Everything is replay. We must learn from our past but somehow it seems we always fall into a deep slumber and neither see nor hear. While other nations may be able to survive if they sleep, we cannot. We are few in numbers. Every neshamah is precious and irreplaceable.
Moreover, at Sinai we were charged with an awesome responsibility – a divine purpose to live up to our calling. To neglect that is to guarantee disaster. We dare not sleep. There are too many who scheme to annihilate us.
I’ve written of the stunning miracles during the Six-Day War. To be sure, every battle fought by Israel has been laden with miracles. The very survival of our people in that tiny land surrounded by nations determined to destroy us is miraculous.
But the miracles of the Six-Day War were so clear, so obvious, that even a blind person could see them and a deaf person could hear them. And for a moment we all did. We saw. We heard. Our hearts and souls soared. The pintele Yid buried deep in our souls became a bright flame that illuminated our lives. But, alas, we allowed the flame to die.
Today we are once again confronted by roaring wolves who threaten to devour us. What are we to do?
Have we forgotten that after we went back to sleep after witnessing the miracles of the Six-Day War, we experienced the painful Yom Kippur War that saw so many casualties and caused so much suffering?
Time and again I have pointed out that there are no coincidences in our history. The Six-Day War lasted six days because the Seventh Day was ready to come; the day that is “Kulo Shabbos” – all Shabbos, the day of Mashiach.
But we didn’t hear – and if we heard we disregarded – Hashem’s loving call to us and so the Yom Kippur War befell us. And Yom Kipper is Yom HaDin, the Day of Judgment.
So what are we to do? Will Washington, Moscow, the European Union, or the United Nations help us in out time of need? Are they going to intercede on our behalf? Our answer can be found in King David’s Psalm 81. “If only My people would heed Me. If Israel would walk in My ways. In an instant I would subdue their foes and against all their tormentors turn My Hand.”
It sounds so simple. Why then is it so hard? Instead of running to this country or that country, to this head of state or that head of state, to this politician or that politician, let us run to our Father, the Master of the Universe – our One and Only G-d.
Think about it. We are the nation that has entrée into the Palace. We can speak to the King of kings. And we have pull. He is our Father. And yet we run around speaking to His servants and never enter the Chambers of the Palace.
This is our tragedy, and it is a tragedy of colossal proportions.