Tisha B'Av

[Rachel Herzberg]

My Dear Achot Beit Yisrael,

Thank you Nava for taking initiative and utilizing our group for the safety of klal Yisrael and being a part of the matzav in Eretz Yisrael and doing something about it. 

It's been a long time since we came together to spread and torah and divrei chizuk to each other and I think it is time to reignite ourselves as part of a group. Baruch Hashem, I know that we are all in such different places in life, and we should be, and Baruch Hashem there has been many smachot amongst us, and there should continue to be... and I understand that at this point, it seems kind of futile to even try to each commit to certain weeks to write divrei torah because, I do not want to say that chas vshalom, life gets in the way of our torah, but I guess we could say that responsibilities as part of our avodas Hashem kind of get in the way.

There is a lot going on in the world, and by that I mean, there is a lot going on within our family, klal Yisrael, and it's when we feel from the depths our being that we are family, and that our brothers and sisters are in danger, and when we say that our hearts are with each other, and we mean it, that is when the geula is going to come. I would venture to say that most if not all of us, know a chayal personally, or at the very least know someone who has a brother, cousin or friend. My first cousin is going to serve in the army tomorrow, leaving his wife and three kids behind for what he thinks will be at least a month, erev Tisha Bav, how appropriate timing. I was sitting at the table with my grandmother when she called her grandson today as he was packing up, and said to him, "You aren't just fighting for the State of Israel, you are fighting for Jews all over the world", before she hung up with him and started to cry. He's going to Chevron. His name is Yair Dovid -en Devorah Mindel. I know someone else whose son is in the front lines in Gaza, Dovid Yedidya -en Devora, who is a close friend of my brother. I'm not telling you this just to say it, I'm telling you this because I think these are the important details. Feeling the pain of our brothers is the internal work that is going to help us, rehashing the news for the kadrillionth time over... not sure how that is helping us so much. We need to know what's go on, I'm not saying that we don't.

The fact that the world hates us, and the fact that our president is so anti Israel and hates us, and the fact that the world is so full of sheker and twisted insanity is not a new story. "Eisav soneh et Yaakov", this has been from the beginning of time and there is nothing that we could say or do that is going to change the world's opinion of us. The only thing we could do, and must do, is stick together, bachdus, as a family, and love each other more than they hate us. The achdus that was found amongst klal Yisrael as nation in the last couple of weeks is something truly astounding, the three boys that brought back together. I can't stop thinking of when Rabbi Kurland said in Poland in his shiur (and I made the video so I listened to it over and over again, you don't have to be particularly impressed that I remember it so well) is that no matter how nice they are to us, no matter how friendly they are to us, they are not the same, "they are not amcha". The anti semitism that has been so openly expressed in the last couple of days and weeks, and I'm not one to be in on the details of the news daily is something that needs to scare us. We need to feel it. We need geula. We need to realize that this war is not a war for land, it's a war for our very right to exist, we are fighting for our Yiddishkeit, our Torah, our emes. That is what they hate us about us, that is always what they hated about us, and we've been doing this Tisha Bav thing for years. And we go back on the floor and we cry, or we try, or we feel bad that we do not feel for the lack of Shechinah the way that we should. But we need to remember that we need to do our internal work, we need to feel pain for klal Yisrael. It NEEDS to hurt us when another solider gets injured, and another one killed. Not for ourselves, but for each other! 

Rav PIncus said something so profound. He says all the other moadim are nice and they are needed, and each one has it's own way of connecting ourselves to klal Yisrael and Hakadosh Baruch Hu, but Tisha Bav is the moed that expresses how close we really are to Him. You do not necessarily have to feel really close to somebody to be bsimcha for someone in their simcha. Anyone can go to a wedding and be into it and happy and be really mesamech for the chassan and kallah. But when you are at a funeral, only the people who feel close can really feel pain and loss and really cry. We need to remember what we are really living for, what we really want, and it is not easy. We have so many distractions, but those distractions are not supposed to be distraction, rather, stepping stones to our relationship with Hashem. We need to read the stories of the soldiers who are putting their life on the line for us, and the pain of the families of the ones who did. I told you a glimpse of some real life stories because we need to know them, they are as much YOUR brothers, as Yair is my cousin, who almost walked down the aisle at my wedding (not that I got married yet, but he did walk down my brother's aisle). It needs to hurt us. We need to feel each others pain, as much as we need to feel each others simchos. We need both, that is the achdus that Hashem has been wanting from us for so many years. So badly.

We'll see how long this lasts because I kind of miss the fact that we share divrei torah with each other, writing something small, haha, (or big), every once in awhile, some inspiration, some torah. I don't have one of those husbands yet, learning as protection for klal Yisrael so I guess I decided I just had to do it myself. If anyone wants to split up weeks, to spread torah, inspiration, and chizuk, please let me know. That's why we started this group in the first place, and I don't have any intention of letting it fall to the wayside. No one could deny that seminary was a beautiful bubble, but as Rabbi Kurland said in his Poland shiur, "who has the responsibility for klal Yisrael if not YOU?" We are responsible for each other, as we all grow and change, I would hope that we inspire ourselves on different, newer, deeper levels, always keeping in mind that seminary may have been a bubble, but taking with us the emes within it, and living our everyday lives with it, because that is what is real, that is what really counts. 

This the message that I wanted to send going into this Tisha Bav, hopefully bringing tears of hope and redemption, achdus and love, a geula shleima for all of us. But I do not want this to be one message to read and go on. I want to ask that as each one of us has smachot, and we all should, IYH, please post your simchos so we can all share in them. The amount of babies that have been born recently! Nissim! Baruch Hashem! I think being a part of each other even a little bit is part of bringing each other together, as a klal. I was thinking I was going to list all of you who I know has kids, but I'm going to leave some of you out because I havent been in touch with most of you and its not my news, but please let us know! Wishing all of you a meaningful fast, a meaningful day, feeling the lack of Hashem's shechinah, the pain of klal Yisrael, the fears and tears of so many mothers whose sons are fighting a war. Fighting for us. Fighting for our Eretz Hakedoshah, our Torah Hakedosha, our Yiddishkeit. We can't give up! We need to hold on to it and we need to fight for it!

Love always, 
Rachel

[Elisheva Hassid]

Rachel such a beautiful writing- 

Living here in Eretz Yisrael is the biggest Bracha.  We do not feel the antisemitism that is all around the world.  We, in Yerushalayim, carry on life as usual, go to work, kids in day camps etc. But not everyone is like this. There are many people who are afraid of the rocket attacks.

A family member of mine lives in Bnei Brak she literally does not leave the house at all, with her 2 kids, since she is very scared that suddenly there will be an alarm and she will be stuck with her kids with no shelter. This is just one person. There are so many others like this that are petrified to leave the house. Even those that hardly have alarms. My friend who lives in Yerushalayim hardly leaves the house. What with all the residents of the south, who have rockets the whole day flying over their heads.

But miracles, how many people have been physically injured or killed? Can you imagine. There are so many Nissim- imagine more than 2500 rockets flying over Eretz Yisrael over populated places- do you know what that means. Whenever we hear the after of the rockets on the news the whole day you hear "לא נגרם נזק "  - i.e. there has been no harm not to a structure or to people.

And also the soldiers, we do not hear their miracle stories but there are tons of miracle stories- non stop. We must Thank Hashem when we daven in Modim - thank Him for all the miracles that he is doing for us every second.  Us, simple people in our generation are seeing miracles left right and center. Like the miracles at Yetziat Mitzrayim.

Everyone here is thinking that Mashiach is coming any day.  That is the type of feeling right now in Eretz Yisrael. We pray that it will happen already tonight- that we will have a Seudat Mashiach instead of Taanit Tishaa Beav. 

But all of us here in this group, we must keep praying, and not just take things for granted. Keep praying that we really want Mashiach to come and that there will be gilui Shechina right now.

Love you always,

Be in touch and please do send updates about your family lives...

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Elisheva Nachmani
אלישבע נחמני

[Yael Plittman]

Wow Rachel that was written so eloquently and right to the point. You truly brought me to tears! Living in Yerushalayim for the first few weeks of fighting was scary and also inspiring.  I was hearing sirens, grabbing my little baby girl from the crib and running to the safest place in the building. In those seconds, you are talking to Hashem with all your heart to keep you and your baby, and your husband at yeshiva, safe.  And then when we got on the plane to go to America for bein hazmanim I thought we would be getting a little break from all the terror and horror that israel was having....but no! Everyone here in America is going above and beyond to feel the pain of klal yisroel.  My father in law has an app that tells him every time a siren goes off, nava is sending out emails for Tehillim, my brother in law is going to a rally in manhattan... Everyone is connecting in their own way and it's truly amazing to witness!  In Ramat eshkol where I live, hundreds of Americans made food packages and bought extra toiletries for chayalim and their families.  It was delivered and they were so touched that the "English speakers" of Yerushalayim also wanted to help out and show hakaras hatov for theirs devotion to am Yisroel. 

Thank you for the email Rachel and Elisheva! I love hearing your  inspiring words! I miss u all.

May this Tisha B'av be the last one we fast and may moshiach come bekarov!
  
-Yael