Posted on 05/20/21
The last few weeks’ events have dampened our spirits greatly. Days of celebration were laden with sorrow and pain — crowd crush, rocket attacks, collapsed bleachers, so many deaths and wounded.
Entering the Yom Tov of Shavuos with the tragic news of yet another fiasco that led to deaths, left us bewildered and troubled.
The Lubavitcher Rebbe would often remarkably reframe even the most traumatic events, seeing the positive in them. A follower who while celebrating the writing of a Sefer Torah, having invited his community to a festive and joyous holiday meal, was regaling in the privilege of such an extraordinary mitzvah, when suddenly one of the celebrants, a young woman, collapsed and died on the spot. He was beside himself over the fact that after so much devotion in serving G-d, the pure joy could be shattered with so much unexpected pain. He conveyed his confusion in a letter to the Rebbe.
The Rebbe warmly responded by offering a different way to view what transpired.
Perhaps one can venture to say that had the departed one not been invited to the Sefer Torah celebration, she would have found herself, at the onset of her attack, in completely different surroundings, on the street, in the company of non-Jews or, in any case, of strangers... without hearing, in her final moments, words of encouragement and seeing the faces of friends and fellow Jews. Can one imagine what a young, religious woman on the festival in which we celebrate and re-experience our receiving the Torah from the Almighty, experiences in each second of her final moments?!
According to the teaching of the Baal Shem Tov, that every event, and its every detail, is by divine providence, it is possible that one of the true reasons that you were inspired from Above to donate the Torah scroll, was in order that, ultimately, the ascent of the young woman’s soul should be accompanied with an inner tranquility, occurring in a Jewish home — a home whose symbol and protection is the mezuzah, which opens with the words, “Hear O Israel, G-d is our G-d, G-d is one.”
Obviously, you and your wife, may you live, have many merits. Without having sought it, you had been granted the opportunity from Above for a mitzvah of the highest order, to ease the final moments of a fellow human being... Such special merits come with special obligations. In your case, these would include explaining the above to those who might have questions identical or like those posed in your letter, until they see the event in its true light: a tremendous instance of divine providence.
May I suggest perhaps that the tragedies took place precisely during these auspicious times and places, not only as evidence of these saintly souls elevated status meriting to pass away in such exalted moments, but also to convey to us that the only way one can overcome such overwhelming grief is by imbibing the message of Shavuos — living a life enthused by Torah, mitzvos and faith, the antidote to suffering.
The late illustrious Rosh HaYeshiva of Mir in Brooklyn, Rav Shmuel Birnbaum, had lost two sons in his lifetime. He endured failing health throughout his life, having been weakened yet in his younger years during his arduous sojourn escaping war ridden Europe, spending many years of deprivation, learning with extraordinary hasmada and devotion in Shanghai, China.
In an interview years ago, he was asked how he overcame the loss of his beloved son Aryeh Leib, who as a yungerman was renowned for his greatness in learning and for his awe-inspiring personality and enthusiasm in avodas Hashem. The Rav was asked if the story about how — after a week of inconsolable shiva, after leaving the gravesite on the seventh day he immediately summoned one his grandchildren to return to an intense and enthused conversation they were engaged in prior to his son’s death, regarding the sugya of palga nizka k’nasa — was true?
“Does learning have the capacity to cause one to suddenly forget one’s pain”, the interviewer inquired.
The Rosh HaYeshiva emphatically responded, “The pain of loss is not forgotten, rather it is overcome by the joy of Torah! Tell your readers in my name: My dear ones, no one will ever forget their loved ones, but Hashem creates a counterpoint to suffering in the world, and that measure of good is so much greater! A Jew must achieve a deep connection with Torah and faith, and that connection must be alive and significant to the point that it can overcome grief. See to it to strengthen and elevate the vibrancy of Torah and the vitality of faith in face of suffering.”
He continued, “A healthy person deludes himself that he survives on his own strength. Nu, human strength has its limits. But I, have no illusions. From my days in Shanghai by strength waned... my two sons went upon the altar as pure sacrifices... when I begin to learn, my body fights back. I open a Gemara and speak its first word, I forget the existence of my body... the more I engage the more my body calms...”
The portion of the Nazir, who refrains from wine, follows immediately after the portion of the Sotah, the adulteress. This comes to teach us:
‘Whoever observes a Sotah in her disheveled state should abstain from wine.’
The holy Baal Shem Tov taught that nothing in life we encounter is by chance. G-d so arranged that one to observe the trauma of the disloyal wife, as a message to the him that he has what to improve within his own character that is somehow identified with this sin. He evidently did not merit to see this tragedy so that he may condemn this woman, but rather to improve himself.
The saintly Klausenberger Rebbe adds, that were this individual to have achieved his mission in eradicating that flaw prior to this episode, the impact of his action would have brought about that a woman would not stray from her spouse.
Our ability to bring sanctity to the world will elevate all those around us.
The Gerer Rebbe, the Imrei Emes, points out that although the portion of Sotah precedes Nazir in the Torah, yet in the order of the Mishna, Nazir comes first. This he says comes to inform us, that living inspired can fend off the need for reminders.
May we take the inspiration of Shavuos, infusing the world with endless joy!
באהבה,
צבי יהודה טייכמאן