-The current challenges are pretty formidable ones....
Iran and its terrorist army proxies continue to attack Israel from multiple fronts, the situation in Northern Israel is like a tinderbox, and the hostages are still not back, with the youngest hostage, Kfir Bibas, now having spent most of his life in captivity.
On a more local level, antisemitism continues to raise its ugly head, with a multi hour vicious assault on Jewish people outside a synagogue and in a Jewish neighborhood in the Pico neighborhood in Los Angeles, earlier this week, and no shortage of other such incidents elsewhere.
What should be our inner sentiments right now?
Fear?
Panic?
Concern?
Afraid?
Dread?
I am sure that many of these words, bring to mind many emotions that people continue to feel each and every day over the last few months. But even if we feel as such, should that remain our driving sentiment, or can we try and adjust our passion and focus, to withstand these challenges, and to overcome these challenges in a different way.
In the past week, no less than five random people who were not Jewish, approached me, or made a point to bring up in conversation with me, how upset they were at what is happening with antisemitism and how Israel has been treated by the world, in the wake of the worst atrocity on Jewish people since the Holocaust. It was a reminder to me, how many good people there are out there who probably represent the vast majority of people in this country.
In the portion that we read tomorrow in synagogues around the world, we will explore the dramatic story that took place 3300 years ago, as the Jews prepared to enter the land of Israel. After a majority of the spies who were sent give a negative report about what they had seen in the Land of Israel, they then cast doubt on the ability of the Jewish people to be able to succeed in their mission of settling Israel, even to the degree of doubting the ability of G-d to help them overcome these particular challenges.
As their negative reports went viral, the mood among the Jewish people turned into panic and despair, as people began to cry and become hysterical, at the thought of the failure and difficult times that lay ahead.
While their failure at that time caused a lot of new challenges, it is the words of the two spies who stayed focused on their mission, that continue to ring in our ears. Caleb and Joshua, who were only two of the twelve spies, stated clearly and with confidence, we will surely succeed and there is no need to fear and panic.
They weren't simply being naive, rather they were aware that the promise of G-d to help them arrive at the Promised Land, would be what would give them the strength to successfully navigate the challenges that lay ahead of them, no matter how formidable. They knew that their existence as a people and success in their mission, would not be subject to the laws of nature and history, but was dependent on a higher power.
In 2024, we have a different set of challenges that we currently face. Indeed it is easy to get overwhelmed and think "we cannot succeed this time", and "how on earth do we navigate such big challenges". Yet our history along with the knowledge and faith that our existence and our destiny is not determined only by the dynamics around us, empowers us with a deep rooted knowledge and faith that "yes, we will overcome", no matter how great the challenge.
Today's challenges also remind us of the importance of digging into our faith and inner and collective resilience and remembering that while we need to be pragmatic in how we go about things, we must also live with faith and trust in G-d, that we will overcome and things will soon be better. Alongside that, and perhaps because of that, we can continue to live lives filled with hope, joy and light, and full of determination to continue to do more good deeds and acts of kindness, to steadily change the world for the better, even if not all the news we currently hear and know about, is encouraging.
Let's stay focused on succeeding in our mission of making the world be the beautiful place it will be, continue to hold our heads up high, and at the same time, full of determination and pride in our mission, that "yes, we will succeed".
Am Yisrael Chai!
With best wishes for a Shabbat Shalom & Good Shabbos
Yisroel