cycle. As a recap: President Joe Biden dropped out of the race, there were multiple assassination attempts against former President Trump, Vice President Kamala Harris coconut-pilled the Democratic nomination, Tim Walz called Trump weird, RFK Jr. had a brain worm, JD Vance was memed pretty hard online and Jack Schlossberg covered it all as a Vogue correspondent.
And now, we wait for the results. (You voted, right? You went to the polls, dropped off your ballot, mailed it in and/or checked its status?) Thus begins the part of the process which is arguably the most anxiety-inducing. But it doesn’t have to be.
Yes, the fact that one of the candidates uses explicitly Christian nationalist, fascist, racist, transphobic, homophobic, misogynistic, antisemitic and Islamophobic rhetoric is scary. But regardless of who wins and what happens as a result, the actions we take to continue to support American democracy will come later. The best thing we can do for ourselves right now is to stay calm. Thankfully, Judaism contains plenty of ways to do that.
Here are ten Jewish rituals or pieces of wisdom that can help you through the 2024 election, or any other moments of stress in your life. While none of these methods can or should replace therapy, medication and other supervised treatments for anxiety and mental illness — and you can find support for mental health crises here — hopefully they can serve as another tool in your anti-anxiety tool kit!
1. Recite Tehillim or Psalms. Tehillim chapter 55, verse 23 says, “Hashlech al hashem yehavcha” or “Take your concerns and throw them to God.” This line captures the ethos with which many Jews recite poems from the Book of Psalms. If you feel some anxiety coming on, perhaps take a moment to breathe and recite your favorite tehillah to yourself, whether it’s one expressing lamentation, anger, frustration or joy. Or, if you are unfamiliar with tehillim, take some time to search for some online, read them and meditate on their meanings and how you feel. As Rabbi Simkha Y. Weintraub writes for My Jewish Learning, “Psalms are a container for our fears and hopes, a catalyst for the freeing up, and offering up, of our profound and deep-set wishes, prayers, desires and insights.”
2. Perform a repurposed tashlich ritual. On the first day of Rosh Hashanah, Jews traditionally perform the ritual of tashlich. In other words, we symbolically cast off our previous years’ sins by throwing bread crumbs or more natural, eco-friendly options like small pebbles, leaves or twigs into a running body of water. In reconfiguring the ritual where the item you are casting off represents anxiety, tashlich could become a powerful tool to relieve yourself of stress. Feel free to recite traditional tashlich prayers like Psalms 118 and 130 as you cast off your anxieties, or any poems or writings that bring you a sense of renewal and peace.
3. Stress-bake challah, babka or any other Jewish treat. Who doesn’t love a good stress-bake? Keeping your hands busy can be a productive way to channel jittery nerves and prevent doom-scrolling. We’re biased, of course, but Jewish treats are definitely the most delicious baked goods that can result from stress baking. Make the challah recipe that has been passed down in your family for generations or whip up something you’ve never tried making before. Whatever you choose, you’ll be filling your home with a warm, sweet, comforting aroma, connecting yourself to your Jewish heritage and giving yourself the gift of a yummy snack.
4. Say the Shema before bed. The practice of reciting the bedtime Shema or the Kriat Shema al Hamitah began in rabbinic times and is an extension of the traditional text of the Shema. “Praised are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who brings sleep to my eyes, slumber to my eyelids. May it be Your will, Lord my God and God of my ancestors, that I lie down in peace and that I arise in peace,” part of the text reads. While this is a liturgical and religious practice, it can also have relaxing effects. Reciting the bedtime Shema (or even just the regular Shema while in bed) can be a good way to quiet your mind and focus on sleep. Breathe deeply, softly repeat the words to yourself in your head and allow calmness to take over.
5. Engage in the Jewish meditation practice of hitbodedut. Rabbi Nachman of Breslov tells us, “Hitbodedut consists of conversation with God. One can pour out their words before their Creator. This can include complaints, excuses or words seeking grace, acceptance and reconciliation. One must beg and plead that God bring them close and allow them to serve God in truth. One’s conversation with God should be in the everyday language that they normally use.”
There’s also a component of hitbodedut which includes a “silent scream.” Just imagine the sound of such a scream in your mind. Depict the shout in your imagination exactly as it would sound. Keep this up until you are literally screaming with this soundless ‘small still voice.’ This is actually a scream and not mere imagination,” Rabbi Nachman continues. So if you’re feeling overwhelmed, take some space to be alone (preferably at night and in nature, per the Rabbi’s instructions) and let it all out.
6. Treat the day like Shabbat. On every seventh day (Friday night to Saturday evening), the Jewish people are commanded to light the Shabbat candles and rest. This means no working and no starting fires or sparking electricity. Thus, many Shabbat observant Jews spend the day with family doing activities like reading, napping, going for walks and eating food they prepared before the Sabbath. Because election day is on a Tuesday, this makes my suggestion of treating the day totally like Shabbat a bit difficult. But if you’re able, allow yourself to rest as much as possible. Unplug from social media for the day or the evening — the news will still be there in the morning. Instead of Shabbat candles, light aromatic, seasonal candles to brighten your home. If you’ve already partaken in suggestion #3, eat the treat you stress-baked and a hearty, nutritious meal. You’ll leave your mid-week day of rest feeling revived and ready to take on the next challenge.
7. Remind yourself of Hakarat hatov, or recognizing the good. Just because we have good things in our lives doesn’t mean we’re not allowed to feel scared or worried. However, reflecting on everything you feel gratitude for can be a calming and meditative experience. Try journaling about loved ones or thinking about what mundane rituals create happiness in your life. Allow your mind to replicate the way your body somatically receives joy and hold onto that feeling.
8. Reflect on the Jewish values of teshuvah, tefillah and tzedakah. During the Jewish High Holidays, and specifically in the Unetanah Tokef, we ruminate on teshuvah, tefillah and tzedakah: repentance or return, prayer and righteous acts or justice. With the election having as high stakes as it does, you can ground yourself by thinking about what comes next in terms of these ideas. Meditate on the ways you feel that the United States government and politicians have done wrong and how you can get involved to change the course. Find the prayers or Jewish texts that inform that work, and find the organizations you can join to get the work done as a collective. The goal is to channel your anxiety into action and empowerment!
9. Perform a repurposed Kapparot ceremony. Hear us out! In the traditional Kapparot ceremony, which takes place on the day before Yom Kippur, a chicken is swung above a person’s head while prayers are said to symbolically transfer a person’s sins onto the chicken. The chicken is then kosherly butchered and donated to those in need. To be clear, we’re not advocating you do this to an animal. Instead, why not make a Kapparot ceremony of your own with an inanimate object? Swing a pillow, dog toy, old pair of jeans or whatever you want over your head three times to symbolically transfer your anxiety to it. As you do it, say whatever prayers, tehillim, poetry or words are meaningful to you.
10. Recite this Jewish blessing for anxiety. In 2021, Hey Alma contributor Kate Hennessey wrote a beautiful blessing to express gratitude for the ways in which our anxiety protects us. “This isn’t to say that living with anxiety is easy or that it shouldn’t be taken seriously,” Kate wrote, adding, “But [a] new lens made me want to express my gratitude, much like King David wanting to express his thanks for salvation from dire straits through lauding and exaltation. And so, I did what Jews do in times of joy, awe, mourning, fear and repentance: I created a blessing. I hope that if you struggle with anxiety, you can tailor this blessing to bring meaning to your own experience.”
