Sermon for Tisha B'Av

Sermon for Tisha B'Av

22 Tamuz 5785 – 18.07.2025

From within the darkness the light is revealed

Behold, Chazal [our Sages of blessed memory] said (Yoma 54b): "At the hour that the enemies entered the Sanctuary, they saw the cherubim [—the form of two infants that were above the Ark of the Covenant resting in the Holy of Holies, one in the form of a male and the second in the form of a female] clinging one to the other." And the matter is astonishing, for behold Chazal said (Bava Batra 99a): "At the time that Israel do the will of the Omnipresent [Hashem, may He be blessed] — the cherubim, their faces are a man toward his brother, and at the time that Israel do not do the will of the Omnipresent, then — their faces are toward the house." And at the time of the Destruction, behold Israel did not do the will of the Omnipresent, if so, how is it possible that the cherubim were at that same hour with their faces a man toward his brother, an act that symbolizes the magnitude of the love of Hashem for the nation of Israel?

It is explained by the Admor [the Hasidic Master] in the book Netivot Shalom (Bamidbar p. 195) a parable, to what is the matter comparable? To a father who dearly loved his son, but the son rebelled against his father, took the keys of his father's car without his permission, started the car that stood in the parking lot, and traveled together with additional friends to spend time and to do foolish things. When they returned from the entertainment, the son drove in drunkenness and made a road accident. The vehicle turned into junk, and he emerged with severe injuries on his head and in more places in his body.

When his father heard about it, he was most angry with him. But since the father was a senior surgeon, he was the one who operated on his son. And in those moments when the father cut into the living flesh of his son, he was flooded with feelings of mercy and love toward his son. All the feelings of affection and the deepest love that dwelt within the nooks of his soul, burst forth to them at that hour from within the heart of the father. Now, the father loved and pitied his son, even more than he loved him before the accident.

And the nimshal [the moral lesson], Hashem, may He be blessed, He is a merciful father to us, and we are considered His children, as it is written "Children are you to Hashem your L-rd." And we rule according to the law like the opinion of Rabbi Meir Baal HaNes, that even at an hour when the people of Israel sin, they are still called children, as it is said "corrupt children," (Kiddushin 36a). And therefore at the time of the Destruction, when Israel corrupted their way; on the one hand, Hashem was angry with the people of Israel, destroyed the Temple and exiled His children among the nations. This is the reason that these days are days of judgment and retributions, may Hashem have mercy. On the other hand, after all, our merciful Father—who remains in the status of a father even at an hour when Israel sinned, and as stated—was forced to perform the operation upon the people of Israel, by bringing severe retributions upon them. At that same hour, seeing our merciful Father the suffering that His beloved children go through, His mercy and His love toward us awoke with greater intensity and exceeding strength. For this is for us to know, the punishments of the Holy One, blessed be He, are not in the status of vengeance, but they come in order to clean and to purify the person or the nation from the filth of their sins. Now it is understood why the day of the Ninth of Av is also called a "Moed" [festival/appointed time], since in its arrival today, Hashem increases His mercy and His love for the nation of Israel, and from the aspect of the "inner dimension" this day is a day of mercy. And this is the reason also, that at the hour of the Destruction the cherubim were with their faces a man toward his fellow, for the Holy One, blessed be He, wanted to make known to the people of Israel, that even though they sinned and transgressed, and even though Hashem poured His wrath upon wood and stones, and exiled them among the nations, still His love is complete with them. And this matter was expressed in that the male cherub, hinting to the Shechinah [Divine Presence], turned his face toward the female cherub, hinting to the nation of Israel.

The message that emerges from the aforementioned words, is that even now in our being placed in the dark exile, despite the conduct of Hester Panim [the hiding of the Divine Face] that Hashem conducts with us, which because of it we suffer from terror attacks and murders etc. from the hands of the enemies of Israel, even so, His love for us has not ceased, and as it is written: "And even so, when they are in the land of their enemies, I did not loathe them, nor did I reject them etc." And on the contrary, His love grew more to us during the time of exile, out of mercy for our wretched situation. Hashem, may He be blessed, waits with longing of eyes, that we shall return to Him with a complete heart, and we shall return in complete repentance from our evil way, so that He will be able to return and redeem us with a complete redemption soon, Amen.

A Psalm of Asaph, a lamentation of Asaph it ought to have said

He poured His wrath upon wood and stones, the demand from us

It is written in Psalms (79:1): "A Psalm to Asaph, O L-rsd, nations have come into Your inheritance, they have defiled Your holy Sanctuary, they have laid Jerusalem in heaps. They have given the corpses of Your servants as food to the birds of the heavens, the flesh of Your pious ones to the beasts of the earth." And our Rabbis asked (Kiddushin 31a): "A Psalm to Asaph? A lamentation to Asaph it ought to have said."

And they answer, that the song and the joy is, over that the Holy One, blessed be He, poured His wrath upon wood and stones of the Beit HaMikdash [Holy Temple], and out of this Israel remained alive and existing, for otherwise there would not have remained from the enemies of Israel [a euphemism for Israel itself] a remnant and a refugee. A parable to a mother who was pregnant and the fetus was endangering his mother, the doctors saw that if they don't (get approval to) abort the fetus she will die, and they decided that it is worthwhile to decide to abort the fetus and then she will be able to live and merit to bring more children. But the mother decided that it is worthwhile for her to die for the sake of her son, that he should live and learn Torah and say Kaddish, and so it was. When the child grew up and was educated in Torah and in the prayer service, his father brought him to the grave of his mother and told him about his mother having surrendered her soul for his sake, and all this so that he would learn Torah and say Kaddish over her, but the child did not want to listen to the voice of his father and said that he does not know his mother; what a great shame! And so the matter is with the nation of Israel, for the Holy Shechinah [Divine Presence] agreed that Her House would be destroyed etc. only for the sake of the nation of Israel so that they would return in repentance and walk in the path of Hashem and mourn over the Destruction, and this is an immense demand upon us, so that we shall not be like that child who does not know his mother.

Why on the Ninth of Av in the morning, weeping and at noon, consolation

And the contemplating observer sees a great wonder regarding the day of the Ninth of Av itself, for behold on this day, which is a day of mourning and destruction, in which the people of Israel suffered troubles and afflictions, and this is for nearly two thousand years that we are weeping and crying, and with all the pain and the weeping, already on the day itself after midday we are consoled and read verses of consolation, "Console, console My nation." And so too on this day, at this hour, Mashiach (Messiah) of our righteousness was born. And could there not be found another time (for consolation) but only on this difficult and bitter day? On this question the commentators already stood and answered, that it is known, that a thing that has no remedy, over the course of time is forgotten from the heart and they are not affected by it, such as a person whose dead relative passed away, (not upon you or me), at first he suffers greatly and in the end it goes and is forgotten, whereas if there is a remedy to the matter, such as a person who has a sick person in the house, (not upon you or me), behold as long as there is hope that he will live, surely he is not forgotten and they always endeavor for him with all kinds of ways to revive him. And so they explained regarding our father Yaakov, peace be upon him, "And he refused to be consoled," because his heart felt that Yoseph is alive and there is still hope. And now it is understood, that all that we weep in the morning and suffer, on the contrary, this is because there is a remedy to our exile, because if there were no remedy behold there would have already passed two thousand years and why should we still suffer. And as is told about the military leader, Napoleon who saw the nation of Israel weeping on the Ninth of Av, and asked why they are weeping on the destruction, and asked when was the destruction, and they said to him before two thousand years, he said to them if you are still weeping over it, this is a sign that it will be rebuilt in return. And therefore after midday we say console, because the weeping itself shows us there will be a building of our Temple, and so this is the testimony to the birth of the Mashiach who will come to us speedily in our days to redeem us.

The attribute of strict justice constitutes a sign and proof that the Holy One, blessed be He, did not remove His providence and His compassion from upon us

Additionally, it is possible to say, for behold we know that the Holy One, blessed be He, is good and does good to all, and even at an hour of trouble He conducts and integrates the attribute of mercy, and as King David said "Your rod and Your staff they comfort me." And as I heard in the name of the Sabba from Novardok, of blessed memory, like a shepherd who takes his sheep and leads them in forests in a place where wild beasts are found, and when the sheep hear them they crowd together and press one another out of fear, however if they feel on their body at that same time the stick of the shepherd striking them, they recover and are very happy, because they know that the shepherd stands now over them and watches them and shields them and they have someone to lean upon and to be supported by in the hour of their distress. So is the matter when the people of Israel feel the rod of chastisement that the Holy One, blessed be He, shows them the attribute of justice, this constitutes a sign and proof that the Holy One, blessed be He, did not remove His providence and His compassion from upon us, and this attribute of justice itself is the attribute of mercy, and therefore on this day the Mashiach was born on that very day on the day itself verses of consolation are said.

I am with him in distress

And it is known that in hours of afflictions, also the Holy One, blessed be He, as it were, is found with us and feels them with us, as it is written "I am with him in distress" and as is told in the Gemara (Tractate Gittin page 56b) when Titus the wicked went up to destroy our Temple and entered the House of the Holy of Holies and performed his transgression with those severe transgressions, he did not suffice with this but rather drew his sword and slashed the Curtain and saw that blood was dripping from it and that wicked one thought he had killed Himself [G-d], and truly why did the Holy One, blessed be He, do such a thing, unless that He wanted to show to all the world "I am with him in distress" and as it is written "In all their affliction He was afflicted," it is written "Lo" with an Aleph [meaning 'not'], yet we read "Lo" with a Vav [meaning 'to him'].

The mother cares for the baby even when he is sunk in filth, and even then she does not cease from kissing him and hugging him. So too the Holy Shechinah

And as the statement of the Holy Zohar that at the hour that the attribute of mercy awakens to come to the world, then the Holy Shechinah [Divine Presence] clothes Herself and comes in the image of a woman, in the image of a mother. And R' Chaim of Volozhin, of blessed memory, explains: the father carries the baby and hugs him and kisses him without end; however, at the time that the father discovers that his son is dirty, he remains helpless and summons the mother to come to help, as he is unable to care for and tolerate the filth of the baby. But the mother cares for the baby even when he is sunk in filth, and even then she does not cease from kissing him and hugging him. So too the Holy Shechinah is a shield and a refuge for the people of Israel even when they are dirty with transgressions, and as it is written "I am Hashem who dwells with them in the midst of their impurity."

After the sitting in darkness, the light will shine for the nation of Israel

It is told in the Gemara (Makkot page 24b): One time Rabban Gamliel, and R' Yehoshua, and R' Elazar ben Azariah, and R' Akiva were walking and were going up to Jerusalem. Once they arrived at Mount Scopus [Har HaTzofim] they tore their garments. They continued to the Temple Mount [Har HaBayit] and saw a fox that emerged from the House of the Holy of Holies [Kodesh HaKodashim]. They began weeping and Rabbi Akiva was laughing. They said to him, "For what reason are you laughing?" He said to them, "For what reason are you weeping?" They said to him, "A place about which it is written 'and the stranger that comes near shall be put to death,' now foxes walked in it." He said to them, "For this reason I laugh, for since I saw that the prophecy of Yirmiyahu {Uriah, as recorded by Yirmiyahu ch. 26} was fulfilled in the First Temple which said 'Zion shall be plowed as a field,' if so, it is known that the prophecy of Zechariah who said 'there shall yet be elderly men and elderly women in the streets of Jerusalem' will be fulfilled also."

And the Maharal explains this as it is written above, that this situation of destruction and plowing of the Temple shows that there must be a process toward the true redemption, and as it is said: "Rejoice not against me, O my enemy; though I have fallen, I shall arise; though I sit in darkness, Hashem is a light unto me." Specifically after the fall will come the salvation. After the sitting in darkness, the light will shine for the people of Israel. And as it is known that a person does not see from within the white part that is in the eye, but rather from within the black area that is in the eyeball. And so, only after the seed rots in the ground, then grow good fruits and seeds.

Every generation in whose days the Temple is not built, it is as if it was destroyed in its days, and what shall we answer? We need to prepare ourselves to build the Temple. And like the story with the Chafetz Chaim who gathered the community in Radin and said to them, "We will prepare ourselves to receive the face of Mashiach [the Messiah]." They said to him, "We? Avraham our father, peace be upon him, Yitzchak, Yaakov, Moshe, elders and prophets etc. they did not merit, we what?" He said to them a parable to a king who went to visit in several cities. He went to a great place, and the honorable ones of the city went out to him in honorable clothing. However, he arrived at some village, and the great ones of the village went out to him in clothing of goat skins etc.

A person who goes to a hospital, to a difficult ward where everyone has pains, and the screams there are terrible, adults and children. Behold, when the doctor comes and gives them medicine, the children laugh and calm down; however, the adults still remain without peace of mind, and on the contrary they scream more, because now that their pain has eased slightly they have time to think about what will be at their end. And so it was at the time of the Destruction, they felt the pain very deeply, and each one experienced what he saw in his fellow, and there was a very great sorrow, to the point that the Sages commanded to remove the knife from upon the table lest out of the intensity of the sorrow a person will stab himself during the blessing of Boneh Yerushalayim [He who builds Jerusalem]. And so, it is also today, and even though the thing is very far-fetched, that a person will take a knife to stab because his fellow distressed him etc., nonetheless because of the great sorrow of the Destruction, the Sages feared for this.

Within the Destruction the Redemption is Hinted

Within the exile there is a revelation. Because the Destruction was in the secret of "Zion shall be plowed as a field," and a field that is plowed returns and is sown, meaning there was here a return to the building where the holy Patriarchs built as a preparation for the building of the Holy Temple. For it is known that Avraham our father called it a "mountain," and whereas Yitzchak called it a "field" as it is written: "And Yitzchak went out to meditate in the field," and Yaakov called it a "house" as it is said: "And he feared and said how awesome is this place, this is none other than the house of the         L-rd and this is the gate of heaven." And the contemplating observer will see that there is here a gradual process of the lowering of the Shechinah [Divine Presence] to the lower realms: a "mountain" which there is nothing to do with it, afterwards a "field" which it is possible to sow in it and to bring out orchards etc., and afterwards a "house"—the house contains all the good inside it. A house is [composed of the Hebrew letters] Bet (2 in Gematria), Yod (10 in Gematria), Tav (400 in Gematria). Yod and Tav have a joint value equal to the Gematria of Kodesh (Holy) If so, the essence of "house" is 2 (Bet) times holy. The holiness of the Shechinah resting upon the house connects with the holiness of the dwellers of the house. So it was, when the Temple existed in the kabbalistic secret of a house, which was the connection of the upper realms with the lower realms.

And behold, when the Temple was destroyed from being a house, and returned to being a field as Yitzchak called it, "Zion shall be plowed as a field," and a field is intended for growing, therefore they plow a field in order to sow in it, so too the exile, its purpose was to sprout the Redemption. Within the exile there is the revelation, the revelation of the Aleph  that turns the Golah [exile, spelled Gimmel, Vav, Lamed, Hei] to Geulah [redemption, spelled Gimmel, Aleph, Vav, Lamed, Hei]; when a Jew learns from what passed over him during the years of the long exiles, and from what actions were the cause of the exiles, there is in this a true hope that through our correction and through the improvement of our deeds we can turn the darkness to light and emerge speedily in our days, Amen, from a state of exile to redemption. Out of mourning gladness shall sprout and out of the grief will sprout the joy and the consolation.

"He forms light and creates darkness" – the creation of light is a result of the fact that initially darkness was created

If we contemplate a little on the laws of the world's conduct, as the Creator desired from the beginning of creation and until now, we will see that in all matters of this world there is nothing that can reach its true purpose before there is in it an absolute absence [deprivation/non-existence]. And this is what our Sages said in the Yalkut (Micah 7, Remez 558): out of distress – relief... out of a fall – a rising, as it is said, "Though I sit in darkness, Hashem is a light to me." And in another place, our Sages expounded on the same matter: "Had I not fallen – I would not have risen, and had I not sat in darkness – Hashem would not have been a light to me." Meaning, this is a necessity in creation that before the formation of anything, it must be in the aspect of absence. Behold, for example, the incubated egg, in order for a chick to emerge from it, it undergoes in the first stage a process of decay and destruction, its entire inner contents gradually shrink. But specifically from this process, a live chick finally emerges. The seed planted in the ground, in order for a plant to emerge from it, gradually rots in the first stage, and at the end of the process, the living plant sprouts. However, it will not be a total absence of the previous form, for then nothing would grow or sprout from it, since the new development does not come in the aspect of something from nothing (yesh me'ayin), but rather out of the previous existence whose form has changed, the new existence grows and ascends. There remains, therefore, in the previous existence that is gradually nullified, a firm point of life, which does not end and is not nullified; on the contrary, the general absence and decay awaken and stimulate this point, with greater strength, and from it the new existence grows and ascends. Thus it was at the beginning of the creation of the world. The light came from the power of the darkness that preceded it, as it is said, "And the earth was unformed and void, and darkness... and the L-rd said, Let there be light." For the reality of darkness is the cause for the light. "And there was evening and there was morning" – the evening is the cause for the morning that comes in its wake; "Who forms light and creates darkness" – the creation of light is a result of the fact that initially darkness was created. So too is the state of exile, prior to the breaking of the dawn of redemption. The redemption with the coming of the Mashiach (Messiah), which is the renewal of the existence of the nation of Israel – is preceded by the exile, which is the absence of its previous form when sitting upon its land with the Holy Temple upon its mound. This is the meaning of the words of our Sages who say that on Tisha B'Av, on the day the Holy Temple was destroyed, the Mashiach was born. Everyone wonders and asks, could there not be found for the Mashiach another day, that his birthday should fall precisely on the bitter and impetuous day? This matter is not tangible now, in the period of absence, but it will be clarified in the end, when the new existence comes. Since the day of destruction is a day of weeping and mourning like no other, and darkness covers the world and its fullness, out of the darkness and the absence emerges the Mashiach. A wondrous hint to this idea, they said by way of a quip, that according to the order of the Atbash letters, behold on the day that the first [day] of Passover falls, the day of Tisha B'Av will also fall. And the matter is simple, for the beginning of our redemption is in Passover, and the end of the redemption is on the 9th of Av; the circle closes, as it were, from Aleph to Tav. However, since a wheel has no end, behold the end becomes the beginning...

Come and let us examine then, once again, our sigh. Is every suffering or pain necessarily bad? The Sefat Emet writes about this (Parshat Vayetzei) "For when all the promises are fulfilled in the time to come, it will then be clarified retroactively that everything was for the good. And therefore the Holy One, blessed be He, is called 'Master of Consolations' – because the consolations of human beings cannot repair all the pain of the past, but the consolation that will come from the Holy One, blessed be He, is by means of this: that He will turn all the pain into good, and even though we do not understand how that which passed will be overturned, because we are within nature and time, but in the future we will see and understand that this pain and suffering was solely and entirely for the good!".

From the Darkness, the Light is Revealed

The wonderful story before us, as told by the renowned author Rabbi Chanoch Teller, regarding what occurred at the end of World War II, will illustrate these matters well for us. The Nazis, may their name be blotted out, murdered most of the Jews in Europe. The Allied forces waged a stubborn war against the Nazis and with the help of the Holy One, blessed be He, they also succeeded in pushing them back into Germany. The Nazis retreated on all fronts, but they did not give the Jews rest; they took them into Germany, a journey of hundreds of kilometers, some made on foot and some they made by trains. In the "Bergen-Belsen" camp which is in Germany, where part of the surviving Jews were taken, the population grew threefold within a month. The situation in the camp itself was hard beyond endurance. Hunger, thirst, and diseases were only part of the troubles that plagued the inhabitants of the camp. The camp was divided into wings, and in one of them there were also Russian prisoners of war. A survivor from this wing tells: One morning the Nazis arrived at this wing and announced, "We know that in a few days the English will arrive here, and we want you to tell them how good it was for you with us... therefore we have brought you fresh rolls." The hunger that prevailed in the camp was terrible, indescribable. That same Jew, for nearly five years, barely ate, and his entire thought was given over only to the question of how to obtain food. If he had been asked at that moment what he preferred—to be liberated or a roll! He would have asked for a roll! The brain becomes blocked and is unable to think about anything other than food. He stood in line. And as he looked toward the basket of rolls, he saw that not many rolls were left in it. The fear awoke in his heart that precisely when his turn arrived, the rolls would run out. This thought caused his heart to palpitate forcefully. Sweat poured from him out of great fear. The line advanced; six people were in front of him. He looked and saw that seven rolls remained, which meant that he would merit the last one. And behold, they advanced slowly, and indeed he received the last roll. How happy he was. Here in his hand was the roll. True, it was small, but fresh and fragrant. At that moment, he suddenly noticed that next to the soldier, additional baskets full of rolls were being placed. Immediately the idea came to his mind, if there are so many rolls, why not take another one? The Nazi certainly would not recognize him among so many Jews. And then, when the Nazi asked who is next in line, he said "I" and received another roll. Now he had two fresh rolls in his hand. He was happy. Suddenly he felt a hand grip his neck, and a threatening voice whispered in his ear, "I saw, Jew!". He looked around to see who the speaker was; it was not a Nazi, but rather a Russian prisoner of war. That same strong Russian grabbed him forcefully and said, "Give me your two rolls!". The Jew made a quick calculation for himself: he is a prisoner just like me, why on earth should I give him, "No, I am not giving you," he said with determination. The Jew felt the shadow of the Angel of Death spreading over him its wings, he raised his eyes to the heavens and called out, "Master of the Universe, precisely now to die, a moment before the liberation?! If You wanted to take my soul from me, during these five years You had hundreds of opportunities to do so!!". And so, when he was full of complaints like a pomegranate toward the heavens, he lost consciousness. When he awoke from his sleep, he saw the sun shining. He did not understand how this could be. For five years he had not seen the sun rising when he got up, because the Nazis would wake them all up at four in the morning for roll call. And whoever did not get up did not merit to rise again... so how is it possible that he is asleep—and the sun is shining! The question pecked at his mind. Slowly, consciousness returned to his mind: the Nazis were no longer here, they had fled. We were liberated... but why is it so quiet all around?! He looked around him and saw that everyone... was dead! Then he understood, the rolls were poisoned! And because it was decreed upon him from heaven to live, the Creator of the universe arranged that they would take the rolls from him... though he had refused to give them, he then received blows. Yes, so that he would be able to continue to live! The Sabba of Kelm would expound upon the verse (Psalms 118:21) "I will thank You for You answered me, and You became my salvation"—in this way: I thank You, Master of the Universe, for "You afflicted me" (the word Anitani can be translated as afflicted me, instead of answered me)—that through this pain, the great salvation came to me...!

If a Person is Evicted from His Work, He Should Know That This is Only for His Good

In SH"K, they brought a story that there was once a shammash in a synagogue, in one of the small towns in the Galicia district. The city was small and poor, and likewise the  synagogue in which he served was a small and humble synagogue. And as was their place, so too was the shammash a poor and destitute man; his salary was very meager. Over the days, the residents of this town grew rich, many from its structures. Healing springs that were discovered in the town turned the place into a stone that draws tourists [a tourist magnet]. The businesses of the town flourished, and with them, the lot of the town's people improved. When Hashem dealt well with them, they turned their hearts first of all to deal well with their synagogue. They said: We will build a new synagogue for glory, with much splendor and majesty. When the synagogue stood on its mound, everything new and glittering, the leaders of the community turned their minds to the shammash, who was no longer fitting for the new house. The synagogue in its new structure, the leaders of the community concluded in their minds, requires a shammash who knows how to write, to record a receipt, to make accounts. However, the  shammash who was found in it lacked everything; he had never learned the art of writing. They deliberated and concluded to give the shammash a period of six months in which he would need to acquire the skills of writing and accounting, otherwise he would be fired, for lack of choice. The six months passed. The gabbaim [synagogue managers] sat convened together at the time that was set for the appearance of the shammash, to hear if he indeed met the conditions and acquired the art of writing, otherwise they would inform him... Bent in posture and embarrassed, the shammash appeared, and stuttering apologetically he began to explain that despite his desire, it did not succeed to meet the conditions. It was hard for him at this age, in the great crowding in a single room, when ten dependents were clinging to him, when his wife too was not in good health... "I did not meet the conditions..." sighed the shammash, in his knowledge that his judgment was decisive. And indeed the decision did not surprise the shammash, on the spot they informed him about his unavoidable firing. In order not to wrong him, they granted him a compensation sum as a reward for his dedicated service over the many years. The money ended. And what does a person do who does not know how to write? Obviously, he cannot think about clerks' businesses and offices. He went and hired himself out to one of the timber merchants. One of the branches of commerce in those days of the Jews was the timber trade. They would buy from the rulers, the noblemen, forests of trees. Felling the trees and marketing them to different places in the world, and from this was the livelihood and sustenance of not a few Jews in those days. The shammash made success in his new work. A diligent and understanding man he was despite his lack of knowledge to write. Slowly, slowly he ascended and climbed in the timber trade, until he became completely independent. Buying by himself forests from the noblemen and selling and marketing them to countries. His businesses prospered and he became one of the big wealthy men in Europe.

Days, when he stood before the manager of one of the main banks, the bank manager asked him in astonishment, when it became clear to him that the big client before him did not know how to write at all: "How is it possible that a Jew who is wonderfully rich so much, understanding and wise, does not know how to write a 'Vav' [a simple letter]... How?!" asked in astonishment. The merchant smiled and answered with a nod of the head, "Oh, this is all my luck!... Had I known how to write, I would have remained a shammash until this day...!".

A Terrible Incident

We through the eyes of flesh (and blood) having endured distressing events, can many times look back later on and see the good and the kindness bursting through Hashem's 'hiding his face' and distress. The following story will illustrate to us these things well. A terrible event occurred a few years before the outbreak of World War II. The palm of a small child named, Yitzchak Slutzky, was accidentally inserted when he was seven years old, into one of the mixers of the big bakery of his father, and large strips of skin of the palm of the hand were torn. The injury in the palm of the hand was considered severe particularly, such that its residue accompanied him for many years. The terrible scream spread across the space for vast distances, sounds of groaning, pain and crying, broke out from the mouth of the small child. The anxious and panicked parents rushed Yitzchak their son as fast as possible to the local hospital in an attempt to save his hand. "Modern medicine" in that era, was not developed sufficiently and obviously all the matter of skin grafting was still in its infancy, nevertheless treatments of a sort were done and in the palm of the hand of Yitzchak was grafted a piece of skin taken from his leg, and was grafted in place of the injury. The graft passed successfully, and the piece of skin was absorbed well. Not long passed until the child was discharged from the hospital and returned to his home to attempt to rehabilitate his injured hand. But the excellent doctors who rejoiced at their success, did not pay attention that the piece of skin taken was from a place on the body where hair grew, namely, from the leg of the child; within a short time the small Yitzchak "enjoyed" fresh hairs that grew from the palm of hand as sign and as testimony to the success of the skin graft... great aggravation. A phenomenon like this that no person had yet seen. Hairs on the palm of the hand...? But the righteous mother, took care always to speak to him, that without doubt "all that the Merciful One does, he does for the good" and who knows you might yet see that this will be for your good so she said. No man understood how and why... yet these were a few words of consolation that eased the pain of the child and the sorrow of the family members, and strengthened flawless faith in the Creator and his actions. A few years passed, and thunder of war was heard over the skies of Jewish homes. Years of fury and dread spread their wings, when tens of thousands from our brethren the house of Israel, are led in cattle trains to inside the camp of death and slaughter. Steps were restrained in the streets, and no man knew what a day brings forth. Families disintegrated, parted, vanished and were destroyed in a variety of cruel methods and a chilling sound of the boots of the Nazi guards was like a bell on the coat of the angel of death, announcing the sword ruling in the world and severing the head of those who sit. Small children perished in one day. Sufferings of Iyov (Job) were the lot of many good people, all curses of the rebuke (of the Torah) descended on the head of our nation. Also, the parents of Yitzchak were taken, like all rest of the family members, brothers and sisters. It was sudden, he did not even part from them, simply they did not return home, and their steps led off to the unknown. Yitzchak who went out that same day to walk with his little sister, remained there alone a child barely sixteen years old, and with him a treasure, a real deposit, a little sister aged four only. "I guarded over her with all my might" said Yitzchak, who became years later a Rabbi who lived in the city of Monsey in the United States. "I was imbued with lofty powers from the heavens. I turned to an adult man that knows he is guarding his family." Yitzchak did not leave his sister even for a moment at home and in every place where he was his little sister was attached to him. He felt extraordinary responsibility and knew that the life of his sister was handed over in his hand, and all the time prayed over her and bore supplication to the Creator of the world that there would be no foe and tormentor to her. He took care of her food, played with her and made sure to grant her everything he could. She was for him his whole world. On one of the days close to the hour for mincha, Yitzchak noticed that his little sister fell asleep and she was sleeping a deep and sweet sleep. He had not yet prayed Mincha (the afternoon prayer), and so he left his sister for a few minutes in order to pray from the depth of his heart. He prayed somewhat at length his prayer and when he returned to his astonishment he discovered the bed of his little sister empty. "They took her" said to him one of the neighbors,

"They" he knew were the angels of destruction of the men of the S.S. She was led to their hand to the concentration offices, a place that all who enter it do not return! His sister Malka without return, so he knew, everything had collapsed and was destroyed. What will be...? Yitzchak was gripped with madness for a moment. He lost the most precious to him of all. He broke out in a crazy run against all logical judgment toward the concentration offices, the place of dwelling of the Nazi soldiers. He ran into the furnace of hell, to the hands of the angels of destruction the terrible ones. All his body trembled and boiled, and his appearance dread. A sixteen-year-old child trying to break into the command center of the S.S. men. Astounded, the guards jumped into the midst of the fire. Yitzchak stood at the front of the command center, he began to shout bitterly, with all his strength: "Where is my sister, bring to me her immediately, I want my sister; bring her out." And they pulled out the weapon ready against him, like soldiers shouting, "Go away from here you filthy Jew who is before us..." The soldier waved his weapon, and Yitzchak like a blind and deaf person, does not hear and does not see, he shouts and screams "Bring to me immediately my sister, now immediately give her to me...". The hassle began to annoy the soldiers, and their voices and similarly the strange screams of the Jewish child, reached to the room of the commander of the concentration offices; this last one troubled himself to rise from his chair and went out to the yard to "explain" to the small intruder who is here the master of the house and what his opinion on the shouting of the uninvited guest. "What do you want?" roared the commander at Yitzchak "what do you want?". "Bring to me my sister" answered Yitzchak, "I want that you return to me her immediately, she is a girl four years old and you took her now!!!". "Child," roared the commander "get away from here immediately before I order to shoot at you as I would, a dog. Know, that just as there is no chance that on the palm of your hand will grow hairs, so you will not see your sister forever!". "Here!" screamed Yitzchak against him, and thrust his palm of hand to the front against the face of astonishment of the German... "You are sorcerers all of you, the Jews" roared the commander in madness. "Give to him the girl and throw him out from here immediately!" The terrified girl was taken out from the concentration offices straight to the hands of her brother, and to the eyes of their astonishment of the S.S. soldiers. For the first time they saw a Jew going out from the concentration offices alive and released. Thus, the remedy preceded from Heaven before the blow...

True consolation is not compensation and not payment. It opens eyes to see now the disaster that happened in the past with new, true faces, that it was not a disaster, this is nothing but salvation and help, and even a double rescue. All believers know and admit that the Holy One blessed be He is all-powerful. But according to human limited understanding, a thing that happened in the past is already done, and how is it possible that any action will change it to something else after it already happened. But the truth is that the Holy One blessed be He the Creator has control over all times, and reaches also over the past as over the present and the future. And already wrote the Gra in his letter to his family members: "Tomorrow we will cry over that today we laughed, and tomorrow we will laugh over that today we cried!". He added on this Rabbi Chaim Shmulevitz ZT"L in his book Sichot Musar: "And a Disaster for a man is that he judges based on an individual case while really he is nothing but a small link (in the chain) from a great system, and the calculation is liable to change from one end to the opposite end."

How wonderful are the things that wrote our Rabbi Bachya in his book Chovot HaLevavot (Gate of Examination, Chapter 5): "And from what is proper for you to examine in the affairs of the world, that you will look always at the outcomes of things that present themselves to us and are difficult upon us, and you will see in them a great wonder. For many things come upon us against our will – and they are praiseworthy in their outcome!". On this path commentators, great ones of Israel, explained the verse: " We have thought O L-rd of your kindness, in the midst of your Heichal (sanctuary building of the Temple). We have "thought O L-rd", in light of the troubles and the lackings that pass over us, we thought that this is the attribute of strict justice, which is expressed as is well known, by the title L-rd; but by you, our father in heaven, this was an aspect of kindness in the midst of your Heichal; all that You did and will do with us, everything is in the aspect of kindness. But nevertheless, we all pray "Show us Hashem your kindness", that we will be able also to see this kindness with our own eyes.