The news and the images of the fiery destruction that has consumed parts of the Los Angeles area are startling and devastating. We recognize the fear and anxiety being experienced throughout the community due to the volatility of the situation and daven for the continued safety of those beyond the currently affected areas and for the recovery of all who have suffered devastating loss of life, home, and property. Please dedicate extra tefillot for those in Los Angeles and reach out with messages of support to those there whom you know. We at the Orthodox Union are in hourly contact with OU professionals and other communal leaders on the ground and will share any practical calls for action as relevant.
It feels like we are not getting a break.
During the past several years, we have experienced a parade of serious challenges of almost unremitting intensity. The past fifteen months have certainly been that way, though recent miraculous turns of events have brought us hopes of emergence from the darkness. Yet we are again set back by events like those of the past week, from the losses of civilians and soldiers in Israel and the discovery of the remains of two of the remaining hostages, to the devastation we are now seeing in Los Angeles. Perhaps this gives us a tiny bit of insight into the unspeakable and unremitting pain, fear, and uncertainty still faced by the hostages and their families and by so many others more directly impacted by the situation in Eretz Yisrael. Simply put – no break.
Asara b'Tevet – the fast day we observe tomorrow – is to be seen this way as it commemorates not one, but a slew of successive tragedies experienced by the Jewish people on the 8th, 9th, and 10th of Tevet, specifically the forced translation of the Torah into Greek, the death of Ezra the Scribe, and the siege of Yerushalayim. As we say in the selichot for this day: "l recall the distress that befell me. He hit me with three blows this month. He cut me down, refused me, hit me; even now, He wears me out…"
That same feeling is conveyed at the outset of our parsha, as the story of our bondage in Egypt starts on some level at the beginning of parshat Vayechi. Rashi notes there that this parsha is not separated from the previous one by the usual text break, the usual empty space in the scroll, indicating that around the time of the death of Yaakov – anticipated in the opening words of that parsha – "the eyes and hearts of the Jewish people were closed by the difficulties of the bondage." Evidently the symbol for bondage is just that – no break.
This has been and continues to be a difficult time in so many ways and for so many people, with no break. It is hard and it wears us out.
But we must also continue to hope, noting that the joyous conclusion of our bondage was marked by Klal Yisrael singing the Song of the Sea, a section of the Torah written with the unusual style of including breaks not only between sections, but within each and every verse.
We can be mindful of this as we mark this Asara b'Tevet on a Friday, such that we will move from the day of fasting and mournful commemoration to a day of rest and uplift. Yes, we experience periods where there is no break and no rest for the weary, one thing after another. But we know equally well that netzach Yisrael lo yishaker, that the existence of the Jewish people will also never take a break, that our bond with Hashem is indestructible, and that we can look forward to a wonderful and peaceful future with anticipation and confidence.
Harachaman Hu yanchileinu yom shekulo Shabbat u'menucha l'chayei ha'olamim. May the Compassionate One bring us the time that will be entirely Shabbat and rest for life everlasting.
Sincerely,
Rabbi Moshe Hauer
Executive Vice President
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