Shabbat Bereshit 5784
By Rabbi Daniel Reich
LA JOLLA, California — Earlier this week, the RCA (Rabbinical Council of America) hosted a Zoom call for congregational rabbis with Dr. Norman Blumenthal, a renowned Jewish psychologist, and Rav Dovid Miller, the Rosh Kollel of the YU Gruss Kollel in Yerushalayim. Their goal was to provide insights into finding strength and passing it along to our communities. The divrei chizuk shared by Rabbi Miller Shlit”a were incredibly meaningful. Below is a synopsis of some of what the Rav shared. Rabbi Miller began as follows:
“You know the facts as well as I do. On Shabbat morning during Shmini Atzeret / Simchat Torah, there was a surprise attack of some 1,500 terrorists who crossed the border, entered settlements, cities, open gatherings, and homes, and intentionally and brutally murdered, butchered, injured, and took captives. ‘M’naar v’ad vakeyin taf v’nashim b’yom echad – to destroy, massacre, and exterminate all the Jews, young and old, children and women, on a single day’ (Esther 3:13).
“The Mishnah in Sanhedrin (37b) tells us that ‘Kol Hameabeid Nefesh Achas M’Yisroel, K’Ilu ebeid Olam Malaei – whoever destroys a single soul of the Jewish people, it is as if they’ve destroyed an entire world!’ Over 1,000 worlds have been destroyed, have been lost, and have been cut short. Thousands of injured have had their worlds shattered, and more than a hundred fifty are in the frightening situation of not knowing how their world will continue, but knowing that it’ll never be the same. And why? Because they’re Jews and because they live in a Jewish state. All the murdered are martyrs. They’re all Kedoshim according to Halacha. The mood in the country is one of deep pain, of overwhelming pain and sorrow over the dead, the injured, the captives, and feeling for their families. It’s still a period of time for many of ‘Meiso Mutal Lifanav’ – the most intense mourning period in Jewish law (Mishnah Brachos 17a), and there are constant Levayas and shiva calls.
“This is in addition to the worry over the 360,000 soldiers who have been mobilized as reservists in an open-ended war. Israel is a very small country. Everyone has relatives and friends in all of these categories. This is the reality in which we live, and I know that you share the worry with us. Since motzei yom tov, you’ve seen the horrific images on the media that are replayed over and over, and you’re up to date on the rising number of deaths being reported. Not because more people are currently being killed, but rather more and more homes and areas are being checked, and more and more bodies are being found.”
Everything up to this point is not news for any of us. However, Rabbi Miller went on to provide perspective on the situation. Highlighting something that many of us know, but perhaps not as intimately as the Rosh Kollel expressed. Rabbi Miller continued: “But there is an additional perspective that I was told has not yet reached the states to the same degree that it’s so palpably felt here, and really that’s what I want to share with you.
“The Navi, at the end of Sefer Shmuel Aleph (Perek 30), describes that when Dovid and his soldiers returned to their base in the south of Israel, they found it burnt to the ground, and all the women and children had been taken captive in a surprise attack by Amalek.
“Their reaction is so similar to the current mood in the country: ‘Vayivku ad asher ayin bahem koach livkot – David and the troops with him broke into tears until they had no strength left for weeping’ (30:4) – overwhelming pain and sorrow. And then came a turning point, as the Navi continues, ‘Vayitchazek David B’Hashem Elokav’ – He strengthened himself in Emunah – in faith in Hashem (30:6). This is Dovid HaMelech, the author of Tehillim, the one who said, and we continue to say today, ‘Hinei Lo Yanum v’Lo Yishan Shomer Yisroel – See, the guardian of Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps… Hashem Tzilcha al Yad Yeminecha – Hashem is your guardian, Hashem is your protection at your right hand’ (Tehillim 121). He got up and fought and was victorious, and the pain that had been felt, that overwhelming pain, retroactively became Chevlei Leida, became labor pains of Malchut Beit Dovid – the kingship of Dovid Hamelech. Dovid went on from this moment to rule in Yehuda and then in Yerushalayim, then set the stage for Binyan Beit HaMikdash, the building of the temple – Mizmor Shir Chanukat Habayit L’Dovid (Tehillim 30).”
“This,” continued the Rav, “is what we’re experiencing currently in Eretz Yisrael. Mi K’amcha Yisrael, the entire nation is rising with an inner strength, an unbelievable resilience that God, Hakadosh Baruch Hu, has built into us. This isn’t only part of our past. We know the stories of Gevura of the Holocaust survivors who rebuilt their lives and helped to build the State of Israel, Medinat Yisroel. But now we are talking about the present. There are so many who are volunteering and supporting from all of the sectors. It’s irrelevant if one is Secular or one is Religious, or one is Ashkenazi or one is Sepharadi, or one is in favor of judiciary reform, not in favor of judiciary reform – currently that’s totally, totally irrelevant! There’s a tremendous amount of Achdut and Ahavat Yisroel. Those who are being called up to the reservists speak about the fact that there’s more than a hundred percent who are responding. Even those who weren’t called up due to age, nevertheless they’re coming. There are hundreds and thousands of individuals who are donating gear and food to the soldiers and helping the families whose husbands and whose sons are serving, taking down Sukkot, doing laundry, and babysitting.”
We in the Adat Yeshurun community should be so proud of what we have accomplished in this regard as well. Actively helping the chayalim through our fundraising to provide the equipment they need. And our community members in Eretz Yisroel as well! In speaking with one of our Yeshiva students in Israel, they told me they stood in line for hours just to donate blood because the lines are so long.
Rav Netzach Sapir told us on Motzei Yom Tov at our emergency Tehillim rally the now iconic story of his friends, the heroic Kalmanzon brothers, the sons of the Rosh Yeshiva of Otniel who saw their friends on Shabbat morning being called up, but they weren’t called up because of their age. So, They simply drove down south in their own car, took their own personal weapons, asked where the most problematic area was, and they were directed to Kibbutz Beeri. They found a Jeep and with their own personal guns and the Jeep that they found, they transported tens if not hundreds of people from their homes to safety, trip after trip after trip. Every time they went back into Beeri, they knew that they could get killed, and the oldest, unfortunately, Elchanan HY”D, was killed by a terrorist. Such gevurah – such strength for Am Yisroel! And there are so many similar stories of Mesirut Nefesh!
There are chasans and kallahs who postpone their weddings in order to serve in their units. There are people who are creating business opportunities for those in the south, even though they don’t need their business just in order to be able to keep them in business. It’s inspiring. The soldiers are inspired, and the nation is inspired – “Vayitchazek David B’Hashem Elokav” – He strengthened himself in emunah! We strengthen ourselves in emunah!
Shabbos is the perfect time to reconnect ourselves to that Emunah. With our phones and news cycles off, just connecting to Hashem through Torah, Tefillah, and community – reconnecting to our Emunah. Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagen (1838-1933), in his introduction to the Mishnah Brurah (Vol. III), tells us that this is the whole purpose of Shabbos. As the Torah tells us at the end of the recount of creation. Vayechulu Hashamayim V’Ha’aretz V’Chol Tzvaom, Vayichal Elokim B’Yom Hashvii Melachto Asher Assa (Bereshit, 2).
On Shabbos, we stop to reflect on God’s role as creator, master over the universe, and that he made His people unique in their relationship with him. If we use Shabbos properly, as an opportunity to do honest introspection and put Hashem back in the driver’s seat, and we allow Shabbos to be a time to regroup and refocus toward Hashem, then we can find strength in the chaos.
Rabbi Miller concluded by saying, “I’m not naive to think that this will be a six-day war similar to the one I experienced in Eretz Israel 56 years ago. Even today, there are still missiles that are being aimed at Tel Aviv and Be’er Sheva. There are still warnings of terrorists, although much fewer within Eretz Israel. We now have the Northern border to worry about as well. And of course, the issue of the captives creates a very, very complex situation. But I wanted to give you a window into the current mood of the nation that hopefully will give you chizuk as well.”
Am Yisrael Chai! IYH Chazak Chazak V’nitzchazek!
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Rabbi Daniel Reich is the rabbi of Congregation Adat Yeshurun of La Jolla.