There’s a pasuk in Yeshayah (42:25), “And it blazed all around him and he did not know and it burned within him and he did not pay attention.” At first, there are calamities “going around” — in other countries, but if that’s not enough, and “he did not know” —the person doesn’t wake up to rectify his ways, then “it burned within him” —we are struck with tragedies and calamities in our own circles Rachmana litzlan, and we still don’t take it to heart, we still don’t think about why it happened.
If we don’t think about what Shamayim wants from us, it leads to an even more severe situation with worse calamities, Rachmana litzlan. (See Shaarei Teshuvah 2:2.) For many days already, there have been tragedies near us, revolutions and wars in Arab countries. Some people are happy about it, but the truth is, Chazal said (Avos 3:2), “Pray for the welfare of the government, for if not for the fear of it, man would swallow his fellow alive.” So how is it possible to be happy when calamities are still occurring? We have to be aware of the fact that all calamities are meant to wake us up to strengthen ourselves and do teshuvah. We still don’t see any special chizuk in the tzibbur; maybe there’s just a little something in the recesses of your hearts.
