Bracha Sassonikin from Metulla, Israel, right on the border of Lebanon, described to me this morning the new sounds they are hearing this morning of the birds chirping, the trees blowing in the wind and the sound of quiet that has settled in.
I asked her and others in the border towns of northern Israel what do they feel now?
She told me that what keeps her going is quote a father always told her in Yiddish, "Mir Darf Farshteyen, as men Farsheteyt Gornisht, ober der Aibisheter vet Helfen", meaning, "we need to understand that we don't understand anything, but G-d will help".
After a few very challenging few months for her and so many others who have stayed put despite the daily missiles, anti tank missiles, cluster bombs and more, they have been hoping and praying for a decisive end to the terrorism from across the border.
Today they have a lot of questions and things they don't understand, but they are as always full of resilience, hope, and faith that things will work out and G-d willing be much better no matter what happens.
Today & tomorrow we mark Rosh Chodesh Iyar, the month whose letters of the name, famously are referred to as an acronym for the words of the verse, "Ani Hashem Rofecha", "I am G-d your healer".
Indeed, may this new month of Iyar bring Israel and all of us everywhere the blessings of healing and hope which we all need.
Tomorrow we read the portion of Tazria & Metzora, which discusses the skin condition known as Tzaraat which would afflict people, and our sages say, was spiritually linked to negative gossip and slander of others.
Once diagnosed the person had to go out of the camp or city and be alone for a week, as they contemplated the negative impact of their gossip and reflected on how to use their voice for the good and positivity going forward.
Yet during this time, the person was considered to be ritually impure in a very severe way, and whose actions had brought an intensity of death.
Ironically, the name of the portion which discusses this condition, is called Tazria, to conceive, as it discusses some of the laws and Mitzvot surrounding birth, even as most of the portion speaks of this terrible impurity and negativity.
The Lubavitcher Rebbe would point out, that the name of the portion, Tazria, Conceive, is actually the message of the purpose of this entire process, it was to become something better in the process, to have a new positive outlook on life and become a new kind of person through this process. So while the actual experience was negative, what resulted at the end was a much healthier moral person who used their tongue for the good and to build the world and society.
As we begin to celebrate this month of Iyar, the month of healing, we pray and hope that despite all the challenges and negativity of the last few months, we are able to move forward and create a better world with blessings for Israel and blessings for all of us everywhere, so that we create a new and much better reality going forward.
Shabbat Shalom & Good Shabbos
Yisroel