“I hope and pray that the letter writer never suffered nearly as much as the woman in the article did”
In last week’s article, Rabbi Sklare astutely noted that while Eisav may commit greater atrocities, there is a certain venom and toxicity unique to Yishmael. Actually, this has been described in the Torah in the last of Bilaam’s visions which describes the end of times: “He lifted his voice in a metaphor and said, Woe! Oy miyichyeh misumo Kel — Who will survive when He imposes these.” There are various explanations for this pasuk (see Sanhedrin 106a.)
After 9/11, Rabbi Yissocher Frand remarked that the pasuk can mean, “Who will survive before the one who acts in the name of G-d? Yishmael justifies his terror as being sanctioned by G-d, in contrast to the Nazis whose murder of Jews was largely for racial reasons.
I would take issue with where he says: “Ultimately, the thirst of the neshamah can only be satiated with authentic Torah expressed by drawing from the wellsprings of the machshavah masters.” Such a global statement is simply inaccurate. What about those (such as myself) for whom machshavah is not our cup of tea? Is our Yiddishkeit incomplete?
On the other hand, Rabbi Sklare is definitely correct in stating that people want to “experience how the hallowed nusach of old speaks to them in their station in life.” Personally, after the horrors of October 7, the poignant and heartrending tefillos of Tachanun strike a deep chord. It is sad that it seems to be a minhag b’chol t’futzos Yisrael, including yeshivish minyanim, to fly through this section. (Coming on time to Shacharis doesn’t help here.)
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