Rabbotai, this is what I need to share regarding our reality these days. But, you also need to know that Hakadosh Baruch Hu wants us to return in complete Teshuva. I want to expand on this idea and take a few more minutes, and I’m sorry if I’m going over our usual time tonight. Please pay attention.
Even in places where missiles aren’t directly falling, Baruch Hashem, everyone is anxious. Why? Sirens. Many sirens, many missiles, many booms in the air. What does this mean? Let’s see a truly wondrous thing that is learned from the plague of בָּרָד – hail. At the end of Parshat Vaeira, in the last Pesukim. Hakadosh Baruch Hu tells Moshe Rabbeinu to tell Pharaoh that this makka is coming. And so, it does:
וַיֵּט מֹשֶׁה אֶת־מַטֵּהוּ עַל־הַשָּׁמַיִם וַה' נָתַן קֹלֹת וּבָרָד וַתִּהֲלַךְ אֵשׁ אָרְצָה וַיָּמָט ה' בָּרָד עַל־אֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם׃
And Moshe stretched out his rod towards heaven: and Hashem sent thunder and hail, and the fire ran down upon the ground; and Hashem rained hail upon the land of Egypt.
This wasn’t typical hail that fell because of stormy weather. Do you know what the hail was? The hail was missiles that flew one by one at the people – one by one. Whoever didn’t leave their house, nothing happened to them, and the one who feared the word of Hashem brought his servants and livestock into the house. But whoever didn’t, stuck his nose outside, and bang! On the spot, a direct hit on the head! What was it that came down? Heavy hail with fire flashing within. וַיְהִי בָרָד וְאֵשׁ מִתְלַקַּחַת בְּתוֹךְ הַבָּרָד כָּבֵד מְאֹד – The hail was a weapon; an explosive material of fire and water. Missiles. Long-range, short-range, from the heavens, targeted straight at Mohammed, Mustafa, one after another in Egypt. Numbered and targeted, they didn’t just fall randomly from the sky. They came in with a programmed target, like a drone.
The Torah says, only in Goshen, where Bnei Yisrael were, was there no hail: רַק בְּאֶרֶץ גֹּשֶׁן אֲשֶׁר־שָׁם בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל לֹא הָיָה בָּרָד. There was no hail, but what about the sounds? Are the thunderous sounds not tied directly to the hail, just like the thunder and lightning we know well? What was written before? וַה' נָתַן קֹלֹת וּבָרָד – there was both thunder and hail, yet here, only the hail seems to have been removed from the picture. Rabbotai, in Goshen, there was no hail, but there were still thunderous sounds! The Netziv writes, there was no hail but there were indeed sounds, and the sounds were needed! Hakadosh Baruch Hu says, Even if missiles don’t fall in an area, there will be sirens! There will be booms!”
Why will there be sirens? Do you know why? Because thunder was created only to לְפַשֵּׁט עִקְּמוּמִיּוּת שֶׁבַּלֵּב – to straighten the crookedness of the heart. Because Hakadosh Baruch Hu wants us to return in Teshuva. Hakadosh Baruch Hu wants us to be better in Torah, better in Tefillah, better in Chesed, better in modesty. Hakadosh Baruch Hu demands from us.
So what? So, there are sirens. So, you get up at 12:30 if you haven’t gone to sleep. And you get up at 1:30 if you did go to sleep, and you get up early in the morning, and you get up at seven. And when you return from Tefillah – more sirens. Fear and dread – why? To straighten the crookedness of the heart. Hakadosh Baruch Hu is speaking to us. He is telling us we need Teshuva. Teshuva but not through fear or dread. Teshuva with joy.
Does Hakadosh Baruch Hu have a problem defeating the Iranians? What do you think? In a flash, He can do so. Do you think He needs an elaborate plan to destroy a facility in Fordow? Moshe says: וּבַדָּבָר הַזֶּה אֵינְכֶם מַאֲמִינִים בַּה' אֱ-לֹהֵיכֶם. What, you don’t believe that Hakadosh Baruch Hu can finish it all in one moment? In even less than a moment, even without Trump’s help, believe me, Hakadosh Baruch Hu can strike. Know that there is a Hakadosh Baruch Hu.
