Oct. 17, 2023

Navigating Through Tragedy: Drawing Strength and Unity from Torah Teachings Amidst War in Israel

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Season 5

Amidst the tumultuous events in Israel, we find ourselves navigating heart-wrenching narratives of innocent lives taken by Hamas terrorists. This episode takes you through a quick outline of the events that transpired and how our torah leaders are responding.

In this poignant conversation, we turn to the teachings of the Torah - the Rambam's laws for times of mourning and the power of crying out to Hashem. Drawing strength from Rabbi Lopiansky's wisdom and guidance, the episode underscores the potency of unity against adversity. It prompts us to learn from this experience, drawing us closer to Hashem and each other.

 As we share in collective pain and prayer, we aspire not to let the sacrifices of martyrs be in vain but to emerge as a stronger and more united community. Stand with us, stand together, and let's continue to learn, pray, and fight back.

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Questions or Comments? Please email me @ michaelbrooke97@gmail.com



WEBVTT

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It was less than two weeks from the time that we had uttered that hallowed and evocative prayer of Unesana Tocquef, that we saw, heard with our own eyes and ears, every single phrase of that, tefila realized and actualized.

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Miba Mayem, miba Aish, these horrible terrorists, these insects from Gaza that broke through the border, miba Khenek, miba Skelo, mianuach Mianua.

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They displaced people, they murdered people, men, women and children.

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When, on October 7th, shmeneh Azzaris and Chastora Hamas carried out a coordinated attack on Israel 3,000 missiles paralleled by 2,500 ground troops, these horrible people that you can't even look at.

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The videos are impossible to believe.

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The news is something that you can't look at, but you can't not look at.

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The 199 hostages remain.

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Shach and Augh Mothers will be going to sleep well, trying to go to sleep, but unable to so, wracked by pain and worry.

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And fathers unsure if their children will return home from the hornet's nest that they are going into fight in Gaza, not sure if they're going to return in a jeep or in a coffin.

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And the mournful truth is that, while for us this is all very new and we find it hard to cope with, if you open up a Jewish history book, this chapter fits right in.

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How many times have the Jewish people been the target of some horrible, brutal and macabre massacre.

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So what do we do?

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We look to our generals.

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And what do our generals tell us?

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They almost always just tell us what they're shown in, what the Torah told them.

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And in this situation, the Ramba, right at the beginning of the laws of a fast day, hilch, as Tainas tells us, that is a mitzvah asayah, positive commandment, minatayra, liz aik ul ahariyah b'chatzotzroz, to cry out to Hashem and to sound the trumpets, a kultzorosh etovay alatzeber.

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When there is a pain, a tsarah, an affliction to the community, but dovah zermi darche atchuvah.

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And when we come together to daven and to cry out to Hashem, it helps us to come closer to Hashem.

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It's chuvah.

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And how sad would it be if we let these martyrs die without us trying to take something and then actually do something and make a point to come closer to Hashem.

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For God forbid that these people should die in vain.

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And the nekuta that Rabbi Lopiensky said is that it's very much about sibor community.

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The Ramam says that when it's a tsarah on a sibor that we take this initiative, a personal tsarah, we don't necessarily set up houses of worship and special p'utim and to hill him together and think about what war really is for.

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When an army will come together, individuals all fighting for a global or one single cause.

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Is there anything more achdus, creating and unifying than that?

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I don't say to hill him alone, but you've seen the pictures in the videos.

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We come together as a tsibor, we come together as an amyestroyal, because this mochama is a mochama against evil and the Jewish people.

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So, while it seems, maybe even our own styking, which is wonderful, may still be somewhat self-centered, but we come together with this mitzvah sa'aseh to sound the shofar and to say to hill him as a group, as one, as an amyestroyal, and we fight back.

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And you've seen the videos how everyone is coming together and we are literally fulfilling the words of mymonides.

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So don't say to hill him alone, say it with someone else.

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Don't learn alone, learn with somebody else.

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Pechavrusah, come together even more as an amyestroyal, because, like we are saying and everyone is screaming in his amyestroyalchai, an odavenuchai.

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So you know what we do.

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We become that much more of an amyestroyal and that's how we stamp out evil and we follow the words of the rambam in this time of war.