Trump's Shabbat Proclamation and America's Founding Promise
5 min read
Experience the holiday of Sukkot and attain true serenity and security.
Who could imagine that the atrocities of October 7th would bring tens of thousands around the world to march in support of such barbarism? Israel is attacked, men, women and children are slaughtered, and innocent victims and wounded are blamed.
Hamas took 250 hostages to Gaza after raping, burning, and killing 1200, yet it is Israel who is being accused of a war that Hamas started. Hezbollah terrorists launched 80,000 missiles, rockets and drones in the last year, and drove 60,000 Israelis from their homes near the border. Hassan Nasrallah, known to be a bloodthirsty terrorist, is killed by Israeli forces while the New York Times paints him as a “powerful orator, beloved, who helped provide social services for Lebanon”.
This is the man who proclaimed that if all Jews gathered in Israel it would save Hezbollah and Muslims the trouble of going after them worldwide. He called Jews the “descendants of apes and pigs” and promised to destroy them in the name of Allah. In order to finance terrorism, he saw Hezbollah become one of the largest drug-trafficking and narco-terrorist groups in the world. This is the darling figure being mourned?
Not a week goes by that I do not hear from a student or parent whose child has faced harassment, threats and ugly antisemitism on campus while professors and administrators turn a blind eye. Universities meant to educate have become hotbeds of hatred. Jews are thought of as “privileged”, ignoring thousands of years of persecution and racism. Like a cancer, this anti-Jewish, anti-Zionist, new-fangled antisemitism has become vogue amongst keffiyeh-wearing students and professors alike.
Our world has gone mad.
Where can we find serenity?
The holiday of Sukkot offers an antidote to the ills we are facing.
The sukkah takes us outside, under the stars. We abandon our homes, our daily comforts, and find protection in the “Sukkah of Peace”. In a world where truth and security seem to be vanishing, let us find serenity within the walls of the sukkah.
Sukkot lifts us to a higher world. Sit inside your sukkah and recall the Clouds of Glory that accompanied the Children of Israel in the desert after leaving the slavery in Egypt. As a symbol of their newfound intimate relationship with God, they were surrounded by God’s shelter. The Jewish nation discovered that they were beloved, raised up from a life of pain and misery.
Many of us have been grappling with fear, sadness and anxiety. How did we suffer the worst tragedy since the Holocaust? Are Jews safe in America? Will the next generation endure?
Sukkot reminds us that we each have our own personal Clouds of Glory in our lives. We can recapture that feeling of closeness with God. Yes, we are grieving. We have endured the bitter taste of persecution and hatred that has left us reeling. But at the same time, we are standing tall and proud. Our comfort comes not from material things in our homes but from the magic within our souls.
In the midst of all the darkness, we have seen the light of a spiritual awakening. Jews who had never thought about it now adorn their necks with Stars of David. Many have asked to discover Jewish wisdom, join others at a Shabbat meal, or kindle a Shabbat candle for the very first time. A connection has been ignited. Pride comes not from our possessions, but rather from knowing who we are and where we came from.
If we’ve learned one thing this past year, it’s how precious life is. Sukkot gives us the opportunity to leave behind our “stuff” – the material pleasures, the incessant accumulation, the never-ending stream of posts, pings and texts, and to focus on what truly matters in life – the connection with our family, friends and with the Divine.
Think about how many mothers and fathers are waiting for their children to come home. How many sons and daughters cry themselves to sleep imagining hearing their parent’s voice? What they would not give for one more kiss, one more hug, and one more chance to say “I love you.”
Sukkot is called “the holiday of joy.” Our journey this past year has been filled with heartache. While the sorrow remains, we must find room now for solace. The Jewish people are a nation of love. We build our world through lovingkindness. This past year I have met many Jews who may look different from me, think differently from me, but we have discovered that we are family. This has been the experience of countless of people who have opened their hearts to brothers and sisters they never knew existed.
This Sukkot, experience the joy that comes when we are surrounded by the shelter of faith, of trust and of love, when we are connected spiritually as one nation. Am Yisrael Chai.
I have treasured the name "Israel" since childhood. Of course I knew little of it. My understanding was widen and deepen when I took history class in 1973-1974. Studying the scriptures, both the back and the front of the one book. The Word of Yah is true and solidly affirm that Jewish people truly belong to the Land of Israel.
Those who spread lies and anti-Semitism aren't studying the Word of YAH. They are going by ear-say, their false religion and seduced by the father of lies and the murderer of man's soul. One day every human being that came into existence through the Divine plan of the Creator, Who is of course the God of Avraham, Yitz'ch and Ya'akov, the God of Israel will bow before Him and confess their wrongs. To those people I urge you confess now before it is too late. Amen.
Jews are not the only "minority" that has endured centuries of discrimination and abuse. However, they are one of the oldest groups in this catagory. Distrust of people who are "different" runs throughout all of humanity, it is in our nature. However, unlike animals, we have the ability to REASON. A REASONABLE PERSON would not be prejudiced against any minority group just because they are a minority in a given society. Isreal may have a majority of Jews, but it is a very small country, with enemies completely surrounding it. However, some Muslim groups fear the radical muslims more than the Jews and have made peace with Isreal. This is a good trend but it is not near enough to stop the danger to Jews in Isreal. Remember when ONE is not safe NOONE is Safe.
Rabbi Meir Kahane(obm) foresaw that world anti semitism well come, and also foresaw what will be in Israel, and Jews should learn to defend themselves any way they can, and the Chabad say to do mitzvahs and a lot of people should to do kiruv, that Jews on college campuses shouldn't feel they are alone, that they have a Jewish community for them, and hopefully these Jews will be invited to the Succah and see the beauty of their heritage, and anti semitism is like a disease that so far there is no cure for, also before the end of days it says Jews will have a lot of trouble from Ishmael it is written the prophets, hopefully mosiach will come and solve the problem
World antisemitism has been around since the very beginning of Judism. Abraham himself had to contend with people who did not like his views on religion. Well we ever get rid of it? I hope so.
Wonderful!
Excellent article!!! May we all be lifted to a higher world in the sukkah.
Amen!
Amen