HaRav Shmuel Eliyahu is Chief Rabbi of Tzfat

We approach Rosh Hashanah with great confidence.

Not confidence stemming from the fact that we are perfect, but because we know that the Holy One, blessed be He has an eternal love for the People of Israel. Also from the tremendous merits which our nation possesses. All the victories we have had during the past year reassure us that the love of the Holy One, blessed be He for the People of Israel never falters, as it says: “I have loved you with an everlasting love" (from the Haftarah of Rosh Hashanah).

God tells us: I have still more treasures and wonders for you, but I do not give everything all at once. Slowly, step by step. It is important for us to know that the Holy One, blessed be He, is not stopping the Redemption. The miracles are not becoming fewer, but rather are increasing.

And Just as His Children Suppressed Their Compassion in Order to Do Your Will with a Whole Heart

It is very important to remember the great merits of the People of Israel. On Rosh Hashanah we recall the Binding of Isaac and say: “Just as our father Abraham suppressed his compassion for his only son in order to do Your will with a whole heart." And in our generation we can add and say: “And just as Abraham’s children suppressed their compassion in order to do Your will with a whole heart."

How many Bindings have we seen in these years? There has been so much self-sacrifice among the People of Israel during the past three years: soldiers and reservists; women who have managed their families alone for many long months; the wounded; bereaved families; and people who left their jobs and businesses in order to defend their brothers. And just as the Holy One, blessed be He, told Abraham that by virtue of the Binding he would merit, “I will surely bless you," so too in our generation, out of this self-sacrifice, a great promise will not remain unfulfilled.

The Redemption Continues - More and More

On Rosh Hashanah we will read Jeremiah’s Haftarah about the Redemption (Chapter 31). A very important word there is the word “again - עוד".

We are in the middle of the process of Redemption and we are not stopping. “Again I will build you, and you shall be built, O virgin of Israel." “Again you shall adorn yourself with your timbrels and go forth in the dances of those who rejoice." “Again you shall plant vineyards on the mountains of Samaria." “Again they shall say this thing in the land of Judah and in its cities, when I restore their captivity." And likewise, “They shall not sorrow again."

In the following chapter, Jeremiah continues to strengthen our confidence that the Redemption will continue and will not stop. He prophesies in the Name of God: “Again houses and fields and vineyards shall be purchased in this land" (Jeremiah 32). There will be joyous weddings: “Again there shall be heard in this place... the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride" (33:10-11). There will be flocks of sheep: “Again in this place... there shall be a dwelling place for shepherds causing their flocks to lie down." “Again the flocks shall pass under the hands of him who counts them" (33:13). And in our days, all of these promises are being fulfilled.

The Ingathering of the Exiles

Likewise, the prophet Isaiah says that the Ingathering of the Exiles will not stop: “Yet will I gather others to him, besides those of him who are already gathered" (56:8).

God does not do half a job. He also says that the choosing of Israel will never cease: “And He will yet choose Israel and settle them upon their Land" (14:1). Because of the great number of immigrants, it will become a little crowded: “The children of whom you were bereaved shall yet say in your ears: The place is too cramped for me" (49:20). Therefore, we will have to expand: “Is it not yet a very little while, and Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field?" (29:17).

Likewise, the prophet Habakkuk says: “For the vision is yet for the appointed time, and it speaks of the End and will not lie" (Habakkuk 2:3).

Zechariah’s Prophecies

Likewise, the prophet Zechariah prophesies of future events which are being fulfilled in our days:

“Thus says the Lord of Hosts: Old men and old women shall yet sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each with his staff in his hand because of his great age. And the byways of the city shall be filled with boys and girls playing in its streets."

This was a prophecy that sounded strange in those days, so Hashem gives assurance:

“Thus says the Lord of Hosts: If it is wondrous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in those days, shall it also be wondrous in My eyes? says the Lord of Hosts."

Zechariah also prophesies about Jerusalem’s status in the eyes of the nations of the world:

“Thus says the Lord of Hosts: Again peoples and the inhabitants of many cities shall come. And the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying: ‘Let us go at once to entreat the favor of the Lord and to seek the Lord of Hosts; I too will go.’ And many peoples and mighty nations shall come to seek the Lord of Hosts in Jerusalem and to entreat the favor of the Lord. Thus says the Lord of Hosts: In those days, ten men from all the languages of the nations shall take hold of the corner of the garment of a Jewish man, saying, ‘Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.’"

This too is happening and it will increase more and more as the nations recognize the wonders and God’s judgments which go forth from Jerusalem.

Amen and Amen.