“Kol ha olam kulo gesher tzar me’od … the whole world is a narrow bridge. The main thing is not to be afraid.”
Attributed to Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, these words have been popularized in a beautiful song composed by Rabbi Baruch Chait. They have become famous because they represent the mood of sensitive people around the world. Life is dangerous. Sensitive people know that they need the constant help of Hashem to survive.
We are now in a particularly challenging moment in history. Who knows what is coming next? One looks over the side of the “narrow bridge” and sees a deep chasm below.
When I was a child, I was constantly afraid. Other people didn’t notice, but my imagination conjured up every kind of fearsome event. None of them – not even one! -- ever materialized, but that did not prevent me from living in fear.
Then I discovered Hashem. I discovered Hashem because I had to discover Hashem! Hashem is not only the Creator and Master of the World, but He is also our Father. He holds our hand as we “walk through the valley of the shadow of death.” He is not only “Malkainu,” our King, but also “Avinu,” our Father.
Thus, “the main thing is not to be afraid.”
Shavuos has passed. We are now in the Season of Summer. I happened to see the luach for the coming year, 5787 and I became frightened.
Do you remember the year 5784 (2023 in the English calendar)? Do you remember what happened on October 7? On that day, the world almost ended for Israel. That was the day on which the animals invaded from Gaza, and a war began that has not yet ended and will probably not end until Moshiach comes.
"The harvest has passed; the summer has ended, but we have not been saved. Over the disaster of the daughter of my people I have been shattered." (Yirmiah 8:20-21)
In 5784/2023, the first day of Rosh Hashanah fell on Shabbos. That is a fateful occurrence, for when that happens, we do not blow shofar on that day, and the shofar is the Heavenly intercessor to awaken mercy on our behalf.
Prior to that Rosh Hashanah, Rabbi Moshe Sternbuch Shlita”h issued a statement which recalled the earth-shaking words of the Aruch l’Ner, as follows: “in the years that Rosh Hashanah falls out on Shabbos, Klal Yisroel has had either a very good year … or, chas v’Shalom, the opposite….” Cosmic events occurred in the years on which Rosh Hashanah fell out on Shabbos, some great, some catastrophic.
Listen to this list: both the Churban Bais Rishon and the Churban Bais Shaini occurred in years on which Rosh Hashanah fell out on Shabbos! Similarly, September 11, 2001 occurred during such a year! Conversely, extremely great events also transpired in such years, like building the Mishkan and entering the Land of Israel under Yehoshua!
It all depends on how we, as a People, keep Shabbos, because the decree of not blowing shofar on Rosh Hashanah all depends on Shabbos. If we as a nation magnify and glorify our observance of Shabbos, then we will b’ezras Hashem merit to see great events. It all depends on how we, as a People, keep Shabbos.
I am stressing “we as a People.” It is not just I who needs to keep Shabbos; it is not just “you.” It is Am Yisroel. There was a time when we were all together, in one place, in one land. Golus and tragedy have scattered us, and now we have been flung to the four corners of the earth.
But notice what is happening, my friends. Our enemies in every country are doing us a big favor! They are isolating us. They are hunting us. They are pushing us together. By surrounding and isolating us they are also bringing us together, even against our will. Everyone will remember that the Nazis, ymak shemo, did not care about the level of our observance (although it is true that their most violent hatred was directed against the “Shas Yidden”). Every Jew, even the one who claimed he was not Jewish, was a victim of their hatred.
So it is today. We are becoming increasingly isolated everywhere in the world. Ironically, as with all things, it is “l’tova,” for the good, because when that happens we will all be forced to admit who we are. I grew up in a world of people whose entire lives were directed at denying their Jewishness. But today that is becoming increasingly difficult.
When we stood at Har Sinai, we were like “one man with one heart,” (Rashi on Shemos 19:2) That was a prerequisite for receiving the Torah. When we as a Nation return to Hashem in teshuva we will see the greatest events in history unfolding before our eyes, events whose magnitude will exceed the splitting of the Yam Suf and the drowning of the Mitzriim. We will see a world without enemies, a world in which the Shechina will be in our midst and the Bais Hamikdosh will stand in Yerushalayim, which will be the capital of the world.
It all depends on us. It all depends on teshuva. It all depends on Shabbos!
GLOSSARY
Bais Hamikdosh: The Holy Temple
B’ezras Hashem: With G-d’s help
Churban Bayis Rishon: Destruction of the First Temple
Churban Bayis Shaini: Destruction of the Second Temple
Golus: Exile
Har Sinai: Mount Sinai
Luach: the Jewish calendar
Mitzriim: The Ancient Egyptians, who enslaved our ancestors
Shaas Yidden: Jews whose lives are devoted to Torah study
Shechina: the Presence of G-d
Teshuva: repentance
Yam Suf: The Reed Sea, where the Egyptians were drowned
Ymak Shemo: “May their name be erased”
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