It Doesn`t Make Sense - or Does It?



Spring wildflowers in Central Israel
Photo: Yehoshua HaLevi



The Rebbetzin's Viewpoint

by: Rebbetzin Esther Jungreis

Some years after the Six Day War, I was invited to address the I.D.F. as well as various communities in Israel. On one of these occasions I called a press conference. In those days, it was possible to do that for outreach was a novelty. With the exception of Chabad, none of the kiruv organizations that are active today were in existence. We were literally the first to put kiruv – outreach, on the map.

I called the press conference because I was terribly afraid. In the euphoria that followed the spectacular victory of the Six Day War.... gratitude to Hashem, proclaiming His guiding hand, was blatantly missing. We deluded ourselves into believing that it was “kochi v’otzem yadie...” – “It was my strength, my might that achieved this...” I was so terribly afraid of the consequences of this attitude, that I felt constrained to call a press conference in the hope that someone might just listen.

“The nations of the world begrudge us victory,” I said. “Yes, for a few moments after the Holocaust, their consciences bothered them and anti-Jewish diatribes became politically incorrect. But alas, as a survivor of the Holocaust, I knew that that would soon pass, and their hatred would resurface,. There is only one way in which we can protect ourselves,” I continued, “and that is to have our representatives at the U.N. and throughout the world, unabashedly proclaim that we returned to our G-d given land – that our right to that land was granted by the Almighty G-d Himself and we have a deed to prove it. And even as we make that declaration, we must point to the Bible – our Torah and read the passages that assure that this land will belong to us, the Jewish people, for all eternity...... that G-d Himself deeded it to us as an eternal inheritance – that the covenant sealed at Sinai proclaims that we the Jewish people, the Torah, and the land are one.”

My plea, of course, went unheeded. At best, people smiled at my naivete, and others just dismissed it as “religious fanaticism. Sadly, to this very moment, nothing has altered. With the exception of Menachem Begin, none of Israel’s leaders – neither the Prime Ministers nor any of the ambassadors have mentioned Hashem or recognized that it was His guiding hand that enabled Israel to triumph. Sadly, this failure to recognize Hashem, is also evident in many areas. Our beautiful, moving anthem, Hatikva, would be so much more meaningful if G-d’s name was mentioned. I could cite many other examples, but the important factor is that we ourselves understand that “we are a holy nation that stood at Sinai and heard the voice of G-d, and that voice is embedded in our neshamas. If we would only listen to its still, small voice that is constantly calling out to us.

With every passing year, the demonization of the Jewish State has escalated, where once, for a very brief moment, Israeli soldiers were held in esteem, today, they are regarded as oppressors of the downtrodden who occupy land that does not belong to them.

In vain does Israel reach out with compassion to those who attack her; in vain does she extend the hand of peace. The attacks continue unabated and with every passing day, they become more deadly., killing men women, children and babes. From the very moment of Israel’s rebirth, Jewish blood flowed freely in the land, but no nation ever protested that; no nation ever raised its voice on our behalf.. The centuries old canard of Jew hatred never really dissipated, and today we are witnessing that which we thought would never occur.

Was it only yesterday that the most popular song on the Israeli hit parade was “Ani mafticha lach..... I promise you my child, that this will be the last war...” Tragically, it was a dream that never came about.

I write all this not because, G-d forbid, I want to criticize our people, but precisely because I love our people and our land, that I write. G-d knows we have undergone more than enough suffering already, and in this time of crisis, even as in pre-Holocaust Europe, doors are once again being shut against us. Before it’s too late, we have to recognize that our help, our salvation will not come from Washington nor from any other capitol on earth. But it can and will come from the greatest capitol of all – the capitol in the Heavens above. It is there and only there that our destiny is shaped. It is to that capitol that we must cry out, and if we do so, our help will come.

President Obama, in his address to the nation outlined his new peace initiative, calling upon Israel to return to her pre-1967 borders, a suicidal course that the Jewish state can never consider. Israel’s Prime Minister, Bibi Netanyahu, delivered a most eloquent, powerful response, explaining why Israel can never entertain such a death sentence. He passionately explained how, throughout the centuries, the Jewish have people suffered barbaric torture and persecution that saw millions slaughtered, but throughout, the Jewish people never renounced their right to the land of Israel nor their hope of return. Yes, he spoke from the heart and you had to be a stone not to be moved by it. But with all that, there was one word that was blatantly missing, and the absence of that word rendered Israel vulnerable, open to further attack, and that one word was Hashem – the Almighty G-d.

If only.....if only, I thought to myself, he had added to his powerful plea, “We have returned to our G-d given land!”. But alas that one sentence never surfaced. No, we cannot rely upon anyone. I reiterate, our help can only come from G-d Himself.

I ask every fair-minded person to consider what happens if millions of people shout that Israel and the Jews, are the vermin of the world and must be exterminated. Then consider what would happen if, instead of the word “Jew”, the words “black man” was substituted. Then consider what would happen if, instead of “Israel” another nation would be required to give over its land to a people who openly proclaim that they will never recognize her right to exist.

What’s more, consider what would happen if any other nation was required to give up her land, evacuate her citizens, and remove them by force. What would happen if they were demanded to give up the homes and the synagogues that they built, the land that they converted from a desert into beautiful gardens and orchards only to see that place become a launching pad for deadly terrorist attacks. Yes, Israel called upon her own soldiers to uproot their brethren from Gush Katif and rendered them refugees in their own land.

And it wasn’t only these places. Remember Oslo when Israel gave up her land for the creation of a Palestinian State and then supplied weapons for a police force, only to see those weapons turned against her. I could go on and on, but would anyone dare demand that after having seen and experienced all that, more land be given away to a people that have proven time and again that they have only one agenda, and that is to wipe Israel off the map.

And how, you might wonder was Israel rewarded for her sacrifices? The lands that she gave away were quickly converted into launching pads for deadly missiles and rockets aimed at her villages and cities, killing and maiming. And now, Israel is being pushed to give away more and more of her land. from whence Hamas and her cohorts can launch even more deadly rockets.

Prime Minister Netanyahu explained that we are a nation that suffered one holocaust too many. we cannot risk another slaughter. Instead of understanding his plea, he was chastised for lecturing the president in the White House.

There is something here that does not make logical sense, something that every rational mind must question and wonder at. How could such evil be accepted? It defies all reason, and yet, the answer is simple: “If only My people would heed Me. If Israel would walk in My ways, in an instant, I would subdue their foes and against their tormentors, turn my hand....” [Psalm 81]

Source: Hineni

Also see: The Sound of Silence

The Sound of Silence

Art: Charnine

Most people these days are going about their lives as if nothing out of the ordinary is happening.  I can't really understand it, because to me the world is on the verge of something huge, and yet only a small percentage of people seem to "see" it.   Not only can people not see what's going on in front of their eyes, they can no longer hear either..... as Rebbetzin Jungreis writes:

The Rebbetzin's Viewpoint

By: Rebbetzin Esther Jungreis

`Deaf and Dumb` 

I have often written and said that we are living today in remarkable but dangerous times in which we can hear (provided we know how to listen) the footsteps of Messiah. Ours however, is a generation that has difficulty hearing. We are saturated with constant noise, not only by world events that are so rapidly unfolding that before we digest one, another is upon us. But we are also assailed by our own tumultuous, seductive life styles – lifestyles that are conducive to self-absorption and “deafness”.

You might, of course, wonder at the appropriateness of the word “deafness”. “Isn’t that a bit too extreme?” No! Even if there was a stronger expression, I would resort to that, because indeed, our generation has become deaf – no matter how thunderous the call of Hashem may be.

But still you might ask, “Why deaf?” What is there in our society that inhibits a person from listening? Why should our generation be more deaf than those that preceded us? To be sure, in every generation we have had problems hearing that “still small voice” that comes in many shapes and forms. However, in our generation, that blockage has become even more acute. There are so many sounds that divert us from hearing. Nowadays, it is rare to see anyone take even a moment to think. There was a time when people took walks to contemplate or they secluded themselves to give themselves time to think and review their lives. Today however, such happenings hardly occur, if at all. Today, when you see people walking, they are always involved in some activity, be it talking on their cell phones, text messaging, scrolling through their e-mail on their blackberrys, or listening to their I-pods. And should they steal some moments to seclude themselves, there are always other diversions vying for their attention, be it the internet, TV, or video games, etc.

In the interim, time relentlessly passes by, and with every moment, events unfold that we don’t hear or see. Not only have we lost our ability to hear, but we have also lost our ability to talk.... to hold a conversation. Nowadays, people communicate through e-mail, texting, or twitter. This has become so prevalent that children no longer speak to parents, couples no longer speak to each other. They find it much easier to text or resort to other technological means of communication, because through these methods, they don’t have to hear a response – another voice which might question or negate their message. Nor are they obliged to hear expressions of love which might make them feel guilty or indebted. There is an old Yiddish saying, “There was a time when parents taught their children to talk, but now, children teach their parents to keep quiet.”

Regardless of our reaction however, the messages continue.... the sounds become louder and louder, demanding a response, but how can we respond if we no longer know how to hear? Deaf, dumb, and blind, we continue to march on to the sound of our own music and congratulate ourselves on our open-mindedness and ready acceptance of all life-styles.

So it is that we never learn. Even the most world-shaking events go unheeded. Neither the Holocaust nor the rebirth of Israel after two thousand years of exile has made us stop and re-think our lives.

I could go through countless happenings of our contemporary life, but I will skip to 9/11 a tragedy which spoke thunderously to all the citizens of our USA. Remarkably, even then, we continued to remain deaf, and perverted its message to that which we regarded as “politically correct”.

We have become so inured that we see nothing unusual in the constant escalation of natural disasters, be they tsunamis, floods, tornados, earthquakes, nuclear spills, and so on. Nor do we see anything remarkable about dead birds falling from the skies or dead fish – sardines washing ashore. Even though they numbered a million. Nor did we wake up when financial disaster overtook us. Overnight, we witnessed the collapse of giant corporations and industries.... the melt-down of Wall Street and the devaluation of the dollar, all of which we once believed to be invincible.

Our inability to hear rendered us deaf and blind to the messages behind the toppling of powerful governments – governments that for years were controlled by dictators who ruled with iron fists. We delude ourselves into believing that that which we are witnessing is the establishment of democratic societies, the dawn of freedom and peace in the dark world of the Middle East. We refuse to consider that the mobs on the streets are the precursors of even more tyrannical dictatorships. Take, for example, Egypt, which we believe to be the perfect example of the democratic dream fulfilled. In our blindness and deafness, we refused to pay heed to the heinous shouts of “Jew! Jew” as Lara Logan, the CBS foreign correspondent was barbarously attacked (although Lara Logan is not a Jew). Nor has the world paid heed to the destruction of churches and the killing of those of the Christian faith. Yes, all this is unfolding in the “democratic new Egypt”. Paradoxically, neither Rome nor any other Christian denominations have raised voices of outrage. The silence is deafening. Why? Why? But we dismiss that question as well. We have our own problems. We can’t really get involved in world events. It won’t help anyway, so the call continues to be sounded and we continue to remain blind, dumb and deaf.

[to be continued]

Source: Hineni

Rebbetzin Jungreis: the Birth Pangs of Moshiach Part 2

[To read Part 1, click here: Birth Pangs of Moshiach]

In last week’s column I began the first part of my response to the woman who wrote expressing her fears regarding the escalation of anti-Semitism and hatred of Israel throughout the world. In that column, I explained that our Sages and Prophets predicted it: and they tell us that that which we are witnessing today are “Ikvisei D’Moshiach” a period in which we can hear the footsteps of Messiah and the birth pangs that will precede the coming of that great day. At the conclusion of that column, I asked how long that labor will last, and how we can protect ourselves from the suffering that will accompany that period.

For that too, our sages have an answer. "Let he who wishes to be spared the birth pangs of Messiah occupy himself with Torah and gemilas chasidim (acts of loving kindness) and let him be scrupulous about Seudah Shlishis – the third Sabbath meal."

The first two recommendations – Torah and gemilas Chasidim, are self-explanatory and do not require much elaboration, for he who is committed to Torah and mitzvos and to reaching out with loving-kindness, must, of necessity, become a better, more spiritual person. But eating a third Sabbath meal is not as readily comprehensible.

We are enjoined to have three seudos – meals – on the Sabbath – Sabbath eve (Friday night), Sabbath noon (following prayer in the synagogue) and the third seudah – meal in the late afternoon as the Sabbath queen prepares to depart. Through these three meals we honor the three Patriarchs, the three sections of our Scriptures (Torah, Prophets, and the Writings), and we recall the three Sabbath meals of manna that G-d provided us during our sojourn in the wilderness [Exodus 16:25].

The final Sabbath seudah is called Shalosh Seudos, which translated literally, means “Three Meals” rather than Seudah S’hlishis – the third meal. Our sages explain that the reason for this is that all three Sabbath seudos are embodied in this one.

This third meal presents a most auspicious time for prayer. To this very day, when I close my eyes, I can hear the sweet voice of my revered father and my beloved husband, of blessed memory, leading their congregations in singing Psalm 23, the psalm that is traditionally chanted at the Shalosh Seudos.

“The L-rd is my Shepherd, I shall not want...” The task of the shepherd is a lowly and lonely one. Day in and day out he is destined to wander from place to place, seeking pasture for his flock, and yet, David did not hesitate to refer to G-d as a Shepherd for he perceived that G-d’s love is so total, so encompassing, that when it comes to caring for His children, nothing is beneath Him. What a magnificent and fortifying thought – for no matter where life takes us, even if we have to walk in the treacherous valley overshadowed by death, we need not fear, for G-d our Shepherd, will always be there to lead us to greener pastures, even if at first, we do not recognize that the pasture is green.

Still, it is difficult to comprehend how the mere eating of a third meal, singing Psalm 23, and discussing words of Torah could have such awesome power that they can actually protect us from the suffering that will accompany the birth pangs. But there is a profound lesson at the root of this teaching. The first two Sabbath seudos are eaten when we are hungry, but after a festive noontime seudah, we are hardly in the mood for another meal. So it is not to satiate our hunger that we gather around the Shalosh Seudos table. Rather, it is to celebrate the Sabbath and sing her praises, and that is why the Third Meal encompasses them all. The Third Meal is symbolic of the conversion of the physical to the spiritual, and ultimately, that is our purpose, to become spiritual beings and to free ourselves from the shackles of materialism – and that is something that our generation, obsessed with materialism and the pursuit of pleasure has yet to learn.

You might of course wonder, “Why must we experience birth pangs in order for Messiah to come? Why can’t he just announce his presence? But the Messianic period will be very much like Shalosh Seudos, when we sit around the table – not to satiate our physical hunger, nor to glory in our material achievements, but to celebrate our spiritual attainments.

In order for that to happen, we will have to divest ourselves of all the icons we hold dear. Therefore, our hallowed institutions, the bastions of strength in which we placed our trust, will have to fall away. It is that painful disintegration to which we are witness today. From the corporate world to governments, to religious institutions, to science and medicine, they have all failed us. And worse, we no longer feel safe or secure in our daily lives. Terrorists and suicide bombers have become a reality of our existence and no army or police force is capable of shielding us from them. Shorn of all of our defenses, we stand vulnerable and terrified, and wonder what life is all about as we see our idols crumble before our very eyes.

How long will these birth pangs last? Until we recognize the simple truth — that “we can rely on no one but our Heavenly Father.” So let us sound the shofar, awaken ourselves from our lethargy and heed the voice of our Father calling us.

But even as we do so, let us not despair. There is an amazing Midrash that recalls the story of three great Biblical figures: Reuven, Aaron and Boaz, about whom the sages said, had they only known that the Torah would record their deeds, they would have done even more.

How can we understand such puzzling teachings? How can it be that such spiritual giants would have needed the additional incentive of being inscribed in the Torah to conduct themselves more nobly? It has often occurred to me that there is a deep lesson to be gleaned from this Midrash that could be a great source of spiritual strength in these troubled times.

When Reuven discovered that the pit into which his brother Joseph had been cast was empty, he was overcome by inconsolable grief and cried out, “The lad is gone! And I – where can I go?” [Genesis 37:30] But had Reuven known that Joseph was on his way to Egypt to prepare the path for the family of Jacob, a path that would eventually lead the nation to Sinai, he would have rejoiced!

When Aaron went to greet Moses who was returning to the Auschwitz of Egypt, his heart fell, for he feared for the life of his younger brother. Had he only known that Moses was coming to redeem the nation, he would have greeted him with an orchestra!

Had Boaz, from whose fields Ruth gleaned, known that she would one day become his wife and the great grand-mother of King David, he would have rejoiced and made her a magnificent festive meal.

Had they only known what the Torah had mapped out for them, their hearts would have been filled with elation rather than trepidation.

Similarly, all our journeys, be they personal or national are guided by G-d. There is an ultimate goal – a destination to which we will all arrive. It is not for naught that we are launched on our paths. Our struggles are not in vain. So when our journeys become difficult, when our hearts tremble with fear, let us recall Reuven, Aaron and Boaz. Let us remember that we have not yet witnessed the end – and the end will be good. That which we are experiencing are birth pangs. Let us hold fast, for very soon, we will see blessed new life that will make all our sacrifices and suffering worthwhile.

Finally, dear friends, every day when you daven, read the little closing paragraph with great concentration: “Do not fear sudden terror or the Holocaust of the wicked when it comes... It shall not stand, for G-d is with us.”

You need only believe it. You need only place your full trust in G-d. Follow the light of His Torah and that light will pierce even the most dense darkness.

Rebbetzin Jungreis: the Birth Pangs of Moshiach

by Rebbetzin Esther Jungreis

Several weeks ago, I published a letter from a woman who expressed fear regarding the world situation – the escalation of anti-Semitism and hatred of Israel that is reminiscent of pre-Holocaust Europe. Her letter provoked a torrent of e-mails from young and old, quite a few of which I published, but I had yet to respond to her specific questions regarding her fears which, B’ezrat Hashem, I will now do.

My Dear Friend:

Firstly, allow me to apologize for the delay in responding to your specific questions, but since you are familiar with my columns, you are aware that I always allow my readers to respond to the challenges that are under discussion. However, I have not forgotten your original question and will devote this column to it..

I wish that I could tell you that your fears are unfounded, that your imagination is running away with you, and that reality proves you to be wrong, but sadly, you are right on target and those who make light of your worries are sleeping, even as our people slept in pre-Holocaust Europe.

That which we are witnessing today was all predicted by our prophets and sages, but alas, we are no longer familiar with their teachings. Ours is a generation that the prophet Amos described: “And days shall come upon you, saith the L-rd, and I shall send a hunger into the land – not a hunger for bread, nor a thirst for water – but a hunger for the Word of G-d.”.... It is this spiritual famine that we are witnessing today. We simply do not comprehend and we continue on our merry way with business as usual.

Maimonides taught that, when suffering is visited upon us, we are commanded to cry out and awaken our people with the sound of the shofar. Everyone must be alerted to examine his or her life and commit to greater adherence to Torah and mitzvos. Maimonides warned that if we regard the tragedies that befall us simply as “the way of the world” – “natural happenings”. We will be guilty of achzarius – cruelty.

At first glance, it is difficult to understand why Maimonides would choose the term “cruelty” to describe those who view trials and tribulations as “natural happenings”. Such people may be unthinking, apathetic, foolish, blind or obtuse, but why accuse them of cruelty?

The answer is simple. If we regard our pain and suffering as “mere coincidence,” we will feel no motivation to examine our lives, abandon our old ways, and change. So yes, such an attitude is cruel, for it invites additional misfortune upon ourselves and others.

It would be the height of cruelty to dismiss that which is occurring in the world today as mere happenstance. Great Torah luminaries of past generations, such as the Chofetz Chaim and Rabbi Elchanan Wasserman, told us that we are entering the final stages of history – a period in time called “Ikvesa D’Meshicha” – “Footsteps of the Messiah”. Our Torah foretells four exiles through which our people would suffer: Egypt, Babylonia – Persian-Mede Empires, Greece and Rome – the exile in which we presently find ourselves, for it was the Romans who exiled us when they destroyed the Second Temple.

In Pirkei d’Rabbi Eliezer, an early Midrashic work, it is written that, before the coming of Messiah, we will have to contend with a fifth source of tribulation that will come from Yishmael – the Arabs -- who will inflict terrible suffering on the world and on our people. This teaching is reaffirmed by Rabbi Chaim Vital, the illustrious disciple of the Arizal, who wrote that before the final curtain falls upon the stage of history, Yishmael will inflict torture on our people in ways the world has never before seen.

One need not have great powers of discernment to recognize the painful veracity of these predictions. Consider only the suicide bombers, the decapitations, the hijackings, the missiles, the rockets, and the constant, senseless brutal acts of terror.

We are the generation that has been destined to witness the fulfillment of the prophecy given to Hagar [Genesis 16:11-13]. “Behold, you will conceive and give birth to a son, and you shall name him Ishmael....and he shall be a wild ass of a man, with his hand against everyone, and everyone’s hand against him, and over all his brethren shall he dwell.....”

The long arm of Ishmael’s terror has indeed reached every part of the world.

There is yet another amazing prophecy in the Yalkut Shimoni – a Medieval/Midrashic compilation that eerily foretells the events of today and should give us all pause. Rabbi Yitzchok said, “The year in which Melech Hamashiach will be revealed, all the nations of the world will be provoking each other...The king of Persia (Iran) will provoke the King of Arabia. The King of Arabia, will go to Edom (the leader of the Christian nations) to take counsel and the King of Persia (Ahmadinejad) will threaten to destroy the entire world.

“The nations of the world will be outraged and panic. They will fall on their faces and will experience pains like birth pangs. Israel too, will be outraged and in a state of panic ask, “Where do we go?”

“But say unto them, ‘My children, do not fear. The time of your redemption has come... And this last redemption shall be different from the first that was followed by further bondage and pain. After this last redemption, you shall not experience any further pain or subjugation” [Yalkut Shimoni, Isaiah 59]

The Klausenberger Rebbe Z’tl, referring to this teaching, said, “Remember these words. They are perhaps not understood now, but in time they will be, and will be a source of strength to our people.”

Had you heard these prophecies centuries ago, when they were written, you might have laughed and scoffed – even if you read them as recently as 1970, you would have been hard-put to believe it, for of all the Moslem countries the Shah’s Iran was probably the friendliest. But today, the impossible has become possible and events are unfolding so rapidly that we have difficulty absorbing their impact. So how are we to understand it all?

The Yalkut compares our suffering to birth pangs. But birth pangs are deceptive-- when the contractions begin, it’s easy to ignore them since they are mild and occur between long intervals. As the birth becomes imminent however, the contractions intensify and the pain becomes more intense. And just when it appears that the woman can no longer endure the pain, the baby is born and new life enters the world. It is these labor pains to which we are witness today.

How long will the labor last? It’s anyone’s guess, but one thing is certain – please G-d, the birth is sure to take place. In the interim however, we may very well ask, “Is it possible to ease the suffering? Is it possible to protect ourselves from these painful contractions?”

The answer to that is a most emphatic “Yes!”

[To be continued]

Source: Hineni

Click here for Part 2: The Birth Pangs of Moshiach