B"H

THOUGHTS FOR THE MONTH OF SHEVAT

Dear Friends:

I am writing from the Holy City of Jerusalem. 

For about six weeks we have been saying "tal umatar livracha" in the Shemoneh Esreh, imploring G-d to send dew and rain upon the Land of Israel.  Last month I wrote about the lack of rain in Eretz Yisroel, but at about that time rain had already begun to fall on Israel. 

Since then, however, it has been almost dry.  The Kinneret (the Sea of Galilee), which represents the water supply of Israel, is several meters below normal levels.  Rain represents G-d 's blessing for the entire year, not just physically but spiritually, both in terms of crops and our entire sustenance and protection.

In America the weather is a topic of discussion.  In New York there has basically been no winter.  People enjoy the warm weather and hope that it will continue, but it is not normal for New York winters to be warm.  When I was a child, each winter would be consistently cold, with several major snowstorms.  Not so now. 

What is going on? 

G-d is giving us a message: nature is not "independent."  G-d runs the world exactly as He wants.  "Nature" is the way He normally runs it, the way to which we have become accustomed, but G-d is not bound by constraints.

It appears that G-d is trying to get through to us. 

"Wake up, My children.  The point is not to enjoy the warm weather in New York or the dry weather in Israel.  The point is to look for My message behind the alteration in "natural" patterns.  Return to Me, My children, and redouble or re-triple or quadruple - the more the better -- your commitment to Torah, because soon you will see vast changes in the physical world which you can survive only if your life is firmly rooted in the Torah."

Such labels as "global warming" are misleading because, try though we may, we cannot alter nature by physical means.  Conservation organizations will not save the planet.  We are here to acknowledge the reality of G-d 's existence and to base our lives on the implications of that fact.  The physical world is shaking because of the imminence of great events.  The footsteps of Moshiach are echoing through our world.  Cultures are being overthrown; centuries of status quo are about to undergo total upheaval.  We cannot survive by trying to enjoy the sunshine. 

Although I try to avoid reading newspapers, a recent news story came to my attention.  Recently the Pope appointed a new archbishop of Warsaw, Poland.  At the moment of his installation ceremony his appointment was suddenly rescinded because it had been discovered that he had collaborated with the Polish secret police.  "Outside the cathedral, scuffles erupted between supporters and detractors of the bishop....  Some of his supporters shouted that 'Jews' were trying to destroy the church." [1] I have also seen in the Jewish media that there have been repeated attacks on Jews in Australia and that the police have not responded. 

My friends, we must alter our lives to reflect reality.

We are coming to the Torah parshios which recount the destruction of Egypt and the Redemption of the Children of Israel from Exile.  The persecution of the children of Israel and the disruption of weather in ancient Egypt were signs of the imminent Redemption.  The foundations of ancient Egypt were shaking, just as the foundations of apparently unshakable cultures are shaking today. 

Imagine 8 a.m. on January 11, 2001?  Would anyone have believed that within a few hours the World Trade Center would collapse?  So it is with our entire world culture!  The Final Redemption of our People is near.  Warm weather in America and sunny weather in Israel signal that "business as usual" does not apply in today's world.   

Soon the great day of Tu B'Shevat will arrive, marking the end of winter's chill and the first signs of sap flowing in the fruit trees.  But if there is no winter, how can there be spring?  Without the rains of winter, how can we expect to reap the harvest bounty?

We have just read the words of the Prophet: "Days are coming when Jacob will take root, Israel will bud and blossom and fill the face of the earth like fruit." [2] We must prepare the soil, my friends, and beg the Master of the Universe for healing rain.  We must also prepare the soil of our hearts, so that delicious fruits will blossom forth from us in the form of mitzvos and acts of kindness and healing unity among our People.

Let us pray for rain, my friends.  As I said last month, I believe the most effective prayer is through the rain which falls from our eyes: tears of repentance, tears of desire to become G-d 's children again, tears of regret at our own failure to live up to His standards and our own holy natures.  When this rain falls from our eyes, perhaps G-d will send rain upon the parched soil of our Holy Land and save us all in His infinite mercy.

On a personal note, I would be most grateful if whoever reads these words would pray for Shimon ben Blima, a seven-month-old boy in Eretz Yisroel who needs a refuah shelemah, a complete and speedy recovery.  May Shimon ben Blima enjoy a long life of perfect health and strength and be counted among the tzaddikim and Torah gedolim of Am Yisroel along with his entire family!  May we all see the Final Redemption and the end of all tzouris with the coming of Moshiach ben Dovid soon in our days!

With blessings for a bountiful harvest of beautiful spiritual and physical fruits, in Am Yisroel and Eretz Yisroel!

Roy S. Neuberger