Rabbi Zvi Teichman
We are taught that in the days preceding the coming of Moshiach tragedies will befall us at such a pace and intensity that ‘the most recent ones will cause us to forget the earlier ones.’
Since October 7th we have been facing a growing onslaught of hatred, destruction and death unleashed against our people, most severely in Israel, but as well in communities around the world.
The Talmud reveals that we refer to the mountain and desert region we received the Torah in, as סיני —Sinai, because from there שנאה—hatred descended upon the world, the word Sinai and Sinah sharing asimilar root and pronunciation.
Some suggest it refers to the hatred G-d had for the nations that rejected His offer of Torah, while others understand it as prodding the other nations’ hatred for the Jewish people and their claim of a special status as the chosen of G-d, who received His gift of Torah.
(רש”י ורבינו בחיי)
It seems so odd that we refer to this mountain and desert as Sinai simply because it stoked hatred in the world.
The Bais HaLevi, the Netziv, and the Meshech Chochmah all explain that G-d implanted into the DNA of His world that when we as a nation seek to mimic the behavior of the nations of the world, forgetting our special status and neglecting our unique responsibilities, He reminds us by provoking the other nations’ hatred to rid themselves of ‘the conscience of the universe’. Hopefully this will prod us to wise up in living up to the standards of Torah, bringing back His intended equilibrium to the world.
Although this is certainly a significant tool in G-d’s arsenal to keep us in line, but why do we extol this unfortunate reality, after all it is merely medicine that we need after we fall ill?
Perhaps I may suggest that ‘the hatred that descended to the world’ refers to our despising the material aspects of this temporary world. Upon accepting the Torah, we became enthused by a higher reality, one whose thrilling experience transcends any pleasure this earth can offer. Our ability to look contemptuously at the alluring offerings of ‘this world’ — knowing that it pales in contrast to the joy that awaits one who delights in a Torah inspired life, granted to those chosen as His cherished children — is what this ‘hatred’ that descended is all about.
True, the nations of the world abhor that privilege we possess, but that is not the primary lesson, merely a consequence. If we squander the opportunity for exquisite connection with G-d, trading it for vacuous pursuits of imagined joys, we have failed in being that chosen son, and G-d will coax our memory by allowing our enemies to express their jealous hatred, bringing us back to our senses.
We have been inspired over these too many months by the deep emunah and bitachon, many of the soldiers and victims ofthe war, have exhibited in the face of their challenges.
A young soldier, Amichai Vanino, Hy’d, an aspiring Talmid Chochom, who fell in Gaza, filled many notebooks over his shortened life with beautiful poetry expressing his exquisite connection to Hashem; His Torah; His people; His land, penned the following words:
עבר,הווה ,עתיד—The past, the present, the future
העם בתפקיד—A nation on a mission
חגור באמונה—Girded with faith
יד ד’ בהוויה—The Hand of G-d our reality
עיני נשואות לאין סוף—My eyes are uplifted towards The Infinite
We must see in the sudden turning of our enemies against us as a desperate reminder to never forget on what plane and realm we must live on, far removed from the lures of ‘this world.’
The latter disturbances should not cause us to forget the earlier troubles, but rather compel us to be inspired to bask in the joy of our special bond, that empowers us to overcome the most difficult challenges of life with our heads up.
In 1943 a large group of men gathered in the Lodz Ghetto on the Yom Tov of Shavuos. Despite the terrible conditions and lack of food, they managed to secure potatoes and some candies to distribute amongst the several hundred who gathered, to uplift their broken spirits.
One member of the group, a grandson of the saintly Tiferes Shlomo, the Radomsker Rebbe, despondently blurted out — sardonically quoting the verse that describes the conditions of their ancestors millennia ago in Egypt, when they complained about the impossible load placed on them to gather straw saying, “תבן —straw, wasn’t given to your servants…”, making a play on the word תבן which can also mean ‘understanding’ — “Ribbono shel olam, the ability to ‘comprehend’ is not given to us. Please grant us ‘understanding’ so we may know why we must suffer so…”, breaking down in bitter tears.
What was supposed to elevate their spirits on the holiday of Shavuos was now in danger of turning into Tisha B’Av.
One of the inspired young men, Reb Shimon Benesch leaped onto the platform, faced the crowd, and said, “You are asking why we are suffering. The answer lays within the very Yom Tov we are celebrating. The Torah was given on Mount Sinai, emphasizing the fact that from that moment hatred descended upon the world, the other nations now despising us. Their hatred stems from the fact that we are different, that we are the עם הנבחר—the Chosen Nation. We have been selected so that we will never turn into the animals our oppressors transformed into. When we suffer, we must remember it is because we were chosen, we are special. True, we must endure in pain, but that is a reminder that we are truly privileged and have retained our dignity and stature. The moment we no longer sense that pain, that is when we are truly doomed.”
Their spirits soared as they sang in unison Ata vechartanu mikol ha’amim.
Specifically in these stressful and worrisome times may we remember that we are loved, we were chosen.
May that awaken us to refocus on our mission, dedicating ourselves with greater resolve in living up to that glorious and privileged role.
