“Shalom Sivan, I think it’s important for the public to know that Yeshivat Kiryat Shmonah returned home this week! We arrived here and danced with tears in our eyes together with the residents of Kiryat Shmona who have also begun to return. And starting tomorrow morning, we will resume Torah study at our Hesder Yeshiva in full force after a year’s absence.
“In this week’s parsha Yaakov Avinu fights during the night with a mysterious enemy. The enemy wounds him but does not defeat him. After a long night of struggle, Yaakov declares: ‘I will not send you on your way unless you bless me.’ Yaakov is not ready to end the confrontation without receiving a blessing. This has been our people’s calling in the face of absolute evil that attacks us in every generation: From every challenge and crisis, we grow prodigiously.
“Indeed, this enemy gives Yaakov an enormous blessing. He bestows upon him a new and much more powerful name: ‘No longer will it be said that your name is just Yaakov, but also Yisrael.’ And this is our name until today.
“We also feel that within all the hardship and sadness, we have ascended to another level. We will never be the same. We must grow. I will dedicate my Torah study this week to the memory of my friend Eitan Dishon, who left an enormous void in the world that must be filled with Torah, mitzvahs, and good deeds.
“I wish all of us, in all of our struggles, the capacity to nurture a blessing from within the pain. Besorot tovot and goodnight from the renewed Kiryat Shmona.”
Translation by Yehoshua Siskin.
