Thoughts This Week
By Sivan Rahav-Meir
Can you experience national unity on Zoom? Ten-thousand women from all sectors of society registered for a broadcast that was launched by Devorah Paley to mark 30 days since the terrorist attack in Ramot in which her two sons, Asher Menachem and Yaakov Yisrael, were murdered. On the same morning that Devorah planned to make the broadcast, she gave birth to a baby boy, and so congratulations to her and her family are in order.
When the broadcast was planned, we had taken this possible happy scenario into account and so I recorded a conversation with Devorah before she gave birth. Her remarks included the following three uplifting messages.
Regarding the nation of Israel: “From the moment of the terrorist attack until now, I just walk around and witness the astonishing phenomenon of the nation of Israel. I do not think that we appreciate this in our daily lives. There is so much power, support, and unity among us, a constant embrace of each other and a desire to help. Why do people I don’t know knock on my door on Purim to bring me mishloach manot? And while I was sitting shivah, why did people I didn’t know sit in my living room with tears rolling down their cheeks? Because they understand that this is not just my personal story, but that it is their story, too.”
Regarding her children: “Since this happened I say to myself, ‘Let their sacrifice not be in vain.’ If this had to happen, let something significant come from it. That some benefit should be derived from our tragedy. Every positive act, every resolution to do good, and every meaningful initiative in their memory gives me solace. Thanks to all of you.”
Regarding herself: “I was an anonymous woman. Now suddenly I am recognized in the street. This happened against my will. But if this happened, I hope that I can do what I am supposed to do, that I properly fulfill this role even though I truly did not choose it.”
Thank you, Devorah. Mazal tov. And may all of us hear only good news.
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I just spent a wonderful Shabbat in Jerusalem in the company of students from throughout Israel as part of the “Nefesh Yehudi” (Jewish Soul) project. It began with a huge Kabbalat Shabbat at the Western Wall where a large collection of women who had never met before sang and prayed together. We spent the night in a hotel with no vacant rooms due to the throng of Israeli and foreign tourists who were staying there. (I met groups from Texas, Panama, and Spain.) Here’s a thought from Rebbe Nachman of Breslav that we spoke about on Shabbat.
Shabbat does not only last 25 hours; Shabbat reverberates throughout the entire week and is meant to favorably influence our six days of work and other activities. The inspiration we absorbed on Shabbat is supposed to find expression on Monday and Wednesday, too, and last until the following Shabbat.
So what can we take from Shabbat for the entire week? How will we be reminded in the coming week of Shabbat in order that the beauty of this special day will endure for the next six?
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Here are three thought-provoking comments that I heard from Asi Tzobel, the actor seen on a popular Israeli children’s program, in a Zoom presentation yesterday.
“I remember when I began to act and I had my first 100 views on YouTube. A hundred views! Today this sounds ridiculous, but do you know how I celebrated? I think this is significant. I don’t care how many views other people get; what’s important is that I celebrate my own success, no matter how little—in comparison to others’ [success]—it may seem to be.”
“It’s not the most talented who succeeds, but the most persistent. Talent may bring you to the summit, but without persistence you won’t stay there. The idea is to continue to study, to exert yourself, to put in the work.”
“At the start of the pandemic, I hid from my children in the kitchen and I shed tears. All my performances were canceled and I saw nothing promising on the horizon. As long as I focused only on myself, I found no solution to my predicament. The moment I started to think about others, about the audience, and less about myself, everything changed. I understood how difficult it was for everyone locked down at home, so we performed a Chanukah play on Zoom that was a huge success. But this happened only when I stopped thinking about my own distress and started to think about the plight of other people.”
Thank you, Asi. I believe these thoughts are beneficial not only to other actors, but to the rest of us, too. 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.
To receive Sivan Rahav-Meir’s content, search The Daily Thought.
