You freeze and your heart skips a beat, it’s the unmistakable chilling sound of the Tzeva Adom Air Raid siren. You are in shock, and for a moment you are frozen to your place, and then you realize that you have only seconds to run, and you make a mad dash for the shelter, hoping and praying that you make it before the missile lands somewhere around you. Your kids and neighbors are screaming and crying, and you can’t get in touch with your loved ones, and all you can do is pray and wait for the Boom! You enter the shelter in a mad rush along with other frantic families and seconds later you hear a mighty explosion and you only hope that no one was hurt!
Friends, this is what millions of our brothers and sisters across Israel are dealing with in the last few days as once again Israel is under attack by enemies who are happy and content when they succeed in killing. Just yesterday, there was a deadly attack in which three people from the Chabad community were killed, including a Chabad Rebbitzen from India who was visiting her family in Israel (I know some of her family members, so it really hit home hard).
This is very personal, this is our brothers and sisters and it is our family. My aunt in Tel Aviv told me of her panic when the siren went off and her not being able to reach her husband and daughter, and today I was in touch with a family from Sudbury whose child is on the Gaza border while serving in the IDF. Then just a few hours ago, I was with a colleague who was on the phone with a family member in Beer Sheva when the alarm went off and he had to run to the bomb shelter and the phone lines cut off leaving my colleague in tears.
While we all follow the news and hear from our friends and relatives, living outside Israel we may almost feel powerless to help out. Yet in truth there is a lot we can do to be supportive besides hoping and praying for Israel’s success. In Jewish teachings, we are taught that in times of distress, we must stand together and show solidarity, but even more so we are taught that we must increase in our good deeds, in our Mitzvah’s, in our charity, and in our prayers as from a spiritual perspective they all make a difference.
During times of crisis, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, would always encourage us to take on Mitzvah’s such as Shabbat Candle Lighting for women, laying Teffilin for men, and charity and prayer for everyone. This Shabbos let us increase the light of Shabbat by lighting Shabbat Candles before 4:11pm, and Sunday morning from 9am – 10am I invite all men to come to Chabad to don Teffilin and say the Shema for Israel. In addition, this Shabbos morning we are dedicating our prayer service and Kiddush to Israel and its security, and at 12pm following the morning service we will be reciting some special Psalms for Israel which will be followed by a discussion and the Kiddush.
Please come and join us and stand together for our family in Israel. Spread the word and invite your friends, 12pm tomorrow Prayer for Israel at Chabad of Sudbury where will pray for our nation, friends and family and especially for the Sudbury youngsters who are serving in Israel..
With hope and prayers for Secure and Peaceful Israel
Rabbi Yisroel Freeman
To read more about the situation and to read more about what you can do click here.