Acts of Loving Kindness

We are reading the Torah portions in Shmot, Exodus.
The first letters of each of the names of the portions
SHmot , Vaera, Bo, Beshalach, Yitro, Mishpatim spells out the word Shovavim.
(It works when you use the Hebrew letters)
During the weeks of Shovavim we focus on the Jewish family and the roots that support it.
We focus on the Jewish women and their faith.
In Hebrew faith is Emunah.
The two first letters of Emunah are EM, which translates to mother.
The basis of faith in the family stems from the mother.
The basis of faith in the Jewish people stems from the women.
The Talmud famously teaches us that it was in the merit of Jewish women that we were redeemed from Egypt.
There is a Midrash that says that the women took it upon themselves to support the men during the time of exile. They did this from a place of trust and faith in Hashem, Gd. Without their support, continues the Midrash, it is questionable if the men would have survived.
The Talmud goes on to say that it is in the merit of righteous women that we will ultimately be redeemed.
We are in a long dark exile that seems hopeless.
Yet, we are tasked to bring it to an end.
The famous poem of Aishet Chayil, the paean of praise to the Jewish woman, penned by King Solomon in Proverbs 31 says “she arises when it is still night”.
This refers to the strength the Jewish woman who stands up against adversity even in the darkest of times.
It doesn’t seem that times can become darker.
If we are waiting for the inspiration that will bring us out of these times, we need only look around the room.
It is our responsibility to step up and bring redemption.
Time is of the essence.

Yet, this is a very heavy burden to bear.
How do we bring about such a cataclysmic event?
Bringing redemption can actually happen in the smallest of actions.
When we “see” someone in their time of challenge and support them, that kindness is an act of loving kindness that brings us one step closer.
Arbel Yehud was thankfully released from Hamas captivity today.
We have started hearing about the unusual kindness she showed her fellow captives while they were incarcerated.
She braided their hair.
By doing so she extended love and support. She made them feel seen and cared for in such a dark place.
(Today in Israel, many young women braided their hair in support of Arbel.)
It was such a small action she did, but it must have yielded tremendous emotional and psychological benefits to those whose hair she fashioned.
Each person has an opportunity to affect her orbit positively, with an action that may be very small.
That small action can set off a chain reaction of positivity that can literally change a person’s life.
That’s the beginning of redemption.
These Torah portions that speak about the redemption are read at the beginning of the Hebrew month of Shvat, the time when we celebrate the birthday of the trees.
One could ask, why do we read them now, shouldn’t we read these portions about redemption when they actually occurred, in the springtime, Passover time?
In Shvat we celebrate the trees and yet they are still bare, devoid of blossoms.
We celebrate the movement of the sap in the trees, the slow harbinger of the blossoming that is to come.
So too we read about the redemption now, because this is the time that the roots of redemption begin. We are experiencing the beginning of the process.
A venerable teacher of ours, Rabbi Yehuda Oelbaum, passed away yesterday. He often used to quote the holy Sage, the Chofetz Chaim, who said that he believes that not in his generation, or his children’s generation, but in the generation of his grandchildren-we will witness the redemption.
The Tzemach Tzedek, the third rebbe of Lubavitch, taught that the souls of the women in Egypt are reincarnated in the souls of the women in the time of redemption.
That time is now.
It’s up to each and every one of us to do a Mitzva or an act of loving kindness that can tip the scale.
We continue to pray for the safety and return of all the rest of the hostages.
Shabbat Shalom and so much love!

Bo