Bring In Some Light

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Bring In Some Light

Harav Y. Reuven Rubin Shlita

It’s difficult to describe that which is apparent yet offers no clear answers. As this Ellul arrives, we are all wounded by the dark clouds of war and hate that hover over our hearts. It’s there in every article, every taunt, swirling about in our minds as we strain to focus in these most holy of days.

We, who were born as the ashes of the holocaust were still simmering, were raised with hopes that such fires would be extinguished by the flowering of new Torah centres. The Bobover Rebbe, Rav Naftali Ztl, was known to say that the Eibishter had gifted us with fifty years in which to rebuild the Torah world with a special siata dishmaya. Those days of growth were glorious in so many ways, and Yiddishkeit raised the flag of kidush Hashem in many new ways. America was a world with limited Yiddisha vibrancy before the war, yet as the broken survivors straggled upon its shores, the fire of Yiddishkeit was relit through their sweet effervescence. My mind sees clearly Rav Naftali Ztl working with unbelievable mesiras nefesh day and night to rebuild that which was taken away. Hand in hand with his holy father, the Rebbe Shlomo Ztl, nothing seemed beyond hope or the possible. His soft smile never left his lips, his voice, his words, softly telling us how to proceed. His every word was toiveled in Kidush Hashem. I witnessed the building and something much more; I witnessed the kvod Hashem that forged this new world.

So what of now? War walks in our holy land, phrases born in prewar Germany are now spoken of on demonstration lines here in the UK. With all this chaos, a new nuance has stepped in, a G-dlessness amongst the nations, a dearth of belief swirling about at all levels of society.

Is there any connection between our growth and their hate?

In Parshas Ki Savo, we find many blessings and curses. The Rebbe Rav Boruch of Mezbitz explains that the passage: “And all the peoples of the earth shall see that Hashem’s name is proclaimed over you, and they shall stand in fear of you.” (28:10), as teaching us that: When the nations of the