Dear Friends,
This morning, I listened to the local radio station, where they brought a direct report from the disaster in Haiti. The reporter said that they still don’t know how many were killed. Then, when he began to report on the state of the ruined houses and streets, the anchorwoman interrupted him and asked, “And what’s the state of the banana and mango plantations?”
I was very surprised, and even annoyed. “Those Swiss,” I thought derisively. How can you go on to talk about bananas and mangoes? We’re talking about people’s lives, about men, women and children who are now homeless!
But, unlike me, the reporter did not get angry, and immediately said that in the area being discussed, there wasn’t a single tree left standing. He then added: “The people are in despair, because the banana and mango plantations are their main source of income, and now, not only have the homes have been destroyed, but their livelihood as well.”
And then I understood. The houses and streets are the past; the bananas and mangoes – the future. Losing the past is painful, but as long as there’s a future, there’s hope. But when the future is destroyed, then the blow is indeed deadly.
Shall I make the analogy to Yom Kippur? I think it’s obvious enough.
All I have to do, then, is to wish everyone a year of good health, a good livelihood, true Jewish Nachat from the children and an inner happiness that will flow outward and influence one’s surroundings.
And most important, a year of Geula and Yeshua – Redemption and salvation – speedily in our days!
Wishing you a good Chatima and a good Gmar Chatima,
Rabbi Zalmen Wishedski