Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel said: “There were no days more joyous than the 15th of Av (Tu B’Av) and Yom Kippur, for on those days the daughters of Jerusalem would go out in borrowed white clothing, in order not to embarrass those who did not have…and the daughters of Jerusalem would dance in the vineyards.” (Mishna Ta’anit 4:8).
This year, no one is dancing.
This past evening my wife and I took a walk in the center of Yerushalayim.
Traditionally, this week of the year, the week of Tu Bav, the center of Yerushalayim would be crowded with tourists from all over the world everyone hoping to get a seat at one of the well-known eateries of Yerushalayim.
The day of Tu Bav in particular would take on a festive air with thousands of families, shidduch-dates and tourists all vying for a coveted spot in one of Yerushalayim’s kosher restaurants.
The city is usually this time of the year bustling with the sounds of every language imaginable as Yerushalayim would be truly a gathering place of ingathers from all over the world.
Yet, today, few if any tourists fill the streets or eateries.
The only language heard is Hebrew as foreigners, including our frum American brethren have allowed the verse in Eichah, “Jerusalem, once so full of people, is now deserted. She who was once great among the nations now sits alone like a widow” (Eichah 1:1) to be unfortunately, and in my humble opinion, unjustifiably, fulfilled!
The war is a serious and brutal one.
Yet, our city, our beloved capital is as safe as it was prior to October 7th.
Yet, unfortunately, our people, we who profess Bitachon in Hashem, seemingly trust the opinion of United Airlines more than the Gedolei Yisroel.
The truth of the matter is that life is alive and well and SAFE in Yerushalayim!
We who ask our Torah leaders mundane issues such as what car to purchase, conveniently fail to notice that NOT ONE GREAT TORAH LEADER-be they Chassidish or Litvish or Modern Orthodox, have neither left the land nor transferred their courts or institutions to Lakewood or Brooklyn- nor have they dissuaded incoming students from coming this year.
This fact holds true not just for the yeshivos, all the girl’s seminaries are equally filled with incoming students.
Why do American Frum Jews seem to live with the same cognitive dissonance as described by Rav Meir Simcha of Dvinsk 75 years ago (and paraphrased by me), “ They think Lakewood is Yerushalayim,”
Those of you who canceled your trips because Delta or United stopped flying to Israel, who will you answer to after 120 when you are asked, “Why did you cancel your trip and abandon Eretz Yisroel while the Gerrer Rebbe and the Belzer Rebbe remained?
What lame excuse will you use to justify your lack of Bitachon in Hashem and your complete trust in the CEO of United Airlines?
How will you answer when you are presented with the facts that Yerushalayim is more free of terror attacks now- after October 7th -than it was before Simchas Torah?
Do you really think you were honest when you asked your Daas Torah or your Rosh Yeshiva, Rebbe, Rov or whoever that since “ your wife” is scared, you feel for Shalom Bayis you should cancel your trip to Eretz Yisroel and instead go off to Poland to support those who did their best to ensure that no Jew should ever step foot in the Land of Israel?
And as you sit on your coach bus in Krakow with five-star accommodations and you half-heartedly listen to a Drosha about the so-called resiliency of the Jewish people during the Holocaust while scrolling through your emails and you pat yourself on the back for listening to Daas Torah and canceling your trip to Yerushalayim, do you really think that your actions are proper in the eyes of HE who knows all?
Do you think Hashem is fooled by your justifications?
Why aren’t you here?
Should the restaurants in Yerushalayim only cater to the rare army reservist on a 24 hour leave from Gaza with his gun on his shoulder as he sits in a near empty restaurant in Yerushalayim- (see picture on top)- while you travel “safely” to Davos, Italy, Poland and the Catskills?
Do you feel “frum” and “earlich” as you relax in Davos and do you truly feel the pain of your Israeli brethren as you grapple with the immense and crucial question of whether its ‘kdai” to be fleishig as if such, you will not have ice cream for dessert?
Are these the ways of Hashem’s children?
Why aren’t you here?
Please do not answer to me, answer to He who stated in this week’s Torah reading , “Eretz Yisroel is land that Hashem , your G-d, looks after; the eyes of Hashem are always upon it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.”
Could the words of Hashem be clearer?
“If Not Now, Then When?”-
Hillel
