This week in our Shalvah program of weekly study, meditation, and chanting, Nina and I looked at the famous lines from Psalm 23 about walking in the valley of the shadow of death. The imagery suggests a time when we are walking not only in darkness but also hemmed in by obstacles, the sides of the valley preventing light from reaching our eyes. How do we find comfort at such a time, like the time we are now in? The psalmist suggests that two things help: knowing we are not alone, and realizing the ways in which others both hold us back from missteps that could be harmful to us and urge us on to act in ways that can bring us out of the place of narrowness back into the light. May we all find the comfort we need to keep putting one foot in front of the other.