Translated by Yehoshua Siskin
This week the last corona hospital department in Israel closed. I heard this news as I was unpacking boxes from New York that I had packed during the first days of the pandemic.
When we went on a mission (shlichut) to New York I took a few books with me. Among them was a small book of Psalms with “To all your prayers, Amen” inscribed in gold letters on the cover. It was a gift from Gidi Gov, a popular Israeli singer, that he gave me when we finished a series of television broadcasts. Gidi did not know what gift to give me. His wife, Anat, of blessed memory, had recommended that he give me this gift together with the inscription. I was deeply moved by the gift, and this book of Psalms accompanied me for years, even when I went to New York.
I remember when a special day of prayer was announced with the outbreak of the pandemic. I took the book of Psalms with me to the Ohel of the Lubavitcher Rebbe. I had intended to pray there but it was no longer permitted to enter the area and I had to pray outside.
Several days later, we were already on the way back to Israel. There was a worldwide lockdown, and everything froze. We packed up during several hectic hours, but our books and other items were left behind.
Drs. Ilana and Roni Kastner from our Five Towns neighborhood volunteered to box up all of our things that remained behind, and they were stored in their attic for the last three years.
Last week we were in New York and went there to retrieve our things. In the first box that I opened I found the book of Psalms. The last time I opened it, I prayed out of concern for a quick end to the mysterious pandemic that plagued the entire world. This week I opened it to Psalm 100, the famous “Mizmor L’Todah.” We have moved on from the pandemic, but with the news of its official end it seems appropriate to stop for a moment and give thanks.
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Last week, Rabbi Haggai Londin of Sderot, on the border with the Gaza Strip, sent me a picture of a Torah class being held in a bomb shelter because of the dozens of rockets that had earlier been launched into his city. It was ironic that the subject the rabbi had prepared for the class was how to cope with fear. I asked him to tell me what he spoke about specifically and he answered as follows:
“The source of fear is imagining that something is worse than it is. Fear is a feeling about a possible event that has not yet actually happened and perhaps will never happen, but is so vivid in our imaginations that we become afraid.
“It is absolutely natural that we should now be afraid since our present reality requires us to sit in a shelter. And yet we still need to remember that terror is primarily about creating fear, anxiety, and hysteria among the public. This is terror’s primary damage, which is often greater than the actual destruction that occurs.
“The antidote to this fear is common sense along with faith and trust in G-d. Furthermore, it is essential to stick to a routine as much as possible and to follow the safety instructions of the authorities. We must stay calm while helping those in distress. Our mood should generate confidence to our children. We should support the IDF in its actions against the threat from Gaza. We should not be shy about reaching out for psychological help if we need it. We should stay calm by telling ourselves that we have enough time to make it to safety, that there is the Iron Dome defense system in place to shoot down incoming rockets, that there is G-d protecting us—and it is always recommended to study Torah or to recite Psalms at times like this in order to reassure ourselves in the strongest possible way.
“And above all, we need to maintain a sense of proportion: We are living at the best time in the last 2,000 years of Jewish history, and things are only getting better. The city of Sderot is growing faster than ever, together with the entire region. We are intent on building while our enemies are intent on destroying. We need to appreciate the significance of what is happening and to adopt a long-term, as opposed to short-term, way of thinking; this will help us to prevail. Good wishes to all from Sderot.”
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Does this nation seem divided and out of control? Even so, deep within, there is unparalleled unity and solidarity.
Does this child who brings his teachers to despair seem rebellious? Even so, there is a pure soul inside that can illuminate the world.
Does this Torah sometimes seem incomprehensible and irrelevant to this generation? Even so, it radiates inner light and sustains the soul.
Do the media and the politicians seem to control the world with their gloomy prognostications? Even so, there are unseen processes at work, going back to ancient times, that are beyond our ability to understand.
This week we celebrated Lag B’Omer, the day that R’ Shimon bar Yochai passed away. He is identified with the hidden Torah, the Zohar, and Kabbalah. Most of us are not Kabbalists, yet we all celebrate this day, even if only with a little bonfire and roasted marshmallows, because we are somehow connected to his message that there is a reality that we do not see. There are both revealed and hidden layers to this reality, yet far more hidden ones.
We need to always look beneath the surface and not surrender solely to what our eyes can see or our ears can hear. This is the day to adopt a new attitude, to examine reality with greater depth and less superficiality. To be who we really are, people of the hidden Torah. n
Sivan Rahav-Meir, married to Yedidia and a mother of five, lives in Jerusalem. She has been a journalist in the Israeli media from the age of six and has interviewed thousands of people on television, radio, and in print. Globes named her Israel’s most beloved journalist, Forbes listed her as one of the most influential women in Israel, and the Jerusalem Post ranked her among the 50 most influential Jewish people in the world.
Sivan lectures in Israel and abroad on Judaism, Israel, and new media. In recent years, she began writing The Daily Thought, a brief commentary on current events that is circulated in Jerusalem and translated into 17 languages for global distribution. This volunteer-run project provides spiritual uplift for Jews and non-Jews all over the world.
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