Menachem Av 24, 5771 · August 24, 2011 |
Editor's Note:
Due to whatever quirk of the current human condition, when it comes to financial turbulence, consolation and encouragement just doesn't make good editorial material. We have no problem rosying up revolutions abroad. Even when disaster strikes at home, we're told, "In G‑d we trust." But when was the last time you read an editorial at a time of crisis extolling the buoyancy and resilience of the world economy?
Well, we at Chabad.org don't feel bound by such conventions. Neither do we think it's naive or benighted to believe that, just as we bounced back up and beyond in the past, so the world economy will continue to grow to the benefit of all; or to say that Israel has the power to create a strong economy that works for all its citizens.
"To go up," goes the chassidic adage, "you've got to first crouch down." Show me a system that only moves up without ever dipping. This dip, as well, is just another springboard along the way to yet a better society for all involved. "Think good and it will be good" is another one of those adages. It also makes for good business.
The Parshah we read this week starts off by telling us that blessings and their opposite are in our hands. But one of the prerequisites to receiving G‑d's blessing is to have at least a little trust in Him. So, Israel, America, and Europe too, trust in G‑d. And trust that just as G‑d has blessed the world with unprecedented economic growth until now, so will He continue to bless all nations that stand for a just society and protection of human dignity, from His boundless, open hand.
May we very soon see the time when all the hungry will be fed, and as Maimonides writes, "delicacies will be as common as the dust . . . and the entire occupation of the world will be nothing else but knowing G‑d."
Tzvi Freeman,
on behalf of the Chabad.org Editorial Team
P.S. As we prepare to mail this out, our brothers and sisters in Israel's south remains under nightly attack. Our prayers are with them, and I'm sure yours are as well. Israel must do all it can to defend itself. Yet, as optimistic as we are about the economy, we are yet more optimistic about the safety of our people. As G‑d has protected them with great miracles until now, so He will continue to do so until the times of Moshiach, very soon. |
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