“These curses will come upon you, pursue you and overtake you, until you are destroyed, because you will not have hearkened to the voice of Hashem, your God, to observe His commandments and decrees that He commanded you. They will be a sign and a wonder, for you and your offspring, forever, because you did not serve your God, amid gladness and goodness of heart, when everything was abundant.” (45-47)
We learn from these pasukim that if we do not serve Hashem “b’simcha” our avoda is actually harmful to our well-being. In fact, without simcha, our avoda becomes a cause of punishment!
Is serving Hashem with simcha required of all Jews? How can we tell those who have suffered as hostages and their families, soldiers who have been maimed and parents who have lost children to serve Hashem b'simcha?
Survivors must find a strategy for coping with enormous pain and mystery. The only recourse is emunah. Emunah restores our faith in Hashem and gives us the concept of geula, the final redemption from exile and the end of our suffering. Emunah is the belief that Hashem is doing all that He can to bring us closer to him, often BY WAY of suffering. Only through emunah we can understand the conundrum. Emunah brings a glimmer of simcha during dark times. Without emunah we live cut off from Hashem without the comfort of believing that there is divine wisdom in our tests and challenges.
A survivor is yet still alive with a purpose to being so. Particularly because we are survivors we have the ability to use our emunah as a tool for helping others to keep the faith and anticipate the joyous and awesome days ahead.
Over the years people have asked me if I would ever draw cartoons depicting some of the cases found in Yora Daya. Well, the answer is yes! I recently published a sefer called The Great Game of Kashrut. Click on the link to find out more: The Great Game of Kashrut
Below is an example case from the book:
To order a copy of The Great Game of Kashrut follow this link: The Great Game of Kashrut
If you would like to dedicate a Davar Torah in honor of a special occasion or in memory of a beloved family member please contact Yisroel Simon at yisroel@judaism613.com.
Good Shabbos,R’ Channenjudaism613.org