Dear Friends,

It’s the day after.

The day after an election that brought forth passion, emotion, heart…and worry.

It also spawned tefillah, achdus, and achrayus.

And as Yidden, we know exactly how to behave on a day after. Three words, in this week’s parshah, tell us: V’Avraham shav limkomo, And Avraham went back to his place (Bereishis 18:33).

Avraham launched the campaign of campaigns, advocating, petitioning, negotiating and pleading for the people of S’dom. He did serious hishtadlus. And then he lost.

And the next day, he went back to his place.

Nothing had changed.

Avraham thought that one way was best, and so his job was to do the maximum hishtadlus possible, but ultimately, decisions are made not by humans, but by their Borei, and He thought differently.

Today, we dust ourselves off, and we remind ourselves of the advice in R’ Yisrael Salanter’s famous letter to askanim: not to grow tired, not to become angry, and nisht vellen oisfeeren, not to have a need to “win.”

Campaigns come with wins and losses, ups and down, and the need to instantly triumph can break a person.

Now, we hold on to the tremendous acquisitions we made: every tefillah is a gift that will serve as well. The achdus and cooperation between organizations, communities and individuals is a wall of protection that surrounds us. The extraordinary numbers of people that went out, both in New York and in New Jersey, sent a resounding message about our community, their loyalty and their values. The askanim, including those from Agudath Israel, who drove the “get out of the vote” campaign, the schools and kehillos that urged registration – they have created a force to be reckoned with, and that is a more significant win than getting one candidate or another in office.

And finally, we have to hold on to the emunah- the conviction that we don’t know what is ultimately best for us, and that our projections and forecasts mean nothing.

The askanim, those who represent our interests in the halls of power, will, b’siyyata dishmaya, figure out how to work with this administration as well, just as they always have, and if it is with a bit more reserve and humility – remembering that we are, after all, in galus- then we are only stronger as a result.

Avraham did accomplish with his seemingly unsuccessful campaign. Lot was saved. From Lot, came Dovid Hamelech, whose music plays for us through this long galus, from whose offspring will come Mashiach.

Dovid Hamelech wrote Sefer Tehillim, the greatest source of comfort to Yidden!

Ki tov Hashem, le’olam chasdo. The Chidushei Harim says that the world is called an “olam” because the truth is “ne’alam”, hidden: we see so little, but we know it’s all chassadim, and so we sing on.

May we always have reasons to give thanks!

Shloime