Dear Readers..

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Dear Readers,

One of the lessons of the Chinese virus is that intended solutions need to be matched to results and weighed against the effects of them. Pointing out a problem or highlighting an area of concern doesn’t automatically give us the right to present any solution. Using gasoline to put out a fire is a worse idea than doing nothing.

Same is true when someone says they are a victim. Whether a child of ours, a student in school or a person on the street. Not withstanding the automatic impulse to take their side we must first make sure that they are the victim and not the person they are complaining against (see most cases in Israel.) We can then decide an appropriate reaction – discipline needs to match the wrong done, not the feeling of outrage sometimes caused by an overreacting individual. And lastly, solutions need to be based on helping the victim the most. Promoting a feeling of victimhood causes even further harm to the person wronged. If our grandparents went about life with a feeling of entitlement after living out the quintessence of the word victim, we wouldn’t be where we are today.

Our Creator made this world with faults. Some people have material wealth, others struggle. Some people have robust health, others suffer. Some people have respectful children, others endure much anguish. Good things happen to bad people and bad things happen to good people. Focusing in an impulsive way to address any of these realities often leads to unjust solutions for society as well as the people we are intending to help.

As Yidden we have the time-tested gift that Hashem gave us, His holy Torah. All the challenges we have faced up to this day are addressed within. Some clearly, and some after delving deeper, but it’s all there.

Let’s recommit as a nation and as an individual to connect to Hashem through learning His Torah and performing His Mitzvos. Doing so is also the best medicine for the maladies contributing to the societal meltdown we are currently witnessing. All of which hopefully ushers us very soon into the time when the entire world will be occupied with knowing our Creator.

Wishing you a wonderful Shabbos and a Good Yom Tov,

Shalom