Earlier this week on the day that the last hostage Ran Gvili, was brought home, and we were all processing the many layers of emotions from this sad but emotional moment of closure, an officer in the IDF who we are close with, called me to connect and share his sentiments.
His soldiers had operated in that very area just a few months ago and had participated in more than a few operations to find and locate hostages, and this final moment of bringing Ran back to Israel for his burial, was a very deep and powerful moment for him and the hundreds of young soldiers in his battalion, who had suffered so many losses of their own during this time.
He said to me a message and theme, that Avi Ohana, the father of formed hostage Yosef Chaim, had also shared with me a few days ago.
In their words, imagine a few months ago or a year ago, we fought, we prayed, we yearned and hoped, we advocated, but in our minds, we never ever thought or could have imagined that every single hostage will be brought home. So many thought and said, that some will probably never ever be found.
Yet determination and faith, along with tremendous efforts by so many, brought these amazing emotional, sad but comforting and indeed miraculous results.
Indeed this is the week in the weekly Torah Portion we read the words which Joseph had the Jews promise him on his deathbed in Egypt, that no matter what, they promise that when the day comes, no matter what happens, they commit to bringing his remains with them for burial in the Land of Israel.
The message of overcoming all odds and expectations is also the message of the weekly portion as we read the story of the Jewish people trapped on the shoreline of the sea, with huge cliffs that were not climbable and the Egyptian army looking to destroy them, having cornered them in this desolate spot in the desert.
The Jews are all convinced it is over, it is "checkmate". This time, they are done!
They argue among themselves, should they surrender, should they go down fighting, should they pray for a miracle, or should they drown in the sea. The odds were too great, indeed logically they were done!
Yet Moses gives over a message from G-d, a motto that we as Jewish people seek to live by, "Daber El Benei Yisrael VaYisaoo", "Speak to the Jewish people, and tell them to move forward".
Don't get stuck in your machinations, fear and panic from everything that is happening, for you will not be bound by the odds or the forces that are stacked against you. Move forward, focus on your mission and job, advance in life, create light, do good, do another Mitzvah, don't let the outside negativity and evil forced take a hold of your inner life and space. Instead stay focused on your mission, and yes, even if it seems hard, we should know that we can and will overcome.
This doesn't mean we ignore the realities, complexities, pain and the challenges, but it does mean that as complex and difficult as they are, we won't let those define us or how we continue to move forward in doing what we need to do as individuals or collectively!
We ALWAYS stay focused on "MOVING FORWARD"!
May every challenge that we face as individuals or collectively be overcome, even if the odds or difficulties don't seem easy to overcome!
The "sea of challenges" will yet "split" again!
Shabbat Shalom & Good Shabbos
Join us tomorrow for the Shabbat Services & Kiddush, where we will discuss and share more on this topic.
Yisroel
PS Looking forward to sharing all of our Purim Updates next week!!