Tsunami Thoughts

I’m still numb from reports and pictures of the tsunami and the aftermath. A few things that I have been thinking about:

The reading on the richter scale – 9
Number of countries affected – 11
9...1…1

For anyone who thought that perhaps the date of the WTC was random, or chosen solely by the Muslims, think again. It seems G-d is sending us a message: these messages are from Me!

And if we think the messages are someone else: Hashem only sends messages that will be heard by those whom He is trying to speak to. The goyim don't understand the message. Even the secular Jews aren’t getting the message. The emergency call for tshuvah – is coming to the Orthodox Jews, you and me. So I’m sitting here, trying to figure out what more I can do, especially bein adam l’chaveiro. The Jews only merit the geulah when we’re united, and when there is shalom.

Moreover, the tsunami happened on Yom Rishon, Parshas Shemos. Parshas Shemos begins with Hashem telling the people that He is with them in their pain. The Gemara mentions that when Hashem feels the pain of His people, He sheds a “tear.” How is that tear felt on Earth? Through an earthquake.

Hashem is sending us a message that He has heard our crying and our pain, and He is with us in our time of need. He is telling us that the redemption is near, that the world has entered Shemos.

Rabbi Kaduri of Israel, a leading Kabbalist, says that we are currently in year four of the seven years of the geulah, according to the calculations of the Vilna Gaon. Either way, it seems clear that in coming months and years, Hashem will be “shaking the foundations of the Earth” and our job is to hold on tight, no matter what befalls us.

May we see the geulah shleima bimheira v’yameinu!