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Yirmiyahu underwent years of suffering and danger. Hashem did not allow him to form a family (ibid. 16:2). His neighbors tried to hurt him in different ways (ibid. 18:18, 20). He was suspected of sins, and King Yehoyakim threw him into jail. Only divine intervention saved Yirmiyahu (ibid. 36:26). Similarly, Tzidkiyahu allowed his officers to throw him into a pit, where he sank into mud (38:6), and he survived only through the intervention of a righteous officer.
Despite all of these hardships, Yirmiyahu taught his nation that there was what to be optimistic about in the long term. Members of the eternal nation should know that Hashem will not abandon His nation (see Tehillim 94:14). So, the prophet of destruction was also a prophet of liberation.
As Behar’s haftara indicates (Yirmiyahu 32: 9-15), even at a time of famine, on the eve of destruction, Yirmiyahu bought a field. The text describes the process in detail – the writing of a document, its signing, the paying of money, the preservation of the document. It then spells out that buying land in Eretz Yisrael would become prevalent because the nation would return from the upcoming exile.
Our generations have seen Eretz Yisrael transformed from a land primarily desolate from the time of the destruction of the second Beit Hamikdash, into the base for the marvelous ingathering of exiles. Hashem had us shake off the ashes of Aushwitz and form a flourishing state. Our generation has proven its dedication to the cause of rebuilding our ancestral home. Almost all have stepped forward to help on behalf of the nation and its Land, not losing hope despite the horrible blow we took on Simchat Torah 5784 and all of the brave soldiers who fell, the many who were injured, and the hostages, many of whom have still not returned home. We continue on with dedication despite the hatred of Jews that has spread throughout the world. We must follow the path of Yirmiyahu, unified with one heart, progressing step by step with belief in Hashem and confidence, strengthening and entrenching our beloved state. We are on the path to the building of a society that will do "charity and justice," as we can learn from Avraham Avinu (Bereishit 18:19), and "justice and charity," as we can learn from King David (Shmuel II, 8:15).
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Hosha'ana Rabba FLYDUBAI & HOSHANA RABBA- ANI VAHU HOSHIA NA- I & HIM SAVE US
"Ani vaHu Hoshia Na", "I and Him, Save Us". We don't just pray to Him, but we also pray to and for ourselves that we should emulate and educate our children to have that instinctive altruism with which He created the world. President Trump seemed amused about Yaniv Hayon, our PLUMBER who confidently worked with G-d like Superman (he learned from a pilot on a TV show!) to save 174 lives on the Dubai hijacking, but we in Israel are totally accustomed already 78 years to our plumbers, teachers, garbage-men, rabbis, farmers & doctors being Hashem's shlichim! This is what Zionism is about.
Moreshet Shaul Hashem Is your Shadow – part I
Based on Siach Shaul, Pirkei Machshava V’Hadracha p. 420 – an address from 1941
