----- Forwarded Message -----From: "Rabbi Moshe Revah" <htcnews@htc.edu>To: "mates57564@aol.com" <mates57564@aol.com>Sent: Fri, Oct 13, 2023 at 10:06 AMSubject: Dvar Torah from the Rosh HaYeshiva
Dear HTC Community:
Be'Ezras Hashem, it is my fervent hope to deliver a message to our Yeshiva Family-- our student body, our rabbeim, and our parent body—weekly on Erev Shabbos, with the aim of uniting us in our identity as The Yeshiva Family. As with every family, there are many pieces and parts, many ways to be part of the family, and many faces and expressions, but always a common thread. Our common thread is our commitment to Hashem and His Torah, a commitment to Am Yisrael, to each other, and of course our commitment to the Yeshiva in guiding our growth!
Of course, it is heartbreaking to have to start off our messages in the face of barbarity. The events of this past week, with the brutality inflicted on our brethren in Eretz Yisrael marking the worst attack on the Jewish People since the Shoah – and taking place during Z'man Simchaseinu, no less – has left all of us scared, sad, and heartbroken. But it is sometimes the darkest days and catastrophes that rouse us to the greatest heights. We become stronger, we become brighter, we become more unified when faced with such deep adversity. And that is our job.
In this week's parsha, Hashem says on the 3rd day of creation that "It was good" twice. Rashi (1:7) explains that was because Monday's job of shaping the seas was not completed until Tuesday, and that deserved a "It was good." This was followed by Tuesday's job of the vegetation, and that got its own "And it was good." Yet many meforshim ask why didn't Hashem just finish Monday's job on Monday?
Rabbi Frand, quoting the Sefer Shemen HaTov, gives a beautiful explanation. He says that this was done by design to teach us a lesson on how one has to live while on this planet. Sometimes one can see something and not understand it. If one watched the world unfold on the Second Day of Creation, he would have seen an unfinished product; he would be left wondering, what does G-d have in mind, where is he going, what is the plan? The lesson being that we have to just trust Hashem. Only if you sit and wait until a final picture comes out can we finally understand what is going on!
This lesson hits us very appropriately now. We are in the midst of events that are very hard to understand. Sometimes we may feel the need to ask why; but satisfactory answers are often not accessible to us. We understand that we don't understand. We understand that we are in the capable and loving hands of our Father in Heaven, it's just sometimes very hard for us to grasp the whole picture. The pain is raw and real. But we must go on and not expect to understand.
Instead, our job at this critical time is to look inwards and strengthen our resolve to be better, no matter the circumstances. To go on, to be soldiers of Hashem fighting in the front lines. By increasing our learning Torah, our davening and our acts of chesed. By reaching out to each other and making sure we are all getting through this difficult time as best as possible. By understanding our role, that there are no explanations, and things don't have to make sense (but they eventually will), and that our job is to get through good times and tough times in the best way possible, it makes it easier to move on.
It is my fervent hope that we grow together as a community, using times of joy and sorrow to unite together as Hashem's Army. May Hashem help all of Am Yisrael wherever they may be, provide comfort and strength, a refuah sheleima to those injured, and yeshuos and nechamos to us all!
R' Moshe Revah
Rosh HaYeshiva, HTC - Beis HaMidrash LaTorah
moshe.revah@htc.edu
HTC
Hebrew Theological College is a member of Touro University
and a partner with the Jewish United Fund in serving our community
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