This past week was…intense. Not a few people went into last Shabbas wondering if this week would see unthinkable disaster or, perhaps, ever-yearned for salvation. With Iran threatening to attack and reports insinuating that they would do so on Tisha B’Av, the Jewish world held its breath. And life continued forward as before. And many wondered, even as they were grateful for the lack of attack, why or when – and even why we keep cutting to the edge of a new era but are unable to get there.
There are many interesting aspects to this week’s parsha,
Parshas Vaeschanan, that could speak to the situation in which we are living.
In particular, it is interesting to look at the second half of perek hey (5),
starting at pasuk 20, which is the beginning of the fifth aliyah. In the parek,
Moshe is describing the reaction of Bnei Yisrael to hearing Hashem at Har
Sinai, at the giving of the Aseres Hadibros.
“And it was, when you heard the voice from the midst of the
darkness, and the mountain was burning with fire, that you approached me, all
the heads of your tribes and your elders. And you said, ‘Behold, the Lord, our
God, has shown us His glory and His greatness, and we heard His voice from the
midst of the fire; we saw this day that God speaks with man, yet [man] remains
alive. So now, why should we die? For this great fire will consume us; if we
continue to hear the voice of the Lord, our God, anymore, we will die. For who
is there of all flesh, who heard the voice of the living God speaking from the
midst of the fire, as we have, and lived? You approach, and hear all that the
Lord, our God, will say, and you speak to us all that the Lord, our God, will
speak to you, and we will hear and do’” (Devarim 5:20-24).
In other words, the people stood at Sinai, saw the thunder,
heard the lightening, listened to Hashem’s voice, and grew terribly afraid.
They knew that they were receiving something sublime, that they were
experiencing a moment that would take them to another level of existence – and
they backed away from it. They feared it. They asked Moshe to intervene for
them.
The Rambam listed 13 tenets of Jewish faith, the Ani
Maamins, and one of those is “I believe with complete faith in the coming of
Moshiach, and although he may tarry, nevertheless, I wait every day for him to
come.” Waiting – yearning – planning – pining for Moshiach. This is what a Yid
does.
But, to say something controversial…
It is part of the human condition to fear change. It is natural to be afraid of the unknown. And
as much as we all may express our emunah, true emunah and bitachon is
incredibly difficult to achieve. Over the past few weeks, the question of what
to daven for has been a conundrum. If one davens that this is Moshiach coming,
does that mean one does not daven for peace and stability. And if one davens
that the enemy backs down, is that buying more time until global decisions
necessary for spiritual change are made?
Bnei Yisrael at Har Sinai were at an inconceivable level of
spiritual awareness, and their fear drove them to make space between themselves
and the Divine. Have we grown past that? Can we? Ani Maamin b’emunah shelaima
bviyas Hamashiach…but is that enough? Believing Moshiach is coming, wanting
Moshiach to come, preparing for Moshiach –
but will we be able to embrace Moshiach when he comes?
This week’s parsha is named Va’eschanan, which means “And I
entreated.” This week’s Shabbas,
however, is known as Shabbas Nachamu, after the opening words of the Haftarah,
which mean “Console, console My people," says your God” (Yeshiyahu 40:1). There is a tremendous lesson of bitachon in
the two names associated with this Shabbas. When one takes it upon themselves
to truly beseech Hashem, to reach out and entreat Him for help – whether that
be asking Hashem to send Moshiach or asking Hashem to help one get to the level
of emunah to fulfill the ani maamins – then one will be able to witness
Nachamu, the consolation and comforting of our nation.
May we achieve this soon.
Good Shabbas
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