We find ourselves in unusual circumstances. The most obvious expressions of our Yiddishkeit are out of reach. It is not an outside enemy that is preventing us from t’filla b’ tzibur, from learning Torah in a bais medrash that roars with rischa de’oyraysa, from the tahara of mikva, and from so many activities that require a gathering of Yidden. Hakodosh Boruch Hu sent a virus that forces us to stay home; “V’atem lo tetz’u ish mipesach beiso ad boker.” We may be home alone, we may be blessed with a spouse, we may be blessed with children, we may be blessed with parents and siblings, but we are home.
And at home we come face to face with ourselves. This is the time to find the inner Jew, build that inner Jew and infuse that Jew with strength and light.
The inner Jew is secure with Hakodosh Boruch Hu. The inner Jew is a pillar of the menuchas hanefesh that is the outer expression of bitachon. The inner Jew exudes compassion and sensitivity to the people he is confined with and to the people he/she can reach by phone. Because inside that Jew you will find a well-spring that is sourced in Avraham Avinu. The inner Jew doesn’t take up space, not physical space and not emotional space that other members of his/her family can use. He/she is a vatron, not wanting to touch that which others can benefit from. The heart of Yitzchok Avinu is sensitive to the justice that is needed to keep a family or an individual on an even keel and this same heart davens because his/heart yearns for the submission to Hashem that is inherent in davening. The inner Jew needs truth to live, honesty with him/herself, a connection to Hashem’s truth and a striving toward kedusha and shleimus as is appropriate for one who carries the name “Yisroel,” our ancestor who overcame the Malach of Sheker.
And the inner Jew finds leadership in the heart of David Malka Meshicha. The inner Jew praises Hashem, cries to Hashem, and yearns to Hashem from the heart, from the inside of the heart.
May we all be zoche to find that inner Jew inside of us and make that Jew shine until the dawn of the ge’ula shleima.