Three Shiurim In NY This Week
I will be in NY for a few days and BSD three Shiurim have been organized. For Info:
Monday Night April 19 Far Rockaway- Call Chaia 718 471 3223
Tues Night April 20 Great Neck- Call Isabella 718 263 5500 ext 1
Sunday Night April 25 Forest Hills- Call Sara 718 531 6234
I LOOK FORWARD TO GREETING YOU PERSONALLY
Not Just Another Geula Rumor…
BSD
As the date for the Chanukat Habayit of the rebuilt Churva Shul approached, many rumors started surfacing upgrading its significance considerably. The most predominant of these was the connection between this Chanukat Habayit and the ultimate Chanukat Bait Hamikdash. According to some, the Vilna Gaon was to have made this connection, saying that when the Churva would be rebuilt for its third time, it would be a sign that the third Bait Hamikdash also would soon be rebuilt and reactivated.
I am not aware of this having been substantiated, or of the Sefer which this idea was found (if you have such information, please pass it on!). Nevertheless, this Shmuah was repeated, recycled and it recharged many people, especially since the Chanukat Habayit was scheduled for Nissan, month of redemption.
The danger of having high hopes dashed is well known to the Metzapim of the Jewish blogosphere. Many times in the past ten years, Mekubalim have been quoted and misquoted, special children have been dialoging and predicting, and simple Jews have been analyzing news reports and weather patterns.
We all know that the Geula is unfolding before our very eyes, and yet there is inherent disappointment when a specific prediction doesn’t manifest as clear Geula.
So, I would like to share with you a story that hopefully will encourage the Mitzapeh in you, and give insight as to just how this Geula seems to be developing.
A good friend of mine and her husband and family have lived in the Rova for about 20 years. Her husband is a beloved Ram in one of the Yeshivot in the Rova. His grandfather, who lived here when the Turks were ruling, chose the Churva Shul to be his place to sit and learn. It was his Makom Kavua. This grandfather had to leave the Land to avoid being drafted into the Turkish army and moved to America. After the miraculous Six Day War, this grandfather took his grandson to visit the reunited Yerushalayim, and they went to the Rova, back to his ‘spot’. When he saw the ruins, his grandfather just stood there and cried. They stood together in all the rubble, a weeping grandfather and an idealistic grandson.
As the Churva was being rebuilt, my friend’s children would play in the construction site. They had the keys to all the doors, sometimes locking out the Shomrim. Healthy kids, playing without fear, in their own land.
The first Shabbos that the Churva Shul was open to the Tzibur, my friend’s husband decided he had to forgo his own place in his yeshiva, to daven in the new rebuilt Churva. He took his sons and stood with them in testimony to his own grandfather, and to all who had cried for so long at our losses. And he told them, remember this moment well. One day you will have to tell this story to your own grandchildren.
But the best was yet to come. Everyone who lives here in Eretz Yisrael knows that one of the challenges we face here has to do with getting along with each other. In Ch’ul, Jews have many reminders that somehow keep the glue between us strong. But, B’H, in Eretz Yisrael, we have to do the holy work of fulfilling Ve’Ahavta Lerayacha Kamocha, Lamehadrin Min Hamehadrin. Most folks here realize already that our outside enemies, be they the president of America or our Yishmaeli cousins are only fueled by lapses within our own Avodas Hashem. So, the Jews who came to the Churva Shul that first Shabbos were curious as to who would run the show.
Whoever did arrange that first Shabbos did it with much thought and sensitivity. The Rova is a very mixed Kehilla, and so the Aliyas for Krias HaTora were divided carefully. Every different type of Jew got an Aliya. Ateret Kohanim got an Aliya, the Vilna Gaon’s Zilberman family got an Aliya, Chabad of the Rova got an Aliya, the Chassidish Kehilla and the Chardal world. Every group and Aida got an Aliya to the Torah. No one was left out, and no one felt left out. Indeed, the Churva Shul had been reopened as the community Shul of the old city of Yerushalayim.
At the end of Davening, the entire Kehilla as well as people who had come from outside the Rova had to say that it was a beautiful, unified Davening.
So, the opening of Churva Shul indeed was the first step in the coming down of the third and final Bais Hamikdash. It was a test that was given to the Jews of the Rova, who represented almost every Aida in the Torah world and they managed to pass with flying colors. There was Achdus, there was a heartfelt Davening and there was a bit of wonder at the ability of our Chevra to make this happen.
This Hayinu Kecholmim continued into Pesach and when I went to see the Churva Shul in all its glory and beauty, I joined tens of thousands of Olei Haregel who flooded into Yerushalayim to celebrate Pesach, to celebrate being free in our homeland and just to celebrate life. The old city lanes were packed as usual and there was music in all parts of the city. People sat and ate their matzo, little kids danced to the music, Zekaynim and Zekaynos sat on shaded benches watching, smiling.
Geula seems to be happening slowly and gradually. Many thought that the third Bayis would explosively descend as soon as the Churva Shul ceremonies were over. Perhaps on a certain level, it did…
Perhaps Hashem tossed the keys down to us.
Chazal tell us that the Geula will be like a sunrise, and like a birth. A sunrise is slow, gradual and beautiful; a birth is slow, gradual and exciting. There can be days when the sunrise is blocked by clouds and there are some births that are painful. This Geula is happening and we are having our share of excitement, awe, pain and beauty.
May the Achdus shown and felt in the recent days be a merit for us all to enjoy Geula BeRachamim soon!!