Dear friends,

The nights are long, and dark. Last night the stark white of lightning illuminated the sky, with the background symphony of thunder. Chanukah lends itself to theatrical weather.
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When you look at the special addition for Chanukah that appears both in the prayers and in Birkat Hamazon, you can get a feel of how much more stark and powerful this kind of night was during the war.
The Maccabees had to face it. Taking refuge in the caves and forests agent the best largest and most disciplined army in the world was a life-or-death disciplined performance. They were few, untrained, and had lived their lives pursuing truth through learning Torah, not pursuing Greeks against impossible odds. They assumed that they would die, and they still found the gamble worth it.
It was all ideological. Can you picture saying the equivalent of “Who cares?” and just getting on with your life?

It’s no coincidence that the story of Yosef is read during Chanukah. He too faced impossible odds, and had no expectation of survival, but for him the battle was entirely different. He had come to do battle against himself, pitting his natural desires and fears against his awareness of Hashem’s will.
Can you picture yourself saying the equivalent of “Who cares?” if you were Yosef?
Potiphar’s wife stopped at nothing to get Yosef to have relations with her. She changed her clothes several times a day, created situations where she could speak to him, and ultimately threatened to fake a scenario presenting him as an attacker, and herself as a victim.

What motivated her? Was it just the banal old cliché of a lonely woman meets an attractive man?
It was far deeper than that.  She knew astrology (which was very common in Egypt during her lifetime). She saw that Yosef’s descendants would come from her line, and she wanted to make it happen, she wanted to be part of something bigger than herself. What you may not know is that Yosef also knew astrology. He saw the same stars that she did. His conclusion was that he would fail the moral test he faced. He would end up committing adultery with her, and she would bear his child. He now had the best excuse in the world. He could say, “I am inevitably going to fail this test.  I am doomed. The test is too big.”
AND YES!! The whole thing is ideological. Who will know what happened between them? Can you picture yourself saying the equivalent of, “Who cares?” if you were Yosef?

Now he had the same choice as the Maccabees. Should he head off to battle (in his case against his yetzer hara, his evil inclination) knowing he will lose, and face spiritual death? Should the Macabees enter battle against the Greeks knowing that in all likelihood they will face brutal and immediate physical death? They came to the same conclusion. They both decided to do the right thing, regardless of the possibility of facing death.

AFTER ALL, IT’S ONLY IDEOLOGICAL…

This is called “mesiras nefesh”.

IT’S NOT ONLY IDEOLOGICAL. IT’S ABOUT WHO YOU ARE, AND WHO YOU WANT TO BE. 

The result was (both of them!) divine intervention that changed the game completely. The Maccabees won, entered the sanctuary, and witnessed the miracle of the candelabra staying lit for 8 days (the time needed to bring down new oil from the north). Yosef ended up as the viceroy of Egypt. He saved his family, Egypt, and ultimately the entire known world which was affected by the famine. He also ended up showing us what it truly means to be a tzadik.

You have your challenges, and I have mine. The one thing we share in common is that you and I are both going to find ourselves thinking that there is no hope - that we are going to lose this one. The truth is, that Hashem will help you as He helped the Maccabees and as He helped Yosef.
How are you going to find the courage you need to survive the dark moments?

Even Potifera, Yosef’s master, knew that “Hashem is with him”, in his own words. He recognized that Yosef had ruach haKodesh, inspiration from Hashem, a higher source.

The Talmud tells that you can only have ruach hakodesh if you are happy.
NOTHING MAKES YOU HAPPIER THAN LIVING A LIFE OF MEANING, OF LIGHT, OF WHAT CHANUKAH MEANS TO US ALL.

Yosef’s secret was being happy with any situation that he faced. THIS CAN BE  YOUR SECRET TOO.

Love,
Tziporah           

Dear friends,
I teach at an Israeli Midrashah called Netiv Binah. I can hear you clearly, thousands of miles away.
“What is a Midrashah?”
A midrashah is a learning framework for women who work. People who aren’t acquainted with Torah Judaism can’t always relate to it easily. The students work at a real-world job. We have a lawyer, a language specialist, and a woman who is in a high position on one of Israel’s major industries.  They come in after a full day at work. At the end of the day, you might assume that the next “activity” is dinner, the news and finally a shower and bed.
Not for them. They come to the MIdrashah (which begins its classes at 5:15 breaks for dinner at 6:15 and continues most nights until about 10 (!). They want more than to come in first in the rat race. They want Torah, and of all of the women I teach, they are the least afraid of changing.
Not all of the women come every night, and not all of the women stay for the entire program. Even so, it is unique. There is nothing like it as far as I know in the secular world. They don’t take tests, get marks or degrees. It is all for the sake of learning more, in order to be more and to do more.
The Midrshah is located on Sorotzkin Street not far from Yerushalaim’s central bus station. Thedesign of Sorotzkin 35 (where the Midrashah is located) features 6 entrances on two levels, oneof which faces the street, the other one right behind. So, you have Sorotzkin A and Sorotzkin B. There is a shared underground area for parking, and on either side, there are storage areas. 
A fire broke out last week. It began in one of the storage basements, and spread from unit tounit. It stopped rather mysteriously at entrance 3, the one that leads up to Netiv Bina.  That is miracle number one. It also spared one other unit. That is miracle 2, and it carries a deep message.
 The story began well before the fire.
“Avi” the owner of the spared unit, answered a phone call from his neighbor. It seems that there was a plumbing issue, and the neighbor wanted him to come up to his apartment to help him out. Avi did, but just a few days later had reason to regret it. The symptoms were the usual ones; and before he even had it checked, he knew he had COVID-19. And so did his wife. And their kids… Their neighbor, it seems, had COVID when he asked Avi to look at the problem, but didn’t “bother” to mention the extremely catching virus. He knew that he was exposing his neighbor, but he wanted the fix the plumbing. 
 It wasn’t an easy time for Avi or for his family. He could sort of hear the outdoor minyan, but not really. His kids could sort of focus on the telephone classes, but not really…. When his neighbor (finally) called to ask him for forgiveness, his first response was to say that he forgives him, just because it is so unpleasant to say you don’t forgive someone, but he knew that in his heart there was no forgiveness at all.  Avi was too honest to just say the words. He wanted to be able to say them sincerely.
He stepped back from his ego. He had enough perspective to ask himself the hard questions.
Who determines my fate, and the fate of my family? “Who benefits from Hashem’s decrees, are they not made with only our ultimate good in mind?”. The thoughts flooded him it felt like a lifetime, but it was just a few seconds. He forgave his neighbor sincerely. This story was told by Rav Meilich Biderman, one of the brilliant stars in the contemporary world of teaching Torah to the masses of people who want inspiration.
I then found out that no less that Avi himself had recounted the entire thing on mainstream media…
Besides opening my eyes, I hope to some degree at least, it opened my heart
Having an “ayin tovah”, a good eye, means being willing to see what is good and meritorious in your neighbors, and in your friends. It generates feelings of being invested in his success, and generous when judging his failures.
The opposite is ayin raah, w hen you look at others as though they are engaged in an unending war of Us against Them. Avi was able to see that everything he is ad has is a gift from Hashem, and that no human is genuinely a real competitor. If nothing else, Corona has taught us that we have absolutely no way of controlling events, or even anticipating what will happen next. It is in other Hands. One of the lesson s that this plague has taught us is to finally quit eh game of Us angst Them and of course its “daughter’ Me against Him.
Yosef’s brothers felt threatened by him, and for good reason. They tragically misjudged him, and thought that there was option for what they know was the beginning of a nation, to defend its unity by not let one of the brothers push the others into the twilight of history
You can easily understand their misjudgment if you let your mind take over, and keep your emotions out of the picture, which is usually the best way to make serious decisions. There’s one problem. After the tragic deed was done, and Yosef was sold, they sat down and had a meal. What that shows are that a moment that could/should have been one in which they mourned their brother, even though they thought there were no other options, was tinged with their raw envy and their desire to win the battle of Us against Him. 
Would we have done better?
I don’t know who will read this letter. Just go back a bit and ask yourself how you feel w hen you are vulnerable. Let the answer sink in deep enough for you to replace the fear of loss/failure/rejection/losing the game/competition that fuels envy with tranquility/trust/courage/ emunah.
I hope that I can,
and I hope that you can too.
 
Love,
Tziporah

Dear friends,
What confusing times we live in!
The elections are over, but are they really?
There is a vaccine for Corvid 19. Is it really what we were hoping for?
There are countless conspiracy theories floating around. It would be easy to dismiss them, but over the years I have discovered that sometimes the most outrageous conspiracy theories turned out to be true. Of course I have also discovered that the majority of them don’t turn out to be true. Where do you turn to when you are looking for truth?
When my boys were still teenagers one of Israel’s repetitive wars was going on. Word got out that Rav Shach zatzal had made a major address about responding to the situation. When I went down to the mailbox to pick up the paper (we had a subscription that I had bought for my first husband thinking he would enjoy it. He didn’t nor did the kids. I was the only one who read my “present”). Of course, since they were teenagers, one of them grabbed it out of my hands immediately. After a moment he threw it on the table and said. “He didn’t say anything”. I looked at the front page, and saw that there were 6 columns worth of “nothing”. I asked him what he meant to say. He said, “Oh you know. Daven. Learn. Show greater respect and generate unity to your fellow Jew”. To him this felt like nothing. He would have much preferred something novel and (even better) dramatic. Maybe a call to have every single person in the country to go to the Kotel at dawn, or maybe a demand that everyone adopt a foster child or at least that all of the yeshivos close for a day of focused prayer in one of the holy places in the north (preferably not too far form a nature reserve). 
It doesn’t go that way.
Truth is the whole picture. We humans are far too limited to see the truth as it really is. Our lives are too short, our intellects too limited and our emotions too strong to avoid subjectivity.
Truth is far bigger than factuality. If someone were to ask you “Who was Hitler” and you answer “a vegetarian”, your answer would be accurate, but far from true. The only possible address for truth is truth that is from a source that is higher than you are (much as in the physical world, what you see form the top of the mountain is far more reflective of genuine reality that what you see from your window) From the mountain top you can see an entire panorama. From your window, if you are not careful (and if the pane isn’t clean) all you see is yourself and your immediate surroundings. When Hashem gave us the Torah, He gave us truth.
There’s a problem.
You can only hear the truth if you don’t block it out. You can block it out by physical passion or by ego, or by unwillingness to change. The illusion is that living a life of falsehood is sweeter. In the short term this is often accurate, but accurate and true aren’t the same things.
The only one of the patriarchs who is mentioned in Birkat HaMzaon (the prayer after eating bread), is Yaakov. We refer to Hashem as “Our holy One, the Holy One of Yaakov”. The reason that he is mentioned and not Avraham or Yitzchak is that he took their teachings even further than they did. He used their legacy to climb the mountain, and to see the world form its top. Avrhaham introduced the world of his time to belief in one G-d, and realized that we are in His image, and we can develop ability to bond with Him by mirroring Him. He is the host of the world? Be hospitable. He is compassionate; plead the case for others the way that Avraham bargained for Sdom.  Avraham was the pillar of chessed, Yitzchak built on what Avraham had started. He saw that there are many obstacles that are in the way –and he combined dealing with them with living he kind of life Abraham had lived. Besides the awesome and inspiring moments that you are familiar with (for instance, the akeida) he brought the ideal of living for Hashem into every aspect of his life. His “pillar” is the pillar of devotion to Hashem. Devotion demands strength, He left us our collective ability to make awesomely painful and difficult choices to stay Jewish. Yaakov saw the “whole picture”-Avraham’s love of Hashem, and Yitzchak’s strength and devotion.  He became a man of truth. This means seeing the whole picture. The whole picture always includes Hashem in it, since He is every blood cell and every galaxy at the same time. Yaakov’s name is mentioned in Birkat HaMazon because he could see Hashem even in the bread he was eating. 
Eisov was his twin
Equally as gifted, brought up by the same parents. His every choice ended up false for one reason. He couldn’t ever take himself out of the picture. His cheessed is based on the personal satisfaction and external recognition that it often brings. His courage was unfocussed.  I grew up on the Three Muscateers and the Knights of the Round Table. They were portrayed as being courageous, but the loyalty was never to Hashem, who for them was at most a vague presence somewhere Out There.
I don’t know who will resolve the confusion concerning the American election. I don’t know what will end the Corona Pandemic. What I do know is that tshuvah and tefillah and tzedakah are the visible sources of change that you can see when you are on top  of the mountain.
 
Love,
Tziporah

Dear friends,
Age was once respected. Things have changed. Once you are in your mid-twenties people avoid asking you the ‘A’ question. Things were different when you were a child. If someone accused you of being 7 when you were actually 8, you would correct their mistake. After all, you have something to show for the year they omitted. You are bigger, smarter, and more like an adult.. 
What happened?
There are all sorts of theories about why age is perceived in a progressively more negative light as you move onward and upward. One is the untenable fact that you don’t get better and better looking, or more and more energetic. Actually the word undeniable is not a good choice. I have been in denial for years, and so have some of you. You also may discover that at least technologically, you are less with it than the post millennials. We all have literally trillions of neural pathways, but gosh, the ones you developed aren’t the same ones that they did if you were born when your Date of Birth began with the number 19….
Is it always a downhill slide?
Sara lived to be 127. The Torah presents it in three segments. The person she was at 7, the person she was at 20 and the person she was at 100. Each stage is described as holy, innocent and beautiful. 
Do you remember being 7?
I do. It was the age of Mrs. Neary’s second grade classroom being the place where things Happen. It was the era in which my lifelong love of reading began to become real and serious.  I became the heroes of the books that I read, and their adventures filled my rich fantasy life. 
The Bais HaLevi says that this stage is one in which your love of good, of justice and or making something of yourself, begins to show itself. It is potentially the beginning of your becoming a holy person. Then comes adulthood; a time in which the need to actually interact with the real world replaces the unborn aspirations of childhood. It’s a time for fulfilling ambitions so that the inner voice of the child who wants to be a hero can now be heard. This stage also comes to an end. In secular society there is no defined ambition or even purpose for life at this stage. Relaxation, dedicating yourself to pastimes that may give pleasure but rarely give more, are colors on the palette for this era. Given that life expectancy is in the 80s nowadays, this leaves quite a few years without defined structure. Kedushas Levi has a different approach. He says that this time of life is one in which the acquired wisdom of all the previous years meld into a potential self that is both reflective and wise.  For the most part, this is when the Gedolei Torah reached their highest levels.
What does this have to do with you? The basic message is to see that you stay alive throughout your life.  The Talmud tells you that tzadikim are called “living” even after their deaths, while evil people are called dead even while they are physically alive and breathing. The reason that it says this is that life actually involves connection to Hashem. Every stage of life opens its own possibilities.
Sara made use of each stage of her life. We are all in the middle of the drama. 
Here, at Bnos Avigail, Neve, and with you, my dear dear friends who I “know” from the online community, ask the kind of questions that tell me that you are very, very aware of this. 
Simcha comes from resolving doubts. When you see every day as “lihatchila”, as a purposeful gift, there are no real doubts.

Thursday the 25th of Cheshvan, is the sixth year since the Arabs attacked the Bnei Torah shul on Agassi Street in Har Nof killing 6 and seriously wounding 2.  The attackers lived in Jabel Mukaber. Those of you who have been on the Tisha B’Av trip around the hills of Yerushalayim have seen it, even though at the time you didn’t know it. It is the idyllic village that you see when you look towards the Temple Mount from the extreme  left side of the Haas Promenade. My son lived in an adjacent Jewish neighborhood called Nof Tzion for several years. When he looked out the window, he saw the same view that they did; he saw the holiest place of all. The two neighborhoods shared a playground (more correctly the children of Jabel Mukaber found their way to the play area that their neighbors in Nof Tzion constructed). On “our” side many people viewed this as natural, given the closeness of the two neighborhoods, and watched to see what fruits would grow from this particular tree. Others stood aside hoping that there would be no trouble and acknowledging that there were no real choices given that this is where they had chosen to live. 
My granddaughter Oriya played there, and got to know the neighbors. One day, a little girl about her own age said “you know, you can take a different name. You don’t have to be Oriya. You can be Anastasia. Then we can be real friends, and when we grow up, we can go to the mall together. You can be like us”. When she came home and told her mother, my daughter in law knew that the time had come to tell Oriya the truth. She told her about what had happened in Har Nof, and what had happened years ago in Chevron not far from where her aunt currently lives. And then she told her the most important message of all.
You can choose who you want to be every day. You don’t have to be anyone you don’t want to be. You have to watch that no one hurts you, but you don’t have to be someone who likes to hurt people. You don’t have give up being Oriya and be Anastasia to deserve life, and no one has to murder 6 men who came to pray on an ordinary morning because they hate anyone who isn’t what they are. There may be difficult people in your life. You may not be able to choose who they are but you can choose who you are. 
This message is one that can transform the way you look at your life regardless of what stage you are. Choose life. Choose to be the self you want to be.
 
Love,
Tziporah

Dear friends,
 
When you take the first part of this coming week's Parshah and isolate it from the rest of the Torah, you will be able to step out of your picture of Avraham, and see him as he was.
 
He began sensing that the world is a place of wonder when he was a young child. You are familiar with the story of his breaking his father's idols, which took place when he was still young. When you explore the missing years, the Midrashim tell you so much more.
 
Before Nimrod forced him to choose between his belief in Hashem and facing death, he had already spent ten years in prison. He was completely alone with his convictions; the entire world was on the "other side", one in which believing in a personal G-d who loves you, cares for your life’s purpose and who extends His hand to you when you try to find Him was something between a myth and a heresy.
 
In today's world, believing in a Higher Power is socially acceptable, but letting Him into your choice making mechanism is not. Avraham began teaching so that other people would find their places in Hashem's world, and lead lives that have real meaning.
 
It was then that Hashem told him to go to the Land "Where I will show you yourself" as the text tells you. Hashem will always take you to where you have to be in order to discover yourself. Whether you succeed in this mission is up to you; we are sometimes open to self-discovery, and sometimes less so.
 
I am keeping this letter short. The reason is technical, but there is also something to be said for brevity.
 
Avraham's path included not only going to Eeretz Yisrael, but also being forced to leave in the face of a famine. It involved his return, and ultimately his becoming a person of such greatness that literally every Jew and non-Jew in the world is affected by his life to one degree or another.  

Dear friends,
I love reading stories of the Tzadikim except when I don’t. They are uplifting and inspiring on one hand. On the other hand, they can leave me feeling like the spiritual equivalent of the overweight overaged person in the picture that is captioned, “Before”, facing the svelte young beauty labeled “After”.  One example of how overwhelming things can appear is what happens when I spend time reading the excellent biography of the Chofetz Chaim,  reading about how he ultimately achieved perfect control over his speech (albite after many struggles). I like to be positive, but never uttering a needless rant is an entirely different story (pun intended). It’s not just that I am far from the goal; I am also not sure that in this lifetime I will ever reach it.
That’s why Noach’s story is so genuinely inspiring. He was a tzadik in his own times, and in his own way. Could he have been greater still if he lived in Avraham’s era? Maybe. It doesn’t matter. He was great enough to save the world. He had to face the life he had, not the one that Avraham had.  You have to live in your skin, so do I. When you face imperfection, far too often the next step is blame (it comes disguised as understanding the circumstances).
He lived in impossible times.
His world was totally corrupt and headed to the point of no return. When Hashem told him that the world had to be erased in order to begin again, he didn’t argue
Would Avraham have argued? 
If you compare him to Avraham, the contrast is overwhelming. Avraham bargained with Hashem over the city of Sodom and Amorah even though their evil was so painfully and visibly present. 
Would Moshe have argued with Hashem over the fate of the world?
Moshe went much further. When the Jews of his time worshipped the golden calf, instead of taking Noach’s approach (let them be erased if that means a new beginning), or Avraham’s (if there is critical mass, you can save everyone; the example of even 10 people committed to living decently will have influence). Moshe took it much much further. “Erase me form Your book”, he said, almost forcing Hashem acquiesce to his demand to let them live, accept them as they are, and Moshe bonded himself completely to the Jewish people when they were at their worst
Hashem knew what Noach didn’t know. He knew that it is only fair to open doors even if there is no likelihood that anyone will walk through and enter another room. He commanded Noach to build an ark. It took years. People asked him what he was doing. He didn’t hide anything from them. They mocked him and despised him, to the point that they saw him as a patronizing fool, and  an ideological enemy.  He didn’t save them, but he didn’t waver.
Did he make any baalei tshuvah? Not even one.     
Noach isn’t the only hero of the story. Chazal present us with a view that his wife was Naamah. Her family line is not impressive. She was a descendant of Kayin, whose view of the world was one in which there was little room for anything but his own fulfillment. Seven generations later, her father, Lemach, (the man who introduced polygamy to the world in the pre-flood era by having one wife for pleasure and one for family . Obviously both were exploited.) One brother introduced the idea of making music, one of the most spiritually alive experiences, and using it for idol worship. Another took animal farming to a new level by introducing itinerant ranching. I third was gifted. He understood using metal. He used this gift to make weapons. Naamah’s name literally means pleasant, and it was given to her to tell us about her deeds. She too stood alone.
Every human being in the world is a descendant of this pair. That tells you that no matter what your surroundings, family, or personal predilection is, you can be a tzadik.
The year on the ark was one in which they had to find the potential within themselves to build again. In order to do this, Hashem put them in the position of constant moment to moment chessed. They had taken refuge from a world that was defined as being a world of “grabbers and takers to the point of violence, promiscuity and finally instinctively ignoring other people’s right to even the smallest amount of their own  property, and they turned it into being a world based on the most h human and G-dlike part of what we can be,
Givers
24/7
To the animals.
A great deal of giving takes place nowadays. There are those who supply people who are in quarantine with everything that they need. Great Rabbanim such as Rav Zilberstein have “children’s hour” telephone shows. We are alone more than ever. We are people hungry. We are longing for more contact, and reaching out. We are not perfect. Maybe we are like Noach.
Maybe we have to keep trying to love the people we long to be with, believe in ourselves.
Even when we fail, we can come to see ourselves the way Hashem sees us. When Noach and his family came off the ark, Hashem made a sign of his commitment to refrain from ever destroying the world again by making another flood. The sign is the rainbow. The seven colors of the spectrum are really all manifestations of white, the color of light. Because light refracts and is picked up by pigment in different ways, you see colors.
Maybe, just maybe, my fellow imperfect tzadik, we can all learn to see it a little more clearly, we can see other people’s different ways of expressing Hashem’s light, and see our own version of this light.
In ourselves
In others
And in the world Hashem creates
Movement by moment.
Love,
Tziporah

The number seven is so much part of the Great Plan. The entire creation came into existence in 6 days, but it didn’t come to an absolute standstill. Surprisingly the menuchah that Hashem created was active; Hashem allowed kedushah (transcendent holiness) to enter, so that later people like you and I have the ability to get out of a picture so that you can see the picture without distorting it by putting yourself in the center. The menuchah of the 7th day brought kedushah with it, so that you can see both the art and the Artist in ways that elude you during the 6 days when you are occupied with the business of living your life. 
Let’s look at the number six- the number that Hashem used in creating everything mundane. The number fits; every material object has 6 sides (the four sides plus up and down). However, something of the 7 touches 6. No matter how thin an object is, it also has an interior. This is where the number seven “lives” it is the pnimiyus, reality’s inner dimension. Today’s Haftorah is the 7th one of the “Shiva Dinechemta” the seven Haftorah’s of consolation. In many ways, its themes tell you the inner realities of Hashem’s evolving plan for the world, describing both the 6 (the external nature of redemption) and 7 (it’s inner meaning).

WHAT DOES IT SAY? 

“You will be happy, you will rejoice” you as a nation, and you as an individual are in for changes. Two words that mean happiness that used at the beginning (Soss and Tagel) were chosen carefully. The word “soss” means external and collective happiness, the kind that was felt on VE day, when news of a final victory in Europe hit the States. My mother told me how throngs of people spontaneously headed to the streets to celebrate together. The geulah is a time of far greater victory; the final defeat of evil will bring the people of the world together in ways that not only haven’t ever been equaled, but can’t even be imagined. “Tagel” is related to the word “gil” which (as Malbim explains) is used to describe inner joy. Only you know what finally being rid of all of your devils, your vulnerabilities, fears, and scars will feel like. It isn’t only the world that will be healed, you too will be healed. Malbim compares your personal geulah to a tailor-made garment that fits you uniquely. No one else can “wear” it or even fully understand it.

What if we aren’t ready?

Yishaya tells us that Hashem will never let you reach the point of no return, or allow Yerushalaim to disappear. He has” placed guardians at the gates”.  Who are these guardians? The meforshim take you in many directions. Perhaps, as Yalkut suggests, one may be Michael, the great angel who offers the souls of the Tzadikim before Hashem, drawing down their merits. Perhaps Gavriel who is empowered by Hashem to bring justice to our enemies is the other guardian. Perhaps, it is the merit of the Avos whose lives go beyond their lifetimes and are the ones who drew angelic intervention. Perhaps (Alsheich suggests) it is those who devote themselves to living like the Avos, in total devotion to Torah that brings them down to this world. Perhaps it is tefillah, maybe even your tefillah. The important thing, Yeshaya tells you, is don’t be silent; keep asking and longing.  And if there isn’t enough merit, the geulah will come anyway, and the day will arrive when the brilliance and clarity of what lies inside, under the surface will be recognized even by the non-Jewish world. 

The bills will be paid. Good and evil can’t coexist in uneasy harmony. Evil has to be destroyed and Yishaya tells you in no uncertain terms that everything that Edom represents will no longer have a place on the planet. They will be utterly defeated and destroyed. Hearing this isn’t just meant to leave you with a feeling of optimistic hope. It should awaken your ability to see that Hashem is with you in your suffering.
What does it mean?

One of the final psukim in today’s Haftarah is, “In all of your sorrow, He has (no) sorrow”. You didn’t see a typo. The word for “him” lo, is written with a vav. If written with an aleph, it means, “not”. Let’s look at how both meanings relate to you. Hashem when ‘lo’ is read as though it is written with a vav, the Shlah explains, it tells you that Hashem indeed is with you, and always has been. There are times when you make it hard for Him to maintain His deep connection because you can close the door against Him with such force that you end up drowning in a whirlpool of doubt/fear/innui/escapism. The more you try to get out the more the chaos  deafens you with its unceasing roar. It is when you feel you can’t try any longer, that you have taken yourself out of the center. .. At that point Hashem is with you, feels your pain, and waits for the moment when your eyes are open enough go to grab at a rope he tosses towards you. It can save you if you see it. Let’s say that you do. It seems too far for you to reach; you have exhausted yourself to the degree that you don’t know if you can make it. The next moment you are holding onto the rope, and can feel yourself being pulled to safety. This is the syatta di’Shmaya that can bring you back to being the seeker that you want to be, and know that you can be. Seeing you in pain and struggling is His pain, His sorrow.  This is Lo with a vav. 

Let us now understand the pasuk with ‘vov’ with an aleph.   Once you are safe, something changes. No more self-imposed chaos. You are clear about one thing; your place is dry land; stability, growth and dveikus. At that point the One who let you feel the pull of the water, and the awesome fear of death that you experienced is not sorry that this is what you went through. It was needed. It seed you life. ‘Lo tzar’, He has no sorrow for what happened. His “lo” is with an aleph . 

WHAT DOES IT SAY TO YOU?

Your personal geulah is a tailor-made garment. Hashem is with you in your struggles He is the hidden author of your book. This is true for us as a nation just as much as it is for individuals. Our national identity is our relationship with Hashem. Other nations “find themselves” through their interactions with the world through agriculture, technology, natural science in all of its forms, they live in the world of the 6. We don’t - we have a deep need to find the inner dimension, which is the part of us that is inherently connected to Hashem. There have been times when our sense of self as a nation has floundered.

​We struggle, come close to extinction but Hashem is always with us, saves us, and gives us the opportunity to rediscover the joy of return.
 
Love Tziporah