Stop Crying, Part 2

We are now in the Three Weeks of mourning for the Holy Temples. The walls of Jerusalem were breached on the 17th of Tammuz, and the Temple was lit on fire on the 9th of Av, 3 weeks later – both for the first and second Temples. In addition, some estimates say even a million Jews were killed during these weeks before the destruction of the Second Temple, and the survivors taken as slaves.  

However, the suffering really began many centuries before. In the desert, God tells the Israelites to go to the Holy Land. The leaders want to spy out the land, and 10 out of 12 return with a terrible report, saying it’s “a land that eats its inhabitants” and more. The men wept through the night and Hashem was angered. He cursed the Jews that “You want a reason to cry? I’ll give you a reason to cry!” That on that same night, the 9th of Av, when the Jews cried for nothing, when the Jews cried thinking that God hated them and brought them to the land only to die – that night will be set aside for destruction and weeping through the ages. 

Rebbe Nachman said that the exile which continues on and on is only because of a lack of emuna. Consider it – is crying in the mistaken belief that the “Promised Land” is terrible and God did miracles and wonders to redeem you from Egypt only to kill you now – is that not the epitome of a lack of emuna? After all that, including the splitting of the Red Sea in front of the entire world – you still don’t trust God that He is doing good for you?! 

Rabbi Arush mentions in The Garden of Gratitude that people wonder why they are being punished for the sins of their forefathers? Surely God is just… He answers that the problem is that we continue to make the same mistake! 

The harsh reality is that the Evil Inclination confuses us to cry and complain that “we got the short end of the stick” or “God is out to get me” or “God hates me” or “If God loves me, why is everything so hard?” and everything in between all the time. I’ll be the first to admit that until I learned from Rabbi Arush to strengthen my emuna and push away these thoughts, and specifically choose to thank Hashem especially when I don’t understand – I certainly did my fair share of crying, whining, and complaining. And even now, sometimes I realize only in the middle of the tantrum that I’m doing it again… 

But now we have a “nuclear weapon” against that Evil Inclination. Rabbi Arush’s hit song “Tamid Ohev Oti” — Hashem Always Loves Me — (did you know that the chorus was written by Rabbi Arush years before Elaytzur made a new tune and rolled it out to the masses?) just nails the root of that complaining Evil Inclination altogether. PS – Make sure to check out The Maccabeats for an awesome English rendition!* Not sponsored, promise.  

When that Evil Inclination tries to tell you that you are suffering because God hates you etc. etc. – the answer is no, God loves me! And it’s only getting better and better!  

How do you know it’s going to only get better? Rabbi Arush explains that the biggest insult you can give Hashem is believing that He is bad, doing bad, and things are only going to get worse. The worst judgements and suffering are specifically because of these deep-seated, oftentimes hidden feelings we harbor against Hashem, he says.  

The reality is that you get what you believe in. So, when you choose to believe that Hashem is doing good for you, no matter what it looks like, then in the merit of that emuna, midda k’neged midda (you get back what you do), it will indeed only get better! Even more, Rabbi Arush promises that when you thank Hashem for the bad, you will see with your own eyes in this world, one day sooner or later, how it was really for the best! Emuna reveals the good that was hidden in the bad and enables it to be openly revealed. 

So, if thanking Hashem is perfect emuna, and emuna is the foundation of the Torah, and the Torah is the foundation of the world – then wow, we just hit the bullseye! (check out this 1-minute clip from Rabbi Arush on this subject here on our X feed). Sometimes it’s hard to feel gratitude, and even harder to say the words. That’s when Rabbi Arush says to say Psalm 100, Mizmor L’Todah (A Psalm of Thanksgiving). And now that we have “Tamid Ohev Oti” – sing that too! It isn’t just perfect emuna – it also helps you be happy! 

This year we have the solution to the Three Weeks IN OUR HANDS. Just sing the song! It’s the opposite of the crying that caused all the decrees of destruction. It’s the opposite of that mistaken belief that God, Who is all good and only does good, is doing bad. If we understood all the time – first off, that would require us being God, which of course we aren’t. And if we could see the good clearly – then it wouldn’t be a test! 

Can’t wait to see you in the rebuilt Holy Temple singing the song all together in Jerusalem, amen! 

^* Music video for “Tamid Ohev Oti” originally performed by Yair Elaytzur. This music is recorded as an a cappella. 

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Rachel Avrahami grew up in Los Angeles, CA, USA in a far-off valley where she was one of only a handful of Jews in a public high school of thousands. She found Hashem in the urban jungle of the university. Rachel was privileged to read one of the first copies of The Garden of Emuna in English, and the rest, as they say, is history. She made Aliyah and immediately began working at Breslev Israel.   
  
Rachel is now the Editor of Breslev Israel’s English website. She welcomes questions, comments, articles, and personal stories to her email: rachel.avrahami@breslev.co.il.