The Eternal Link

 

Several years ago, Judith was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis that left her legally blind. You'd think that dealing with such a challenge would leave Judith feeling abandoned. But instead of feeling distanced from Hashem, she is the epitome of simple, all-encompassing emuna. No, we're not talking about someone who constantly lectures about belief in God; we're talking about someone who lives that belief.

 

Every time I speak with Judith, she's busy baking a cake or preparing a delicacy for her family's Shabbat table. Thanks to computerized technology (Isn't Hashem wonderful!) she's able to live a full life despite her disability – which, for a person of Judith's caliber means constantly giving to others -- her family, friends and neighbors. Instead of wallowing in self-pity, she reaches out to others, to bring light into their world.

 

 

I liked playing with dolls as a child.

I always liked to eat and, after a skinny period in my life, I returned to the status quo.

I like to write but I still can't top Dr. Seuss.

 

Now tell me, isn't she someone you'd like to meet?

 

Debbie Shapiro

 

* * *

 

 

In this week's parsha, Parshat V'etchanan, it states: "Shema Yisrael, Hashem Elokeinu, Hashem Echad!" "Hear O Israel, Hashem is our God, Hashem is One" (Devarim 6:4).

 

 

Yom Kippur 1973:  My younger brother raced into the house and turned on the radio. I was shocked. Although I was not yet religious, I understood that Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish year, was not the time to listen to the radio! "What in the world are you…" I began. 

 

"Israel was just attacked," he blurted out, not letting me finish.

 

I sat down to listen, unable to comprehend the full impact of what had just occurred.  According to the news reports, Israel was about to succumb to her Arab enemies.

 

[The reports were true. Israel was totally unprepared for war. There was nothing stopping the Arab armies from conquering the entire Galilee and Negev.  But Hashem made a miracle, and the Arab armies assumed that the Israeli lack of resistance was just a ploy to surround and trap them. The editor]

 

I was a student at SUNY Buffalo. All the Jewish students – myself included - were walking around in shock.  We felt that we had to do something to show our support for Israel. We organized a huge rally on the Main Street campus and invited many different speakers -- politicians, Presidents of Jewish organizations and Jewish student activists to say a few words.

 

The speeches were long and boring. By the end of the rally we were itching to go home. The last speaker was a Chabad rabbi, Rabbi Heshel Greenberg. Standing before the packed hall, he said, "I don’t know what will be the outcome of this war, but the one thing I do know is…”  Placing his hand over his eyes, he screamed, “Shema Yisrael, Hashem Elokeinu, Hashem Echad!”  As he walked off the stage, the thousands of students in the audience followed suit, screaming at the top of their lungs, "Shema Yisrael, Hashem Elokeinu, Hashem Echad!" Hashem is our God, Hashem is One; we are His people, we will survive! 

 

There is only one answer to the dangers surrounding our nation: Shema Yisrael, Hashem Elokeinu, Hashem Echad! Hashem is our God. Hashem is One. We are His people. We will survive!

The political situation in Israel is once again explosive.  Foreign diplomats think they know what will bring peace to a volatile region, but they don't realize that everything - all the diplomatic efforts, all the IDF's weapons, all the training and the running around and the doing – is worthless without Hashem. Only Hashem can save the Jewish Nation. He is our weapon, and it is up to us to turn to Him. Shema Yisrael, Hashem Elokeinu, Hashem Echad!