* Translation by Yehoshua Siskin
A question surprised me at the start of a class yesterday on parashat Bereishit. The class was broadcast on Zoom and 4,000 women of the Mitchadshot community participated.
At the beginning of the meeting, I said that the class was being dedicated to the recovery of the students who had been injured a few hours earlier in an explosion in the north while on a trip.
Then someone wrote in the chat: “This is my first time attending a Torah class. What does it mean “to dedicate" a class like this to someone. I’ve never heard of this idea before."
What a wonderful question. I explained that every mitzvah we do in this world creates zechuyot, spiritual merits. Torah study and prayer have a special spiritual power. When a person does something good, they can dedicate the merit of their learning to a particular purpose - for example, the recovery of someone who was injured.
Within the Jewish people, there is a principle of arvut or mutual responsibility. We all protect one another through our mitzvot and good deeds or, heaven forbid, have the opposite effect by behaving improperly. It is as if we are all part of a single living organism and every movement of one part affects every other.
Then, just as the Zoom class was ending, as though in a direct continuation of this conversation, I received a message from Chani Leiter, the mother of Neriyah, who was seriously wounded in a terrorist attack several weeks ago:
“In the intensive care unit at Shaare Zedek Hospital, we are receiving messages and videos of so many prayers, Torah classes, and good deeds being performed for our Neriah all over the world. If only I could describe how much this strengthens us.
“We see how the mutual responsibility and concern of the entire Jewish people transcend our personal situation, uplifting us as the hidden Jewish soul of the entire nation is revealed.
“Our son was named Neriyah - Ner-Yah, ‘lamp of God’- because we wanted him to illuminate the world with God’s light. God’s ways are hidden, but our eyes can now see how Neriyah is doing exactly that. The light of good deeds surrounds us with love and gives us strength."
Wow. One woman’s question and one mother’s answer remind us of something fundamental: No one is alone, and every good deed and dedicated mitzvah touch the lives of others.
May Neria Dov ben Chana, and all those who have been injured, experience a complete recovery.