Dear Matzav Inbox,
I write this with great trepidation, as I am not one who is capable of sizing up an entire klal, yet this tzarah has been nagging at me for a while now, and I must speak out.
We have approximately 100 of our brothers and sisters being held hostage in dire circumstances, and our response as a klal of Torah Yidden, in my opinion, has been severely lacking. I am aware that nearly every shul says one to three kapitlach of Tehillim after each tefilah, and I am sure these tefillos carry great value to Hashem. However, I believe we as a klal are failing to truly feel the pain of the hostages and their families. I am sure that many individuals have taken upon themselves an extra mitzvah or tefilah as a zechus for their safe return, but I do not see a collective response that is adequate.
I used to wonder how I and this generation would have felt and responded had we been living in America during the Holocaust. Would we really have felt the pain of the Yidden suffering in Europe? Would our lives have been any different due to their plight? I am horrified to say that it appears that after a few weeks, we would have, by and large, disconnected from their suffering and continued on with our lives as usual. How can this be? The hostages are undergoing their own Holocaust, Rachmana litzlan. Can we take two minutes to think about the conditions they are in—stuck in underground tunnels with no sunlight, little food (if any), under the control of ruthless animals, and so much worse for the women and children (may Hashem protect them all)?
We know that when tzaros happen, they are a wake-up call from Hashem to do teshuvah. We know this is the ultimate purpose of the matzav that Klal Yisroel finds itself in. However, I think we all admit that teshuvah is very difficult. Perhaps this is why Hashem brought this great tzarah to Klal Yisroel. Hashem is not asking for our immediate teshuvah. He wants us to cry out to Him in pain for our brothers’ and sisters’ matzav and beg for their yeshua! This is something that we all should be able to do, as it only requires a little bit of thought about their dire predicament. Any human being, and certainly any Yid, is capable of connecting to and feeling their pain. This tze’akah is what led to Hashem’s salvation in Mitzrayim. Ultimately, this will lead to our teshuvah as well.
I understand that seemingly all of the hostages were secular. Regrettably, this may make it more difficult to connect to their suffering. However, we must remember that each one has a Yiddishe neshama! We would be obligated to be mechalel Shabbos for them if their lives were in danger. These are Hashem’s children! (As an aside, I heard firsthand a recording of one of the freed female hostages speaking to the mother of another female hostage who is, nebach, still being held. She told her that her daughter had taken upon herself to keep Shabbos even as a hostage and that she refuses to obey the commands of her captors when they entail chillul Shabbos! Can we even fathom the level that this baalas teshuvah has reached?)
How can we as a klal bring ourselves to feel their pain? One suggestion is that the gedolim or rabbonim declare a day of fasting, dare I say, once a month. There would be an atzeres in our shuls the night before, with divrei hisorerus from a gadol or rav that each shul could connect to, followed by Tehillim (or the shul could have its own divrei hisorerus and Tehillim). The point is that the klal should be united in crying out to Hashem, begging Him for a yeshua for the hostages and for the entire klal from our enemies. I am not asking that we even cut back on our pleasures and vacations, as this is a lot to ask for many. However, how can we not feel their pain at least once a month for a few hours?
Again, I am not one to give mussar, as I fall short in many areas as well. However, I feel that Hashem may be demanding more of us and waiting to hear our cries before He brings their yeshua.
Sincerely,
Waiting for Our Collective Cry
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