Klal Yisrael is in dire pain, in narrow straits. Jewish blood is being spilled like water. “War causes death from without, and within, there is constant dread” (Devarim 32:25). News reports keep coming at a dizzying rate; one incident follows another. There is trembling and fear, there is no peace, and who knows what tomorrow will bring?
What do we do? How do we act? How do we hold the pain?! How can we stop these terrible events? And most pressing of all, what are we to do during these days?
We presented all these questions to Moreinu Harav Hatzaddik Rav Yehuda Mandel shlit”a from Lakewood, and his words are a balm to grieving souls, shedding light upon the vast darkness, elucidating the proper hashkafah for Yidden who are strengthening themselves in bitachon, hadrachah on the path of emunah and bitachon, simchah and hischazkus. It is a time of tzarah for Yaakov, and we will be saved from it.
(The interview in its entirety can be heard on the Hashgachah Pratis phone line in all the languages, by pressing 77 after choosing a language.)
We are in a situation the likes of which we haven’t seen for many decades. What can you say to us?
What dreadful terror we are facing! The pain has no measure. When one Yid alone is in pain, the pain is so great, and now there are thousands of Yidden going through terrible suffering; the pain reaches up to Shamayim. We could weep day and night. There are not enough tears to encompass this great pain. Yidden are sitting in great fear of the sword, Yidden are choking in pain from the yissurim and the wildness; thousands, thousands are mourning and crying, their loved ones have been taken from them, and hundreds are in captivity and tzarah, and as Chazal have said (Bava Basra 8b), “Captivity is hardest of all.” May Hakadosh Baruch Hu have mercy on them and take them from darkness to light, from tzarah to relief.
How should we perceive these events?
Bitachon! Bitachon! Bitachon!
That is the first thing – emunah and bitachon.
To believe completely that everything that happened is from the Creator, blessed be His Name. This is not an act of bloodthirsty rioters who went out on a massacre; rather, the Creator Yisbarach is the One Who makes everything happen. He is our Father, our shepherd, and we are His beloved sons. We trust in Him and rely on Him, and everything He does – He does for the good. Even in this situation, which seems to be the greatest evil, we need to trust and believe that there is great good here. This is our job – to instill in ourselves that there is good here.
Indeed, for someone who lives in this world – his situation is bad and bitter, and it is hard for him to see the good hidden within it. But we know that this world is like a corridor, and the main thing is the eternal life. We know there is nothing better for the neshama than yissurim, which purify the nefesh. Neshamos found in the Upper World would be happy to be able to receive some more yissurim. All of this is a great tikkun, both for us and for those who were harmed, R”l. And who knows – perhaps if this tragedy had not come upon us, we would have had to endure an even greater loss.
Another aspect of bitachon is the hope. We need to place our hopes and anticipation in Hashem and His salvation, to know that right here, in another moment, we will see good, complete good, good that is revealed before our eyes, and this whole terrible situation will pass.
And another thing we need to know is that the entire purpose of our coming to this world is to purify our nefesh and our middos. We did not come here in order to eat, drink, and earn money – the main thing is to withstand the nisyonos that come upon us, and now we are in a time of nisayon in bitachon. In another few days, when everything calms down, those who strengthened themselves in bitachon at this time will see that they gained an eternal acquisition. A person can live for 60 years, all for the purpose of coming to that moment when he will strengthen himself in bitachon.
Our hearts are shattered and torn. How can we strengthen ourselves?
We are told in the tochachah (Devarim 28:47), “Because you did not serve Hashem, your L-rd, with joy.” Hashem’s middah tovah is manifold more, so during times of calamity a person should strengthen himself in simchah. It is a mitzvah to be happy, especially now.
It sounds cruel to speak of such things now. Yidden are being killed, others are in dire straits and in pain, and we say to be happy?! The world is not able to handle such talk. But one whose entire life is emunah and bitachon knows that everything is for the good.
Nachum Ish Gamzu, even in this current situation, would stand and announce, “This too is for the good.” The great Tanna Rabi Akiva would delve into Torah to the echo of the bombings and fires, and he would come up with hundreds of reasons for why we have to be happy even now. It was he who said, “Everything the Merciful One does, He does for our good.”
I am not speaking to those whose emotions are dulled, but specifically to those who have hearts of living flesh, whose hearts are awake, alive, and reacting. When such a person goes against his nature and strengthens himself in simchah, he brings joy and goodness down to the world. It is told of the Rebbe of Riminov ztk”l that someone came to tell him that two Yidden were in pain, and when he heard this he sat and laughed. They asked him why he was laughing, and he said that with this laughter he was sweetening the judgment.
I once explained that the inyan of making seven hakafos on Simchas Torah was not mentioned in the Rishonim until the days of the Arizal – specifically the Arizal – for in his time, a great darkness descended on the earth and the yoke of galus became heavier. He established the minhag of hakafos on Simchas Torah. This is the proper way for us to act: When the darkness is strengthened and the galus grows thicker, especially then should we strengthen our simchah.
There is plenty to be happy about, and there is plenty to thank Hashem for. Imagine in your heart how many multitudes of people are in their homes healthy and whole, and they are the majority of bnei Yisrael. Yes, there are thousands of people shrouded in tzarah, but on the other hand, there are multitudes who are living in peace.
And we can also be happy about the mitzvos we merited to do today, the tefillos we davened, and all the good that we have.
This simchah comes from emunah and bitachon and placing our hopes in Hashem; this sweetens the dinim and is brings relief and light to those who are suffering.
To be happy?! All of Klal Yisrael is in pain. Don’t we have to share in the pain of Am Yisrael?
Let us examine this in depth.
There are yechidei segulah who are capable of feeling the pain of another. This is a very high madreigah. All the rest are tense as a result of fear and panic, and this tzaar brings them to a state of sadness and depression.
Each and every person should know that his being tense does not accomplish anything!
The yetzer hara wants to bring a person to sadness and depression, and he is sly as a snake. He does not stand and strike; rather, he confuses a person, tells him he is doing a great mitzvah of participating in the pain of others. Through this the person falls into depression, which brings him to the point of doing nothing and of being incapable of learning, davening, or functioning.
Every good thing has within it both good and bad. In the middah of happiness and in the middah of sadness there is both the yetzer hatov and the yetzer hara. From within the tzaar one can also accomplish many great things, but this is a dangerous process. The inclination of a person’s heart is evil from his youth. The nefesh of a person is inclined to tzaar. This is a dangerous plot of the yetzer hara, whose goal is to cause a person to fall.
I’m not saying that one should not be in pain and cry. Certainly we need to say Tehillim with tears and pleading, as we will explain. But in general, each day, we have to be happy.
There are people who, due to the situation, are paralyzed and fearful, and anything you tell them does not help them. How can we strengthen them?
Before we speak to these people themselves, I want to say something to everyone. Each person, when he davens for acheinu Beis Yisrael who are in dire straits and in captivity, needs to daven for these people also, that Hakadosh Baruch Hu should strengthen their spirits and their souls.
We must daven for them not only now but all the time, because they are constantly in a situation of brokenheartedness. No matter what happens or doesn’t happen, they will always find a reason to be mitzta’er and cry and be in fear and panic.
To these people themselves I say that their tza’ar is kodesh kadashim. Through it they are purifying their souls, purifying themselves and the entire world, and they need to be happy that they were zocheh to do so.
Is it in our hands to do something to stop this horror?
Absolutely. Chazal say (Yoma 86b): “When an individual does teshuvah, the entire world is forgiven, as it says, ‘I will heal them of their faults, I will love them generously, for My anger has departed from him.’ It does not say from them, but rather from him.” Any individual, with whatever small act that he does, shakes up the entire universe.
In Novaradok they used to say that the best teshuvah is strengthening oneself in bitachon, and therefore the first thing is to do teshuvah, and from then on to live with emunah and bitachon and to be happy, as we have said.
There are many other things we need to do.
When I heard the terrible news, I went into a shul and put together a beis din to annul the decrees. Each person can take three people as a beis din to declare that the decrees should be annulled.
Moreover, during times of tzarah I am accustomed to asking many Yidden for brachos, and I see open miracles with this.
And of course, to daven to Hashem, to beg and plead by saying perakim of Tehillim, and by talking and pleading before Him. I am talking about conversing with Him the way a person speaks to his friend, to say before Him in simple words: “Ribbono shel Olam, we had such a nice, pleasant, happy Yom Tov, and what happened here suddenly? Look down and see! Yidden are choking in pain. Have mercy on them!”
And also say words to defend Am Yisrael. “Look down and see, Yidden sitting and learning; Father in Heaven, I know many people in this world, even those who seem to be resha’im, and it is not in rebelliousness that they are doing this, but the yetzer lures them. They are tinokos shenishbu...,” and so on. Look out for zechuyos for Am Yisrael. Who knows – perhaps it will be these very words of zechus that you say that will turn the tide in our favor, toward the good.
Another thing: Take the feeling of hope and anticipation for Hashem’s salvation to a practical level. You can write the story on a sheet of paper – how one person was kidnapped by lowly Yishmaelim and tortured for several days, and suddenly the yeshuah came and he was released. You can go into the details: Children sitting in the house and crying, and suddenly they hear someone knocking. They open the door, and their father is there. They hug him and cry emotionally, start dancing and singing in joy, prepare a seudah and invite all the neighbors and friends. Each person can write the details of the unfolding of yeshuah according to his imagination. These thoughts and acts brings about yeshuos. It is a tried and true segulah.
And in general, with every mitzvah, whether small or great, that is done during these days, such as when we learn Torah or give tzedakah, we should say wholeheartedly, “I am doing this for the zechus of bnei Yisrael, for the zechus of those who were hurt and for their healing, and for the zechus of those who are in captivity.”
Please give a brachah to all Klal Yisrael.
May Hashem Yisbarach grant all of Am Yisrael a good and joyful year. May a new situation begin, and may it become clear that through all we have endured until now, we have received our kapparah, and that this will be instead of all the pain and suffering that was decreed for us, and may there be only good and kindness from now on, forever and always.
