The Rebbe cried: "Every day we hear of such disasters. Why are we waiting for the shofar?""

September 18, 2022   

Thousands of Sanz Hasidim gathered from all over the country for the first selichot recitation by the Rebbe, in the Great Hall in Kiryat Sanz in Netanya. As is customary in Sanz, the Rebbe approached the pillar - and before "Shema Kolinu" the Rebbe delivered a revival sermon. In this year's sermon, the Rebbe wept over the situation in which the Jewish people and Jews everywhere find themselves, over the troubles and disasters that occur every day - "which alone would be enough to awaken every heart without the need for a revival sermon at all." The Rebbe likened the situation of the generation to a patient who is on a bed, who, no matter how much they treat him and stab him, does not feel it at all. With shaking tears, the Rebbe said: "Every day we hear of such terrible disasters, so many orphans have been added this year, widows and widowers. Imagine a home where the mother is seriously ill, the family is falling apart. A home where the child is sick - all life stops. People who were the happiest in life, suddenly their whole lives are turned upside down. Accidents, tragedies, illnesses, in adults, young people and children. It hurts us, we go to funerals, we sigh for a day or two, and then what? We return to routine. Woe to us! This is the greatest trouble, that we are in a coma, that we are in a coma." The Rebbe quoted from the Hasidic article, "I was afraid out of my joy and I was happy out of my fear. When a person sees that everything is going well for him, he fears, who knows what day it will be, such troubles and torments occur in the world. However, I was happy out of my fear, the very fact that a person is afraid, that should already bring joy to him, that he is not in a coma. "The shofar," said the Rebbe in a weeping voice, "has the virtue of awakening from a coma, but the demand is upon us: Why are we waiting for the shofar? Why haven't we awakened to the sounds of the fanfare all year? How is it that our hearts have not been moved by the blood that has been shed so far? On these holy days, we will take upon ourselves to improve our ways, to awaken." The Rebbe called for more Torah study, "especially on the following days and holidays - when we naturally learn less, and to at least receive one good Kabbalah from today, the first day of Selichot, until after Simchat Torah, thirty days during which this Kabbalah will be guarded with all vigilance, thereby proving that we awaken to the sound of the shofar and seek to improve our ways. And with God's help, the Blessed One will send us a good and sweet year." [Gallery]