JEWISH HOME LA

Dear readers,

My father-in-law, Rabbi Eliezer Lipman Dubrawsky, a”h, used to say that one of the biggest punishments Hashem can give is to take away someone’s faith. Alternatively, one of the biggest assets a person can have is rock solid faith. With faith, we can excel in success, stand tall in times of stress, and get back on our feet if we ever fail.

Tishrei was a month of faith. By the time we were sitting in the sukkah, you could almost touch it with your hand. Then came the dancing around and around again—and again!—arm in arm with our fellow Yidden, k’ish echad b’lev echad.

Then came the creation of the world all over again. Hashem formed a world that feels independent to eventually become His home. Mankind didn’t exactly respond the way it should have, and here we are still at the same job we were given thousands of years ago.

When reading Chumash, you realize how far we’ve gotten. Yes, our world is far from perfect, but we’ve come a very long way from the days of cannibalism, open immorality, and slavery. Today, there’s a widespread belief in a Creator. Most human beings look at kindness as a virtue. And most would press a button to have world peace if there were one.

Huge changes are happening at such a fast pace that we can easily overlook what’s happening right in front of our eyes. Let’s stay focused as we head toward the culmination of the Creator’s master plan, may it be in the very near future.

Wishing you a wonderful Shabbos,

Shalom