PIRKEI AVOT 2:5:
“… and where there are no (responsible) people to be found, try to fill the void”
And its corollary:
If there is another who can do the job better or even as well as you, find yourself greener pastures where you can contribute your talents.
I was born on Shabbat the 13th of Iyar, which coincided in that year with May 14th – two very auspicious dates.
For my 10th birthday on May 14th, 1948 HaShem presented me with a one-time unique gift – Medinat Yisrael. It was the day when the British mandate expired, and the Medina was declared.
On Shabbat the 13th of Iyar 5758 (1998) our daughter-in-law Chagit (wife of Brigadier General [ret.] Mordechai Kahana) gave birth to twin boys; so we are exactly 60 years apart – the same day of the week, Shabbat and same day of the month 13th of Iyar.
Where are the twins today?
Notwithstanding David’s selection by HaShem Himself, his great Torah erudition and the fact that he was the first monarch to bring the entire Land of Israel (according to the Torah boundaries) under Jewish sovereignty, things did not progress smoothly for David and his monarchy. Many of his generation rejected his right to rule because of his converted Moabite great-grandmother Ruth.
It was only after David’s death, during the consecration ceremony of the Beit Hamikdash built by King Shlomo, that the nation accepted the legitimacy of the Davidic lineage, when the self-locking doors of the Ulam opened up only at the mention of David’s name (Shabbat 30:a).
The refusal to recognize the anointed one of HaShem is not an isolated incident in our history, for it will occur again at the time of David’s descendant – the Mashiach.
Moshe presents HaShem with the boldest request from a humble human being to the Ultimate Entity (Shemot 33, 18):
Show me Your full glory (Your essence)
And HaShem replied:
You cannot see My face for no man can do so and live
The Gamara (Brachot 7a) quotes the tanna Rabbi Yehoshua Ben Korcha who explains:
HaShem replied to Moshe, “When I was willing to let you glance at some of My glory you turned your face away (at the Burning Bush), now that you are willing to experience it I am not.
When there is an opportunity to perform a mitzva do not turn it into chametz (by delaying its performance until its time has passed).
In the midst of this terrible Covid 19 plague when the Angel of Death reaps his daily harvest of in the thousands the world over, where is the discernable “silver lining” where the Jews in the holy land can say “All that HaShem does is for the best”?
Yossi knew the hill well; he had been there several times in the past year. It was sarcastically called a “bunker,” but in reality, it was nothing more than a fox hole large enough for four soldiers. Their assignment was to track terrorist movements and destroy them on contact. It was tolerable except when it rained, which caused the bottom of the hole to be soggy and muddy. But today the four hoped that it would rain, even though chances were small since it was late in the season. On the 14th of every Hebrew month the moon is full, which presents a greater danger when crossing into enemy territory; so, rain would be a mixed blessing.
At 5 PM, they were given the necessary arms and ammunition. In addition, the army rabbinate had provided them with 4 plastic containers each holding 3 matzot and all the ingredients necessary for a seder, as well as 4 plastic bottles of wine, sufficient for 4 cups, and of course a Haggadah.
