News

Here in Eretz Yisrael, we are seeing many events unfold without fully understanding what we’re seeing—political messes (well, that’s not new), massive call-ups of reserves, and President Trump sending mixed messages about the war. Baruch Hashem, a hostage, Idan Alexander, was released by Hamas this week. We hope the rest will be released soon! And it happened… because President Trump waved his hand? What about the others? There is a lack of clarity in the situation; the picture is definitely unclear.

Everyone wants to contribute something significant to the world; to play a meaningful part in the cosmic symphony we call life. This desire is an inherent part of being human. We yearn to expand beyond our limited sphere of existence and become a part of something meaningful, something infinitely greater than ourselves.

In our previous article, we began exploring the depth of Sefiras HaOmer. Based on the Maharal and Ramban, we explained that we are not counting down to Matan Torah, but rather we are building up towards it, ascending one day at a time. We do not wait for Shavuos to arrive; we actively bring it ourselves through the time and effort we invest as we count the Omer.

We are now a bit more than a week past Chag Matan Torah, Shavuos. It has come and gone—and hopefully, you’ve recovered from the lack of sleep and overindulgence in cheesecake. Most importantly, I hope it was an inspirational Yom Tov. But now that it’s over, is there anything left for us to hold on to? Or are we just waiting to fast-forward to the next exciting event?

Last Thursday night, on Lag BaOmer, we in Eretz Yisrael experienced yet another miracle: A missile fired by the Houthis was intercepted without causing harm. Remarkably, this happened on a night when more people than usual were out celebrating at bonfires across the country. And now, once again, the army is being sent into Gaza while the world rises in defense of the so-called “poor Palestinians.” What’s going on?

It is always important to reinforce our commitment to the journey of faith. There is no greater act of emunah than living a spiritual, holistic life in an often chaotic, fragmented world. The famous words, “kedoshim tihiyu — you shall be holy,” are not a call to be transcendent, angelic beings — lofty and perfect, completely beyond the struggle innate to the human condition. This is not permission to deny our humanity or restrict our sense of self. This is a calling to be human — to be the ultimate human, to bring transcendence and spirituality into this world.