Is Your Food Ready?

InspirationParsha

Sep 19

On the eve of Rosh Hashanah, September 6, 2021, six Palestinian prisoners carried out a dramatic escape from Israel’s Gilboa Prison. Over the course of several months, they had dug a tunnel from the bathroom of their cell using nothing more than spoons, plates, and other makeshift tools. At around 1:30 a.m., they lifted a section of the bathroom floor, crawled into the passageway, and emerged on a dirt road just beyond the prison walls. The timing of their breakout, coinciding with the start of the Jewish New Year, lent the event an added layer of drama and symbolism.

The group, later called “The Escape Six,” managed to stay hidden for several days, surviving on prickly pears and figs they gathered along the way. But hunger and thirst soon took their toll. In Nazareth, two of the men, Mahmoud Ardah and Yaqoub Mahmoud Qadri, were spotted by local residents while searching trash bins and asking for food. Suspecting they were the fugitives, the residents alerted authorities. Within hours, Israeli forces launched a helicopter pursuit and captured the two near Mount Precipice on September 10, the first of the escapees to be recaptured.

The Baal Shem Tov teaches that everything we see or hear ought to be a lesson in the service of Hashem. What lesson can we learn from this story? (I heard the following idea from Rabbi Shenor Ashkenazi.)

This story took place on the eve of Rosh Hashanah. The nature of the human being is to be free. It is unnatural for us to be enslaved to anything or anyone. Our total dedication is to Hashem only. This is the theme of Rosh Hashanah.

We'll do anything to be free, digging with spoons and plates to escape the things that hold us back from living with equilibrium. Oftentimes we engage in unhealthy behaviors, "coping mechanisms" to liberate ourselves. Ultimately only healthy dedication to Hashem will empower us to be truly free.

Rosh Hashanah is the day that we reconnect with this truth and our relationship with the only truly transcendent being; our connection to Hashem. Hamelech - we accept Hashem again as our King.

As we prepare for Rosh Hashanah we need to make sure we have food and sustenance. Hopefully wherever you are for services this year will be accompanied by beautiful uplifting, inspiring teachings and tunes, a good sermon and a delicious kiddush. (I know this will be the case at Chabad Intown https://www.chabadintown.com/events/roshhashanah.)

The question is will we have enough food after the inspiration to sustain ourselves? Will the inspiration come and go? Or will it last deep into the winter and months that follow?

One way to ensure that it does is to make sure we have food for the journey ahead. That food is the resolution for change that we are prepared to make in our lives.

No need for dramatic life shifts, just small changes. The Chabad custom is to adopt an enhancement of a practice that we are already engaged in. Like giving Tzedakah before lighting the Shabbat candles. Or taking 2-3 minutes of our daily prayer for deeper meditation and connection. Or attend a Torah class or listen to a short Torah podcast daily or weekly. Whatever it may be, make it small but manageable.

My friend, as we approach a New Year let's we're about to receive an opportunity for connection that will empower us to be truly free and connected. Let's prepare for the journey of 5786 with a bag full of food.

Blessings for Good Shabbos, and Shana Tova!