THE WEEPING OF THE WILLOWS

Harav Y. Reuven Rubin Shlita

It was the twigs that set me off, of all the factors that played in my mind, it was the site of those dried out Hoshanahs that brought it all home.

This last Shabbos was the first time I set foot in our shtieble since Purim. I knew it would be difficult, but I was determined to keep it together. Shabbos is about simcha and menucha, I didn’t want to ruin the holy day by shedding tears.

It was never going to be business as usual. Tables had been set up so as to make sure all were distancing, I was placed in what is usually the “Varbe Shul” and hence could only see the olam thru the window at the side the Bais Medrash. Numbers were kept to the legal quota, and the leining was without aliyos. No matter, it was beautiful!

The spiritual force of our togetherness, the sense of home, with being in our own space, the signs on the wall, and yes, the chipped paint, all lent themselves to an uplifting tefilah that no garden could ever offer. I had crafted a short vort to say before the leining, obviously it had to be delivered from the doorway, so as to keep my distance. It was a lovely vort, full of warmth and welcome, probably one of my better drosha’lech (if I may say so myself) but then I saw the Hashanahs, the bundles of dried out willow branches that had been thrown onto of the Aron Kodesh on Hashanah Rabbah. Seeing them, feeling their loneliness, well it ripped thru all my resolve and I could only sob a few words and melt into a crying heap.

These holy twigs are meant to be taken away before Pesach and used to build a fire to burn the chometz. Sadly this year there was no one to build such a fire, as we all burnt minimal crusts in our back gardens. The entire shtieble was closed, and behind those locks lay all the sweet memories of our lively davening.

Hashanahs are meant to be the last ditch effort after all the prayers that have taken up our minds and hearts throughout the Holy days of ‘The Hieliga Teig’. We had davened over the entire Ellul, Tishrei sequence of Yomim Tovim, pleading to be pardoned over our sins, and beseeching for a better tomorrow. At the last service of Hashanah Rabbah Shacharis, after all the cries of the Hoshanos, we take this bundle of willows in hand and slap them on the floor, showing our total submission to Hashem’s Rotzon and then, in an amazing feat of confidence, we throw them above the Aron Kodesh, as if to say, Eibishter we have tried our best, please take these torn twigs as a symbol of our hearts and mend us.

To an old shul hand such as myself, those twigs laying on the top of the Aron, are a comforting reminder of Hashem’s love of our tefillos during that special period of the year. However, comes Pesach and it is time to clear away those reminders and create new memories as we march out of the Metzrayim of our personal golus. This year that wasn’t possible, and when I saw those lonesome willows their import crushed me.

We haven’t been here in our home over two of the three yearly Yomim Tovim. We have had so many losses, and so many challenges. We have stumbled about with fear and trepidation of what the morrow will bring? And now we were back and I lost it, I couldn’t find my tongue, no wonder willow trees are also called weeping willows.

My tearful moment passed, and I once again gained my composure, Its Shabbos, and Der Hieliga Bashefer has allowed us to come home.

In Parshas Masei we read:  “When you come to the Land of Canaan, this is the land that shall fall to you as an inheritance…” (34:2) The Vorke Rebbe Ztl tells us that this passage hints that the land of Eretz Yisroel is a natural fit for the Bnei Yisroel. The Rebbe quips, “it is like they say, ‘every pot has its cover’, so we are the perfect match for the holy land. It is our inert Kedusha that makes the holy land our natural home.

May I venture to add, that as we are in Golus, our perfect fit are our Batei Midrashim. We were separated from our spiritual homes, our shuls, and upon return we have all experienced a sense of heightened relief.

This all comes with a caveat, we are not finished yet with Coronavirus, and we still must remain vigilant. Our places of holiness must remain vehicles for kedusha and not a breeding place for devastation. Distancing must be done with rigor, masks worn when between others, and hands washed and sanitized. It seems many have decided that the all clear has been somehow sounded, and we can forget everything we have learnt about safety in these difficult times.

I have spent hours talking to doctors, and health professionals. I have asked Gedolei Torah for their psak and No one, not a single one, voiced a sense that we can revert back to old norms. We must keep alert if we are to stave off this vicious danger.  Mixing without distancing, none use of masks, this is just wrong, and if you don’t believe me ask your doctor.

We have all been challenged by these unprecedented times. Let it not be for naught as we stand at the cusp of its ending. At the time of writing our brethren in Eretz Yesroil are witnessing an uptick of cases, America fears the same. Please, please, let our tears not be spent in vain. May the Eibishter have rachmonus on us all and bring our total redemption soon.