Could We Also Do A 3-for-1 Exchange?
I've been overcome with a personal sense of dread since the ongoing hostage swap began. I feel much the same way I felt when the war began, those same feelings of anguish and frustration. Without getting into a political and halachic debate, exchanging 3 criminals for each innocent hostage is obviously not fair and most certainly a propaganda victory for our enemies, even as they look to psychologically torment us and hope to wipe off us the map.
We constantly pray and believe that Hashem is the Matir Asurim. The way this exchange is being played out, in such a clearly unfair and unnatural way, again points to Hashem controlling every move.
Even the rachamim, mercy, of some hostages being released is coming in the form of rachamim b'din, mercy cloaked in judgement. Women and children are being released to no home, to families torn apart by murder, with other family members still in captivity. How do we swallow this? We see the mercy of G-d, but it's not enough. G-d is still talking to us harshly.
I've been thinking to myself, how much time do I spend reading the news? Do I spend more time reading about the hostages and their situations than I actually spend praying, learning and doing good deeds on their behalf? If the freed hostages had the chance to ask me a favor, what would it sound like? I imagine it would sound something like this: We appreciate all your care and concern. But there's only so many times you can read the same story, there's only so many times you can get upset while reading social media posts about how the world has gone mad and has no moral compass. How about using some of that energy to pray to G-d for the release of other captives? How about take some time to instead do a good deed for us and our families that are suffering terribly?
It occurred to me, perhaps I can flip the numbers in my own 3:1 exchange?
3 minutes of good for every 1 minute of catching up on the news?
Imagine I could do a 3 for 1 exchange of 15 minutes of good in exchange for 5 minutes of scrolling my feed or reading the news? How many 3:1 exchanges do you have in you?
Join me for one week in a 3:1 exchange that will surely uplift you and help create more of the merits needed to ensure the safe return of all the captives, as well as ensuring the safety of all Jews worldwide!
Rabbi Moshe Schwed
Director, All Torah
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