Tune Out the Static

By Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz 

Jewish history is an ongoing cycle of high peaks and low valleys. We arrive in a new country, get acclimated until we feel we belong, and then the eternal hatred begins to manifest itself yet again. Just when we think that this destination is different than the previous places in which we lived, we are reminded that we are not yet home and are strangers in a foreign land. And there we are again.

We have become so accustomed to the great country that is the United States that we feel as if we belong here. When things don’t go our way, when some neighbors revert to their ancient hatred and begin attacking us and marching against us, we become surprised. How can this be happening to us in modern 2021? We have rights. They can’t just attack us in broad daylight and get away with it. Where are the police? Where are the elected leaders we supported, donated to, and voted for? We get lip-service and are calmed until the next outbreak, without having learned the lesson that our home is far away.

What caused the latest round is obvious. Once again, Palestinians attacked Israel, lobbing 4,500 rockets into population centers, unleashing terror, killing and terrorizing innocent civilians. Israel retaliated, as any country would, and promised to go after the bad guys until they have been severely weakened.

Palestinians and their Jew-hating supporters around the world rally to support the attackers. World-wide demonstrations, fake news media reports filled with half-truths and lies, and feckless politicians all do their max to besmirch Israel and amp up the pressure on it to step down and allow the Palestinians another moral and propaganda victory.

The media is filled with articles and pictures depicting poor Palestinians who were attacked by Israel. The true story is never told, explaining that Israel was acting in self-defense. Israel is always the aggressor and the poor Palestinians are the innocent victims. People who don’t know better begin believing the fictitious propaganda they see wherever they turn.

As usually happens in such situations, Israel promises that this time they will take the battle to the end and erase the threat once and for all. This time, as always, world pressure mounts and the government quits the war ahead of a pronounced victory. They buy some time for themselves as the enemy regroups and rebuilds for the next showdown, to be determined at the enemy’s discretion.

For all Israel’s bravado, it is heavily dependent on material, financial and moral support from the United States. Each administration treats Israel differently. Some appreciate the history and the importance of a dependable ally in a treacherous spot on the map. Others have less use for Jews and their state. The past administration was the friendliest and most supportive of Israel in its history. The current is not.

The Democrat Party is now demonstrably in the hands of so-called progressives, socialists in deed and thought. It seems like half of the Washington politicians are hostile to Israel and the other half is afraid of them. Several leading Democrats are working to block arms sales to Israel, while the usual so-called stalwart Democrat friends cower and offer no support for the beleaguered state. Others, such as Senator Bob Menendez, who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, joined the brigade.

Majority Leader Schumer, who often prides himself on his support for Israel, was nowhere to be found on this one. He quickly signed onto a call for a ceasefire, equating Israel and Hamas, as if they are equals in the war and has been quiet on the increased anti-Semitism. He fears a primary challenge from the progressive firebrand AOC and is careful not step out of line. As he seeks to conform to the leftist orthodoxy, he dares not utter support for Israel or more than tepid condemnation of anti-Semitism.

In fact, Democrats lack the courage to state the obvious that there is no moral equivalency between Israel, Hamas, Iran, and the other Iran client states and terror groups. The left doesn’t care about Israel and has adopted the cause of the Palestinians as their own. The media is there along with them, highlighting the plight of Palestinians. To quote the New York Times, “Palestinians from all walks of life routinely experience exasperating impossibilities and petty humiliations, bureaucratic controls that force agonizing choices, and the fragility and cruelty of life under military rule.”

There is no mention ever of why Palestinians are subject to repeated security checks because of their history of terror. Everyone ignores that Israel’s many attempts to arrange peace were foiled by Palestinian machinations. Gaza is under Egyptian and Israeli blockades because it is a terror state that uses whatever is allowed into the area to arm itself to do battle, as was seen during the recent skirmish. But instead of focusing on the lies concerning the formation of the Palestinian people and the reason they are in their current situation, the blame is placed squarely on Israel.

It’s all about impressions and creating sympathetic impressions, facades, and narratives. This time, the Israelis lost the propaganda battle hands down, and that has serious repercussions there and around the world. Passions have been inflamed. The lies have taken hold and supporters of the people who are portrayed as suffering victims are seeking revenge. They are marching in capitols around the world and attacking Jews in cities in which they have felt safe, until now.

BLM, which seems to be charting the new path of the Democrat party, has stripped away the history and successfully reframed the conflict as a racial issue. When the group tweeted its support for the Palestinians, the BDS group responded, “Thank you for your solidarity. From Ferguson to Palestine, our struggles against racism, white supremacy and for a just world are united.” There you have the new perspective in a nutshell.

As the U.S. negotiates a nuclear pact with Iran, the mullahs sense weakness and unleashes its proxies on Israel. Hamas is funded and armed by Iran, as is Hezbollah to the north of Israel, yet the world’s largest sponsor of terror pays no price for pursuing their war. The administration’s greater goal is achieving an arrangement with them regarding nuclear weapons and is thus prepared to let everything else slip by as if it didn’t happen.

It has been previously shown that appeasement of terror and of Iran leads to further terror, while standing up to them, freezing their income, and coalescing mainstream Arab states to ally with Israel against Iran lead to hopes for peace. The worst approach is to be sitting with Iran as its client Hamas shoots rockets at America’s longtime ally. With justification, Iran now views itself as the victor in this go-around.

When the previous administration followed through on the old promise to bring the US embassy to Israel’s capital in Yerushalayim, Palestinians barely responded, they knew there would be serious repercussions. Strength led to peace. The current administration has awakened evil by demonstrating weakness.

Meanwhile, radical leftists who worship at the church of progressive secular orthodoxy have taken hold of the country’s schools, from the kindergarten level through graduate school. America’s young are fed a diet of anti-religious, anti-white, and increasingly anti-Israel lies. In the “woke” system being fostered, there is no absolute truth and no facts. All people are entitled to their own truth, and the way they view themselves and their position in society must be accepted by everyone, irrespective of its relation to fact.

When the current tense situation is calmed and then forgotten, Biden’s policies will begin kicking in, and we will find ourselves in a situation we have not yet faced in this country. We should do all we can to work for our people’s physical safety, but we must bear in mind that the country’s leftist slide does not bode well for us in the long-term. Governmental intrusion into our way of life can only be expected to increase, while sympathy for our people, land, and moral and religious beliefs will likely weaken.

What are we to do? How are we to react?

A return to Republican control would provide a respite, but it is very difficult to bring about change without a media helping to inform the people as to what is really going on. Without being able to educate people of the truth, it is very hard to change public opinion and turn around the floundering ship. Most people are never exposed to the real story. Mainstream media and social media are overwhelmingly dominated by the leftist crowd, and they are the main influencers of people’s thoughts and opinions. They block out anything that does not conform with their ideology. It is difficult to fight something with nothing, and as long as the media is able to cancel out right-wing leaders, ideas and opinions, it is folly to expect people, on their own, to spontaneously reject what they have been fed since grade school and is constantly reinforced.

But we are the eternal people. Many have tried to rid the world of us, yet we are still here. We take the long view and recognize that we are here for a higher purpose. Just last week, we celebrated Shavuos, the days upon which we received the Torah, which gave us our mandate and set us on a higher plane. Shavuos also marks when “sinah yordah l’olam,” the intense hatred the nations bear for us was manifested. They go together. Greatness has its price, and ours is levied in the form of jealousy and deeply felt animosity.

The Torah gives us the strength of purpose to be able to withstand the whiplash we suffer at the hands of our enemies. It provides us with chochmah and daas to recognize what is important and what is trivial, enabling us to excel at what is vital.

The Torah provides us with the ability to shine light on our situation and find our way through the darkness. Fidelity to Torah builds us into great people and enables us to separate fact from fiction, and good from bad, leading lives that are fulfilling and satisfying, regardless of what is going on around us and around the world.

We learn in this week’s parsha (8:11) how Aharon Hakohein lifted the levi’im and inducted them to perform their avodah in the Mishkon. He raised them literally and figuratively, placing them on a more exalted level, where their lives revolved around holiness and they weren’t encumbered by the worries, concerns and pressures that confound other people. They were enveloped by Hashem in His cocoon, studying and observing the Torah, and performing their obligations in the Bais Hamikdosh.

They led blissful lives and we can all do the same. I turn your attention to the famous statement of the Rambam (at the end of Hilchos Shmittah) that every person who separates himself and dedicates his life to serving Hashem, learning Torah, walking upright the way he was created to, and freeing himself from the many calculations people make is raised to be kodesh kodoshim. He will be rewarded in this world and the next, and will receive everything he needs to live on, just as kohanim and levi’im do.

We can achieve holiness in the here and now, regardless of the world’s situation and the rise of our enemies if we tune it all out and dedicate ourselves to properly observing the Torah and fulfilling our obligations we celebrated receiving on Shavuos and thank Hashem for daily.

May we all realize our abilities and achieve our destinies for which we were brought to this world. It starts with tuning out the static.

Good and Holy

By Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz

Shavuos is the shortest of the three major Yomim Tovim when the Jewish people would make their way to the Bais Hamikdosh. Although the chag has only one day (and two in chutz la’aretz), the world was created for this day, which defines us.

“Kofah aleihem har kegigis.” Chazel tell us that Hakadosh Boruch Hu, so to speak, held Har Sinai over the Jewish people and told them that either they accept upon themselves to study and observe the Torah or He would drop the mountain upon them and they would be buried alive.

Many ask why Hashem forced them to accept the Torah under the penalty of death. Many answers are given. Among them is that the world was created for Torah and for the Bnei Yisroel to be mekabel it. If they would not agree to study and be governed by the laws of the Torah, the world would cease to have a purpose and would be returned to its original inert state.

The path was laid by the avos, Avrohom, Yitzchok and Yaakov, and passed on to the shevotim and to their children. In Mitzrayim, the offspring grew exponentially, but sank to levels of depravity that endangered their ability to continue their glorious heritage.

Before they reached the point of no return, Hashem redeemed them, miraculously removing them from Mitzrayim. They traversed the Yam Suf to escape the clutches of decadence and immorality and began the trek back to the hallowed path of their forefathers.

After 49 days of preparation, they were ready to fulfill their destiny and be delivered the Torah. They recited the immortal words, “Naaseh venishma,” accepting upon themselves the Torah’s obligations and set the world on its proper trajectory.

At that moment, Klal Yisroel proclaimed that although they were mortals fashioned of flesh and blood, they were willing to live on a higher and loftier plane, with the Torah as their guide.

Malochim had objected to the notion of giving the Torah to humans, but after the Bnei Yisroel demonstrated their worthiness, the angels affixed crowns to their heads (Shabbos 88a). There are different interpretations as to what the crowns consisted of, what their significance was, and what they accomplished. Most likely, they did not resemble the adorable golden paper crowns that children wear to celebrate Shavuos and the receipt of their siddurim and Chumoshim, but those crowns keep the message alive and remind us of the heights we reached and can attain even in our day.

Shavous contains the power and potency evident on the day 3,333 years ago, when the Torah was first given to us. Every year, on chag Mattan Toraseinu, the gift that was first given at Sinai is regifted to those who have undertaken the proper preparations and made themselves worthy. Even in our day, when tumah is all around, there is kedusha among those who are able to keep themselves immune to prevalent depravity and armed against the constant threats to our fundamental inbred decency.

The further a person is removed from Torah pursuits, the more he is assaulted by tumah, stupidity and ideas that weaken his inherent goodness. These are not necessarily solely relegated to foreign and secular platforms. The yeitzer hora has succeeded in tainting our souls while hiding in plain view and using familiar words and concepts in places people feel safe. 

On Shavuos, we remain awake studying Torah to demonstrate that Torah rules over everything physical. There is no sleep and no fatigue on the eve of Kabbolas HaTorah, for the Torah is what energizes us and gives our lives meaning.

The Meshech Chochmah at the end of Parshas Yisro writes that until Mattan Torah, people were only able to serve Hashem through ruchniyus. When the Torah was given, acts that were previously purely gashmiyus and physical were invested with kedusha. Upon the acceptance of the Torah, people were empowered to sanctify themselves and all human needs and instincts.

That is why Hashem told Moshe Rabbeinu at the s’neh, the burning bush, “She’al na’alecha mei’al raglecha - Remove your shoes from your feet.” He was saying, “Remove the vehicles for your gashmiyusdike physical lives as you approach Me.”

Prior to Matan Torah, only angels could approach Hashem. After Matan Torah, Hashem told the Jewish people, “V’anshei kodesh tihiyun li – And you shall be holy people” (Shemos 22:30). This means exactly what it says: to be people and to be holy while living as people.

The Torah doesn’t ask, or demand, of us to be malochim. It wants us to function as people, doing what people do, but being on an elevated Torah level. We need to be good people, functional parents, siblings, spouses and friends, who are holy as we follow the Torah and continuously grow and excel.

On Shavuos, we celebrate this concept. Hashem gave us the Torah to guide us humans as we exist and thrive in this world. We appreciate the potential of what we can achieve and of the heights we can reach by delving into Torah and dedicating ourselves to all it commands us to do. But through it all, we remain human, anshei kodesh - human, but holy. The two are not mutually exclusive.

The Gemara states that while regarding other Yomim Tovim the rabbis disagree how much of the day should be dedicated to the purely spiritual, on Shavuos “hakol modim deba’inon nami lochem.” They all agree that we need to please the more physical side, as well.

We can understand this to mean that on Shavuos, we need “lochem,” to proclaim that the physical is part of the Shavuos celebration. We demonstrate through our actions that Torah has affected and touched our base desires as well.

Chazal (Pesikta Zutrasa, Va’eschanon) state, “Chayov odom liros ess atzmo ke’ilu mekabel Torah miSinai, shene’emar, ‘Hayom hazeh nihiyeisa le’am.’ Every day a person is obligated to conduct himself as if he accepted the Torah that day at Har Sinai.’” We are all familiar with this directive regarding Yetzias Mitzrayim. In fact, it is the central theme of the leil haSeder. We don’t think about it on Shavuos, however, and it may be news to some of us.

Imagine if today were the day you received the Torah. Imagine standing at Har Sinai and hearing the words of the Aseres Hadibros being recited for all to hear on the loudest loudspeaker imaginable. Imagine all the other sounds. Imagine the sight of all the Yidden standing at the mountain, their neshamos - and yours - rising to unprecedented heights. Imagine leaving Mitzrayim knowing little about your heritage or holiness and becoming a better person every day as you walked through an arid desert.

Then imagine how empty and meaningless your life would be without Torah. No Torah, no learning, no davening, no Shabbos, no tefillin, no Yom Tov, nothing that your life is centered around, nothing that gives your life the value and meaning it now has. You wouldn’t have a shul to go to and would have no reason to go to one altogether. Think of everything you do in your day, week and year. Now imagine that there was no Torah. It is what gets us out of bed in the morning and makes our lives worth living.

Without it, life is an empty daily jumble of meals, posts, clips, silly chats and other banal trivialities.  And when its all over, such people are left empty, bored and without meaningful substance.

Imagine that you came from that world and today is the day you discovered the Torah. Imagine that today you were invited to study Hashem’s word, to bask in His glow, to find meaning, satisfaction and joy in your life. How excited you would be! How grateful and how dedicated!

Today is that day. “Ke’ilu mekabel Torah miSinai.”

Appreciate it. Show it. Feel it.

Hayom hazeh! Today and every day. Despite the degeneration of the world, despite the struggles we experience with every tefillah and the challenge of concentrating fully when we learn, despite the many forces competing for our attention, we have a new Kabbolas HaTorah.

Human shortcomings are but a hindrance that we can overcome.

In times of old, this concept was widely understood. There was a natural reverence for Torah and its scholars even among the unlearned. In Volozhin, local homeowners would line up at the train station before each zeman to vie for the honor of pulling the wagons carrying arriving talmidim and their luggage. The yeshiva learned through Shas, and when the yeshiva celebrated a siyum, the local people would arrive at the yeshiva. They didn’t come to partake in a great feast; I doubt that there were any of the delicacies that we enjoy at a simple Kiddush these days. They came because they wanted the honor of serving those who were marking a milestone in the Torah study. They were the waiters.

Imagine that taking place nowadays. The yeshiva would hold a festive party, the bochurim and yungeleit would celebrate their great achievement with a festive meal, and the upstanding members of the community would go from table to table dispensing the food and cleaning up after.

Nobody asked them to come, they would come on their own. The townspeople of Volozhin would come to the siyum because they appreciated Torah and lomdei Torah. It was their distinct honor to carry the lomdei Torah and their belongings to the yeshiva, and it was their pleasure to partake in the simcha of the completion of yet another masechta by serving as the waiters.

It was special to them. It was valuable to them, as if it was given today. They treated it with respect. They treasured the Torah and the people who studied it. It was their pride and joy.

We hear these things and smile. They are charming reminders of a world that was. Of a world that we should be looking to recreate.

Shavuos is a time to refocus on what Torah means to us and on how blessed we are to be able to spend time by a Gemara or Chumash or Shulchan Aruch, surrounded by more talmidei chachomim and yeshiva bochurim than there have been since the days of Sura and Pumpidisa.

The Klausenberger Rebbe arrived in America after the Second World War having lost his wife and eleven children. He married a daughter of the Nitra Rov. Rav Leizer Silver, the legendary rov of Cincinnati and one of the most prominent rabbonim in America of those years, was a special guest at the second sheva brachos, which was held in Mount Kisco. As he rose to speak, he announced that he came bearing a gift for the chosson and kallah, a check for two hundred and fifty-eight dollars.

“If you wonder how come I am giving that amount, I’ll tell you,” he said. “It’s because that check represents everything I had in my bank account. Every last penny. The rebbe is a talmid chochom and he will produce talmidei chachomim. I would give everything to be part of that. I wish I had more to give!”

The speech of the quintessential Litvishe rov resonated with the crowd. They got his message about what would yet be and the glorious future that America might have as a makom Torah. He was telling them not to despair, not to give up, and not to say, “It can’t happen here.”

Moreover, he was saying, “We are still here, holding on to Sinai, and as long as we cherish and revere and support those who learn and teach Torah, we have a future.”

We open our arms wide and accept the Torah just as those who came before us have done for thousands of years. We cherish its words, raising our children and helping guide them to see the honey under each letter.

It is who we are and what we are about. Our lives revolve around it. It is Torah.

With our feet dragging through the dust of life, of temptations, of parnossah and health challenges, we persist in walking with our eyes on Him and on His Torah, knowing that it is meant for us, to give us the tools to climb higher.

Modim anachnu loch shesamta chelkeinu m’yoshvei bais hamedrash. Thank You, Master of the universe, for allowing us to have a connection with Torah, to have tasted the truest joy of all.

We are the most blessed people, living in the most blessed time. Let us show Hashem, our families and ourselves that we appreciate all that we have been given to be able to realize our purpose in this world.

Let us demonstrate that we are worthy of all that we have and use what Hashem has given us to enhance our own lives and those of our families and those around us. Let us show through our actions that we strive to become holier and better.

On Shavuos and all year round, let us get closer to Torah, learning better and on a deeper level so that it touches our souls and brings us closer to where we were at Har Sinai.

We can get there.

When the Bnei Yisroel who had gathered to receive the Torah proclaimed, “Naaseh venishma,” 600,000 malochim came down to earth and tied two crowns onto each person, one for naaseh and the other for nishma. When they sinned with the Eigel, 120,000 angels of destruction came and removed the crowns.

Rav Dovid Cohen, rosh yeshivas Chevron, in his sefer Biurei Chochmah (page 75), quotes from from the Leshem that the malochim only removed the crowns that were tied to the Jews’ “guf and chomer,” but the crowns remain in the “neshamos and penimiyos” of the Jewish people.

Without getting into the depths of what that means, what we can understand is that those crowns still adorn our souls, and “inside” we are and shall remain holy. Let’s not put ourselves down. Let us not say that we can’t reach those heights. Let’s not say that we can’t be holy and can’t be expected to be holy. We are and we can be.

We have been through a lot, especially over the past few days. Let’s show what we’re made of. Let us show that we are tough and good and holy.

Gut Yom Tov.

Tears. Only Tears.

 By Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz

Everywhere in the Jewish world, people are shaken. With Covid fading, we had thought we could take a breath of relief. We suffered enough. We were shaken up and changed our outlook on life. We aren’t the same as we were a year ago. Arab terror dissipated over the past few years. Jews felt safer. The Har Nof massacre, the Bus 12 bombing, Sbarro, Bais Yisroel, Itamar, and other mass casualty incidents faded into a very distant memory.

We thought we could breathe again. We thought the middas hadin had taken a back seat and the Malach Hamovess had taken a break. We were wrong. The Chevlei Moshiach continue. Hakadosh Boruch Hu yorad legano lilkot shoshanim. Another wake-up call. Another reminder.

During Sefirah, we observe certain hilchos aveilus, as we mourn the passing of the 24,000 talmidim of Rabi Akiva, who were tragically smitten during this period for sins of bein adam lachaveiro. But on Lag Ba’omer, the aveilus takes a break, because on this day, the gezeirah ceased. And since then, Lag Ba’omer has been a day of joy, an eis rekod.

Not this year. This year, Lag Ba’omer turned into an eis sefod.

Everyone was in shock. People searched in vain for appropriate words. The words didn’t come, only tears.

Shlomo Hamelech writes, “Eis sefod v’eis rekod, there is a time for sad dirges and hespeidim and a time for joyous dancing.” This year on Lag Ba’omer, they overlapped.

Something that is not supposed to happen, happened. How do we process it? What is there to say? What is there to write?

Everything that was important before Thursday night ceased to be important. There is so much pain, so much grief.

As I was davening Friday morning, I said a posuk I’ve been saying every day for decades, without giving it a second thought. This time, it was different.

We say in Pesukei Dezimrah, “Lemaan yizamercha chavod velo yidom Hashem Elokai le’olam odeka.” Most of us say it without ever thinking what it means. This time, as I was saying it, it hit me. We say to Hakadosh Boruch Hu that we want to sing His praises without being silenced. Then we end off by saying, “Hashem is my G-d, I will always thank and praise You.”

Whatever the posuk usually means, the morning after the tragedy it said to me as follows. We ask Hashem to always be able to sing His praises without being interrupted in the midst of our singing with a besurah that causes us to be thrust into a matzav of “vayidom,” a tragedy in response to which there are no words to express and give voice to our grief.

Perhaps you have seen the clip of the multitudes in the area where the Toldos Aharon Rebbe was preparing to light his medurah in Meron. They were together as one, all different types of Jews, holding on to each other and rocking back and forth as they sang, “Ani maamin b’emunah sheleimah bevias haMoshiach,” in the beautiful old-time tune we all know. A few minutes later, some of them were dead. Others were injured, hurt, or trampled. The music stopped. The singing voices were stilled. It was “Vayidom,” as the posuk describes Aharon Hakohein following the terrible tragedy at the chanukas haMishkon. The eis rekod became an eis sefod.

Woe is to us that such a calamitous tragedy can occur in our time. Forty-five holy people of all ages who had come to a holy place to daven, had their lives taken from them.

Rabi Shimon said (Gemara Sukkah 45b) that he and his son, Rabi Elozor, who is buried near him, could free everyone from din. What happened Thursday night right next to their kevorim was such a terrible gezeirah that, apparently, even they could not prevent it from being carried out. It didn’t happen on a day when Klal Yisroel has suffered tragedies through the ages. It happened on a day of joy, a day of achdus, a day of simcha, in one of the holiest places we have.

But through it all, we must be able to say, “Hashem Elokai l’olam odeka.” No matter what befalls me, no matter what tzaros we experience, no matter the amount or degree of pain, our faith remains steadfast. We know that it is all from Him, and for a higher purpose. From the depths of vayidom, we rise, and in the midst of it all, odeka, we praise Hashem.

We are Yidden. Maaminim bnei maaminim. That is who we are and that is what we do.

The Sefer Hachinuch writes in Parshas Emor (Mitzvah 264) concerning the laws of aveilus that the Torah commands upon the passing of a close relative: “The Torah obligates the observance of these actions to bring the person to be promoted to adjust his thoughts to feel the pain of the tragedy that has befallen him. Then he will know and contemplate in his soul that it was his own sins that caused him to be brought to the painful situation in which he is in, for Hashem only brings pain and suffering to people on account of their sins.”

The Sefer Hachinuch continues: “And this is the bedrock of our faith, anachnu bnei baalei das Yehudis hayekorah, as members of the beautiful Jewish faith. And when a person puts his heart to this, yoshis bedaato laasos teshuvah veyachshir maasov kefi kocho - he will come to do teshuvah on his misdeeds and will improve his actions as best as he is able to.”

What else is there left to say after that rousing message? As Yidden, we internalize the pain and sadness of a tragedy, and we improve ourselves and our actions, each person to the best of his ability.

When I was a bochur learning at Bais Medrash Govoah in Lakewood, a fellow bochur had an asthma attack one night as he was sleeping. He did not survive. Rav Simcha Bunim Cohen, then also a bochur learning at Bais Medrash Govoah, was a close friend of the niftar and he was very broken. He lived on the Lower East Side and had a special relationship with Rav Moshe Feinstein. Simcha Bunim turned to the gadol hador for chizuk.

“Rebbe,” he said, “ich bin tzubrochen. My friend passed away suddenly and I am broken. I need chizuk.”

“Simcha Bunim,” Rav Moshe said to him lovingly, “Ah Yid vert nit tzubrochen. Ah Yid vert besser. A Jew doesn’t get broken. A Jew becomes better.”

How do we react to tragedy? Not by becoming broken. We are maaminim bnei maaminim. We are people of faith. We know that nothing happens by itself. Everything that happens is because Hashem willed it so for a greater purpose than we can understand. The Yiddishe way to react to tragedy is by improving ourselves, by becoming better. Yachshir maasov kefi kocho.

“Ah Yid vert nit tzubrochen. Ah Yid vert besser.”

Why did it happen? That is a question we do not ask. The situation in Meron on Lag Ba’omer has been like this for many years. In previous years, we merited to be miraculously spared from tragedy. This year, we weren’t.

What is the answer? More love, less hate, more caring, and more vatranus. What’s the answer? We must change and grow and become better, even if it is one small step at a time.

We heard. We got the message.

A young boy, who fell and whose father lay next to him, cried out Shema Yisroel. He was saved. His father was saved. His brother, Yedidya z”l, didn’t make it. The boy was asked, “What were you thinking during those awful moments as you lay on the floor crushed?” And he said, “I was thinking about emunah and bitachon. I was thinking that only Hashem can save me. And He did.”

What are we to think? The same thing that boy thought. We are to be reminded that we must strengthen our emunah and bitachon. Only Hashem can save us. There is so much swirling around us, so much uncertainty, so much pain. We have to know that with emunah and bitachon, Hashem will save us.

Stay away from people who are divisive. Stay away from people who are cynical. Stay away from people who don’t take emunah and bitachon seriously, from people who don’t take davening and learning seriously. Stay away from sites that dull your kedusha, sensitivity and intelligence, and keep away from sites and people who mock rabbonim and roshei yeshiva as if they were managers of your losing baseball team. Look for ways to grow and to improve, to be better and to do better.

Levayah after levayah, forty-five times, family and friends gathered to say goodbye, to cry together, to mourn together. And at each levayah, they resolved to do better and to be better. Hundreds of people are now sitting shivah.

Each levayah was painful. Who can count the tears? Who can measure the pain?

I watched one, the levayah of Yossi Kohn. I saw his picture and felt as if I knew him. A delightful bochur, full of life, with an infectious smile, whose energy was dedicated to Torah and to growing as a Yid. The type of person you want as a friend, a chavrusah, a brother, a son.

Like so many others, he went to daven, to spend time in the holy place. Seventeen bochurim left together. Only fifteen returned. Yossi Kohn and Dovi Steinmetz didn’t make it back. In the prime of their lives, these two bochurim who learned at Yeshivas Mir-Yerushalayim were plucked and taken to Mesivta D’rokia, alongside Rabi Shimon and all the tzaddikim and good Yidden of the past 5,781 years.

The hespeidim ripped at the depths of the neshomah. Thousands of bochurim, yungeleit, and gutteh Yidden stood on the streets of Bais Yisroel soaking in the words of inspiration, the mournful prose and poetry of the eis sefod. With muffled cries and tears, the bnei baalei das Yehudis hayekorah suffered searing pain and accepted upon themselves kabbalos besser tzu veren, to be better.

Based upon the posuk in this week’s parsha, “Vahalachtem imi b’keri, veholachti imochem bechamas keri,” the Rambam famously writes in Hilchos Ta’anios (1:2-3) that we must know that when a tragedy is visited upon Klal Yisroel, it is because of our sinful actions. It is incumbent upon us to do teshuvah to remove the tzarah. But if the people do not do teshuvah and do not cry out to Hashem, instead they try to find rational explanations for why the tragedy occurred, that is cruelty and will cause them to continue to sin and be punished further.

Ill winds are blowing in Eretz Yisroel. Enemies of Torah and those who are faithful to it are plotting their next moves as they prepare themselves to take power. Arab terrorists have stepped up their attacks, shooting up three bachurei yeshiva on Sunday. It is incumbent upon all of us to hear the call that emanated to the world from Har Meron and follow the directive of the Rambam to prevent further deaths, attacks, pain, and suffering of all types.

The Rambam writes in Hilchos Teshuvah (7:5) that all the nevi’im commanded Klal Yisroel to do teshuvah. He adds, “Yisroel will only be redeemed through doing teshuvah. And the Torah has already promised that at the End of Days, Yisroel will do teshuvah and will be immediately redeemed.”

As we seek to rectify and improve ourselves, let us also cheer the sad, restore hope to those who have lost theirs, rejuvenate those who have become bitter and depressed, and train ourselves to be better rachmonim, bayshonim and gomlei chassodim, the defining attributes of Am Yisroel. Sefirah is a time of self-improvement, particularly in aspects related to how we treat and deal with each other. Now is a most auspicious time for each of us to work on curbing aveiros that stem from sinas chinom, which we know causes the redemption to be postponed and prevents Moshiach from delivering us.

The rejoicing and dancing on Lag Ba’omer in Meron and around the world are expressions of the neshomah’s yearning, an appreciation of Klal Yisroel’s rebbi, Rabi Shimon bar Yochai, and the heights he reached. He revealed the depth and potential of each Yid, assuring us that wherever he is, a Jew can always raise himself ever higher.

Shortly after the Second World War, a group of survivors gathered at a tish of the Klausenberger Rebbe. The pain of loss and devastation was evident on their faces, as they struggled to rebuild and rise above the loneliness and sorrow. It was Shabbos Parshas Bechukosai. The rebbe discussed the juxtaposition of the parsha of eirchin, which addresses the valuation of a person who pledges his worth to the Bais Hamikdosh, and the Tochacha, the horrific account of what befalls Klal Yisroel if the nation disregards the Torah.

“The full erech, value, of a Yid,” the rebbe explained, “can only be appreciated after he experiences the Tochacha. After encountering suffering of the magnitude such as that which we have just endured, we get to see the real value of a person. When we see someone who went through such a terrible tragedy able to stand tall and feel strong with his or her faith intact, that is worth more than anything.”

The rebbe and the penniless lonely people around him did not let what happened to them break them. They did not become tzubrochen, weighed down with self-pity. They became “besser,” and they made the world besser, going on to lead productive lives spent rebuilding, replanting, and regenerating.

From where do we derive the strength to persevere, to look forward and not backward; not to become broken, but to accept everything b’ahavah.

The Ramchal writes (Daas Tevunos 158) that when the Bnei Yisroel came to Har Sinai, Hakadosh Boruch Hu provided them with the strength and fortitude they would require to be able to properly serve Him. That strength remained with them, enabling them to be able to properly observe the mitzvos.

Yes, it requires superhuman strength to be able to go on, but we have been endowed by the Creator with that strength.

Rabi Shimon bar Yochai filled the world with light and life. He revealed the deep secrets of the world, of Torah and of creation. We are drawn to Meron searching for some of that light and life. We study his Torah, and much of how we conduct our lives is based on the teachings of Rabi Shimon in niglah in Mishnah and Gemara, and in nistar in the Zohar. May Hakadosh Boruch Hu enable us to grasp on to the tree of life Rabi Shimon represents and shine his great light upon us. May we be zoche to be mekabel Moshiach very soon, if not today, when the light of Hashem and His Torah will overwhelm the world, and then we will understand this tragedy and those that preceded it, reunited with these korbanos kedoshim utehorim and all of those who came before us.