Community Magazine October 2003

When Hashem speaks to us “We are reeling from the catastrophe of the bus bombing in Yerushalayim and from the tragedy of Erev Shabbat in Deal,” he began. “Tomorrow morn- ing we will follow the aron of a dear friend as his heart- broken family accompanies him to his final rest. We simply cannot go forward without an answer; what is expected from us? What does Hashem want? Why is He sending us such shocking wake-up calls? “Chazal say that Reshaim- evildoers- live their lives in constant regret. They are always aware of their sins and might even be sorry about it, but they are not changing their wicked ways. For them, sinning and regret is a futile cycle. “We, however, know that we must move forward. When we fall short, we need to get back up and move ahead with determi- nation to be better Jews. We dare not fall in to a cycle of sinning and repenting that leaves us where we started. That is the way of Reshaim, not of us! “Until this week, I must admit, I viewed the tragedies going on in Israel as some- thing not effecting me and the Charedi community. We are praying! We are giving charity. We are guarded! “Now with this bombing that killed so many of our most exalted brothers and sis- ters; pure neshamot of Sadikim, Sidkaniot and even precious little children, I finally have woken up. Coming here this same week and sharing in the tragedy and loss that affects so many of you so deeply, I see the truth with even more clarity. “There are no separations. There are no Charedim and Chilonim. We are one! Our enemies make us one. They teach us this important lesson. “In Treblinka, the notorious death camp in WWII, the Germans hung a parochet stolen from a Beit Knesset, right next to the gas chamber. As the wicked reshaim laughed, the Jews were forced to walk by the parochet on the way to their death and see the words “Zeh HaSha'ar LaHashem Sadikim Yavau Vo”. “Without realizing it, the Germans inspired many Jews to Teshuba. They were assimilated German Jews who were far from yahadut. They could not fathom why this ter- rible thing was happening to them. They were good German citizens and had even brought their medals from WWI along with them to the concentration camps. It would have been doubly tragic for them to die without even realizing the rea- son why the Germans were doing this. “The parochet answered their questions. They realized at that final awful moment that we are Jews, we have a price to pay when we do not follow the Torah. The reshaim may be the messengers but the message is coming from Hashem! “I know we are praying and learning Torah and doing so much good in Israel and here in America. But I know that there is so much more we can easily do. I see from my involvement with Lev L'Achim that our brothers and sisters who are far from Torah are ready to return. They are waiting for our knock at the door. We need to ask ourselves the honest question; Are we doing our share or not? The answer seems to be that we are not and it cost us an awful lot to realize this. “We begin to understand the pain of Hashem over the many lost souls who remain ignorant of yahadut when we experience the pain of losing so many souls in a bombing and when we feel the pain of ten orphans here in Deal when a young beloved father is taken away so tragically. “If you would be able to see the way entire families are transformed when just one child begins to learn in a Torah school and brings a new atmosphere of respect and kindness in to the home, you would understand that this is a lifesaving mission. We are being reprimanded for not saving lives by losing lives. Let us learn the les- son and move forward so that we should fulfill what is required of us and no further reminders should be needed”. TISHREI 5763 OCTOBER 2003 25 s ” xc Excerpts of remarks delivered by the Philadelphia Rosh Yeshiva, Rav Shmuel Kamenetsky shlit'a “A BONE CALLED LUZ” An air of expectation permeated the gathering as the venerable Rav Kamenetsky, a member of the Moetset Gedolei HaTorah and mentor to thousands, began his remarks with his trademark warmth and emotion. "Chazal tell us that there is a small bone called 'Luz' which is only nourished by the meal eaten on Motzoei Shabbat," the Rosh Yeshiva declared. "This bone was not affected when Adam HaRishon ate from the forbid- den Eitz HaDa'at on Erev Shabbat and likewise remains untainted by sin when a person eats things over the course of his life that he should not have. For this reason, even after death when the earthly body – tainted as it is by the sins of lifetime – decays in the ground, the Luz bone does not disintegrate and remains intact. When the time for techi- at hamaitim will arrive it will be unto the Luz that the breath of new life will be direct- ed. From the Luz will emerge the resurrected body of each of our People. “The hundreds of thousands of children in Eretz Yisrael who have not yet tasted the beauty of Torah possess within themselves a pure spark of yahadut. That holy ember awaits the breath of life which will re-ignite each of these precious neshamot in to a blazing fire of Torah U'Mitzvot.” “This is what we learn about Motzoei Shabbat. You can blow as one blows on to a seemingly dead ember and a mighty flame will emerge. This is the secret of the success of the Rishum. Klal Yisrael is waiting to be rekindled. How fitting it is that we join here on a Motzoei Shabbat at a time when we all keenly feel the need for spiritual rejuve- nation and collectively blow new life in to the sleeping embers; into the holy neshamot of the children of Eretz Yisrael”. Rav Uri Zohar