Over the past week in Eretz Yisrael, powerful winds have been gusting all day and all night, with no respite.
Our haters have taken advantage of this to set fires that rage out of control in the dry and blustery weather.
Our Sages tell us to look into Torah wisdom for guidance.
Perek Shira contains the song of the wind (Yeshayahu 43:6):
Our haters have taken advantage of this to set fires that rage out of control in the dry and blustery weather.
Our Sages tell us to look into Torah wisdom for guidance.
Perek Shira contains the song of the wind (Yeshayahu 43:6):
אֹמַר לַצָּפוֹן תֵּנִי וּלְתֵימָן אַל תִּכְלָאִי הָבִיאִי בָנַי מֵרָחוֹק וּבְנוֹתַי מִקְצֵה הָאָרֶץ
"I will say to the North, 'Give,' and to the South, 'Do not restrain;' bring My sons from afar and My daughters from the end of the Earth."
This verse appears amid a sea of comforting verses in Chapter 43.
The commentators all interpret it to mean an active gathering of the Jews exiled outside of Eretz Yisrael. One explains that "teiman" is a particularly strong wind from the South, necessary to "blow" the exiles into their Homeland.
Another explains that some exiles are actively restrained from leaving their country of exile, while for others, the topography (mountains, etc.) stand as an obstacle. These reasons are why the verse also declares: "Do not restrain!" - Let them go free!
Radak says that it mentions daughters and sons separately to indicate that the ingathering of women and children will be "conducted slowly" - i.e. gently, in consideration of their greater difficulty when traveling?
Anyway, the wind is a comforting sign, a reassurance of Hashem's Promise to gather everyone Home.
Yet could it also be a call to action? A call to come Home?
But the winds are blustering in Eretz Yisrael.
So what's the message to we who are already here?
Another way to "come Home" is to do teshuvah.
And it seems to me that the powerful winds combined with the out-of-control fires are a call to do just that.
P.S. A segulah to protect against one's house from fire is to read Birkat Hamazon from a bentscher/birkon (as opposed to reciting it by heart).
Presumably, you can also read it with the intention of protecting all of your brothers' and sisters' houses from burning.
(I can't remember the source for this - sorry!)
The commentators all interpret it to mean an active gathering of the Jews exiled outside of Eretz Yisrael. One explains that "teiman" is a particularly strong wind from the South, necessary to "blow" the exiles into their Homeland.
Another explains that some exiles are actively restrained from leaving their country of exile, while for others, the topography (mountains, etc.) stand as an obstacle. These reasons are why the verse also declares: "Do not restrain!" - Let them go free!
Radak says that it mentions daughters and sons separately to indicate that the ingathering of women and children will be "conducted slowly" - i.e. gently, in consideration of their greater difficulty when traveling?
Anyway, the wind is a comforting sign, a reassurance of Hashem's Promise to gather everyone Home.
Yet could it also be a call to action? A call to come Home?
But the winds are blustering in Eretz Yisrael.
So what's the message to we who are already here?
Another way to "come Home" is to do teshuvah.
And it seems to me that the powerful winds combined with the out-of-control fires are a call to do just that.
P.S. A segulah to protect against one's house from fire is to read Birkat Hamazon from a bentscher/birkon (as opposed to reciting it by heart).
Presumably, you can also read it with the intention of protecting all of your brothers' and sisters' houses from burning.
(I can't remember the source for this - sorry!)
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