This week we started the "9 days" a period of national mourning culminating in Tisha Ba'av which commemorates the numerous tragedies that befell our nation. We are experiencing in our day to day life unprecedented challenges and chaos. Every few days it seems like we are reading about a new issue whether it is political unrest, a staggering health and economic crisis, senseless killing on the streets of the most developed country in the history of civilization, open and blatant anti-semitism, we are left thinking what is going on here.

There is a story of Rabbi who was in the ghetto during the holocaust and as he walked on the street he saw a few young married men looking entirely dejected. He asked them what was wrong and they looked at him like he was crazy. What is wrong? What could be right? He turned to them and said "do you see that SS officer standing over there? Does he want to kill us? Does he have a desire to spill Jewish blood?" They of course answered in the affirmative. He continued "if he kills us will anyone say anything to him? Will his superiors be upset or reprimand him?" They answered that of course not, nobody would care if he killed us. The Rabbi then asked, "if he wants to kill us and he can kill us and nobody will care then what is holding him back?" The Rabbi told the young men that it is only G-d who is holding back the nazi from killing them. If Hashem doesn't let him then there is no way the nazi can kill him even though there is no logical reason that he is not killing them.

 Even amidst all of the darkness and chaos we need to realize that everything and all of our sustenance and existence is from G-d. We don't have the answers to what is going on but we do know there is a plan and nothing that happens that isn't part of G-d's masterplan for our ultimate redemption.

Shabbat Shalom,

Heath