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I am a FFB 59 year old man. I BH have four children, the older three having already completed high school and spent their years in Eretz Yisroel. My youngest is still in high school but will be in EY this summer IYH.
They don’t know the inner turmoil I am going through. I was raised by Holocaust survivors. My mother A”H was taken to Auschwitz at age 13 and lost her parents and two old brothers. She had a number on her arm. My father was a refugee from Belgium who escaped to Morocco with his parents but he lost everyone else in his family – uncles, aunts, cousins. I was raised by these well-meaning but very emotionally damaged people. I grew up hearing horrible stories about Auschwitz – how my mother smelled roasting meat and realized that it was burning flesh, how she was beaten for trying to eat a potato peel out of the garbage. Very shocking and tragic stuff. My mother came from a very frum family but after the Holocaust her remaining siblings became frei, as they were angry with God. My mother decided to stay frum.
We are told that more Torah is being learned now than at any time in Jewish history, that more tzedaka is being given, that more chesed is being done. And yet here we are again, facing terrible, open anti-Semitism that, as usual, is not being quelled by those in power. We are told that we can only rely on Hashem.
I have a lot of problems with that statement. My grandfather’s brother was a well known Posek in Poland and was the Dayan of a major Jewish community. In 1925, he wrote a missive against Jews moving to the yishuv in Palestine, saying that the Yishuv was not frum and Jews shouldn’t be there. He insisted that a homeland for Jews was not the answer and that Jews had to continue in their bitachon in Hashem to save them. In 1944, at the age of 64, he, his children and his grandchildren were transported to Auschwitz, gassed and disposed of in the crematoria. I sometimes wonder if, upon seeing so much death and suffering by Jews, if he ever had the smallest doubt in his bitachon.
I guess my problem is this. How can we have bitachon in Hashem if Hashem constantly leads us fron destruction to destruction, again and again, no matter how much Torah we learn, no matter how much tzadaka we give, how much chesed we do? If Hashem is sending us a message, what more can we do?
אֲבָל מִקְדָּשׁ שֵׁנִי שֶׁהָיוּ עוֹסְקִין בְּתוֹרָה וּבְמִצְוֹת וּגְמִילוּת חֲסָדִים, מִפְּנֵי מָה חָרַב? מִפְּנֵי שֶׁהָיְתָה בּוֹ שִׂנְאַת חִנָּם. לְלַמֶּדְךָ שֶׁשְּׁקוּלָה שִׂנְאַת חִנָּם כְּנֶגֶד שָׁלֹשׁ עֲבֵירוֹת: עֲבוֹדָה זָרָה, גִּלּוּי עֲרָיוֹת, וּשְׁפִיכוּת דָּמִים. רְשָׁעִים הָיוּ, אֶלָּא שֶׁתָּלוּ בִּטְחוֹנָם בְּהַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא. אֲתָאן לְמִקְדָּשׁ רִאשׁוֹן, דִּכְתִיב: ״רָאשֶׁיהָ בְּשׁוֹחַד יִשְׁפּוֹטוּ וְכֹהֲנֶיהָ בִּמְחִיר יוֹרוּ וּנְבִיאֶיהָ בְּכֶסֶף יִקְסוֹמוּ וְעַל ה׳ יִשָּׁעֵנוּ לֵאמֹר הֲלֹא ה׳ בְּקִרְבֵּנוּ לֹא תָבוֹא עָלֵינוּ רָעָה״. לְפִיכָךְ הֵבִיא עֲלֵיהֶן הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא שָׁלֹשׁ גְּזֵרוֹת כְּנֶגֶד שָׁלֹשׁ עֲבֵירוֹת שֶׁבְּיָדָם, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״לָכֵן בִּגְלַלְכֶם צִיּוֹן שָׂדֶה תֵחָרֵשׁ וִירוּשָׁלִַים עִיִּין תִּהְיֶה וְהַר הַבַּיִת לְבָמוֹת יָעַר״.
The above is a quote from Yuma 9B.
Unfortunately, with all the Torah being learned and chessed being performed, when heads of these institutions can be found fighting each other in court, our generation is seemingly plagued with the sins of both batei mikdash mentioned in the above gemara.
Sinas Chinam means hating people for no reason other than their mere existence.
Until we learn genuine love of Hashem and our fellow Jew, and how to view them as complementary and not competitors, our beloved father in heaven who promised our forefathers not to forsake us will keep forcing us to continue improving.
Nothing has happened that it not spelled out in parshas Bechukosay.
Just as these parts of the Torah have been fulfilled to the letter so to will all the other parts of the Torah promising our eventual full repentance and resulting blessings.
Look at the Yad Yosef on Ein Yaakov that sinas chinom is hidden hatred like jealousy which cannot be resolved as it is not an excusable hatred. One cannot tell the friend, I hate you because I am jealous of you so it will be left bottled up in the heart. Lo sisno es achicha bilvavecha, hochiach tochiach es amecha.
I am talking to myself too
It is said that if we don’t do קידוש the goyim will make הבדלה
In Germany I’ve heard that the Jews were assimilating into society (went to their universities, theaters, and intermarried with them) and that’s a cause for the holocaust (one of many I think)
Nowadays we go to American universities, sports venues, and intermarriage is just as rampant now as it was then
Ergo the goyim are doing the same now as then
Just my take on the question (you can be free to disagree, I won’t hold it against you)
I would like to suggest an excellent hotline called a life with bitachon that offers anything and everything that one can use to add clarity, meaning, simcha and excitement to the day, through questions answered, songs with and without music, yesodos, ideas, uplifting messages.
Guaranteed to enrich, energize and bring menuchas hanefesh and simchas hachaim!
Please call 9294705577 or 8454705577 or 7327193898Sir, for whatever its worth, I agree with your question. You are right. I think we should NOT rely on Hashem. And why should we? Did He promise to keep you safe where you live? Perhaps He is trying to signal you to get out? Perhaps He is warning you of danger? To “rely on Hashem” in this case, and not taking action, means ignoring His message to us. That’s very fine bitachon indeed!
Perhaps the question is good: Hashem is trying to message us, and we need to read the memo, not rely on Him, It seems to me to be the height of disrespect if we ignore His message while relying on His protection. We have only ourselves to blame when things go sideways…
I am in agreement, we are truly living in times of challenge, and as we know in the word challenge is CHANGE, leaving the letters LLE, living life with Emuna.
It is 5784, and the ways of Yiddishe daily living that were part of previous generations, are not what is in our generation. Frum Ydden once felt more connected to HaSh-m Yisborach, but the more insulated communities of past years has now given away to an open culture where access to everything and everyone is one click away. Kefira is everywhere. Sometimes the grass looks greener elsewhere, yet a “shpatzir” in those gardens will not find the pleasure one seeks, people are rigged for pleasure, we must realize that within Yiddishkeit is sooooo much simcha, so much oneg, so much enjoyment, we have everything but we must know how to see and savor it.
Ever hear the word cheers, definitely brings a smile to your face, how about cHeeeers – C HaSh-m Everywhere. Everytime. (Behind) Everyone Everything. Running (the) Show – Ain Ohd Milvado. We too can see and feel a loving, caring and protective Avinu Sheb’shomayim.
A Yiddshe life is meaningful not meaningless, there is clarity, we can ask our questions, we can lead enriched energized and exciting lives.
The gemetraia of doubt, sofek is the same gematria as amalek, doubts are the trick an trap of the yetzer hara to take away pur belief in ourself and our yiddishe gadlus. Simcha poretz geder through simcha we can break through the barriers that prevent us from living a full life.
There are free shiurim, books and hotlines , on Emunah and Bitachon, that are available that will truly bring you menuchas nefesh, may i suggest a life with bitachon, there are songs, stories, hashkofos, yesodos of Yiddishkeit, plus everyday there are questions listeners call in that are answered, i have shared this treasure trove with many, many people, try it, 929-470-5577, 845-470-5577 plus there are local numbers for other communities as well.Hashem Is waiting for us to wake ourselves up from living in denial and blocking our faces from these tragic horrific wake up calls that are sadly hitting klal yisroel non-stop and instead FACE REALITY and openly accept Hashems wake up call for serious Teshuva and Achdus together as one loving nation like we did in the story of Purim on all levels of Judaism from frum to frei to chassidish and reform etc…. and come back as one loving nation together doing serious Teshuva with kinnus and days of fasting begging Hashem with heartfelt tears of sincerity that it’s please time already for Mashiach and that we are the generation today Worthy due to our serious Teshuva and Achdus together for Mashiach to come now already bkarov
@ 5TResident
There’s lots to discuss over here and this forum might not be the best place, but there is something I’m going to point out.
Two of my grandparents are Auschwitz survivors and lost lots of relatives there (B”H they spared me from hearing the horrors of what went on there until I got older).
While we’ll never know what Hashem’s plans were back then we can look back now. From those that went to E”Y (or the US) ten years earlier, barely any of them are still religious. B”H my grandparents have dozens upon dozens of descendants- all Frum.
As a side point- every so often I take a look back ten years at my personal life and think of some of the nisyanos I had back then (which I couldn’t fathom how it was for the best) and fast forward ten years and it all worked out for the best.
Even if sometimes we go through hard times, the gemara tells us in Brachos 60b that כל מה דעביד רחמנא לטב עביד. Also, the gemara in Pesachim 50a says that even though in this world on good news we say הטוב והמטיב and on bad news r”l we say דין האמת, however in the world to come we will only say הטוב והמטיב, the נודע ביהודה explains in the צל״ח that really everything in this world is for our good, just we don’t understand it all now, therefore on what we understand to be bad we say דין האמת, however לעתיד לבא we will understand how everything that hakadosh baruch hu does is for our good and therefore we will only say הטוב והמטיב.
After understanding this, it comes out that really just because a person has a hard life, even though in his situation it might be very hard for him to get over it, but it is not a contradiction to having bitachon, in fact it may be the exact opposite, having bitachon doesn’t mean that hashem will do what we want, rather it means that we truly believe that hashem will do what is good for us.
One more thing I would like to add is that learning more torah and doing more mitzvos is not necessarily a reason for a person to have an easier life, in fact the gemara says in kedushin 40b, and this is found in many other gemaros as well, that hashem sometimes gives יסורין to a צדיק in order that he should get more עולם הבא.
May we all be zocheh to have a good עולם הזה and עולם הבא, and we should be zocheh to be מקבל פני משיח צדקנו במהרה בימינו!
The Holocaust and global / historic” jew hatred” is actually a positive.
You are looking at it in a negative way, but for me, as a historian, all the things you mentioned are very positive ideas.It’s these ideas that keep me jewish, and give me a burning desire / pride to give my ancestors lineage to my descendants.
All the things mentioned (and more…) are positive ideas. Things to be proud about.
Staying in Poland is risky. Going to Palestine is risky. The yidden were faced with this . מעשה ארץ מצרים no. מעשה ארץ כנען no. But the RBSO said ויסעו. ( at that point it was either the sea or Egypt of course).The CI said we need to be חושש for the shita that yishuv is a mitzva. All others said we dont.
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