Wednesday, March 13, 2024

Open the Door

In this week’s parsha of Pekudei, the posuk states, “All the work necessary for the Mishkon was completed, as the Jewish people did everything Hashem commanded through Moshe. They then brought the Mishkon to Moshe, the tent and all its utensils...” (Shemos 39:32-33).

Rashi (ibid.) quotes the Medrash Tanchuma, which explains that the people brought the Mishkon and all its keilim to Moshe because when they had finished constructing everything, they were not able to set up the Mishkon. The keroshim were too heavy to be lifted into place.

How was this accomplished? Hashem told Moshe that he should lift the heavy wooden beams. Moshe demurred, saying that it was physically impossible to stand them up. Hashem told Moshe, “Get to work with your hands. Act as if you are lifting them and they will lift themselves.”

The Medrash, in essence, is answering an enduring question. Often, we see a completed enterprise, a difficult plan that is realized, and we marvel: How could one person, or even a few people, manage to erect such a massive organization or building? From where did they get the strength to erect that edifice? Who was bright enough to devise that plan?

Chazal reveal the answers to these questions. When man accepts responsibility, rolls up his sleeves, and is prepared to do the work that is necessary, Hashem enables the impossible to happen.

Hashem completes man’s efforts. We start with good intentions and He brings our efforts to fruition.

Learning this Rashi led me to contemplate the wonderful work of so many individuals and organizations that have impacted our world more than anyone thought possible.

The visionaries blazed trails, setting for themselves very high goals. Upon seeing their commitment, the Ribbono Shel Olam assisted them in completing their visions.

A community rov went to the Chazon Ish looking for encouragement. He wanted to build a mikvah and was about to embark on a campaign giving speeches around town about the importance of having a local mikvah. He wanted the Chazon Ish’s brocha for his speeches to go over well.

The Chazon Ish told him instead that a thousand drashos about the importance of mikvah don’t accomplish as much as a beautiful, spacious mikvah.

“Get to work,” he told him.

The Chazon Ish instructed the rov to start building and promised to help, sending a representative to America to raise funds. They began construction, but the project dragged on.

Neighborhood residents went to the Chazon Ish, asking if they could begin using the facility before the construction was completed.

He answered in the negative and explained his reasoning. “This mikvah isn’t only for you and the other frum families in the area,” he said. “This mikvah is being built for the future as well and for families who are not yet religious. We need to make sure that the building will be done right, so that it will be attractive to them.”

Towards the end of his life, a weakened Rav Avrohom Pam told a Shuvu parlor meeting audience how a group of parents from Acco had heard about Shuvu and wanted a school for their children. Shuvu was having a hard enough time keeping up with its existing schools, and the administration wondered how they could undertake the opening and maintenance of yet another one.

The elderly rosh yeshiva banged on the shtender and said, “One-hundred-and-fifty parents want a Torah school for their children! How can we say no? There is no cheshbon in the world that can allow us to say no to these parents.”

Rav Pam was extremely frail. That night, he was quiet, gentle and soft, but he displayed the force and determination that have helped us persevere in golus. With all the strength left in his ailing body, Rav Pam emphatically declared, “There will be a Shuvu school in Acco and the Shechinah will be in that school.”

It breaks your heart to see the masses of kids out there waiting for us to reach them. There are so many people who will never know the brocha of a Torah way of life simply because there isn’t enough money to open additional schools and spread the Shechinah further. With pennies, their souls can be saved for eternity.

The Torah recounts that prior to selling him into slavery, Yosef’s brothers threw him into an empty pit. The posuk tells us that the pit was empty of water. Rashi famously adds that although the pit was empty of water, “mayim ein bo, aval nechoshim ve’akrabim yeish bo,” it was filled with poisonous snakes and scorpions.

The Vilna Gaon explains that this is the rule in life. In the absence of mayim, positive forces, nechoshim ve’akrabim, negative forces, take over.

Moshiach, we know, is rapidly approaching. But his arrival is up to us and how hard we work to rid the world of nechoshim ve’akrabim, all negative forces out there. There is much we can do on our own, but a most productive way to bring about the necessary changes is to join with others who seek to fill the world with an ocean of mayim, a sea of emunah and yedias Hashem. The opportunities are everywhere.

The world is like a desert, bare and parched, but a little bit of water can cure a long drought. Millions of Jews are dying of thirst. We have the water. Why aren’t we giving it to them? Why don’t we care about the people who lack the water of Torah? Why don’t we do more to help organizations and people who dedicate themselves to bringing them bottles of water to whet their appetites and satiate their thirst for meaning.

Rav Pam’s message is as valid now as it was when he delivered it so many years ago. This past Sunday, Shuvu held its annual dinner. Hundreds of people gathered to demonstrate that Rav Pam’s message still rings in their ears and motivates them to help Shuvu introduce more children and families to Torah.

But the problem back then is the same problem now. Money.

During the war years, Mike Tress would go around begging people for money. He would tell them, “All it costs to save a Jewish life is $100. Please help me help them.” Some people responded generously to his request, and he was able to save many lives. He brought them to these shores and set them up and helped them go on to lead fine, productive Yiddishe lives, giving birth to generations of ehrliche Yidden.

As an outgrowth of the terrible attack on October 7th, secular Jews are looking for tangible ways to connect to Hashem and His Torah. People who never davened or kept any mitzvos have accepted upon themselves to wear tzitzis, put on tefillin, learn Torah, observe Shabbos, and bring themselves closer to Yiddishkeit.

Tiny embers flickering in thousands of lost souls have begun igniting small flames. It would be a great tragedy if we allow them to flame out.

We may not know why Hashem brought the terrible tragedy upon us at the end of Sukkos, but we can be sure that Hashem wants us to help those lost people find their way to Him.

There is a unique opportunity now to do just that.

In the days before electric door openers, a school bus driver and bus supervisor went to Rav Bentzion Abba-Shaul for a din Torah. They were fighting over whose job it was to open the door to let children on and off the bus.

The driver said that he had to concentrate on driving and couldn’t be busy getting out of his seat to open the door each time to let on a boy and to let him off at yeshiva.

The supervisor said that he had to make sure that the children were in their seats, and every time he went to open the door, the children moved around.

The chacham listened to their arguments and asked them a question: “How much does the honor of pesicha for Ne’ilah go for in your shul on Yom Kippur?”

“Thousands of shekolim,” they answered.

“Know this,” Rav Abba-Shaul said to the disputants. “Every time you open the door for a boy going to learn Torah, you are opening the aron kodesh. And you don’t have to pay for the honor. You should each want to be the one to open the door and get the zechut.”

If people who get inspired and begin performing certain mitzvos don’t send their children to a Torah school, the inspiration will likely be short-lived, as they revert to their previous behavior. When a child attends a Torah school, the child is changed, his neshomah comes alive, and he goes home and educates the family about what it means to be a Torah Jew.

Thanks to outside support, all it costs now to register a new child to be educated in the Shuvu school system is $1,200 a year. For most of us, that is a lot of money, but in the greater scheme of things, it’s a bargain, besides the fact that a Jewish neshomah is worth a lot more than $1,200.

The guarantee of a Jewish future for a child and their family is worth a lot more than $1,200.

We don’t have to give the full amount. Each person can give what they can afford and know that they didn’t miss out on an historic opportunity. Each Jew has a responsibility to other Jews. We are all obligated to do what we can to help each other spiritually and physically. Right now, we have a historic opportunity to help people who were perhaps previously unreachable make their way to lives of Torah and mitzvos. Let us not miss our chance.

There are other ways that we can help people. Read the Yated’s Chinuch Roundtable this week and feel the pain of good boys and girls who are not accepted into yeshivos, schools and seminaries for reasons that have nothing to do with them not trying their hardest and doing their best to live blessed lives. Feel the pain of their parents, who are shattered along with their children. Who are they to turn to? They need us to feel their pain and to help them push on so that they and their children can continue to live happy, wholesome Torah lives.

Life is so complicated these days and so many people have difficulty dealing with the many challenges. We need to be there for them, whether by listening, guiding or motivating them. We can inspire them to bring Hashem into their lives and think about how Hashem wants them to react to what is bothering them. We can encourage them to learn the sefer Chovos Halevavos, which teaches us how to live happy, proper lives. And if the Hebrew is too hard for you, there are plenty of translations available. And if you want one with extra spice that you can relate to, try the one with the commentary of Rav Avigdor Miller in English.

Good people feel empty and deep down are unhappy. Speak to them, cheer them up, and give them ideas of how they can introduce meaning and a sense of fulfillment into their lives. It will help them and it will help you.

The list of good causes is endless, and although we each have our own issues and are quite busy, we can help.

Show that you care and Hashem will help you with the rest.

Look at the great people of our nation and what they built and accomplished. Each one of them could have said that the hard work involved was not for them. They were too old or burdened, or didn’t have what it took to undertake such responsibility. But Hashem was part of their life, and they did what they knew He wanted them to do. They ignored the naysayers and the reasons to say no, and they did what had to be done to help and to build Yiddishkeit.

One of those heroic builders of Torah was Rav Yosef Shlomo Kahaneman, the Ponovezher Rov. Old and weighed down by the tragedy of the Holocaust, he went to Eretz Yisroel determined to recreate the world that was destroyed. He traveled the world raising funds to build and then maintain the yeshiva.

When Rav Chaim Leib Auerbach needed a speaker to motivate people to donate money to stave off the closure of his yeshiva, Shaar Hashomayim in Yerushalayim, he turned to Rav Kahaneman.

The rov made a special trip to be at the yeshiva’s emergency dinner and delivered a rousing speech about emunah, bitachon and love of Torah. The directors of the yeshiva were very upset. “For this we brought you all the way here to speak?” they told him. “We are desperate for money. We were expecting a moving appeal from the master fundraiser.”

The rov answered them, “I am not a good fundraiser. I do not know how to raise money. What I have is emunah that Hashem will help me maintain the yeshivos I established. The love of Torah that burns in my soul motivates me to travel from one end of the world to the other. These are my fundraising tools, so I shared them with your crowd.”

In all that we do and all that we accomplish, in good times and not such good times, the secret to survival and success is emunah, bitachon and the siyata diShmaya they engender. Let us all strengthen ourselves in those areas and display true achdus by showing that we care about others, so that we can each do our part in preparing the world for the coming of Moshiach speedily in our day.

Wednesday, March 06, 2024

The Secret of Happiness

By Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz

This Shabbos, we announce the arrival of the second month of Adar, granting us another opportunity to take advantage of the obligation to increase our joy as Adar arrives.

Although the obligation of “mishenichnas Adar marbim b’simcha” is only mentioned in the Gemara (Taanis 29a) and is not cited in Shulchan Aruch, it is set forth universally in seforim, which discuss this period of the year, and is commonly accepted by all.

Yet, while many discuss the obligation, less discussed is what it entails. Marbim b’simcha. It seems so easy. Be happier. Who doesn’t want to be happier? But when you begin to think about it, the obligation gets complicated.

If we are to be happier with the advent of Adar, that means that we were supposed to be happy before this month came along. It’s just that now, we get happier. But we wonder: How happy were we supposed to be before Adar and how much happier are we supposed to be now during Adar?

The bigger question is that everyone has problems. Everyone has things that aren’t going the way they wanted or planned. How are they expected to be happy when things aren’t going the way they would like them to? And what is a person supposed to do to be happier? Is it really that simple? Adar comes and all our problems disappear? Just like that, we are happier or at least happy?

Rav Yosef Shalom Elyashiv was asked how joy is increased during Adar. He answered that it is accomplished through the study of Torah, as the posuk (Tehillim 19:9) states, “Pikudei Hashem yeshorim mesamchei lev. The laws of Hashem are just; they gladden the heart.”

The questioner pressed him that the obligation to study Torah is extant a whole year, not just during Adar. He responded that during Adar, there is an obligation to increase our Torah study and not to occupy ourselves with things that lead to sadness.

In his later years, the Ponovezher Rov was old and sick. Although he suffered a lot, the rov kept up his schedule traveling the world, raising money for his beloved yeshiva. Someone asked him where he derives the energy to work so hard from. How is he always so happy, seemingly never tiring as he goes from place to place and person to person asking for help to keep his yeshiva going?

The rov shared his secret.

“Many years ago,” he began, “when I was a very young boy, on Purim, my parents would send mishloach manos to the rov of our shtetel. Every year, my mother would bake a special cake for the rov and rebbetzin, and we would bring it to them together with a bottle of wine. I had a few brothers. My father would hold a raffle to choose which one of us would have the honor of delivering the mishloach manos.

“One evening before Purim, my father came home and was very happy. He said, ‘Every year, the mishloach manos that we send to our beloved rov and rebbetzin is basically from Mama. She bakes the cake, which is the main component of the package. This year, I will be contributing something meaningful!’

“He told us that a seforim peddler had come to town with a bunch of seforim for sale. He perused them on the table outside of the shul, and lo and behold, he saw there a Gemara Bava Basra from the Vilna Shas. In those days, barely anyone owned a complete Shas, let alone the beautiful Vilna edition, and even to have a single Vilna volume was a big deal. My father bought the Gemara to give to the rov on Purim. He was so happy, he was dancing.

“My brother won the raffle to bring the rov the cake and wine, and I was honored with carrying that heavy Gemara and giving it to the rov. As soon as I handed it to the rov and told him that it was mishloach manos from my father, he broke out in a wide smile. He held the Gemara high, as if it were a Sefer Torah, and began singing songs and dancing around the table with it, as if it was Simchas Torah.

“My brother and I stood on the side with the rebbetzin, watching in awe as he danced and sang with supreme happiness. We had never seen anyone as happy as he was. When he finished, he asked the rebbetzin if she would agree to serve the seudah an hour later than planned so that he could go into his room and study from the Gemara. ‘That will be your mishloach manos to me,’ he said to her. She readily agreed. He once again picked up the Gemara and began dancing.”

The Ponovezher Rov recalled, “I was but a child of nine years old and had no concept of why the Gemara caused the wise rov to be so happy, but I made up my mind then and there that if Torah can make the rov, who the town awesomely respected, that happy, I was going to dedicate my life to studying - and increasing the study of - Torah.”

The secret of happiness, the secret of satisfaction, the secret of accomplishment, is rooted in Torah. The more we learn, the happier and more fulfilled we are.

Also, perhaps we can add that by increasing our study of Torah, we strengthen our connection to Hashem, and the more connected to Hashem we are, the stronger our emunah and bitachon are. As we increase our emunah and bitachon, we become happier because we understand that everything that happened and happens to us is from Hashem and is for our betterment.

Even when Hashem afflicts us with something, it is because He seeks something from us.

The Chazon Ish once told Rav Shmuel Wosner that when a person becomes ill and davens, saying Tehillim and asking Hashem to heal him, and then he recovers, he thinks that his tefillos are what healed him.

This is the wrong way to view it, he said.

The correct way to understand what happened is that the person who was sick was doing well with his life, but he forgot Hashem. As the posuk says, “Vayishmon Yeshurun vayivot shomanta oviso… vayitosh Eloka osohu.”

Hashem wanted to remind the person to remember Him, so He made him sick, causing him to return to Hashem and daven. When the person returns to Hashem and davens, there is no longer a reason for him to be sick, so the sickness leaves him.

The more we learn, and the closer we become to Hashem, the more we can appreciate that what is happening to us is not a cause for sadness, but rather a stimulus to improvement and joy.

Therefore, bitachon causes us to be happy when others are sad, and joyous when things don’t go the way we want.

Alef. Bais. Gimmel. The two months of Adar, Adar Alef and Adar Bais, lead to the geulah of Chodesh Nissan.

Mishenichnas Adar marbim besimcha. Step by step, we grow in our appreciation of the truths of life and thus develop the ability to be truly joyous.

People have many tzaros. They wonder why they suffer from illness, parnossah challenges, tuition bills, shidduchim difficulties, and so much more. They wonder why they are being challenged. Why me? Why is this all happening? What is the purpose? How will it all end?

When Adar comes and we learn more and are closer to Hashem, our bitachon is strengthened. And when things don’t go according to plan, we are comforted by the knowledge that we will live to see the purpose in all the sadness that we experienced. We begin to view life as a giant jigsaw puzzle, with pieces of all shapes, sizes and colors coming together, and when fit correctly, they form a beautiful picture. This realization brings us relief and joy.

The Ponovezher Rov further enlightens us about what we should be doing during these rough times of ikvesa d’Meshicha, as the nations of the world push us to lose an existential war against the forces of evil.

The Gemara in Megillah (16) states that when Haman followed the orders of Achashveirosh and went to fetch Mordechai to dress him, place him upon a royal horse, and parade him through the streets of Shushan, Haman found him in the bais medrash. Mordechai was sitting there surrounded by other talmidei chachomim, showing them how to perform the kemitzah required for the korban mincha.

Haman asked what they were discussing. They explained to him that when the Bais Hamikdosh is in existence, a kemitzah size of flour is offered as a korban and it forgives the sinner.

The wicked Haman was astounded and responded to them that their small kemitzah size of flour has the ability to push away his ten thousand kikars of silver.

The Rov explained that Haman had constructed the tall gallows and let it be known that he was going to hang Mordechai from it. He was sure that when he would arrive at the Jewish study hall, the Jews inside wouldn’t be studying. Rather, they would be fretting and crying over the impending death of their leader, Mordechai.

Instead, when he walked in, he saw the rabbis hunched around Mordechai, discussing the intricacies of the laws pertaining to something they couldn’t even do at the present time because they didn’t have the Bais Hamikdosh.

Astounded, he asked the children there what the laws of korban ha’omer had to do with a Jew dying al kiddush Hashem. They told him that the two had no connection. They explained that the Jews believe that Hashem will soon bring them their salvation. The Bais Hamikdosh will be rebuilt and we will resume bringing korbanos. It was those laws that they were studying.

The Ponovezher Rov explained that Haman said that Jews who know that they are about to be killed are not only not in mourning, and are not only not preparing for their death, but are so trusting of their G-d that they study intricate laws pertaining to their temple, believing that G-d will rescue them and they will rebuild their holy sanctuary.

And so has it been throughout the ages, said the rov, who had lived through the Holocaust and lost everything that he held dear. Despite what the nations of the world have done to us, despite all the horrible deaths, pogroms, deprivation and tyrannical laws, through it all we have maintained our faith in Hashem, and our hope for the imminent arrival of Moshiach remains strong at all times.

And what do we do? How do we spend our time? Studying Torah, the essence of our existence.

When we are attacked by savages, when the civilized nations of the world support the barbarians and condemn us for seeking to defend ourselves and rid the world of the plague of vile monsters and their paymasters, we need not fear the outcome.

We do not become broken, because we maintain our faith in Hashem. We don’t wallow in self-pity. Rather, we rededicate ourselves to Torah, because it rejuvenates us and brings us happiness and life.

We know that the story will end well. We know that it is all a preparation for the arrival of Moshiach very soon. And until that happens, we are suffused with the spirit of Adar, continuing to daven for the Jews of Eretz Yisroel, for ourselves, for our friends and neighbors, and for all of Klal Yisroel.

May we all be zoche to much happiness and the geulah sheleimah bekarov.

Wednesday, February 28, 2024

My Father’s Tefillin

By Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz

In Parshas Ki Sisa, we learn one of the most tragic occurrences in our history, from which we suffer until today: the sin of the Eigel. Every time we learn the parsha, we wonder how the people could have gone so wrong. The same people who experienced all of Hashem’s miracles in Mitzrayim and at the Yam Suf were now ready to trade it all in for a little golden calf made from their wives’ jewelry. How can it be?

The nation that stood at Har Sinai and heard the voice of the Creator as they received and accepted the Torah so quickly wandered away from the truth and danced around a silly idol. How are we to understand their mistakes? What led them to err so quickly?

Each generation is faced with new nisyonos, which are different than those faced by previous generations. Each generation sees its nisyonos as much more difficult than those faced in earlier eras, as if they could have survived the challenges that people living at a different time had difficulty with. But in essence, the tests and difficulties we face are no more difficult than what our forefathers had to contend with, and considering that the generations become progressively weaker, it is possible that what confounds us would not have confounded previous generations.

Far be it from us to judge those who succumbed to the pressures that faced people one hundred years ago. The people then were poor. Many were starving, driven from their homes, refugees in a new land and unable to speak the language. Many came to America and surrendered. For many of them, there were no yeshivos for their children, and even where there were, the vast majority of the youngsters went to public school, where they were led away from the ways of their parents. Terrible poverty led many to work on Shabbos to be able to pay rent and buy food. There were many justifications for why the conduct inconsistent with the Torah was permitted, but the effect was that those who found ways around halacha and mesorah gradually became lost to our people. Millions withered away and were swallowed up by the pot of assimilation.

 Many of them meant well. They made cheshbonos that they could compromise and still be able to hold on to their children and prevent them from being swept away. Sadly, in most cases, it was false hope. Their intentions may have been good, but it didn’t work. In fact, the Chazon Ish prophesized the mass teshuvah movement of the past few decades. He said that he saw in Eretz Yisroel and in America how the second generation was rejecting the religious life of their parents.

“But the older generation sees their secular grandchildren and cries bitter tears to Hashem over what has become of them in the new country,” said the Chazon Ish. “There is no doubt that in the merit of those tears, their grandchildren will grow up and experience stirrings of teshuvah.”

Thankfully, his words have come to pass for many thousands, but for millions of others, their children are so far gone that they are almost impossible to reach.

We can’t attempt to understand the nisyonos faced by tired, hardworking immigrants who came to this land to escape starvation, pogroms and forced military conscription. The lasting lesson of that period is that people who thought they could compromise and still stay ahead of the game found out the hard way that they couldn’t. Those who embraced the zeitgeist were constricted and bound by it.

We learn from them that as we face the nisyonos of our time, we must explicitly follow the Torah and halacha without justifying various compromises. Those who compromised ended up with no Torah, no halacha, no Shabbos, no kashrus, nothing. It was only those diehards who refused to buckle to the realities of the era and held fast to the Torah they brought with them to the new country who remained conscripted to Hashem’s army, observing Shabbos and every other halacha, while being blessed with generations of offspring who haven’t forsaken their heritage.

Getting back to the Eigel, the Bais Halevi explains that the people at that time also had good intentions. He says that when the people saw that Moshe didn’t return, they feared that they had lost their intermediary who stood between them and Hashem, conveying the Creator’s wishes and commandments to the people. They were afraid that their connection to Hashem would be lost.

They figured that in his absence, they should fashion a place where the Shechinah could rest amongst them. They turned to Aharon Hakohein, whom they knew was familiar with the secrets of Torah and the briah, to create this place.

They approached this idea with the best intentions, but they made one fatal mistake. It is true that the Creator invested man with the ability for his actions to impact what happens in the higher worlds. But this is only when the action that is done is prescribed by the Torah. However, if a person performs an action that was not commanded in the Torah, but is something that he arrived at through his own intelligence and understanding, the action will not accomplish anything and certainly will not be able to bring the Shechinah to rest near him.

Only when a person fulfills the will of Hashem can his actions bring about the desired effects, but when acting on the thoughts and machinations of man, we cannot accomplish anything. Not only do we not accomplish anything when we do things based upon what people come up with, but by doing so we sin and cause destruction. This is the reason that the good intentions of the people at that time led to sin and devastation.

If you examine where the Jewish people went off throughout the ages, it was when they came up with new laws and compromises based upon their own understanding and not based on Torah. Every deviant group started out claiming that they were following the Torah. It was just that they “adapted” it to fit with their understating of what they felt was necessary for their period. They said that they were following the halacha, but it was undergoing a required “evolution.” That is how Conservative Judaism began. As ridiculous as it sounds, they claim to follow the “authentic and most appropriate continuation of halakhic discourse.” They have halachic decisors who study Talmud and Shulchan Aruch and claim to follow halacha. In fact, any relationship between halacha and what they claim to follow is illusory. Open Orthodoxy is heading down the same path.

Many of the Maskilim who caused much trouble for frum Jews in the 1800s were products of yeshivos who quickly veered from halacha

Any time a person, or group, deviates from normative Yiddishkeit the way it has been practiced for centuries and begins to make changes according to their understand or that of others, defection is sure to follow. Anytime somebody thinks that he has a better idea or a better understanding of halacha than the mesorah and traditional methods of study and understanding, he is in great danger of eventually turning away from Torah altogether.

Today, as we are faced with different nisyonos, we have to learn from those who sinned with the Eigel and those who throughout the ages made compromises and rationalizations that they felt were necessary in order to function and overcome challenges. They all failed and were lost. The only way to remain loyal to Hashem and his Torah is by not saying that it’s impossible to do that today without shaving off some of the halachic requirements. It doesn’t work that way, not now and never before or in the future.

When Moshe returned and saw Jews dancing around the Eigel, he was overcome. He broke the luchos that Hashem had given him and proclaimed, “Mi laShem eilay - All who are with Hashem should line up with me.” The posuk relates that the shevet of Levi rallied to Moshe’s side.

My grandfather, Rav Leizer Levin, learned in the Yeshiva of Radin for seven years and slept in the home of the Chofetz Chaim for a year and a half. He told me that it was his rebbi’s custom to refer to this posuk when welcoming new talmidim to the yeshiva. He would ask them if they were a kohein or a levi. My grandfather was asked the question upon his arrival and responded that he was a levi.

The Chofetz Chaim, who was a kohein, said to the young bochur, “Let me tell you why you are a levi. It is because when Moshe Rabbeinu called out after the chet ha’Eigel, ‘Mi laShem eilay,’ your grandfather [and mine] responded positively and lined up with Moshe.

“I am telling you this so that when the call of ‘Mi laShem eilay’ rings out in our day, make sure to give the answer your zaide gave.”

The Chofetz Chaim’s message left an unforgettable impression upon him, and when he repeated it to me seventy years after it happened, it was with much emotion that he charged me with that same lesson.

Shevet Levi did not make cheshbonos. They didn’t try to figure out which side would win and if Moshe stood a chance of winning the showdown. Moshe Rabbeinu was Torah and they followed him implicitly. If Moshe calls upon us to stand with him, we respond to the call. The people of Hashem don’t make calculations or call for realism and practicality.

And the same goes for us in our day. If the halacha is one way, we don’t search for pragmatic avenues around it. We act as our grandparents did throughout the ages and follow the word of Hashem as expressed in the Torah.

V’al tis’chakam yoseir,” says the wisest of all men (Koheles 7:16). Don’t try to outsmart the world. Don’t think that you know better than everyone. Don’t try to reinvent halacha and mesorah and turn the mitzvah observance of our children and grandchildren into something our grandparents wouldn’t recognize.

Yechezkel Hanovi (chapter 37) describes Hashem’s prophecy to him regarding the atzamos yeveishos, the dry human bones that Yechezkel returned to life. Hashem told Yechezkel that the bones were symbolic of the Jewish people. Just as the bones were brought back to life and returned to their original lives, so too, the remnants of Am Yisroel should never give up hope. They will be returned to their original state in Eretz Yisroel.

The Gemara in Maseches Sanhedrin (92b) records a machlokes about whether that prophecy took place or if it is merely an analogy to depict the concept of Moshiach and techiyas hameisim.

Rabi Eliezer ben Rabi Yosi Haglili states, “The dead who Yechezkel brought back to life went up to Eretz Yisroel, married and gave birth to sons and daughters.” Rabi Yehuda ben Beseira rose and declared, “They really did come back to life. It was not simply an allegorical account. In fact, I am a descendent of a man who was brought back to life that day. I wear his tefillin. The tefillin given to me by my grandfather were handed down to him from his ancestor, who was brought back to life in the incident described by the novi Yechezkel. Ani m’bnei beneihem vehalalu tefillin shehiniach li avi abba meihem. These tefillin were left to me by my father’s father.”

This is the song of our generation of American Jewry.

Our ancestors docked at Ellis Island and settled in one of the then-burgeoning Jewish communities across the fruited plain. With their resolve, their drive, and lots of tefillah, they merited that we can point to our heads and hearts and say the words: “Halalu tefillin shehiniach li avi abba meihem.”

I wear the same tefillin my father does, and his father did, and his grandfather did, all the way back to Sinai. Through all the exiles, the halacha l’Moshe miSinai relating to tefillin - what they look like and who wears them - has remained constant.

They look exactly like the tefillin worn in Lithuania and Hungary, Syria and Morocco, the Warsaw Ghetto, and in Auschwitz under the threat of death. The tefillin we wear in America today are the same as those worn during the golden period of Spain, the Inquisition, and the periods of the Botei Mikdosh.

All throughout history, as others have mocked us and sought our destruction, those who answered the call of “Mi laShem eilay” remained loyal to the traditions passed on through the generations and guaranteed that authentic Yiddishkeit endures. Because our grandparents did not compromise and didn’t follow the pragmatic trends, we are here today, living proudly as Torah Jews.

In our day, too, there is a kolah delo posik, a silent call emanating from Sinai, the Har Habayis, and every bais medrash around the world. It proclaims, “Mi laShem eilay.”

We have to realize that today, the yeitzer hora comes every year in a new costume and with a new pitch. He no longer attempts to convince us that we have to desecrate Shabbos in order to earn a livelihood. His pitch evolves with the times, but our response must remain the same.

We don’t deviate from the mesorah that has been handed down to us through the ages. “Chodosh ossur min haTorah.” There is no compromising with new ideas and concepts that are anti-Torah. When we are confronted by modern-day temptations, we don’t compromise on the Torah’s principles. We don’t veer from the path trodden by those who came before us. We don’t defile our inner kedusha or provide the yeitzer hora with even a small victory. We do what Hashem wants us to do, and the way we know what He wants is by studying Torah and halacha.

The Jews in Shushan were punished and threatened with annihilation because they relied on their own judgment and rationalized that they were permitted to partake in the feast of Achashveirosh. As we lain this week’s parsha and prepare for Purim, let us remember the lesson learned from their failures so that we merit the final geulah very soon.

Wednesday, February 21, 2024

Double Joy

By Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz

Think about it. If this year wasn’t a leap year, we would be celebrating Purim this week. Instead, Purim is a month away. But even though we have to wait a month to celebrate Purim, we can still be happy. After all, Adar is a month of joy.

But being happy, for some, is easier said than done.

Who doesn’t want to be happy? Yet, in the world around us, the search for happiness leads people in many different directions, chasing all types of superficial stimulants to cheer themselves up. This usually lasts for fleeting moments before they are returned to their sorry, empty lives.

Some try music, while others go wild for sports. Some gorge themselves checking out every restaurant, while others satiate themselves with gallons of ice cream. Some people are forever traveling, as if getting on a plane can somehow transport them to blissful happiness they so desperately seek. Some turn to alcohol and worse. Yet, their goal eludes them and all they are left with is a lethal habit.

The concept is so simple, the pursuit is so universal, yet, for so many, it is so unattainable.

For Torah Jews, simcha is an obligation. When Chazal make a statement of fact, “Mishenichnas Adar marbin besimcha (Taanis 29a), they are saying that simcha, that elusive destination, is not a utopian dream attainable only by other people. Happiness is within the reach of every Jew, and therefore they can instruct us to increase our joy during the month of Adar.

Mishenichnas Adar, as the month of Adar enters, marbin besimcha, we increase our happiness.” What does it mean to increase happiness? To what extent are we to do so? Why the ambiguous language?

Rav Eliyohu Eliezer Dessler writes that simcha cannot come from a quick-fix. It is a goal that is attained through contemplation and work. This is what he says: “Simcha has to be increased in levels... Therefore, we begin from Rosh Chodesh, since the avodah of simcha requires great preparation, and we continue with this avodah each succeeding day” (Michtov M’Eliyohu II, pg. 125).

The attainment of simcha requires working to shed the barriers that prevent a person from feeling joy. Simcha requires a focus on fixing our middos so that we are selfless and non-judgmental and aren’t consumed by jealousy.

Feeling simcha means living with the words of the Chovos Halevavos to become imbued with the bitachon necessary to be happy and to flourish in a cruel world. Shaar Habitachon is essentially a guide that helps us navigate the turbulence we encounter. Its study reinforces the understanding that our ability to manage the problems life brings is based on the degree of faith we have in Hashem.

When we recognize that everything that happens to us is from Hashem, for a reason we may not yet understand, we aren’t devastated when things don’t go our way.

The feeling that your life is incomplete without the attainment of something you don’t really need is akin to a child crying bitterly until he receives a lollipop. His life is really as complete now as it was prior to his receiving the candy. The lollipop provides a momentary lift only to be quickly forgotten. Transient objects that are craved to stimulate happiness never fail to disappoint; their effect is fleeting, quickly disappearing. All they can accomplish is to mask over some inner need; they cannot provide lasting fulfillment that engenders true simcha.

Happiness emerges from internal satisfaction that is brought about through strength and conviction. It is not superficial. It comes from a strong constitution coupled with the ability to withstand spiritual and emotional battles. One who is strong mentally and physically can make do without the band-aids, and to one who is weak, the band-aid is of little use.

It’s not cheesy to say that mental strength and real happiness are acquired through emunah and bitachon.

Once, when I was speaking to my rebbi, Rav Avrohom Yehoshua Soloveitchik, the name of a common acquaintance came up. The rosh yeshiva asked how his talmid was doing.

I responded, “Ess geit em shver. He’s having a hard time.”

Without hesitating for even a moment, he looked at me and shot back, “Bei der Ribono Shel Olam, iz gornit shver.”

In his pithy, concise way, he was teaching a lesson. For someone facing a challenge, the problem seems so overwhelming and daunting, but we have to remember that the Ribbono Shel Olam has no limitations. However large the issue seems to the person who is experiencing it and to those who love and care about him, in essence, to the Creator, Who can heal all, it is not a big deal.

We get upset and we become forlorn because we become trapped by the moment and cannot look past it. Though we are limited in what we can perceive, we mustn’t forget that “Bei der Ribono Shel Olam, iz gornit shver.

The person who lives with bitachon experiences happiness and serenity that others cannot. He knows that the world was created by, and is run by, Hashem, Who has the ability to give him whatever he wants and needs. A person with real bitachon is not embittered when his own ambitions are not realized the way he wanted, and he doesn’t feel himself equal to others. Personal grievances don’t get him down. When he is frustrated, he can realize that all that happens is for the good. He absorbs the blow and moves on, with the knowledge that if he puts himself together and has faith about the future, Hashem will help him achieve what has been planned for him.

Understanding that the world is controlled by Hashem permits the baal bitachon to joyously accept what comes his way. It enables him to manage his fears and emotions in a productive manner and erase the pain of what otherwise would be perceived as failure.

The two months of Adar with which we are blessed this year help us get ourselves together, properly aligned for the coming month of geulah in Nissan.

Marbin besimcha. Step by step, we grow in our appreciation of the truths of life and thus develop the ability to be truly joyous.

The Shechinah doesn’t rest on a person who is unhappy and depressed. In order to make ourselves worthy of properly understanding Torah and interpersonal relationships, we walk on the path that leads to simcha. And as we improve ourselves and our avodas Hashem, we become better and happier people.

Rav Pinchos Menachem Alter of Ger recounted that as a child, he visited a bank. He saw a man handing over piles of cash to a teller and felt so bad for the man. “Oy, the poor man has to give so much money to the bank. He probably has nothing left for himself,” he thought in his childish head.

As he stood there, he saw another man receiving bundles of money from a manager. “Look at that rich man,” he thought to himself. “He is walking out of here with a fortune.”

The rebbe related that it was only later that it was explained to him that the person he saw handing over money to the teller was, in fact, the wealthy man. He had come to deposit his money in the bank for safekeeping. The second man, who walked out with a big wad of cash, was quite poor. He had no money of his own and had come to the bank to negotiate a loan. He had to put up his house as collateral and had no idea how he would ever pay the loan back.

When we trust and believe that there is enough money in His bank to provide for us all, we will recognize that, in fact, we do have what we need.

The Rambam, in his introduction to Sefer Hamada, writes that the reason Chazal instituted the reading of the Megillah on Purim is to notify the future generations that “emes hee,” the words of the posuk are true. The posuk (Devorim 4:7) states, “Ki mi goy gadol asher lo Elokim kerovim eilav kaHashem Elokeinu bechol koreinu Eilov - Because ours is the only nation that has a G-d Who is close to it and Who is with us whenever we cry out to Him.”

Why does the Rambam need to underscore that the posuk is a reality? It’s a posuk, after all. Of course it is real. How could we even contemplate otherwise?

Perhaps the proper understanding is that the story of Purim demonstrates that at each stage of the unfolding tale, there was a Divine agenda, prodding circumstances along towards a happy ending. Though as the story was unfolding there was plenty of reason for fear and sadness, when the story ended, everyone was able to see that at every step of the way, Hashem was with them, orchestrating their eventual victory.

Seemingly random incidents and facts, such as Vashti’s brazenness, the search for a new queen, Mordechai’s knowledge of foreign languages, and even the month during which Achashveirosh married Esther, were all details in a gradual, measured march towards salvation.

Bechol koreinu eilov. Regardless of what our situation is, we cry out “eilov,” to Hashem. Everything that transpires brings us closer eilov,” to Him. As the Jews of Shushan watched the goings-on, they felt as if the world was closing in on them and that they were doomed to destruction and defeat. In fact, the opposite was true.

They had sinned at the feast of Achashveirosh and were therefore marked for “kloyah,” annihilation (Megillah 12a), but because Hashem pitied them and heard their tefillos, bechol koreinu eilov,” when they repented and called out to Him, He responded with redemption.

Mordechai rallied the Jews and they cried out, fasted and did teshuvah, so Hashem had the tragedy bring about a return of the Jewish people “eilov,” to Him.

Ana Bechoach is a special acrostic tefillah composed by Rav Nechunya Ben Hakanah. It is recited every morning together with the korbanos and on Friday evening prior to Lecha Dodi. The tefillah asks Hashem to accept the prayers of Klal Yisroel and concludes by stating, “Shavoseinu kabel ushema tzaakoseinu yodei’a taalumos.” We ask Hashem to accept our shouted prayers, as He knows secrets.

The question is obvious: If we say that we are crying out to Hashem, why do we then add that He should hear us because He knows all the secrets?

Because He knows all the secrets and how the travails will end in salvation, we ask that He hear our tefillos and quickly bring about the reprieve He has planned, with less pain and aggravation.

Along with thousands of others, Rav Elazar Menachem Man Shach and his family found refuge in Vilna during the period leading up to the Second World War. While in Vilna, he had developed a relationship with Rav Chaim Ozer Grodzensky.

During his stay there, his 14-year-old daughter, Miriam Raizel, passed away from a lung condition from which she had been suffering. Rav Shach was devastated.

At the time, Rav Chaim Ozer was old, virtually bedridden, and weakened from the illness that would claim his life. He was unable to be menachem avel the Shach family as they sat shivah. A short while later, Rav Shach went to visit Rav Chaim Ozer, who had himself experienced the loss of his only daughter. The aged gaon looked at the young rosh yeshiva he had come to know, appreciate and love. Though Rav Shach didn’t mention his daughter’s passing, Rav Chaim Ozer saw the pain in his eyes.

After an extended silence, the rabbon shel kol bnei hagolah said a few words that Rav Shach would carry with him for the rest of his life. He said to Rav Shach, “Lulei Sorascha sha’ashuoy oz ovadeti be’onyi. Without Torah, I wouldn’t have been able to go on.”

Those words were to become Rav Shach’s mantra.

Many years later, some rabbonim went to visit Rav Shach on the day of his daughter’s yahrtzeit. He spoke about his daughter and repeated what Rav Chaim Ozer had told him. And then he explained what he thought Rav Chaim Ozer meant.

He related that it is analogous to two prisoners who were jailed under horrendous conditions. They were both understandably miserable, yet one managed to smile from time to time and make conversation with others. The other one was bitterly morose. He looked miserable and acted even worse.

The difference was that one knew that he was nearing the completion of his sentence and would soon be free. While he was suffering terribly, knowing that he would soon be free gave him the strength to smile. The second prisoner had a life sentence with no hope of ever getting out alive. He was emotionally destroyed and could never bring himself to smile or interact socially ever again.

Rav Shach explained that without Torah, when tragedy strikes, a person loses his equilibrium and ability to go on. He becomes overcome with pain and sadness and finds it impossible to function. One who learns Torah is blessed by the “pikudei Hashem,” which are “mesamchei lev.” But it is more than that. Someone who learns Torah, someone who is mesha’ashei’a in Torah, knows that Hashem maintains Hashgocha Protis on everything in this world. When he is hit by tragedy, he doesn’t lose himself, for he knows that what happened to him was brought about by a loving Creator for a higher purpose.

The world is spinning out of control. Every day brings with it more ominous news. People have many tzaros. They wonder why they suffer from illness, children not turning out the way they dreamt, parnossah challenges, tuition bills, shidduchim difficulties, and so much more. They wonder why they are being challenged. Why me? Why is this all happening? What is the purpose? How will it all end?

Lulei Sorascha sha’ashuoy oz ovadeti be’onyi

Emes hee.

We must remember that it is true. Bechol koreinu eilov. We can be comforted by the knowledge that we will live to see the purpose in all the sadness that we experienced. We will experience the joy of seeing the circle closing and the pieces of the puzzle fitting together, bringing relief and simcha.

May it occur speedily for all who need yeshuos and refuos. May we all have much nachas from our children, financial prosperity, and stability. Let’s keep on davening for the Jews in Eretz Yisroel, for ourselves, for our friends and neighbors, and for all of Klal Yisroel.

May we all be zoche to much happiness and the geulah sheleimah.

Wednesday, February 14, 2024

Bring the Light

Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz 

Our world, once again, is in a precarious situation. Actually, it has been this way since Covid spread throughout the world, felling many of our most cherished people. Many still have not recuperated from what it did to them physically and mentally. Yet, so much has happened since then, so you may be forgiven for forgetting the lockdowns, shutdowns, government overreach, collapsing economy and everything else the raging virus brought on.

Think about what has happened just since this past Sukkos, starting with the awful slaughter in Israel that brought on a war that has been raging ever since. So many people needlessly died that day and in the ensuing months, thousands of people’s lives were changed forever, and thousands have become orphans. So many have been wounded, hurt, and traumatized, and over one hundred are still being held hostage by depraved savages.

Israel is becoming more isolated every day. Anti-Semitism has reached levels unseen since the Holocaust, and Israel’s great friend is led by a president virtually nobody has any confidence in. He is increasingly pressuring and threatening Israel to end the war before achieving the goal of defeating Hamas, an enemy of Jews and the West.

Israel’s economy is sputtering and many of our brethren are refugees, ripped out of their towns and cities with no homes or jobs. Yeshivos and kollelim are suffering and those who depend on them for support are facing increasing difficulty in feeding their families.

Topping it all off is the threat of a war at the country’s north, with an enemy much better armed than the one Israel is battling at the country’s south.

In this country, many are hurting from the fruits of a weak administration. High interest rates and high inflation are no longer theoretical fears, but facts of life that impact families on many levels. The border crisis and rising crime threaten cities throughout the country. Rising Jew-hatred is not just relegated to kids scratching swastikas into trees. It presents real danger and peril. The country is changing, and if leftist Democrats remain in power, we can expect it to get worse.

We are and remain a good and resourceful people. Dealing with adversity is built into our DNA. Coping with rough times is what we have been doing more often than not. In times of pain and suffering, we rally together and help each other get through the crisis. It is refreshing to note the many successful campaigns for good causes and for the less fortunate.

When someone’s flame flickers, others come with fuel to help keep it going, providing light for him and making the world a brighter place.

The sparks of hope in the families of the two hostages miraculously rescued this week were kept alive by some religious people whose hearts pulse with compassion and love. They became close to the worried and anxious relatives of the captives, providing them with physical and spiritual sparks of light and warmth.

This week’s parsha speaks about the construction of the Mishkon, the dwelling place of the Shechinah in this world. Introducing the description of the Divine home, the posuk (Shemos 25:2) states, “Veyikchu li terumah – And they should take donations for Me” to build the Mishkon.

It was the people’s donations that allowed the Mishkon to be put together. Though each person gave but a symbolic amount, it was their demonstration that they appreciated what Hashem had given them when they left Mitzrayim. This portrayed that there was holiness in their soul. Kedusha seeks to expand and strengthen.

When Jews give of themselves and their possessions, they can build a place where kedusha can reside. The more donations, the more people who are part of it, the more kedusha there is. And then the individual neshamos of those people who contributed, gather together to form a location of holiness in their world.

If one person is walking alone on a dark road and lights a match to see a sign, the match remains lit for a few seconds and then withers away. But if two people are walking together and each lights a match, the flame is brighter than when a single match is struck, though it is still quite weak and ineffective. The more people there are walking together and the more matches they strike together, the more light there is.

Every Jew has a spark of kedusha, but by itself, and when it is cold and dark, the spark can’t accomplish much. When Jews join together, each with their spark, a torch of kedusha erupts and the Shechinah has a place to dwell.

This is how the Vilna Gaon (Shir Hashirim 1:17) describes the power and potency of the Mishkon. Every Jew was walking around with kedusha in his heart, but until they had a place where they could unite, a physical location where they could connect, their individual passions lay dormant. The Mishkon gave the fires a place to unite and light up the world.

The Shechinah resides inside the heart of every good Jew. The Mishkon is the place where all those Jews gather, as the Shechinah that dwells inside of them comes alive and expands, kevayachol. This is why Hashem commanded to take a “terumah” from every “ish asher yidvenu libo,” allowing every person to contribute from his heart towards the construction of the Mishkon, enabling all the hearts to join together in this special place.

In the Mishkon, every feature reflected Divine mysteries and each element was filled with cosmic significance. Just as the calendar ushers in the month of Adar, we begin reading the parshiyos that detail the particulars of the construction of this special place.

The month of Adar has taught us that as a united nation, we can achieve salvation. When everyone comes together and gives of themselves, the resultant power can overcome any crisis, tragedy or enemy.

Today, in our time, it is inspiring to see how our people come together to help each other, davening for salvation and peace, visiting the sick, and helping care for the hospital-bound, boosting morale and helping yeshivos and organizations and people who do good.

With simple things, we can cheer people, lift their spirits, and inspire them.

Last week, on Rosh Chodesh Adar, I sent a clip of Benny Friedman singing the classic Mishenichnas Adar to a friend, without giving it much thought other than thinking that it was a nice thing to do. He responded with this message: “I was having a rough time because I was alone, and when you are alone, among other things, you miss out on the energy created by the people around you. Your gesture reminded me that I am never really alone. Thank you for the pick-me-up.”

Letting a person know that he isn’t alone with his little match, but that you are there with him, brightens his life. Try it and you will feel greatly rewarded as you light someone else’s fire.

But there is more we can do.

Last week, The Jerusalem Post published a survey that it conducted to test Israeli reaction to October 7th and the war.

While we have been writing about a return to religion by many Israelis and interviewing some of those who have turned to Hashem in these trying times, the phenomenon had not yet been scientifically proven and many were choosing to ignore what was going on.

But the survey found that, in fact, the people of Israel have become closer to Hashem and to Yiddishkeit over the past four months since the attack.

The paper reports, “According to a comprehensive survey conducted by Lazar Research for The Jerusalem Post … aimed to gauge the religious sentiments among Israelis in these turbulent times … 33% of Israelis have reported a strengthened faith in G-d since the October 7 massacre by Hamas and the subsequent war.”

Interestingly, “The younger the respondents, the more they reported an increase in faith: from 48% among those aged 18-29 to 18% among those 60+.”

Israel has been through a lot politically over the past few years. Religious Jews were singled out for derision and blamed for everything that was going wrong during the leftist administrations of Lapid and Bennett. Religious funding cratered as the community’s popularity sank. Thankfully, the leftists were sent packing and Netanyahu returned to power together with the religious parties.

The left didn’t let up in their bashing of the coalition, leading massive demonstrations weekly against them, giving the media, local and international, an avenue with which to bash the religious community.

But despite all the hate and invective directed at religion, the tiny embers flickering in thousands of lost souls have begun igniting small flames. It is sad that it took such an awful tragedy to trigger the sparks, and it would be a great tragedy if we allow them to flame out.

It is our responsibility at this historic juncture to provide the fuel necessary to keep those little flames flickering and turn them into larger fires. We have to introduce these people who are seeking to draw closer to Judaism and the Ribono Shel Olam to the information they need to enable them to become educated in what Torah is all about. We can’t sit by and let the flames diminish in size.

There are organizations we are all familiar with, such as Lev L’Achim and Shuvu, which do their heroic work far from the limelight, bringing Torah and Yahadus to the people of Israel. They don’t preach. They learn Torah with people you would never imagine would have any interest, and the Torah itself warms their hearts, lights their souls, and awakens within them the ancient yearning for the fire of Har Sinai.

If the children of those who are reaching for kedusha aren’t in yeshiva, then it’s doubtful that the inspiration will have a lasting effect. Shuvu is commencing a campaign to be able to accommodate many more children in their school system. Anyone who has visited their schools, seen the angelic faces of the students, and thinks about where they would be without Shuvu can be overcome.

We make that happen. It is only through our support that the young lights are lit and set on a path of Torah and mitzvos. Then they go home and light their parents’ neshamos, bringing families to lives of Torah.

There is a unique opportunity now to share the gift of our way of life with so many of our brethren, who are standing alone in the dark, with a book of paper matches, trying desperately to get something going.

We have what it takes to bring the light to them and bring them to the light.

We all seek the return of the Mishkon, the place where all of us can gather and have our neshamos set on fire eternally. The more neshamos we get lit, the more Jews are on fire, the faster the Bais Hamikdosh will descend from on High to its appointed place in the center of the world, in the heart of Yerushalayim, the place to where we direct all of our prayers.

L’Yerushalayim ircha berachamim toshuv, bemeheirah beyomeinu, amein.