The bombs were falling on Warsaw in September of 1939. Under the barrage of the German onslaught, the residents of the bustling Polish capital were sheltering in basements. A nearby building collapsed from a direct hit.
Rabbi Yosef Yitschak Schneersohn the sixth Rebbe of Chabad addressed those sheltering with him with calming words.
‘Every bullet has an address’. Even during times of war, when mayhem reigns, the Divine precise providence of G-d is in charge.
There is a pattern we find with true leaders.
They don’t spread panic and fear.
It requires balance.
Certainly, one must do everything humanly possible to protect oneself from danger. A responsible leader shares pertinent information if there is something that needs to be done.
At the same time, a true leader projects and exudes calmness and inner resolve and fortitude. A leader who shepherds their flock with faith, doesn’t need to fearmonger to stay relevant.
We see this so clearly in this week’s Parsha
Balak is the king of Moav. When he gets information that frightens him, he passes it straight on to his nation and now they are all dread filled.
Contrast that with Moshe’s leadership. Moshe is scared of Og, but he keeps his fears to himself and exudes confidence to his people.
This has its applications to the way we act as leaders of our families and any other leadership role we may play.
The ramifications and sometimes long-term effects can be huge. Take this story for example:
"A young girl from a very poor family was having terrifying dreams. Her parents consulted a rabbi about this problem. He said: "The Sages say that we dream at night what we think about during the day. Ask your daughter what she is afraid of."
When they asked her, she replied: "I often see how you both sit and worry over the poverty we live in. Of everything, I am most afraid of your fear…"
Click here for a fuller explanation of this and the way R’ MK sums it up in the below one-liner.
So fake it, in order for your child (or spouse or friend) to make it.
I would like to pick up on the axiom that ‘every bullet has an address’.
Earlier this week there was a bullet that seemed to have an address.
A US presidential candidate.
G-d Almighty showed His Hashgacha Pratit – Divine individual providence.
Mr. Trump moved his head ever so slightly, the bullet aimed at his head grazed his ear and brought forth blood, but nothing more serious took place.
I have not read any political analysis of this story at all.
If I thought the story was about politics, I wouldn’t address it in this article.
The lessons we take from this event is what I am seeking here.
Click here to read the Rebbe’s remarks after the attempted assassination of President Reagan in 1981.
As well, I would like to focus on our gratitude to Hashem for His miracles.
To me it seems that regardless of one’s political affiliation or preference, one should be mindful of the miracle that happened and thank Hashem for showing His precise supervision.
Would have the assassin have been successful in killing Mr. Trump, there may have been massive instability in the USA.
This would inevitably have spilled over into the world at large.
Our world is unstable enough as it is with the major issues and crises that are currently going on…
In this unplanned, instinctive and purely providential head movement of a mere millimeter or two, the trajectory of world history was affected.
What is uniquely remarkable about this incident is the fact that it is documented by pictures that were being snapped at the exact time that the bullet was making its way to and past the would-be victims’ head.
This makes me want to stop and think for a moment about all the miracles that are taking place far from the camera lens. And far from our conscious awareness.
Remember the Covid 19 pandemic?
The pandemic highlighted how many trillions of microbes exist in our bodies. And how critical it is that they coexist and interact with each other. An errant microbe resulted in millions of deaths around the world.
Every microbe is under the direct supervision of Hashem.
It’s a mind-boggling statement to make but it is at the core of our belief in G-d.
Can one even imagine how much coordination needs to take place for the human body to function healthily?
A while back I was transiting through a huge airport. We had deplaned from a bus gate. The bus to the terminal from the plane was driving for a full fifteen minutes through the labyrinth of planes, gates, luggage crates and catering trucks.
It dawned on me that to keep an airport running is a mammoth organizational challenge.
There must be very expensive computer programs that help bring all the parts together. Hundreds or perhaps thousands of employees pool their abilities together to keep an airport running.
Our very own bodies are even more complex.
The eyes we view the world with. An eye is incredibly complex.
Our gut is another wondrous hive of activity. It is constantly active with trillions of microbes dancing in unison to take care of our nutrition delivery and waste elimination.
Some miracles can be caught on camera. Like the assassination attempt last week.
Others, we know about and understand and appreciate Hashem’s kindness only after we realize that they have happened.
Yet other miracles we may never even find out about.
The cancer gene that Hashem didn’t allow to metastasize and develop, and it stayed dormant till the person passed away from old age.
The would-be terrorist who got cold feet just before carrying out his murderous plans.
The virus that you didn’t catch.
The close to one thousand breaths we breathe every hour.
And the many other myriads of miracles that happen out of our sight or awareness.
For all of these and more we thank Hashem.
We have the morning blessings that address the wonders of the gifts we get just by opening our eyes, putting our feet to the floor, going to the bathroom and getting dressed.
One of those open miracles is the victory that Rabbi Yosef Yitschak had over the KGB in 1927 after he was arrested for ‘subversive’ activities of teaching Jewish children Torah, keeping mikvah’s open, sending rabbis to lead Jewish community and establish Yeshivas. The communists were bent on stamping out connection and belief in G-d.
The Rebbe was courageously fighting to teach and inspire Jews and especially children to be faithful to G-d and His Torah.
The soviets arrested the Rebbe and sentenced him. First to ‘the opposite of life’. This was then changed to ten years of exile in Siberia. It was then further changed to three years exile in a closer location. A bit more than a week after arriving at his exile the Rebbe was released outright and emigrated from Russia.
It's 97 years later, the same calendar day as the great miracle release from the clutches of the Soviets which was a statistical impossibility.
Therefore, the way the Jewish calendar works, in a cyclical way, there are ‘victory and liberational possibilities in the air’ today.
Today is a good day to open up our eyes and see the miracles Hashem is doing for us.
Let those miracles inspire us to come closer to Him.
If it seems like the odds are against us, or the barriers in the way of reaching your aspirations are too formidable, utilize the potential for miracles and liberation on this day of redemption.
May we be blessed with miracles, liberation and transformation.
In this week’s parsha of Balak, the curses that Balaam tries to give, are transformed into blessing.
There is a timely transformation that we are aspiring to later next week.
The transformation of the upcoming ‘three weeks of national mourning’ (starting with the fast of 17th of Tammuz on this coming Tuesday click here for more and culminating in Tisha B’av three weeks later).
May these days be transformed to days of Redemption with the coming of Mashiach.
AMEN
Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Yosef Kantor