“Peace, peace, for the far and near, Hashem says, and I will heal you”
A
las, we’re once again entering that period of the summer when the pain of our galus rears its head and cries out. We don’t need to guess what we can do to fix this. People love a “quick fix,” segulos and amulets are favorites in times of pain. Yet, explains Rav Asher Weiss, there is one tried-and-trusted solution that can be found in divrei Toraseinu hakedoshah and divrei Chazal: sinas chinam brought it [the Beis Hamikdash] down, and only ahavas Yisrael can build it once again.
When Yaakov Avinu calls his children to his deathbed, he says, “Heiasfu, v’agidah lachem es asher yikra eschem b’acharis hayamim — Gather together, and I’ll tell you what will happen at the end of days” (Bereishis, 49:1). Rav Shimon Schwab ztz”l reads this pasuk as follows: “I will call to you at the end of days. When will that happen? When you gather as one.”
Each time I hear of yet another dispute, machlokes, or conflict within our Klal Yisrael family, I picture our Mikdash crumbling again and again. This is the pain we’re reminded of at this time of year, and uniting together is the fix that could mend it all.
Hashem tells us in Sefer Yeshayahu (57:19), “Shalom, shalom larachok v’lakarov, amar Hashem u’refasiv — Peace, peace, for the far and near, Hashem says, and I will heal you.”
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