Not a good week – first a terrorist attack on Israelis in Bulgaria and now a shooting in Colorado. It’s the kind of week that leaves you with a real sinking and helpless feeling – at first. And then, distress and anger that these events weren’t avoided – when often they could have been. Then you read the news stories describing the victims, (like this one and this one) and the emotions turn to pain…
These type of stories affect each of us differently; to me, the timing – during the Three Weeks (the period of Jewish national mourning), makes it all the more poignant. During this time we mourn the destruction of Jerusalem and the Beit Hamikdash (the Holy Temple in Jerusalem), as well as the exile of the Jewish people from our land.
But woven into the mourning and commemorating of these terrible events is the hope for the future. Crying about our downfall and our loss, at the same time looking to the future, to the era of Moshiach; the ultimate redemption of this world.
We can’t allow these events to take us down, and we also can’t brush them aside and try to ignore them. We have to channel the emotions to positive action. Add a mitzvah in your life. The terrorists (and the crazed gunman in Colorado) increased darkness in this world – let’s combat it with more light. They acted with random hatred; let’s respond with random acts of goodness and kindness!
Every mitzvah is important, but the mitzvah of Shabbat candle lighting is specifically linked to increasing peace. The local time to light Shabbat candles is tonight at 8:07pm (if you’re reading this in another part of the country, click here to find your local time). Even if you don’t usually light Shabbat candles, please, take a few minutes and light them tonight. (Learn more about how it’s done here). While you’re lighting your candles think how you can do your part to add more light in this dark and pained world.