Rahm Emanuel, the current mayor of Chicago and previously the president's Chief of Staff, is famous for lot’s of things. Among them is a quote he once said, “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste.” A crisis is a highly consequential time and ideas that wouldn’t usually be pursued can sometimes be accomplished due to the emergency. When the stakes are up the motivation is different, and people are more open to make drastic changes that they may not usually be open to doing. With all that is happening in the world today, many people wring their hands and worry. Iran with nuclear weapons? ISIS seemingly spreading to other parts of the world? Israel is being made more isolated by the day; BDS seems to be spreading! Who knows what’s next?! This Shabbat we read the haftorah of Nachamu, the famous comforting words of the prophet Isaiah: “Nachamu, nachamu ami” - “Console, console My people.” Why the double expression of comfort? Commentaries say that it’s a double measure of comfort corresponding to the two Temples that were destroyed. But there’s more. Interestingly, all Torah narratives of redemption use a double expression. This is true when Abraham is “redeemed” from Ur Kasdim and it’s true when our ancestors were redeemed from Egypt. And it is again found here in reference to the future and ultimate redemption with Moshiach (The Messiah - yes, it’s absolutely a Jewish concept - that’s where they got it from). Double is more than just two; double represents infinite growth potential. The endless potential that comes with redemption. And you know what? All this chaos in the world actually gives us a unique opportunity to not allow this “crisis to go to waste.” For radical and everlasting positive change to take place, there often needs to be a complete breakdown of the previous paradigm. And that is what we see happening today. Don’t get me wrong. What is happening now around the world needs to be confronted by those in positions to do so; the appropriate military and political leaders need to do their jobs. Regular people like me and you need to make our voices heard so that those elected officials, who serve on our behalf, understand the support they have for what is right. But, there is an entire other side to the story: The spiritual side. In all the chaos there is an opportunity to shift the world in a positive way - every mitzvah that we do combats the darkness in the most potent way. Each time we put on tefillin or light shabbat candles, we make the world into a brighter and holier world; a world that is more conducive to goodness and holiness and less welcoming to evil. 
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