This week was terrifying because I was getting reports of the violence on the streets and the rockets raining down on Israel directly from friends and family and in real time. Not through tweets, media reports or celebrity newscasters. From thousands of miles away I watched family members living in all parts of Israel rush their kids to bomb shelters multiple times in the middle of the night.
Heard about the lynchings going on? Here is a story I heard from the victim which was not reported in the media, because of its happy ending.
I’m on a WhatsApp group with a friend living in Afula, Israel. Each week he encourages dozens of Jews to wrap Tefillin and his weekly posts are quite inspiring.
On Tuesday night he posted to the group that while driving that evening his car was suddenly surrounded by rioting Arabs throwing stones and shouting at him. They managed to open his car door, but he miraculously kept his cool, pressed the gas pedal hard and managed to escape the inevitable lynch. His car windows were smashed and he had cuts and bruises but by a clear miracle he escaped safe and sound. Seeing the photos he posted was very hard for me, and while thankful that he was alright I couldn’t help imagining how traumatic the experience was for him. Every day I study the Rebbe’s letters and am currently studying the letters from the summer of 1967. In the weeks preceding the Six Day War, as the entire Jewish world trembled from the impending Arab attack, the Rebbe launched a massive campaign to encourage every Jewish male over the age of 13 to wrap Tefillin. Every Mitzvah has a unique quality and Tefillin is the key to Jewish security, the Rebbe explained. (Learn more about this here.) On Tuesday night I was amazed to providentially read a letter the Rebbe sent to the Afula chief of police thanking him for sharing the good news about the Tefillin campaign in Afula! The Rebbe continues to explain how Tefillin provides much needed spiritual and physical security for all Israel. I sent a photo of the letter to my friend in Afula and he responded that indeed, as he miraculously managed to escape the lynch, he was convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that his passion for inspiring Jews to wrap Tefillin every week certainly played a role in his miracle. In a few days we will celebrate Shavuot: 3,333 years from the revelation at Sinai. It was an event that transformed us from twelve Abrahamic tribes into a Jewish nation, that each and every individual Jew is personally responsible and interconnected with each other. Just like the health of every organ of the body is relevant to all the other organs, one Jew’s Mitzvah affects all Jews wherever they may be. I hope and pray that the worst has passed for the Jews in Israel and they will have only peace and tranquility from now on, but clearly there is something that all of us can and should be doing for them. So here are some ideas: Men over 13 years should wrap Tefillin on weekdays. It would be my pleasure to help you do this Mitzvah. Please reach out to schedule a time to meet and I’ll guide you through this special Mitzvah. Now might be a good time to purchase your own pair, or to have your Tefillin checked to ensure it’s still kosher. Let’s arm up with Tefillin and help our brothers and sisters in the IDF protect Israel! Women and girls of all ages should light Shabbat and festival candles at the proper time. In the next few days we have extra opportunities to brighten up the world: this Friday evening at 7:38pm (read instructions and blessings here), Sunday evening for Shavuot at 7:39pm and on Monday evening please light the candles from a pre-existent flame after 8:38pm (read instructions and blessings here). May the light of the Shabbat and festival flames outshine and neutralize the flashing brightness seen this week over Israel’s nighttime skies from Hamas’s rockets and Israel’s Iron Dome. May it never need to be used again! Millions of Israelis needed to hunker down in bomb shelters and safe rooms this week. Let’s beef up our home security by ensuring that we have proper Mezuzahs on all the doors of our homes. Have yours been checked in the past few years to ensure they retain their kosherness? Are you sure there is a proper scroll in the Mezuzah case? Do you need to purchase more Mezuzahs for more doors in your home? It will be my pleasure to help you with all your Mezuzah needs. Please reach out! May all our collective Mitzvot immediately usher in the era of Moshiach when peace and tranquility will reign for all humanity.