B’H we are privileged to experience a special year: the shemita year. The Land is filled with holiness. B’H this year has a special greatness, but also special challenges. I know that shemita is not at the height of its glory. I know how hard it is to implement shemita in a reality in which there are very few farmers. However, despite the difficulties there is radiance. Despite the challenges we need to notice the elevated state which only we merited. I ask myself a difficult question: How could it be that our righteous fathers did not merit things which we merit? How could it be that during two thousand years Am Yisrael was in exile and usually suffered greatly: the Roman exile, the Crusaders, the Inquisition, the deportation from Spain, the terrible Holocaust and more. Among our ancestors were great tzadikkim, Leaders of Israel. How could it be that they didn’t merit and we do? How could it be that specifically we merit to see Israel returning to its Land, merit to be in the land of Israel, merit the IDF, merit to keep the mitzvah of shemita and the other mitzvot which can only be done in Israel, merit to be part of the process of redemption! This question can be answered in a number of ways: we can understand that all the stages of redemption which we merited happened because of our ancestors; we can understand that Am Yisrael had to undergo a process until we reached this elevated state, and more. However, one thing is clear to me. If we specifically merited to be part of these great processes, if we specifically merited to see what our ancestors could only dream of, then this shows how much Hashem loves us. This shows how much Hashem wants us to succeed, and how much He believes in us. If we merited this elevated state, this proves we have a shlichut, that we have a series of missions, that we have strengths! Hashem created us specifically in this special generation, since we can be Hashem’s messengers, to perfect the universe through the Almighty’s sovereignty. The closer we get to the state of redemption, so do the challenges abound, so is global complexity more difficult. A great thing creates great strengths, however great strengths sometimes create confusion and brings the world to great downfall. Yet, specifically the challenging state in which we live shows the greatness, the strength.
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