Rebbetzen Tziporah

 Dear friends,

Last Friday was amazing (isn’t that the best cliché out!).

JOIN ME FOR A TRIP TO CHEVRON, BACK TO HAR NOF, AND ON TO WHEREVER YOU ARE RIGHT NOW!

We went to Chevron. It was Rosh Chodesh, and the weather was beautiful. During davening the girls encountered what must be one of the holiest sites that you can see and still be in olam hazeh. About 20 boys of 4-5, came in with their rebbe, and began to chant the entire tefillah. They are the kids of Chevron. I am sure you can picture them – long peyos (not too neat) and large multicolored knitted kippot. They knew the words by heart, but looked into the siddur like the good little guys that they are. When they reached Shema, they screamed the words out loud with overwhelming force that we were all startled. 

At 8 we gathered in the exit corridor (not my brightest idea – I didn’t want to disturb the people in the inner rooms who were still davening, but it was hard to get everyone to stay on one side, which made the people who were getting in and out face more of a challenge than they would have chosen.) The girls had made lists for us to join in tefillah for people who need refuah, shidduchim, and more. Just as we finished, I noticed that Simchah Hochberg was standing behind me. He is the Chevron official PR man – a combination of being a tour guide and the spokesman for the Chevron community. 

He is originally from Staten Island and was living an uneventful life until his autistic son was born. His autism was of the most severe sort – no real eye contact and no speech. He and his wife loved their little boy, but as time went on, taking care of him physically became more and more difficult. At the age of 8 or so, he could still do nothing for himself and showed no signs of having a real relationship to anything outside of his inner world. 

They traveled to Chevron and davened in the me’arah. The boy began to speak. No, he isn’t exactly like the rest of us, but he is now able to find his place in the community of his fellow human beings. And as you may have figured out by now, the parents have made Chevron their home – one that they share with many visitors every year. I asked him how things were in the City of the Patriarchs this past year. “I don’t know what to say. Things here are quiet (a reality that is not to be taken for granted in Chevron, and totally unexpected when the country is at war).” He has no explanation.

I do.

This year is one in which miracles and tragedies are entwined. Chevron wasn't spared from the tragedies of war. A family with 11 children lost their father, and a young man who was sent out to Lebanon right after sheva brachot never came back. 

The same day, another young man who was with his group realized that he had forgotten his tefillin in a house in Gaza. They had made it their headquarters until they moved on to the next assignment. With the officer's permission, they returned to the house, and while searching for the tefillin they noticed an opening in the floor that they had not noticed before. When they examined it, they discovered that it was an opening to a terror tunnel and was full of the most advanced weapons, lying there in waiting for Hamas to use it in their unending vortex of lust for bloodshed.

We are living in time of kodesh and chol, sacred moments, and terrifying act of chilul Hashem.

 

WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH YOU?

This is not an easy question to answer. Ignoring the reality that Hashem authored is a bad idea. Miracle after miracle were not done to forget. On the other side of the coin, Rambam says that ignoring Am Yisrael’s suffering is cruel (not foolish or self-absorbed) because Hashem is speaking through reality, His tool, and that not listening can necessitate His speaking louder…. What should we do? 

This question was addressed by several Roshei Yeshiva last week. They had come to Rav Rubin’s shul here in Har Nof to speak to the bnei torah before they returned to yeshiva for the new term.  He pointed out that what it says in Tehillim “the king isn’t saved by his great army, a strong man isn’t rescued through strength……behold Hashem's eye is upon those who fear Him” is true. 

What this means is that victory (like everything else) comes THROUGH the efforts we make, but FROM Hashem. (My take on this is what you might realize in this kind of situation. You are walking down the street, and someone collapses. You quickly call hatzalah. They come, do every possible procedure. 

The next step, whether the victim responds and recovers, or doesn’t, depends on Hashem, the author of life and death. The efforts expended by hatzalah will be the means that works – after all we need to open our hands to His mercy and not pretend that we are all always worthy of miracles. This doesn’t change the fact that it is Hashem’s will that prevails.) 

The Rav then continued and said that the debt of gratitude that we owe to those who risk their lives making efforts to protect us is profound whether or not they succeed – which is in Hashem’s Hands. There is, however, another step. 

Here are his words: “The reason that we make efforts by learning torah, is because, as the Talmud says, it “protects and shields”. Its influence on Hashem’s decisions for all of us is unparalleled by any other form of effort that we make. Those of us who have not had exposure to learning about what Torah is and what it does can’t be expected to understand its power. 

Therefore,” he said, “when you hear of tragic losses, you should ask mechilah (forgiveness) for not having learned and davened well enough.”

I was overwhelmed by his clarity and its implications. It’s easy to live in the bubble of your own life, without feeling anything beyond its limits. 

My friend Dina organized women to come to her shul every night at 9:15 to daven for the hostages and the soldiers, and for all of those who are waiting for Hashem in whatever they are facing. The group divides up Tehillim, then recites the names of the hostages, and then offer individual tefillah in front of the aron. They end by singing “Acheinu” and “Ani Maamin”. 

They have been doing this for a year. It seems to me that we can learn something from her efforts. BE”H from now on, on Sundays at 9:45 we will get together in the Neve shul and do the same, and those of you who can do so, may consider doing this in your area, or on Zoom, or whatever works for you. 

 

Because we are

One people

With one Father

And have

One heart

 

Love,  

Tziporah