Last Day of Chol Hamoed Succot 5771, Part I
I’ll be the first to admit I don’t have a hot line to heaven like some of my friends, but I decided to participate in Shacharit at the Western Wall the last day of Chol Hamoed Succot. My main motivation was to take a list of names
– family, friends, and organizations, the nation of Israel, the IDF, the Israeli government and U.S. troops along with the American government – to pray for and leave everyone in the hands of Hashem for the coming year.
I sat at the Wall contemplating over each name and thought what would I want for this or that person - health for those of us ailing from aches and pains as we enter later years; prosperity for all in questionable financial circumstances; renewed strength and courage for leaders who exert tireless energy in the fight for the Land; perfect shiduchim for my friends’ children who are some of the finest of Israel; and many more simchas for Am Israel. I prayed for the release of the captives; the protection of those fighting for liberty, truth and justice.
And even for my enemies who think I am the sorriest excuse for a human being ever created and put on the planet earth, I left in His hands.
Then, I stood back and observed only a teeny portion of what I would think Hashem was observing with pleasure from a higher vantage point, the rejoicing of His children. And while His children practice rejoicing and are in hopes that Am Israel will one day be unified, He probably knows it will be in spite of ourselves since He promised He would save Israel, not because of their righteous virtues, but for His Name’s sake!
Succot at the Kotel, Part II
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