LET MOSHIACH COME NOW, EVEN IF TO SAVE A SINGLE JEW

“What I want, You can’t give me!” he cried out to Hashem. “You can’t return these eleven beautiful souls.” * If it takes bringing the miraculous world of the Future Era to accommodate a single Jew, that is exactly what must happen.

We may be spread across the globe, but Chassidim are one family. Our interaction may be intermittent or rare, but when something is going on, something urgent, our underlying love and solidarity emerges. It is real and palpable. We are one.

When Sholom Mordechai Rubashkin suffered incomprehensible strictness from the American justice system, every Jew felt that that could have been him or her, and we suffered together. When he was freed, what greater emancipation of the Jewish spirit could have possibly erupted?

When eleven Jews in Pittsburg were murdered al kiddush Hashem, sanctifying G-d’s name by being killed just because they are Jewish, they became our k’doshim, instantly sharing the space of the likes of Rabbi Akiva and the other holy martyrs. They represent us, as we – unlike Rabbi Akiva - would never choose such a fate. Thus, it says in Birchas Shma, “borei k’doshim,” G-d “creates martyrs,” bringing the greatest of all merit upon Jews who did not even seek that distinction. G-d chose them and thrust them into the limelight of martyrdom – “ki rega b’apo, chayim birtzono,” suffering horribly for a moment, but having earned such goodwill from Hashem that they merit an eternal life of Divine consolation.

The leader of the Pittsburg congregation, Jeffery Myers, eulogized the eleven Jews. He quoted the verse in T’hillim 23:1, “The L-rd is my shepherd, I shall not want,” and had the guts to raise his voice and say words that came from the heart, “Well, G-d - I want!”

“But what I want,” he went on to say, “You can’t give me. You can’t return these eleven beautiful souls.”

There is another beautiful soul who didn’t have such a “merciful fate” as to be snuffed out and martyred “b’shaata chada u’b’rigaa chada,” rachmana litzlan. Rabbi Arele Oster’s suffering is agonizing and ongoing, a torment of the mind, the body, the spirit. Incapacitated by the relentless attack of septic shock, a potentially fatal medical condition, Arele had a quadruple amputation last week. Friends and family did more than just care for Arele with tears. Together they raised the funds (close to $2 million dollars!) needed to accommodate his medical needs, which are extraordinary. Arele’s brother, Rabbi Zalman Oster, expressed faith that for Hashem to restore the body after amputation is no more difficult than to revive lifeless limbs.

G-d is omnipotent, yet it takes incredible faith to know that revealed miracles can still happen, as it is “neged ha’chush sh’lanu,” contrary to normal experience. We have been so long in exile that we forget what we truly are to Hashem. We are G-d’s treasured nation, His precious children. If it takes bringing in the miraculous world of the Future Era to accommodate a Jew’s need for fantastical miracles, (in addition to pursuing regular, natural channels of healing) that is exactly what our focus must be! Why shouldn’t Moshiach come even if for no other reason than to save a single Jew from suffering?

We need the audacity of Jeffery Myers, who cries out to G-d in pain, and we need strong faith so that when we do call out to Hashem we don’t limit Him, chas v’shalom, and tell Him what He can or cannot do. We plead with sincerity and demand an end to Jewish suffering, with the imminent arrival of Moshiach Tzidkeinu, teikef u’miyad mamash!■

Boruch welcomes opportunitites to speak further about Moshiach and a variety of other topics. Please editor@beismoshiach.org for details.