Dear Friends:
The Holiday of Pesach imposes a tremendous responsibility upon us. Eighty percent of the Children of Israel apparently perished during the Plague of Darkness. Rashi (Shemos 10:22) calls them “rashaim…wicked individuals who did not wish to depart from Egypt,” which seems to indicate that they made a terrible error, choosing to follow the ways of the surrounding culture.
Our sages tell us, “ma’ase avos siman l’banim,” the actions of the Fathers are a sign for the children. The events of Pesach will presumably be replicated in the Final Redemption. Rabbi Elchonen Wasserman ZT”L stated, “Several times I heard from the holy Chofetz Chaim that we can learn about the end of our exile from what happened at the end of our exile in Egypt, as it says (Micha 7:15) ‘As in the days of your leaving Egypt, I will [in the Final Redemption] show wonders…’” (Meir Einei Yisroel 2, p. 460).
It behooves us in our times to beware of these terrible dangers, for we too are vulnerable, G-d forbid! We live in a society similar to that which entrapped our ancestors, a culture pursuing emptiness and steeped in immorality. The danger is great in that we do not see the chasm opening up in front of us. Perhaps the recent devastating earthquakes are a sign that the very foundations of the earth are trembling in preparation for monumental events. As it says, “The earth quaked and roared and the foundations of the mountains shook … when His wrath flared” (Tehillim 18). And what of the inhabitants of such a culture? “They do not know nor do they understand, in darkness they walk; all foundations of the earth collapse.” (Tehillim 82)
To what will we cling when the foundations of the earth shake? There is only Torah! What else endures beyond the material world? “Indeed, He will hide me in His Shelter on the day of evil.” (Tehillim 27)
I want to tell you something that will give you hope. There are so many Jews in today’s world who feel the foundations shaking that there is an unprecedented return to the ways of Torah. Yes, I am aware of the terrible havoc that the surrounding culture is reeking upon us, the dangers that lurk in every corner. The stories of tragedy and the magnitude of the tests facing us are truly staggering, but we have a Resource that is more powerful than any danger and there are thousands of our people who are running Home to Avinu Malkeinu, our Father and King, and His Torah.
On our recent trip to Israel, my wife and I witnessed this phenomenon in all its magnificence. Let me tell you about what we have seen recently in Israel.
We have a friend named Reuven. He was a commodity trader in New York until about ten years ago, when he was still called “Robert.” He started attending classes with Rebbetzin Esther Jungreis and her son (our son-in-law) Rabbi Osher Anshul Jungreis. Not only did he advance with great success in his studies, but the emptiness of his life began to weigh heavily upon him. He moved to Israel and enrolled in Ohr Sameach. In the intervening years he moved all the way through that great institution until he reached the highest shiur. He was becoming a Ben Torah, a holy Jew saturated with Torah wisdom and greatness. But where was his basherte? He was passing into his late thirties and was still single. “Yeshuas Hashem k’heref ayin,” the redemption of G-d comes in the blink of an eye! He thought he had met “everyone,” but clearly G-d had held his basherte “in reserve” until the right moment. In a seminary in Yerushalayim, a young lady who had grown up only a few miles from him in America was studying with equal zeal and love of Torah. Today, Reuven holds semicha from a famous Torah institution in Israel, and his wife and two children shine like the sunlight after a spring rainstorm.
Do you think that we are unable to make the choice between life and death? Do you think that we are unable to escape the trap of the surrounding culture? Not at all! G-d has created us with free will for precisely this reason: to choose life!
Those who do not understand frequently ask, “When are you going to return to the ‘real world’?” My friends, there is only one Real World! When the foundations of the earth tremble and skyscrapers collapse, there is only one Rock that does not move.
Several years ago a young man came to our home selling cutlery. He was trying to finance Torah study in Israel. He succeeded! After spending several Shabboses with our daughter’s family in Beit El, he became a new member of our family and is now learning at Yeshiva Ohr Dovid in Yerushalayim, where he and other serious young men elevate their neshomas under the loving care of Rosh Yeshiva Rabbi Yosef Granofsky and his dedicated rebbeim.
I was privileged within the last few weeks to speak for the holy Jews in several programs at Ohr Sameach and also the venerable Yeshiva Dvar Yerushalayim. What a simcha to know these great young men, thirsting to come closer to the Ribono shel Olam! My wife and I had the privilege to speak for the girls at Bnos Chava, part of the famous Neve Yerushalayim. And I was privileged to speak for the wonderful boys at Netiv Aryeh, directly across from the intense kedusha of the Western Wall.
Far up in the Galil, there is a tzaddik named Rabbi Menachem Gold. I don’t know if he eats food or exists solely on Mon, but he has created in the city of Afula an institution from nursery through bais medrash in which hundreds of Jewish children have come home to Torah. I had the privilege to address the boys in his bais medrash, a group whose love for Torah is still reverberating in our hearts. They have left the crowded cities and plunged into the relative isolation of the north to concentrate on elevation in Torah.
In Ramat Beit Shemesh, there is a school called Tzofia, in which young women whose families are unable to care for them have found refuge in Torah, under the unceasing chessed and professional brilliance of Rabbi Raviv Shaked and his rebbetzin. With a staff of some thirty people, these girls have found life under the wings of the Shechina. Rabbi Shaked himself gives credit to his beloved Rosh Yeshiva, the Gadol Rabbi Naftali Jaeger Shlita”h, the guiding light of Yeshiva Sh’or Yoshuv.
What happens if you are no longer in your twenties and you want to engage in serious learning? Perhaps you are retired and don’t know where to start. In the heart of Yerushalayim, Yeshiva Tsama Nafshi, headed by the warm and caring Rabbi Hillel Faerman, provides a haimishe but intense environment in which many men who did not have the opportunity to study earlier in their lives can find a secure and nurturing home in Torah. I had the privilege once again to speak there and to be inspired by people who themselves seek inspiration.
WHY IS THIS NIGHT DIFFERENT FROM ALL OTHER NIGHTS?
This is the night that we chose to follow the Ribono shel Olam out of the pits of idol worship! “‘I remember for your sake the kindness of your youth, the love of your bridal days, how you followed Me in the Wilderness in an unsown land,’ (Yirmiahu 2:2). And it is said, ‘But I will remember My covenant with you of the days of your youth, and I will establish for you an everlasting covenant.’” (Yechezkel 16:60/Rosh Hashana Mussaf).
“The more one tells about the Exodus, the more he is praiseworthy…. They discussed the Exodus from Egypt all that night until their students came and said to them, ‘Our teachers, the time has come for the reading of the morning Shema.’” (Haggadah shel Pesach)
Indeed, this is the night that becomes morning, with the coming of the Great Redemption, may we see it soon in our days!
