“RABBI’S MUSINGS (& AMUSINGS)”
Erev Shabbos Kodesh Parshas Shemini/HaChodesh
Mevorchim Chodesh Nissan
26 Adar II 5784/ April 5, 2024
TIMES LIKE THESE
We live in crazy times. I don’t think anyone will argue with that. But I
recently realized that I don’t ever remember a period in my life when people
didn’t comment that we are living in crazy times.
I clearly recall sitting at a Shabbos table a few years ago when someone
said exactly that.
People often say things like: “Things have never been this bad”, “I feel
like the end is coming”, “Mashiach has to come; things are so crazy.”
The reality is that this article could have been written five years ago,
ten years ago, or twenty years ago, and I’m quite sure it would have been
applicable during all those times as well. (For all you, dear reader, know,
this article may actually be reprinted from ten years ago….)
When I listen to Torah lectures from past years, this point becomes even
clearer. The lecturer will invariably connect his message with the current
events of that time. Discussions of antisemitism, terror attacks, political
instability in Eretz Yisroel and/or the United States, plethora of personal
challenges and tragedies, to name a few, were constants then as well. In
varying degrees these have been ongoing challenges that our community has
contended with in recent decades.
When I commented to a friend that things have always felt erratic and out
of control, he replied that it’s unquestionably worse now. It’s hard to know
whether that’s really true. We know how the past played out. Even if things did
not turn out well, when viewing events in retrospect, we can hardly recapture
the angst and anxiety of the moment. Contrast that with the fact that in the
present we don’t know what the future holds so we feel anxiety over our current
situation far more acutely.
In May 2020, at the height of the Covid-Pandemic, Rabbi Aharon Lopiansky
wrote a seminal article in Mishpacha Magazine, entitled “Sometimes Mashiach is
NOT the solution.”
One of the points he addressed in that article is the often-touted
sentiment that “things have never been this bad.” Rabbi Lopiansky offers
numerous examples to debunk that myth.
He notes that cholera and typhus epidemics ravaged communities in Europe,
women commonly died in childbirth, appendicitis was usually deadly, and fires
would destroy entire towns in a few hours.
“I often hear that “Never, ever has there been so much anti-Semitism.”
This sentiment is astonishing! Even putting aside the Holocaust for a moment,
there are people alive today who have lived in countries where the normal legal
status of a Jew was second- or third-class citizen. Throwing rocks at Jews in
public was the norm rather than the exception.
“And most disconcerting is the claim that “Never, ever has the Jewish
Nation experienced such spiritual decline.” Yiddishkeit literally disintegrated
from the mid-1700s until World War II, with enormous numbers of Yidden
abandoning it completely.
“The postwar renaissance is nothing short of a miracle. Of course, there
are some issues that challenge our generation more than previous generations
and there is much to improve, but that does not belie the general picture of
the state of our Yiddishkeit relative to other generations…
“We need to teach our children history. And that history needs to include
much more than dry names and dates and stories of gedolim. They
need to have an accurate understanding of the experiences of the Jewish
communities of each generation -- the daily life, the hardships, the
challenges, the successes, and the wounds.”
The legendary radio commentator Paul Harvey poignantly quipped: “In times
like these, it’s helpful to remember that there have always been times like
these.”
Koehles, the wisest of men teaches us that, “There is nothing new under
the sun.” No matter what comes our way, the Jewish people have been here
before. That’s not to say that the tears and anguish are not bitter and
painful. But it helps to know that we have emerged in the past and will do so
now again.
My rebbe, Rabbi Berel Wein, notes that we are the only nation that makes
a blessing on marror. It’s unpleasant and symbolizes anguish and heartache. But
we also know that soon after Marror is Shulchan Oreich, the festive meal, and
the celebration of our ultimate redemption and triumph.
Currently, the Jewish people are living through a period of marror.
Indeed, it is a crazy time, and we have no way of knowing what will be. But we
do know that we have been through worse and just as we have prevailed then, so
we will prevail now.
In the end the afikomen will be removed from its hiding place and
restored to us; not the afikomen of matzah, but the afikomen of Korbon Pesach.
May every Jew merit ascending to Yerushalayim for Pesach this year from
all corners of the globe, including Russia, Ukraine, Iran, United States, and
Gaza.
Shabbat Shalom
& Good Shabbos,
R’ Dani and
Chani Staum
stamtorah@gmail.com
