One of the earliest tragedies to our people happened when Yehuda lost his 2 sons and wife in a short period. The Torah relays that he focused on work after that. Tragedy leads to action.

The Lubavitcher Rebbe often spoke about how we are supposed to cope with tragedy.

In reference to the Holocaust, he would quote his father-in-law, the previous Lubavitcher Rebbe, “It’s not our business to excuse G d.” I think the same lessons can be applied to the tragedies of the last Simchas Torah.

The Rebbe said:

“When we see an occurrence that is utterly incomprehensible, we must say the truth, that the matter is utterly incomprehensible…and therefore we cry out!”

“But as far as the outcome necessitated by the tragedy is concerned, our response is clear. Beginning with the experience of our forefathers in Egypt thousands of years ago, every affliction in Jewish history has its response explicitly spelled out (Exodus 1:12): “As much as they afflicted them, so much did they increase, and so much were they strengthened.””

To sum up the Rebbe’s response: We should not excuse or try to understand why it happened. Human minds can’t comprehend the ways of their creator. But at the same time, we must take what happened and use it to invigorate us and dedicate ourselves to doing more good in the world. Tragedy must lead to action.

This has been my driving force over the past 12 months. I’ve spent thousands of hours working to distribute tefillin to every Jewish man who wants to wrap daily but can’t afford his own pair.

Every mitzvah brings us one step closer to true peace.

Tefillin itself is an incredibly special mitzvah. The Torah says that it brings protection to the Jewish nation and helps us defeat our enemies.

Can we be happy this Simchas Torah? If you ask me, I think the answer is clear. We MUST be grateful for our time in this world, we must make the most of it, and this Simchas Torah more than ever, we need to storm the heavens using everything we have to demand Moshiachnow. The most effective way I know to achieve this is by celebrating the Torah that Hashem gave us and fulfilling His Mitzvos. Hashem told us to be happy and dance with His Torah, so that is what I’ll do, with the type of fervor and joy that is only possible to experience after total and complete darkness.

Out of darkness comes an even greater light.

When holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel first met the Rebbe, Wiesel asked him to make him be able to cry. The Rebbe responded, “That’s not enough. I shall teach you to sing…. crying is no use. You must sing.”

This year our dancing isn’t just checking a box, it’s showing our genuine faith that we will prevail, win, and thrive.

We will show the world the strength of our faith, we don’t just dance to fulfill an obligation. We dance with the troops entering Lebanon singing Anachnu maminim b’nei maminim and Am Yisroel Chai.

We rely only on Hashem.

We dance with grieving families singing Ani maamin b’emunah shleimah b’vias hamoshiach, we believe we will all be reunited.

Our soldiers embody this faith and they understand the impact a mitzvah can have on the battlefield.

750 IDF soldiers are asking for tefillin right now. Many have already been deployed to Lebanon and more are going in every day. We need $300,000 to get each of them their own pair of tefillin. Thanks to a generous matcher all donations are being doubled, leaving us with $150,000 needed to raise ASAP. If you can, I would truly appreciate your help in Arming our troops with the protection they need.

Wishing everyone a meaningful Simchas Torah. We will dance again.

CLICK HERE TO DONATE A PAIR OF TEFILLIN