With Heaven’s help, Rosh Chodesh Sivan 5781
To our brethren, the entire House of Israel,
“On this day [Rosh Chodesh Sivan] they arrived at the Sinai desert” the entire Jewish nation “as one man with one heart.”
“It is a time of sorrow for Jacob, and from it we will be redeemed.” At these times, we must all return to our faith in the Almighty, the God of Israel and accept the Torah and the mitzvot once again, as we did at the Revelation at Mt. Sinai. The Giving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai is the foundation that sustains the rectification of the entire world. It rectifies all the nations by their commitment to the Seven Noahide Laws and by believing in God and in the Torah that Moses received from Him. It is also the rectification of the Children of Israel, God’s Chosen People, by their commitment to the 613 mitzvot of the Torah. It is therefore our duty to disseminate Torah study to all nations and to take particular care to help integrate those righteous converts who wish to adhere to the Jewish People, as Ruth said, “Your people is my people, and your God is my God.”
Currently, there is a special call to attain a state of public teshuvah. This means aiming towards governing the lives of the people in our land according to our holy, life-giving Torah, as the verse states, “Then, the Children of Israel will return and request Havayah, their God and David their king.”
The first actions that true leaders must commit to at this time are:
• Proclaiming clearly that the Land of Israel belongs solely to the People of Israel as the Creator and Ruler of the world pledged it to them, and to ensure that Jews are in control of and settle in all areas of the land.
• A tough hand against the enemies of Israel, wherever they may be, outside the borders of Israel and within, which should include acts of resolute retaliation and intimidation, such as destroying the homes of terrorists and deporting them from Israel.
• Rectifying the legal system: the foundation of the legal system should be Jewish law, “Zion will be redeemed through law.”
There should certainly be no place for a government that relies on non-Jews. Moreover, one should never lean on the broken cane of those who support the enemies of Israel.
On the personal plane, at this time we should all emphasize our love of all Jews and reinforce our mutual responsibility: we should prefer giving livelihood to our brethren by helping the lonely and the helpless and by recruiting ourselves to defending Jews, rather than to our enemies, God forbid.
“The Torah already promises that in the end the Jewish People will do teshuvah at the end of their exile, and they will immediately be redeemed.”
May it be God’s will that as the Festival of Giving of the Torah approaches, we all merit to receive the Torah with joy and inner insight.
Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh
