Turmoil Through the Eyes of Faith - From the Teachings of R' Berel Wein

Within the neis, there is always middas hadin

How do we find hope when the narrative has been so skewed; when the lies are so enormous; when the oppressed have become the oppressors in the eyes of the world? Through knowing, deeply knowing — as Rebbe Akiva did--that the qualities of resolution, renewal and redemption will always outlive destruction, desolation and despair. This is God's promise to us.

We are in a perpetual struggle of good and evil. It's the only way to look at it, the only way to talk about it. It's not Israel vs the Palestinians; it's not diplomacy; it's not imperialism; it's not the Middle East. It's good and evil. And there is no middle ground.

To counter the force of evil, Hashem gives Avraham a miraculous son - Yitzchak. "Ki veyitzchak yikarei lecha zara” (Bereishis 21:12). The power of goodness will survive in Yitzchak. But again, goodness is always on the sacrificial altar, as the episode of the Akeidah demonstrates

Goodness is not always so obvious. The pasuk says "Titein emes l'yaakov, chessed l'avraham - grant truth to Yaakov, kindness to Avraham" (Micah 7:20). But it's confusing, because if you look at Yaakov - the man of truth he doesn't look like the simple understanding of Yaakov which we would expect. He had to dress up to somehow fool his father. What, therefore, does Titein emes l'yaakov tell us about truth, and its relationship to goodness and Yisrael? One of the things it can mean is that we can rely on goodness to look for the truth. And even if, when it itself is not the truth, its goal is the truth. Yaakov always wanted to pursue the truth. But evil's goal is always false. Fake world. Fake news. Illusions. The unreal world. So this is the perpetual struggle between good and evil

The word tzaddik always means self-control; the ability to somehow see a bigger picture than yours. Most people are not capable of that. They are central to their own experiences and ideas. But a tzaddik sees a bigger picture

When Yehoshua stands in the streets of Yericho, and a stranger (who is an angel) appears at the doorstep, Yehoshua asks him one question: "Halanu atah im l'tzareinu are you with us, or with our enemies?" (Yehoshua 5:13). The leader of Klal Yisrael, successor to Moshe Rabbeinu, only wants to know one thing: Whose side are you on? If you are on the side of good, then you're my man. I don't care what you look like. And if you are not on my side, I also don't care what you look like. Because the struggle is that simple. It's the war between good and evil.

We must have greater faith and less certainty. Let Heaven do the work

There's a discussion regarding how many miracles occurred during Yetzias Mitzrayim - the Exodus from Egypt. It's noteworthy that there is no definitive answer. Why? Because the number of miracles is dependent on the eye of the observer. They are happening all the time, if we are willing to open our eyes to see them

A similar idea is conveyed in the well-known Gemara: "Hakol bidei Shamayim, chutz miyiras Shamayim - everything is in Hands of Heaven, except for fear of Heaven" (Brachos 33a). Chazal are informing us that there is a critical element that Hashem leaves entirely to human beings, namely our yiras Shamayim. Ultimately, the only thing we can control is our spiritual orientation towards the world. The rest is out of our hands.

In response to suffering and tragedy, the Jewish attitude is always to move forward. The Jewish People are built on doing so.

History is not merely dates, events, places. History is people, the story of people. And people have within themselves nobility and pettiness, greatness and foolishness, errors and accomplishment. People are the instruments, so to speak, that Heaven uses to exert its will in the world. Harbeh shluchim yeish lo lamakom - God has many messengers (Rashi on Shemos 16:32). And they are not the people you would necessarily pick to be the messengers.

Which is why the prophet Yeshayahu is the navi for gloom and destruction, and also the navi for comfort and consolation. The same person conveys two diametrically opposing prophecies. Why? Make up your mind! But you can't make up your mind. You're not meant to. You're meant to be in the middle of it. Because that's life.

"Think less about how they might negatively impact you, and more about how you can positively impact them."

Vulnerability and pain need not necessarily beget fear and insecurity there is nothing automatic about these responses ~ R' Doron Perez

Rashi explains that the great Sage Rav Yochanan would carry with him a bone of his tenth son wrapped in his scarf as a reminder of his bereavement. Other meforshim explain that he carried this shard of bone with him to use as a consolation to other mourners - a form of nichum aveilim. It was his way of attempting to alleviate the suffering of others by demonstrating that, having lost ten sons in his lifetime, he had managed to survive a suffering even greater than theirs (see Tosafos on the Gemara here and Rashbam to Bava Basra 116a). This perplexing passage begs a question: What kind of nichum aveilim was this? How did carrying around a shard of bone belonging to his son serve as a source of comfort and consolation to others? Perhaps we can say that the biggest source of comfort was that despite everything, people thought that he was still Rav Yochanan. It may not have mitigated the pain, but they saw that it was possible to continue. To move forward. To remain dedicated to God and a life filled with Torah and avodah. To still strive to be one of the great Sages and holy men of Israel. Perhaps that is the biggest nichum aveilim

Chazal say that the tent of Avraham was open from all sides. Because goodness envelopes everyone. So Klal Yisrael remains the symbol of good in the world. Which is why we are constantly attacked, and minimized, and vilified. Because evil can't tolerate good. It can't tolerate us Jewish People. But we are here. And we are going to be here, ad yom hanetzach. We have to have faith, bitachon in the Ribbono Shel Olam. Just as He has seen us through all the terrible, terrible evils so far, He will see us the rest of the way. But we have to do our part. And our part is being good. It's the pride we must have in asher bachar banu mikol ha'amim-we have been chosen amongst all the nations. We are special because we are goodness. That's what has to be reinforced to our children, our grandchildren, our neighbors; to society. We have to say we are good people, and not be apologetic about it, not be ashamed of it. There are no secrets here. No segulos. No magic. It's good versus evil. As simple as that.

"Hanistaros l'hashem elokeinu, vehaniglos lanu ul'vaneinu ad olam la'asos es kol divrei hatorah hazos - the hidden (sins) are for Hashem our God, but the revealed (sins) are for us and our children forever, to carry out the words of this Torah" (Devarim 29:28). One of the implications of this verse is that we cannot fathom everything that is going on. The nistaros - that which is hidden - will not be explained; it is meant to remain beyond our understanding. It is God's domain. But we also cannot absolve ourselves of responsibility. "Vehaniglos" - that which is revealed, is very much up to us. So we must ask ourselves: What should we, in our generations, take out of this? The words of the Torah offer us guidance: "Lanu ul'vaneinu ad olam la'asos es kol divrei hatorah hozos." To follow the d'var Hashem. To do everything we can to ensure that the generations that follow us do the same. In short: to be good Jews

Consider the words we recite after the Megillah has been read: "T'shu'asam hayisa lanetzach, v'tikvasam b'chol dor vador - You have been their eternal salvation, and their hope throughout generations." The Vilna Gaon says lanetzach - for eternity - is the teshuah. The Jewish People will survive. But the tikvah - the hope, the eternal, intrinsic optimism - has to be implanted from generation to generation, b'chol dor vador. We should be buoyed by the deep confidence in our innate capacity to self-rejuvenate. Despite all the suffering and all the tragedy - then and now - we can go forward knowing this is the work we can and must do

Our propensity, particularly during the tough times, is to try as quickly as possible to get to the end of something, the definitive finish. But it is interesting to note how, in Parshas Bechukosai, the tochachah - the harsh description of what will happen to the Jewish People when we veer away from Hashem takes place in the middle of the parshah (Vayikra 26:14-43). After the verses of the tochachah are finished, the Torah then proceeds to inform us of further mitzvos we are required to commit ourselves to. But the order of these pesukim seem to be counter-intuitive: You would think that after the tochachah, you are through; now you can move on. But you're not through yet. You are somewhere in the middle of it. There are more mitzvos still to be observed; more of a relation with God still to build; more still to do. You are still somewhere in the middle of the 'game'