Dear Friends,
The summer is almost upon us. For many of us, summer represents sunshine and perhaps a brief respite from our regular routine. For all of us, the summer signifies the advent of the Three Weeks, beginning with the 17th of Tamuz, culminating with the 9th of Av. This is a most serious time frame within the Jewish yearly calendar and is distinctly a time of mourning.
Rabbi Baruch Leff in the Yated Magazine, last summer, shared a powerful message, referring to these weeks of mourning and the subsequent weeks of comfort. He retells a story told by Rav Avrohom Kluger, in his Sefer Nezer Yisroel. A family had tragically lost a child in a dreadful car accident. Among the family members sitting shiva were older siblings, who among themselves were seriously debating what ‘kabala’ they should accept upon themselves. Should they work on a specific character trait? Should they try to perfect a particular commandment? A prominent Rav walked in and they asked him his opinion.
“Do you want to know what you should be ‘mekabel’? I’ll tell you exactly what G-d wants you to work on. He wants you to be ‘mekabel tanchumim’! You must work on accepting and integrating the words of comfort and encouragement being offered.” – so answered the Rav. It’s not easy to accept comfort and move on. In fact, it’s an ‘avoda’, it’s really a difficult, arduous task. And yet, this is what a mourner is expected to work on. “Work hard at being consoled.” Rabbi Leff indicates that when friends and family leave a shiva home with the traditional words of comfort, they are basically asking Hashem to give the mourner the strength to pick up the pieces and move on. They are pleading with Hashem to enable the family to accept the sincere words of comfort and encouragement and with time, life life fully and even joyfully once again.
During the three weeks, ‘Bein Hamtzarim’, we are all in mourning. All of Klal YIsrael is in mourning. And yet, there’s hope. There is always hope. We say, ‘Meshenichnas Av, m’maatin b’simcha’, when Av arrives, we reduce the happiness level. We don’t eliminate happiness, we reduce it. As believing Jews, there must always be a minimal standard of contentment and happiness that permeates our lives.
The Klausenberger Rebbe tragically lost his entire family in the Holocaust. When asked what enabled him to rebuild after experiencing such trauma, he remarked, ‘While I have indeed lost everything, there is one thing that I did not lose- HaKodosh Baruch Hu. I still have my G-d.”(shared by Reb Aryeh Ginzberg, Mishpacha Magazine, May 21, 2013).
During these 3 weeks of mourning, we find ourselves in the month of ‘Av’. Av signifies ‘father’. Although these were historically such painful weeks for our people, G-d has been our father throughout and will always be there for us.
May we have reason to increase the joy level. May the Almighty bring comfort to all in need, ultimately bringing our long awaited Moshiach Tz idkeinu, bringing us back to Yerushalayim Ir Hakodesh, Jerusalem rebuilt, uniting us with our loved ones.
Blessings to all for a truly sunny, uplifting, meaningful summer!! Miriam Liebermann
