B"H
THOUGHTS FOR THE MONTH OF ELUL
Dear Friends:
We are exactly one month from Rosh Hashana!
Let's try to focus on a practical approach to the upcoming New Year. How can we prepare now so that next year will be not just a good year but in fact the year of the Final Redemption and the end to all our troubles?
We can do something. In fact we MUST do something! G-d apparently wants us to take an active part in the conduct of world affairs, because he enjoins upon us actions which, we are taught, will change the world.
What sustains the world, my friends?
Jews learning and living Torah sustains and rebuilds the world.
The Chofetz Chaim is reported to have told his students, that by learning Torah in their yeshiva in a small village in Poland, they were directly influencing the proceedings of the Parliament sitting hundreds of miles away at that very moment in London.
"Ele v'rechev, v'ele v'susim, v'anachnu b'shaim Hashem Elokainu nazkir."
"They rely on chariots and horses, but we call upon the Name of G-d."
King David went out alone against Goliath. He had a small weapon.
Moses and Aaron walked into the palace of Pharoah. What weapons did they carry? A wooden stick.
Don't underestimate the fearsomeness of Goliath and Pharaoh. We act as if these were fairy tales, but they are no fairy tales. Can you imagine what it was like to walk into the presence of Hitler, may his name be ground to dust! Have you ever thought about it? There is really no one who would not quake with fear. These were powerful people, with a psychological control over their adherents. The entire palace of Pharaoh was charmed with a powerful magic which made men shake in their shoes. When Goliath walked, the earth shook. The entire Nation of Israel quaked before him. Everyone was paralyzed!
Is it a fairy tale, my friends?
If it's such a fairy tale, why does the ENTIRE WORLD quake TODAY in fear before the president of Iran?
Everyone is afraid of him. He may be just an unshaven, screaming charlatan, but everyone quakes in front of him. Everyone, including the President of the mighty United States, is afraid of him.
Well, almost everyone. The young man sitting in yeshiva battling to understand his Gemora is not afraid of him. Am Yisroel, the Nation which "loves Hashem our G-d with all our heart" is not afraid of him.
Why? Because, like Moses and Aaron and King David, we know that even this ranting maniac is only a worm. G-d gives him power to rant only until the allotted time, when his body will turn to dust and the shriveled remains of his "soul" will descend forever to the punishment he has acquired over a lifetime of hatred for G-d and His children.
Are we afraid of our enemies?
Did we not read only recently the following words?
"Perhaps you will say in your heart, ‘These nations are more numerous than I. How will I be able to drive them out?' DO NOT FEAR THEM! You shall remember what Hashem, your G-d, did to Pharaoh and to all of Egypt." [1]
Did the Prophet not say, "Though he may have walked in darkness ... let him trust in the Name of Hashem and lean upon his G-d. Behold, all of you [others] are igniters of fire, girdled with fireworks ...
... Perhaps the Prophet refers to the president of Iran! Now listen to his fate...
"Go away in the flame of ... the fireworks you have kindled. From My hand has this come upon you, that you should lie down in sorrow.
And what does G-d promise to the Children of Israel?
"Listen to me, O pursuers of righteousness, seekers of G-d, look to the Rock from which you were hewn... For G-d shall comfort Zion. He shall comfort all her ruins. He shall make her wilderness like Eden and her wasteland like a garden of G-d. Joy and gladness shall be found there, thanksgiving and the sound of music." [1]
Perhaps, my friends, it is time to take to heart the words of the Torah and our Prophets. Perhaps it is time to put away the raucous voices of the culture that surrounds us. Perhaps it is time to "look to the Rock" from Which we were hewn.
Rosh Hashana approaches. A New Year is coming. If we truly believe that G-d is King over His creation, and we act accordingly, we will indeed return to Him in teshuva and merit to see in the coming year 5769, the fulfillment of "G-d shall comfort Zion. He shall comfort all her ruins. He shall make her wilderness like Eden and her wasteland like a garden of G-d. Joy and gladness shall be found there, thanksgiving and the sound of music."
May we merit to see it this year!
Roy S. Neuberger
© Copyright 2008 by Roy S. Neuberger
[1] Dvarim 7:17-18
[2] Isaiah 50:10-51:3
