5TResident,
“In the words of Rambam, I am perplexed. Once again I find myself in a crisis of faith. We are told that there is more Torah being learned, more tzedaka being given and more chesed being done today than at any time in Jewish history. Yet Hashem is still permitting the anti-Semites to plot against us, to fight us physically in the streets of Brooklyn, France and everywhere in between and curse us. We are told that Hashem will watch over us and protect us from our enemies. Where is Hashem’s answer to all that is being done to us now?”
Where is Hashem’s answer? He told us exactly what was going to happen to us. We lein it quietly and quickly in parshas Ki Savo. We hear it also in parshas Haazinu. We are in golus, R”L. Our Beis Hamikdash was burned to the ground, and we were exiled from our land. Antisemitism is a part of that. To me, the absolute irrationality of antisemitism really points to Hashem’s absolute control. We just said at our seders, not just one as risen up to annihilate us, in every generation they rise up to annihilate us. Why does our existence make evil people so angry? It’s hard, it’s horrible. We don’t understand it. But Hashem will avenge us. הַרְנִ֤ינוּ גוֹיִם֙ עַמּ֔וֹ כִּ֥י דַם־עֲבָדָ֖יו יִקּ֑וֹם וְנָקָם֙ יָשִׁ֣יב לְצָרָ֔יו וְכִפֶּ֥ר אַדְמָת֖וֹ עַמּֽוֹ . And we will be returned to our land and our Beis Hamikdash.
Re: learning and chessed – we shouldn’t focus on comparing quantity. Are we each taking full advantage of the unique opportunities we have in this generation to learn? I’ll confess that my beis medrash has comfortable chairs. It has air conditioning in the summer, and heat in the winter. It has a coffee room stocked with those K-cup things, teas, instant taster’s choice chemical coffee powder for ujm, sugar, fake poison sugar for those who want cancer instead of diabetes, plastic spoons, and a fridge with whole milk, half and half, artificial creamers for those who had steak for breakfast, and sometimes kiddush leftovers. We get bribed to come learn with bagel breakfasts, tuna salad, and cholent on Thursday nights. And you know what? Despite all of that, I’m not in there anywhere near as much as I should be. I’m really not 🙁
One more thought on today’s unique eruption of antisemitism. I grew up not frum. The “Judaism” of my childhood was essentially liberal politics dunked into matzo ball soup. The social justice issue du joir was the focus of the weekly sermon. That trend has only accelerated, and I can only watch with open mouthed astonishment as these Jews are now getting banished from these liberal secular spaces. There’s yad Hashem in that. ס֚וּרוּ ס֙וּרוּ֙ צְא֣וּ מִשָּׁ֔ם