{"id":5214133,"date":"2026-03-05T16:20:46","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T13:20:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/breslev.co.il\/?p=5214133"},"modified":"2026-03-11T10:09:34","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T07:09:34","slug":"the-strange-privilege-of-our-generation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/breslev.com\/5214133\/","title":{"rendered":"The Strange Privilege of Our Generation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Parsha Everyone Wants to Skip\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

When we reach Parshat Ki Tisa, we brace ourselves. This is the infamous story of the Golden Calf, the national disaster only weeks after the Jewish people received the Torah. Yet like a forest after a fire, where new life pushes through blackened soil, this parsha hides extraordinary hope beneath the ashes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After the sin, Moshe pleads for mercy. The nation deserves destruction, yet Hashem does something unexpected.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He says: keep going.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

At least three times\u00a0in the parsha God commands the Jewish people to continue their mission and enter the Land of Israel. He promises that\u00a0He will remove the\u00a0nations occupying\u00a0His\u00a0land so His people can live there.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For those who prefer modern language, this creates discomfort.\u00a0<\/span>Human rights organizations may\u00a0shudder.\u00a0International lawyers may\u00a0squirm.\u00a0Somewhere in a\u00a0UN or ICC\u00a0conference room someone will say, \u201cThis violates international\u00a0law.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

God did\u00a0not consult them.\u00a0<\/span>According to the Torah, the Creator of heaven and earth has the authority to assign land to whom He chooses. The\u00a0Ramban\u00a0(Nachmanides) writes that settling the Land of Israel is a continuing commandment for the Jewish people, not a temporary historical accident.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

History confirms something remarkable.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After\u00a0nearly\u00a02,000\u00a0years of exile<\/b>, the Jewish people returned to sovereignty in 1948 \u2014 something historians once considered\u00a0nearly impossible.\u00a0No other nation in recorded\u00a0history maintained\u00a0identity and returned to sovereignty after such a long exile.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Hashem\u2019s\u00a0covenant\u00a0with us\u00a0is mightier than\u00a0empires,\u00a0whether it be Babylon, Rome, Persia, or Davos.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/h2>\n

The Long Shadow of the Golden Calf\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

The parsha also teaches something sobering.\u00a0<\/span>The Gemara in Sanhedrin states that no punishment comes upon Israel that does not\u00a0contain\u00a0some measure of atonement for the sin of the Golden Calf.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

That moment did not disappear into the past.\u00a0It echoes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The\u00a0guilty\u00a0in that generation were punished directly. Some were executed after warning, others died in a plague, and the rest of Jewish history inherited the spiritual work of repairing that failure.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Every Jewish generation\u00a0participates\u00a0in repairing that moment.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Even the Sirens\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

Now\u00a0let\u2019s\u00a0talk about something very modern.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sirens.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A ballistic missile capable of leveling a building is not\u00a0theoretical suffering. When the alarm sounds and families have\u00a060 to\u00a090 seconds<\/b>\u00a0to reach shelter, theology becomes very practical.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

You grab your children. You run.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The entire country holds its breath together.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

According to the\u00a0Israel Defense Forces (IDF), the Iron Dome missile defense system intercepts roughly 90% of threatening rockets (Israel Ministry of Defense data). That number is extraordinary, but it also means\u00a0 the remaining 10% remind us how fragile life is.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One of the strange gifts of danger is that it removes excuses.\u00a0<\/span>When sirens sound across Israel, six million Jews cannot point fingers and say, \u201cIt\u2019s their problem.\u201d Everyone runs together.\u00a0<\/span>Religious. Secular. Old. Young.\u00a0<\/span>Suddenly,\u00a0the entire nation becomes\u00a0one\u00a0trembling family.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Rambam (Maimonides) writes that when suffering comes upon a community, Jews must examine their actions and improve themselves. The goal is not guilt; the goal is growth.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Joining the Long Table of History\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

Imagine the day when Mashiach\u00a0arrives.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Picture a great table where the heroes of Jewish history sit together. King David speaks about fleeing from Avshalom. Rabbi Akiva recounts Roman persecution. Rabbi Nachman describes the trials of his life.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And someone will ask about our generation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What did we endure\u00a0to atone for the sin of the golden calf?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We will speak about sirens.\u00a0<\/span>We will talk about running with our children to bomb shelters while whispering Tehillim.\u00a0We will remember the strange mixture of fear and faith when missiles exploded\u00a0overhead\u00a0and life continued the next morning.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Our stories will belong\u00a0at\u00a0that table.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

What the Skeptics Say\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

Some readers will object to this entire framework.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

They will say suffering should simply be avoided, not embraced with spiritual meaning. They will argue that modern people should abandon ancient theological explanations.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Consider\u00a0this:\u00a0<\/span>Human beings always assign meaning to suffering. If it is not\u00a0faith, it becomes politics, psychology, or ideology.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Jewish tradition offers something different \u2014\u00a0<\/span>Purpose.\u00a0<\/span>Instead of randomness, we see participation in a story stretching from Sinai to the future redemption.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Honor of\u00a0Israel\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

Living in Israel today is one of the greatest honors in Jewish history.\u00a0<\/span>Yes, there are threats. Yes, there are enemies. Yes, sometimes there are missiles.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But we are also witnessing prophecy unfold in real time.<\/span>The prophet Yechezkel described the Jewish people returning to their land after exile. For\u00a0centuries\u00a0that sounded poetic.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Today it\u00a0is geography.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

More than\u00a07 million Jews now live in Israel<\/b>, the largest Jewish population in the world (Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, 2024). After two thousand years of exile, the center of Jewish life has returned to the Land promised in the Torah.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

History has reopened.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And we have front-row seats.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So\u00a0the next time the siren sounds, take a breath.\u00a0Run to the shelter. Protect your family. Do everything a responsible human being should do.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But remember something deeper.\u00a0You are not just hiding from a missile.\u00a0<\/span>You are standing shoulder to shoulder with generations of Jews who carried the covenant through mistakes, exile, suffering,\u00a0 repentance,\u00a0 atonement, and Redemption. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

You are part of the long repair that began\u00a0with\u00a0the Golden Calf.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

You are helping prepare the world for Mashiach.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And if that moment comes while the sirens\u00a0wail\u00a0and the Iron Dome lights the sky, then we will look upward \u2014 not in fear, but in gratitude.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Because even in the chaos of missiles, the Jewish people are still moving forward.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Just like Hashem told us to do in Ki Tisa.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We thank Hashem for the honor to serve the generations of our\u00a0forefathers\u00a0and the generations of our children in atoning our worst moment to usher in our greatest hour.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

***\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

David Ben Horin<\/span><\/i><\/a>\u00a0lives in Afula with his family, 60,000 passionate Israelis, and Matilda, our local camel.\u00a0<\/i>\u00a0<\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Parsha Everyone Wants to Skip\u00a0 When we reach Parshat Ki Tisa, we brace ourselves. This is the infamous story of the Golden Calf, the national disaster only weeks after the Jewish people received the Torah. Yet like a forest after a fire, where new life pushes through blackened soil, this parsha hides extraordinary hope … Continue reading “The Strange Privilege of Our Generation”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62109,"featured_media":5214134,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_joinchat":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[15144],"tags":[39789,22830,19833,16465,16552,19917,20711],"author_post":[16252],"new_serie":[],"class_list":["post-5214133","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-jewish-outlook","tag-end-of-days","tag-golden-calf","tag-moshiach","tag-redemption","tag-teshuva","tag-tikkun","tag-suffering","author_post-david-ben-horin"],"acf":{"paragraph_first":"When sirens sound across Israel, six million Jews cannot point fingers and say, \u201cIt\u2019s their problem.\u201d Everyone runs together. Religious. Secular. Old. Young.","paragraph_second":"What did we endure to atone for the sin of the golden calf? We will speak about sirens. We will talk about running with our children to bomb shelters while whispering Tehillim.","meta_title":"The Strange Privilege of Our Generation","meta_description":"When the sirens sound and\u00a0Jews run\u00a0for shelter, we are not just surviving history \u2014 we are\u00a0participating\u00a0in it. Faith teaches us that even fear can become service, and even suffering can become part of redemption.\u00a0","special_content_in_the_post":"none","youtube":"","intro_text":"

When the sirens sound<\/span> and\u00a0<\/span>Jews <\/span>run<\/span>\u00a0for shelter, we are not just surviving history \u2014 we are\u00a0<\/span>participating<\/span>\u00a0in it. Faith teaches us that even fear can become service, and even suffering can become part of redemption.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/breslev.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5214133","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/breslev.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/breslev.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/breslev.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/62109"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/breslev.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5214133"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/breslev.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5214133\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5214995,"href":"https:\/\/breslev.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5214133\/revisions\/5214995"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/breslev.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5214134"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/breslev.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5214133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/breslev.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5214133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/breslev.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5214133"},{"taxonomy":"author_post","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/breslev.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/author_post?post=5214133"},{"taxonomy":"new_serie","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/breslev.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/new_serie?post=5214133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}