He Thwarts The Plans

Eighteen years ago I heard the shofar blow at the end of Yom Kippur with a heavy heart. I felt we should go back and pray the prayers of the day all over again. Without the Holy Temple how could we know that the red thread had tuned white and our sins were truly forgiven*?  We were a little over a week into the Oslo War then and I worried how many of us had not been sealed in the Book of Life.

Just ten days later one of the rabbis my son looked up to was murdered in a terror attack, becoming the ninth victim since the beginning of the new year. The bad news continued with drive-by shootings, suicide bombers, roadside bombs, and stones. What had happened to our poignant plea, our Father, our King thwart the plans of our enemies?

Last week there was another murder.  Ari Fuld, may HaShem avenge his blood, was stabbed by an Arab terrorist. He died, as he lived, a hero, and he managed to shoot his attacker before the Arab could cause any more carnage.

It had happened only five days since we’d pleaded with HaShem to sign us in the Book of Life. Now, however, in 2018, my perspective is far different than it was when Yom Kippur ended eighteen years earlier. I am certain that Ari Fuld had already been sealed in the Book of Life, eternal life, life in world to come. May his loved ones be comforted among the mourners of Zion.

At the same time the country was mourning Ari Fuld I was celebrating my newest grandson’s brit and it was there I had my proof that HaShem will never forsake the Jewish people. The newborn was surrounded by four generations of relatives. His great-grandmother had cheated Hitler when her parents fled Germany in 1934. Now she has over twenty-five great-grandchildren living in the Land of Israel. My side of the family has a similar story. My father escaped the Third Reich in 1937. Although he’s no longer alive to see them, he too has a number of great-grandchildren living in the Holy Land.

More than that, there are so many graduates of Auschwitz, Bergen-Belsen, Dachau, and other camps who rebuilt their lives and raised several generations here.  For example, my neighbor’s parents survived the Holocaust and when his father died, well into his nineties, he left behind one hundred great-grandchildren.

Even without the Holy Temple and seeing the red thread turn white I know HaShem has forgiven us. We may have some hard times ahead of us. We might be losing some precious souls. We could have to face war, disasters, and all sorts of tragedies but HaShem will never totally forsake us. As we enter the holiday of Sukkot, our time of happiness, I just need to look at my grandson’s great-grandmother to know that sooner or later HaShem always thwarts the plans of our enemies. The Jewish people are alive and well.

*Part of the service in the time of the Holy Temple was seeing the red thread turn white.

For a good read in the Sukkah:

Growing With My Cousin is available at Jewish bookstores and on line at  http://www.feldheim.com/growing-with-my-cousin.html or

https://www.amazon.com/Growing-Cousin-Ester-Katz-Silvers/dp/194635113X/