Rebbetzin Tziporah

 Dear friends,

Last Friday’s fast has a message that speaks louder than words. Words can only describe things as we see them. The Chasam Sofer says that this fast tells you about a dimension of reality that none of us have seen. 

“Hashem convenes His angels and tells them that He is giving us more time before bringing destruction upon us.” In fact, in the time of the first Temple, He gave them 30 months from the 10^th of Teves, which He warned Yechezkel was the beginning of the end. 

This tells you that this is the time during which you can take steps that will change things, and that if you don’t, the results will have to be faced. This is the beginning – usually we are concerned with the end. We only say Hallel when the happy ending has already taken place, not when the beginning of a new dawn can be seen.

I don’t have to tell you that over a hundred soldiers have been killed, and that many many mothers and wives don’t know what they will hear when they pick up the phone. I don’t have to tell you that the temporary evacuation of hundreds of families who were living in communities relatively near Aza isn’t easy. For the most part they were placed in hotels – some of the finest hotels in Israel were opened up for them (which is something that we can all be proud of). Nonetheless, living in a room and a half with three kids, and two unemployed parents isn’t easy by anyone’s estimate. What’s worse, is not knowing exactly when things will change. We are in a situation where it seems on the outside as though we are seeing step two – the movement towards further decline. 

WHAT WAS THE BEGINNING?

When Hashem created Adam, He gave His first human a mission called ‘Tikkun Olam’ rectifying the world. They were put in Gan Eden to work it and to guard it, to have children and to conquer the earth. This was never meant to be done in the way animals do – to do whatever they need to ensure their survival and that of their pack. We people are meant to do this as humans – beings that are made in Hashem’s image. 

All humans (non-Jews as well as Jews) have a strong inner will for tikkun olam. This is why they built the tower of Bavel; it was, “To make us a name”- their desire for meaning by this time was deflected, and moved them away from Hashem – towards their open-ended desire for self-fulfillment. It took an Avraham to give this human part of us direction, and Hashem responded by promising him that his life wouldn’t end with him. 

By the time the Jews became a people at Sinai, their mission was articulated by Hashem, Who told them that they would be “A kingdom of Kohanim”, meaning leaders (the classical meaning of the word Kohen). We bring basic concepts of morality and self-transcendence with us wherever we go.  On the tenth of Tevet we saw Yerushalaim, the city that was meant to be the spiritual and moral center of the world, besieged, surrounded by Babylonians who could only have overpowered us if we were no longer strong. The translation of Torah to Greek (which is another reason for the fast) birthed a new step away from Tikkun Olam – meaning redefining spiritual and moral perfection in ways that exclude Hashem’s unity and the Torah itself. 

This paved the path for the rise of Christianity and from there the alphabet of “isms” which we know by heart on Monday, but by Tuesday there are still more…. Ezra was the prophet who is considered to be most similar to Moshe (in the eyes of chazal). Among his many accomplishments is that he reestablished the style of writing that is called Ktav Ashurit, the Hebrew letters that we use today as being used for all sacred books, such as Torah scrolls. When he died, arguably one of the most successful men in preserving the integrity of the Torah, left us, a loss commemorated on the tenth of Tevet. Tikkun Olam without Torah is inconceivable.

THE LATEST NEWS

Hamas are perpetrating the most vicious and violent form of fighting – nothing could be further from what Tikkun Olam is meant to be. Tikkun Olam means living as a human being made in G‑d’s image. The most appalling part is that they do their evil in the name of G‑d. The Quran doesn’t sanction the wholesale abandonment of every value that is Tikkun Olam. They have created a dimension of darkness that is not only accepted, but in many circles, validated. 

WHY AM I TELLING YOU THIS AFTER THE FAST?

Tikkun Olam is still possible. You can change the world. The Chofetz Chaim is reputed to have said that the greatest Kiddush Hashem is made by individuals who actually live according to the shulchan aruch (code of laws), meaning that being G‑dly in your priorities in life, and in how you relate to others, is within your grasp.

Much of what I wrote comes from an address made by Rav Nosson Rotman, a mashgiach in a yeshiva. You could think erroneously that he lives in a rarified environment in which Torah and mitzvot are larger than life, and you live in a world in which Real Life is larger than the ideals that are for sale cheap in the market of public opinion and lifestyle. You are mistaken. Torah lives in the real world. The tefillah you say today, the way you choose to define the word “important” in your thought, speech, and action have a far more long reaching effect than you can begin to imagine. 

These are dark days, days in which a little light leaves a strong impression. Arguably the possibility of making real changes is greater than it ever was. You have the ability to blossom by living a life in which your kesher to Hashem is what you are, not just what you say or think. 

Love,

Tziporah