[Be-Ahavah U-Be-Emunah –
Vayishlach 5774 – translated by R. Blumberg]
We must
constantly praise the Master of all, day and night, whether He gives us everything
or nothing. Yet the truth is that He gives us so much blessing, miraculously or
naturally, that even if we wanted to praise Him day and night, our praise would
not suffice.
We must
praise Him for the air we breathe, for the eyes with which we see, for the sun and
the moon, for the flowers and the gardens, for our body and soul. Yet first and foremost, we must praise G-d
for not having made us like the nations of the world, and not having placed us
like the families of the earth, for not having designed our destiny to be like
theirs, nor our lot like that of all their multitude. He is the Master of all,
but within that “all”, we stand out. We belong to the family of nations, yet
within that family we are unique, bearing the souls of Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov,
Sarah, Rivka, Rachel and Leah. We are a special family, a marvelous family, an
unparalleled family.
We were a
family already before the Sinai Revelation, the family of a special Nation, a family
eternally beloved. This is the greatest kindness that exists. How fortunate
that we are who we are, whether or not we are aware of it.
We see
nations – G-d have mercy on them – who are wild men, men on the outside but
wild beasts on the inside. Thank G-d He did not make us like them.
We don't
hate them. Every day, in the “Aleinu” prayer, we pray for them, thrice daily: “Perfect
the world under the reign of the Almighty, such that all mankind will call upon
Your Name, and all the wicked of the earth will be turned to You.”
We don't
hate them. At the end of our prayers, we pray for them that they should all merit
to become righteous nations. On that day, G-d will be one and His Name one. Yet
in the meantime, there is only us.
Beloved is
man, that he was created in G-d's image, and above him stands Israel, who are
called G-d's children. All flesh are destined to be beloved and upright, and to
live in eternal peace.
We are the
family of Avraham the Hebrew. The entire world was on one side and he was on
the other, and together with that, G-d blessed him. “All the nations of the
earth shall be blessed through you” (Bereshit 12:3).
As far as
all the wicked turning to G-d, that will come to pass. It won't be today or tomorrow,
and apparently not the day after tomorrow either, but it will happen, and we shall
await it patiently.
We are the
disciples of Yehoshua bin Nun, who conquered the Land and settled it. It was he
who authored the “Aleinu” prayer, quoted above, which we have recited down through
the generations, relating to those same nations who shed our blood and who
still continue to do so.
As
for us, how good our portion and how pleasant our lot. How fortunate we are to
be us!
