"Shabbat Shalom from Bangkok"

By the Grace of G-d

Dear friend,

Ori Borenstein HYD, 32 years old, was killed last Thursday as the convoy he was in, was ambushed in Gaza.

I have an important message from Ori Moshe ben Avraham’s father who visits our region for business.

Avi asked me to relay to my community and my readers a heartfelt Chag Sameach.

And to share that his concluding remarks at his sons memorial at the Mt. Hertzl cemetery. He will finish his speech by instructing himself and his family and friends to meticulously fulfil the instruction of the Torah of ושמחת בחגיך   ‘you shall be happy and rejoice, on your holiday of sukkot’.

Avi concluded ‘Rabbi, as you share these words with your readers, please impress upon them that Ori is not a singular hero. Ori is part of a bigger picture of heroism, during our times, and stretching back all through our history. Giborim and Kedoshim who gave their lives for Hashem and Am Yisrael.

Chag Sameach’.

And with this we concluded our telephone conversation as he was on the bus to the cemetery hours before the onset of Sukkot.

Allow me to share some thoughts about this.

Close your eyes .

Breath in deeply.

Imagine….

Imagine a world that makes sense.

A world where everyone knows that Hashem is the provider and sustainer.

He makes the rains fall in their proper time.

He and only He can ensure that the forces of nature all work in perfect balance without tornadoes, earthquakes or other natural disasters upsetting the ecosystem.

A world where it is clear to all major world leaders that the flow of G-d’s beneficence is dependent on the Jewish prayers in the Temple.

A world in which there is a universal awareness that the blessing come to them through the prayers of the Jewish people even sans Bet Hamikdash.

Through Israel praying and beseeching G-d for the blessings of peace, bounty and beneficence G-d rains down His blessings on all of mankind,.

Ah, what a peaceful and joyous world that would be.

In a world like that, Israel would not need to invest in its defense for no one would be crazed enough to attack it. On the contrary, the entire civilized world would send troops to protect Israel and the Bet Hamikdash Temple in Jerusalem.

In a world like that, anti-semitism would be equivalent to sheer lunacy.

No one would allow the nation of Israel who is the conduit of blessing for the entire world, to suffer.

That would be cutting off the branch that they are sitting on.

This is the way our Sages describe what the world would look like if they but knew the truth.

A peaceful serene happy and relaxed world for all its inhabitants.

Our prophets prophesied that this will be the reality when Mashiach comes.

(see Zecharia 8, B amidbar Rabba 1:3, Talmud Sukkah 55b

May it be NOW! Amen.

Open your eyes .

You may be in for a shock.

The world still is not perfect.

The nations of the world, including our dear friends, think that Israel’s protection is only for the benefit of Jews.

No. They still don’t recognize that by protecting the Jewish people, by protecting Israel they are protecting themselves.

Our friends admirably feel they are protecting a friend, an ally. But there are limits to how much you do for a friend.

Those limits seem like they are stretched to the limits.

The difference between the ‘should be’ and ‘reality’ is stark.

How are we to live?

With the ‘eyes closed’ idyllic version of life, or with ‘open eyes’ harsh reality?

There is a tension in our existence that seems to have always been there.

G-d created us a people who is an impossibility. From the birth of Yitzchak to a 100 year old father and 90 year old mother. In a long and tumultuous history, all the way to modern day Israel, where seven ‘war fronts’ need to be managed simultaneously.

We are an enigma as it doesn’t make sense that we are still here.

Yet we are very much still here thank G-d.

We conduct our lives in two tracks simultaneously.

We, Am Yisrael are a people who lives by being realistic on the one hand and knowing that G-d will do seemingly impossible miracles to save us on the other hand.

The Rebbe spoke very firmly and outspokenly during the Gulf War that Israel is the safest place in the world for a Jew. The Torah says so. Click here for more.

We need to do our best to physically protect ourselves and we need to employ the greatest levels of faith and trust in Hashem to bolster our spiritual defense system.

Yes, so long as Mashiach has not yet come we need the strongest army possible in Israel.

And Jewish communities around the world need to employ the strongest means of self-defense.

Together with that we need to pray to Hashem, trust in Hashem, study His Torah and engage in his mitzvahs as these are our spiritual and miraculous shields.

The mitzvah on sukkot is to rejoice.

On sukkot Hashem instructs us to remember His protective clouds of glory in which he enveloped us in safety. For seven days we are to sit in ‘sukkot’ booths and remember Hashem’s kindness to us.

During those seven days we are instructed to be joyous.

Sing, dance and rejoice.

It may be scary outside. Dark and foreboding ominous clouds may lurk in the background. Yet, Hashem instructs us to remember His protective shade when we left Egypt. Hashem instructs us to overcome our fears, nightmares and traumas and garner up the energy and courage to rejoice.

The Torah instructs joy especially on Sukkot. Our sages explain that this is because it is at the end of the harvest season, after the crops are safely away in storage. Equivalent to having ‘money in the bank’ after successfully buying and then selling all your merchandise and the buyer having paid up in full. That yields a contentedly happy kind of feeling.

Sometimes, like in our current times, the happiness is not assisted by what is going on in our outside lives. So much uncertainty about the hostages. So many bereaved families. So many wounded. So many displaced. And so many threats from our enemies.

YET, Ori’s father, from the memorial service for his son who was cut down in the prime of his life, reminds us that we need to wish each other Chag Sameach.

ה' עוז לעמו יתן ה' יברך את עמו בשלום

The verse says ‘Hashem gives strength to His people, Hashem will bless His people with Shalom PEACE’.

The strength, and obstinacy of the Jewish people is such, that when Hashem says ‘Vesamachat Bechagecha’ be joyous during the holiday, we resiliently, spiritedly and heroically fulfill it. Even when it is challenged by outside realities that are dispiriting.

The best thing you and I can do to bring peace and blessing to our people and to the world, is to fulfil the mitzvahs of Hashem.

On Sukkot this means to activate our resilience, strength and resoluteness and REJOICE and BE HAPPY.

Join us at our Sukkah in Bangkok, or visit a Sukkah wherever you are around the world.

Chag Sameach

Rabbi Yosef Kantor

PS part 2 to be continued next week in honor of Simchat Torah.

Topic:

 ה' צילך Hashem is ‘your shadow’.

Our connection to Hashem is both reactive and proactive.