Someone I don’t know sent me a message yesterday. It was three short words: “God bless Israel.”

The sentiment is lovely. But as religious as I am, and as much as I support Israel, it leaves me cold. Judaism doesn’t place a strong emphasis on relying on God. At least, not on God alone.

This week’s Torah portion tells the story of the final three plagues on Egypt. Throughout the plague narrative, God, Moses, and Aaron work in concert to bring the plagues, stop them, and warn Pharaoh of the consequences of his persistent hard-heartedness.

This partnership between the Divine and humans is quintessentially Jewish. And when the story reached the last plague, the partnership expanded to include the entire community.

The last plague was the most monumental. The death of the firstborn affected every Egyptian family. Although there were deaths associated with previous plagues, this one was specific; people would die.

And unlike the previous nine plagues, the Children of Israel had a role in protecting themselves from this one. They were told to slaughter a lamb and spread its blood over the door. Had they not, they too would have experienced death of the firstborn in their households.

This theme of engaging in our own survival and wellbeing has echoes through Torah and Jewish traditions. We are taught that simply relying on God is insufficient. We are expected to be active participants in our own survival.

And perhaps it goes even further. God didn’t give us a sacred text filled with laws and expectations for no reason. Does this mean that God needs us as partners in creating a just world? I can accept that we need God, but I’m not sure how much God needs us humans.

But perhaps I’m wrong. Maybe God does need us. Maybe that’s what God planned all along — to do more than simple create the universe, but also to create partners in the exercise of creation.

David Hartman understood the words of Pirkei Avot, “You are not obligated to complete the work, nor are you free to desist from it,” to give us a humbling and comforting reminder that there always will be work to be done in this world, and the work will continue long after we leave this earth.

If we want God to bless Israel, we can’t wait for God. We humans need to work with the Divine to bring the blessing to fruition.

That’s a tall order. Today it feels virtually impossible. But just because something is impossible doesn’t make it unattainable.

I worked for the Technion in Haifa for many years as an American-based fundraiser. Early in my career I met a professor who said that it was impossible to shoot down most of the missiles that Hamas was shooting at Israel, because they neither flew high enough nor long enough to be targeted.

Several years later, Iron Dome was introduced, and those “impossible to shoot down” missiles were being shot down on a regular basis. I ran into that professor again, and quoted him to himself. He smiled and said, “Something is only impossible until we make it possible.”

It is that indomitable spirit that permeates the Jewish people. It is what has enabled us to persist over the millennia, when others who tried to destroy us disappeared into the annals of history.

I hope and pray that with God’s help and our indomitable spirit we can address the current impossible situation, find a way to rescue the hostages who are still alive, stop Hamas, and help the Israeli and Palestinian peoples get back on their feet after this terrible war.