Chevre, this week’s parsha is Vayeilech (וילך). I’m going to be honest with you, I’ve been going through the parsha, like normal, but I’m really not connecting with it this week. It’s extremely short and nestled inbetween Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
My Rosh Hashanah davening was more thoughtful and emotional this year. I suspect it has something to do with our son being in the army. I keep thinking about the whole year depending on our davening of Rosh Hashanah and the 10 days of Teshuvah. I hear in my head a friend saying before Mussaf of 2nd day Rosh Hashanah a long time ago in Haifa that we are davening for our lives. And I took that message to heart.
Over the holiday I read an article in a Mizrachi magazine (there were several places this idea came out) about Agam Berger being given a booklet from Rav Drukman while she was in captivity (yes, the terrorists gave it to her). And how she connected with the messages in it and it saved her. I then discovered that I had picked up in shul an English translation of the book (or possibly a condensed version) and it was being published this year to start on the 1st day of Rosh Hashanah, to be learned daily and complete on Simchat Torah. And I was reading the intro on the 1st day of Rosh Hashanah.
- https://mizrachi.org/hamizrachi/faith-in-captivity-an-interview-with-agam-berger/
- https://mizrachi.org/hamizrachi/war-to-protect-the-people/
- I was not able to find the booklet I have from shul in digital form for free, only for purchase https://machon.oretzion.com/%D7%9E%D7%95%D7%A6%D7%A8%D7%99%D7%9D/with-might-and-spirit--digital-edition
There is an idea that we daven to HaShem and we are answered through our learning. I’ve seen this happen to myself many times. Over Rosh Hashanah there were many political movements around the world both for and against the State of Israel. I won’t go into them, but Rav Drukman addressed these concepts in today’s learning. Just in time.
It is my custom to connect my learning with the the cloud and so this Just in Time answer is similar to Auto Scaling and Serverless systems that give you what you need when you need it and then go on their way to help others. I see these messages in a similar light. HaShem is giving us what we need, when we need it (and not over provisioning or giving us more than we need or can handle) and then moving on to others. We just need to trust in HaShem and do what we need to do.
Shabbat Shalom, Shanah Tovah, Gemar Chatimah Tovah.