Dear Community,
 
BringThemHome – Day 559

 
״יְמִין ה׳ עֹשָׂה חָיִל״
 “Yemin Hashem Oseh Chayil”
“The right hand of the Lord is triumphant” (from Psalm 118 – Hallel)
Numerical value = 559

 
As I sit in a recording studio in Kings Cross, committing to audio the beautiful book “To Heal a Fractured World” by Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks zt”l, I am reminded of these words above from Hallel.
 
In these days, as the Haggadah reminds us, we are compelled to see ourselves as if we have personally experienced the Exodus from Egypt. In our first moments of freedom, after crossing the Reed Sea, we sing to God.
 
We thank him, in the moment, for all the kindnesses we have received to just escape the tyranny we have come from, and yet we barely make it out and we are attacked by Amalek.
 
Is life just one rollercoaster of emotional and religious response after another?
 
The answer this year is that Pesach is both the blessing of freedom and the challenge of freedom at the same time.
 
How will we use our new-found freedom? Will we raise our voices to call for freedom for all those who are downtrodden, while ensuring the defeat of evil wherever we see it? Will we be brave enough to say the challenging things, while holding fast to morality and responsibility?
 
And will be have the strength to stay the course, to be the people of faith the God believes for us, even more that we believe in Him? This is the question that Rabbi Sacks poses in the book To Heal a Fractured World, and this is the question to which we must turn, in the Time of Our Freedom – Zman Cheiruteinu.
 
Shabbat shalom uMevorach and Chag Sameach

Rabbi Daniel & Ilana