WE NEED YOU AT THE MEETING
This past Sunday the month of Elul began along with the custom to blow the Shofar every morning. The purpose of this Shofar blast is to arouse us from our slumber, or in more practical terms, to wake us up from our distractions. Imagine the fellow whose business takes him to
Lancaster PA for a meeting. He decides to take his family up to Hershey Park for the day and he will leave them in the middle of the day for his meeting and return later. Unfortunately, he gets so involved in the Park that he loses track of time and by the time he remembers it is already too late. How fortunate he would have been if at 12 noon the Park would sound a bugle that would startle all the Park goers. He would have remembered why he came to Pennsylvania in the first place.
In a similar fashion, we become so involved in the minutiae of life that we lose track of why we came to this world in the first place. Our Sages in their wisdom, therefore, began this custom to wake us up a month before Rosh Hashana so that we do not miss our meeting.
But how do we benefit from this if we do not know what our meeting is about?
After reading this week’s Parsha, Shoftim, we shall read the prophecy of Yishayahu in which he tells his people in the Name of HaShem “Wake up, Wake up! Don your strength, O Yerushalayim… Burst out in joy, O ruins of Yerushalayim, for HaShem shall comfort HiS people… He has bared His holy arm to the eyes of the nations (referring to the overt miracles that He will perform for us)” The echo of this prophecy which was told to us over 2,500 years ago reverberates still today in the first week of Elul, reminding us that there will truly be a great meeting of HaShem in all His Greatness and His beloved people.
A person might think that this relates only to the nation as a whole but for little me, I play no role in this great meeting. To underscore the intrinsic value of each member of our people our Parsha instructs us not to move the boundaries of the property of our fellow Jew which he received from his parents in the Land of Israel which HaShem gave to us. The Torah is warning every Jew to acknowledge that every member of our people has a portion in the Land which HaShem gave us. Let no Jew discount a fellow Jew – everyone has their unique role. If one Jew is absent the Land of Israel is not complete.
May HaShem open our hearts to every Jew and open the heart of every Jew to appreciate the role he plays in this great meeting.
Have a wonderful Shabbos.
Paysach Diskind