When the Window Feels Too Narrow — Parsha Vaera

In the mental health world, we often hear the phrase window of tolerance. I prefer window of capacity — how much we’re actually able to hold, hear, and take in at a given moment.

In Parshat Vaera, the Torah shows us what happens when that capacity becomes constricted.

Moses comes to the Jewish people with a message of redemption — freedom is coming — and they are unable to listen. The Torah explains that they could not hear him because of mikotzer ruach, a shortness of spirit.

Ramban explains that this was not a failure of faith. The people believed in God and in Moses. But their inner world was so burdened that they could not tolerate even one more moment, even knowing that relief would come later. They were living under the pressures of life, and in that state, they had no capacity to hear or consider Moses’ words.

Not refusal.
Not rebellion.
No capacity.

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch explains that when the pressures of life consume all of a person’s energy, there is nothing left to imagine a future. All attention goes to coping with the present moment. Even good news can feel like too much.

In today’s language, we might call this nervous system overload — coping with what’s happening now while still carrying unprocessed pain from the past. When that happens, the window of capacity narrows.

Hasidic teachings, rooted in Kabbalah, describe redemption in terms of vessels. Light may be present, but if the vessel is tight, the light cannot get in. And the Torah tells us exactly where the tightening happens: ruach — breath.

That’s why the first work isn’t understanding, reframing, or forcing hope.
The first work is breathwork.

Breathwork is how we begin to widen the window of capacity. It creates just enough inner space to stay present with what is — and to know that this is not all there is.

ParshaRx for Vaera:
When the window feels too narrow — breathe.