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B'H  Chabad of North County Inland has now become the only Shul in our area that has Minyanim everyday.  I want to thank everyone for their commitment to making the Minyanim at Chabad of NCI so Strong. A Minyan is the Backbone of a Shul and is the Collective Soul of the Community 

Question of the Week

On October 7 2023 my religious faith took a massive hit when Hamas attacked Israel. My faith has only been partially restored by the miraculous failure of Iran's attack on Israel on 14 April 2024.  G-d may have saved Israel on April 14, but G-d also allowed the October 7 massacre to occur. How does one reconcile both events?

Answer

You are contrasting October 7 with April 14. But you need to also compare October 6 to April 13.

In the lead-up to October 7, Israel was divided by sectarian hatred and political disunity. Jew was pitted against Jew and civil war seemed imminent. Brothers were being treated as enemies, families were splitting apart over differing opinions, and we were a people divided.

Then October 7 happened, and everything changed. We became one nation again. We remembered how much we love each other and we were there for each other. All divisions fell away - soldiers and yeshiva students embraced, walls between Israel and the diaspora disappeared, and (almost) all sides of politics came together as one. We reconnected with our faith and our Jewishness. We were reminded that we are not like any other nation. We are different. We are G-d's people.

Before October 7 we were at our worst. Since then we have been (mostly) at our best. And you can see the results.

When Jews are disunited and unfaithful, we are subject to the normal laws of nature. Those laws dictate that when you are surrounded by murderous enemies who intend to hurt you, sometimes they will. A sheep surrounded by wolves will likely get hurt. 

But when Jews are united and spiritually switched on, nothing can touch us. We are not subject to the laws of nature, we are in G-d's hands. The miraculous becomes our normal, the extraordinary is ordinary. The wolves can't come anywhere near the sheep, because the Shepherd intervenes. 

October 7 was not a punishment from G-d. It was just the way of the world. Our enemies are constantly trying to attack us, and would do it every day if they could. That it doesn’t happen every day is a miracle. 

April 14 showed what happens when we are connected to each other and to our Jewish soul. We are invincible. Miracles happen. The laws of nature simply don't apply to us. 

This has been the Jewish story forever. And it is hinted at in the Haggadah.  

ON THIS NIGHT WE DIP TWICE

The Ma Nishtana mentions that on the night of Pesach, we make two dippings. Right at the beginning of the Seder we dip a vegetable in salt water. Much later on, after reading the Haggadah, we dip the bitter herbs in charoset. These two dippings hint at two fateful dips in the story of the Jewish people.

The Egyptian slavery started due to a family conflict. Joseph was sold by his jealous brothers as a slave. He ended up in Egypt, and his family followed, first as free people, then eventually becoming slaves.

To cover up their sale of Joseph, the brothers took his tunic, dipped it in blood, and showed their father Jacob, who assumed a wild animal had killed him. This is the first dipping, born of hatred that led the Jewish people into slavery.

Fast forward to the end of the exile. The night before leaving Egypt, G-d commands the Jews to eat a festive meal together with their families in their homes. They were told to dip a hyssop branch in the blood of the Pesach offering and paint it on their doorposts. This is the second dipping, and it brought about a miracle. As families sat together at home that night, the Angel of Death smote the firstborn Egyptians, passing over the Israelite homes identified by blood on the doorposts. The next morning, the great exodus happened, and the Jewish people left Egypt.

The first dipping was by brothers who hated their brother. This led to pain and slavery. The second dipping was when families sat together united, proudly displaying their Jewishness. This led to freedom and redemption.

This is the message of the Seder. There are two dippings, the hateful October 6 type, and the loving April 13 type. Our history has taught us where each one leads. 

We are one family. We are G-d’s people. Let's get ready for more miracles.  

Good Shabbos and Good Yomtov, have an inspiring, happy and kosher Pesach!
Rabbi Moss

Sources:
Likkutei Sichos Volume 31 p171
Ben Ish Chai Shana Rishona Tzav 32
Daas Zkeinim Mibaalei Tosfos Shmos 12:8

Haftorah Metzora Commentary (II Kings, 7:3-20)

In the days of Jehoram, king of Israel, the son of King Ahab, Ben-Hadad, the king of Aram, was at war with Israel and had laid siege on Samaria. The city, which had already been suffering from a famine, was now stricken with total hunger. 

Elisha related Hashem’s word to the king that the famine was about to abruptly end: “So has the Lrd said: ‘At this time tomorrow, a se’ah of fine flour will sell for a shekel, and two se’ahs of barley will sell for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria.’” The king’s close aide, who was there with his master, could not contain himself, and exclaimed in disbelief: “How is this possible?! Even if Hashem caused the flour and barley to rain from the heavens, they could never become so cheap!” In response, Elisha told the him that he would indeed see the prophecy come true but would not live long enough to enjoy it.

The haftarah begins with the scene of four metzora’im (individuals suffering from tzaraat) sitting at the city gates. The Torah instructs that a metzora must live in the “outskirts of the camp” until his tzaraat is cured, thus, they were sitting at the city gate.

The Talmud identifies these four metzora’im as Gehazi and his three sons. Gehazi was the servant of Elisha and had been stricken by tzaraat as a result of a previous incident. As we read in the haftorah of Tazria, Elisha cured Naaman, the general of Aram, from his condition of tzaraat. Elisha had refused to take any gift from Naaman in appreciation for the miracle. After Naaman had gone on his way, Gehazi seized the opportunity and ran after the general. Pretending to speak on behalf of his master, Gehazi asked Naaman for some silver and clothes for two “disciples of the prophets” who had just come to Elisha. Naaman willingly obliged. Elisha, who knew prophetically about the actions of his servant, told him that as punishment, the tzaraat that was lifted from Naaman would come to both Gehazi and his sons, who collaborated with him on this.

As a result of the famine, they decided that it was better to surrender themselves to the Aramean soldiers, where they stood at least a chance of survival, than to die a certain death of hunger. They approached the enemy camp towards the evening (of the same day as Elisha’s prophecy). To their astonishment, they found no one there. Hashem had performed a miracle: the Arameans suddenly heard sounds that seemed like the approach of an immense army—chariots, horses and all—coming towards them. Gripped with fear, they made an immediate flight, assuming that the Israelites had been able to hire some powerful army in the region to come to their aid.

The four men went into one of the tents, ate their fill and took treasures for themselves. They continued on to a second tent and did the same. After a while  they had an apparent attack of conscience. They said to one another, “Why, it would be wrong to wait until the morning to let the king know about the news. Let us tell him now.” They went to the guard at the gate, told him of the exciting news and urged him to report it to the palace. After the king checked on the veracity of their story, the gates of the city were hurled open, as the people stampeded towards to empty army camp. Elisha’s prophecy was accurately fulfilled, as food suddenly became so abundant that prices dropped to a shekel for a se’ah of flour and a shekel for two se’ah of barley. 

The king had appointed his aide—the same one from earlier in the story—to maintain order at the city gate and make sure that the valuables found in the camp would reach the royal palace. In the rush and desperation of the people, the aide was trampled to death, thus accurately fulfilling the words of the prophet to him.

It is so tempting to treat tzaraat as a physical ailment, a disease like leprosy, yet the Torah insists that its roots are spiritual, as is its healing.  In bringing our tzaraat to a priest and abiding by his decisions as to how to handle it, we were not only going to be successful at ridding ourselves of it, we would have shown our ability to recognize the hand of Hashem in the world.¹

Gehazi was punished with tzaraat precisely because he had damaged Elisha’s showing Naaman that lesson.  When Elisha healed Naaman (in the haftarah for Tazria), he had refused any reward, to further prove that this had come from Hashem.  Gehazi then ran after Naaman to ask for some items, which Naaman had happily given.

By reading about him here, we are being shown that he was punished for more than having violated the no-payment order.  Gehazi’s tzaraat forced him to move beyond his greed, to become the bearer of news of Hashem’s unseen but miraculous salvation.²

In the telling of the story of the four metzora’im, the haftorah teaches us that even in the case of a metzora, there is good to be found and accomplished.

The theme of the haftorah is the miraculous sudden change from darkness and captivity to light and redemption. This is a lesson to us that Moshiach will also come suddenly and miraculously.³

1. Metzora Haftarah Companion by Rabbi Mendel Dubov
2. Rabbi Dr. Gidon Rothstein on Haftarah
3. On the Haftara: Sudden Redemption by Rabbi Yitzi Hurwitz