Kinah 8-This Year!

“Every year, my people hope that this is the year of redemption.” The Chatam Sofer in his Responsa, wonders whether this is really a healthful approach to the diaspora. After all, how long can we keep on expecting this year to be the one?

In fact, we are declaring our belief that every year is filled with potential; we approach even the worst of times with expectation that things will become miraculously better.

I heard a story of an elderly Holocaust survivor who came to see Rav Chaim Shmulevitz soon after being released from Auschwitz. The holy rabbi asked the man, “How did you survive?” The man looked at the Rabbi in total innocence and purity, and responded, “The Sanctification of the New Moon.” The rabbi sat with his mouth open, “Whatever do you mean?”

The old man answered, “The blessing we recite says, ‘To the moon He said that it should renew itself as a crown of splendor for those borne by Him from the womb, those who are destined to renew themselves like it, and to glorify their Molder for the name of His glorious kingdom.’How could I say these words and not believe that we were soon to be redeemed?”

We use this conviction that this will be the year of Redemption to survive anything and everything.