Monday, March 6, 2017

Marco Rubio And - Li-havdil - The Chazon Ish

We frum Jews are often reticent about external expressions of religiosity. We don't like to wear our religion and beliefs on our sleeves. When I walk down the street in Manhattan I often see religious Jews who don't want to wear their kippot in public so they wear a baseball cap instead [or go bear headed]. Kids on a college campus will hide their Judaism because it is not "cool" to be too Jewish. 

מכל מלמדי השכלתי. Marco Rubio. Not a graduate of Mir or Torah Vo-daas. Not a talmid of Lakewood or someone who heard mussar shmoozen from mashgichim. Just a plain ol' Goy and to make things worse - a politician. He loses Florida and realizes that he has no chance to win the election and has to concede - to his great disappointment. So he does about the two most important things a person must do in life  - he expresses gratitude and accepts Hashem's plan. Listen:


And so I am grateful to all of you that have worked so hard for me. I truly am. I am grateful to my family, to my wife, Jeanette, who has been phenomenal in this campaign. To my four kids who have been extraordinary in this campaign. And I want you to know that I will continue every single day to search for ways for me to repay some of this extraordinary debt that I owe this great country. And I want to leave with an expression of gratitude to God in whose hands all things lie. He has a plan for every one of our lives. Everything that comes from God is good. God is perfect. God makes no mistakes. And he has things planned for all of us. And we await eagerly to see what lies ahead. And so I leave tonight with one final prayer, and I use the words of King David because I remain grateful to God:

“Yours O Lord is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and the earth. Yours is the dominion, O Lord, and you exalt yourself as head overall. Both riches and honor come from you and you rule over all. And in your hand is power and might and it lies in your hand to make great and to strengthen everyone.” [We say this in Hebrew every morning....]

May God strengthen our people. May God strengthen our nation. May God strengthen the conservative movement. May God strengthen the Republican Party. May God strengthen our eventual nominee. And may God always bless and strengthen this great nation, the United States of America. Thank you and God bless you all. Thank you very much.

If he is not embarrassed to offer such an overtly religious message - then why are we?? And if he expresses no bitterness - why do we, who should know better, often feel bitter? 

The Chazon Ish said that the happiest moment in a person's life is when he accepts the reality that Hashem is perfectly running the world.

That of course is the joy of Purim - the realization that EVERYTHING is perfect and what seems bad is only leading to greater things.....