All eyes are on Surfside, Florida. The horror that unfolded Wednesday night when a large portion of a beachside condominium building suddenly collapsed is unfathomable.
On Thursday, Wolf Blitzer from CNN asked Rabbi Shalom Lipskar, Chabad rabbi in Bal Harbor on live television: “As a man of faith, how do you try to understand and explain something as horrific as this?”
“You can’t explain it, so let’s start from there,” Rabbi Lipskar answered. “There is no rationality for it…”
The rabbi described the situation as a surreal space with hundreds of people waiting for “the ultimate judgement” of life and death of their loved ones. “There is hope in the air, but it’s a strange kind of feeling.” Perhaps the strangeness of the situation is partly due to the fact we don’t yet know if it was the result of bad actors or malicious intent. The victims did not intentionally walk into danger nor was there anything they could have done to protect themselves. I doubt the findings of a thorough investigation will inform us regular people how to be safer in the future and there is probably no known enemy to confront and stop from doing such things again. While hundreds of rescue workers and local volunteers work around the clock to save lives and support the survivors and relatives, there is just confusion and sadness for the rest of us. Is there a way we can process this so that we are not paralyzed by fear of the unknown? This week’s parsha records the story of how two evil anti-Semites sought to destroy the Jewish nation. Balak king of Moav hired the gentile prophet Bilaam to annihilate the Jews with a curse. Bilaam’s curses had destroyed mighty nations before and he was delighted to focus his deadly power on the people he hated most. This was the only time the Jews were in mortal danger without knowing it. All other enemies confronted us directly and we dealt with them either through negotiations, battle or by praying for a miracle. But this time the Jews were oblivious to the problem and unaware of the great miracles that saved them. This story teaches us there's alot going on behind the scenes that we don’t know about. Much more than we can control and manipulate on our own. Trust in G-d - known in Hebrew as bitachon - means realizing that even when we feel safe, secure and in control, it is G-d who is truly running the show. As we do our very best on a natural plane, we must always know that our success is in G-d’s hands. As we grieve for the loss of so many and hope and pray for many miracles to come, don’t be paralyzed by fear of the unknown because G-d is with us every step of the way - even if it feels irrational. Light Shabbat candles before sunset to bring more light to a world that became darker this week. Be sure to have a kosher Mezuzah on your doorpost and have a dedicated charity box in your home for daily giving. The good deeds we do consistently help us nurture a stronger trust in G-d so we can confidently move forward bringing more hope, light and joy to our world, preparing it for the era of Moshiach when peace and tranquility will reign for all.