02/10/2026
I haven’t stopped thinking about last night’s event at Matan HaSharon, or receiving the most incredible feedback. It was truly a special evening.
On Hoshana Raba, we call out to God: הושיע נא please save us. But what happens when the salvation we plead for does not come?
In our conversation, Avi Rosenfeld, father of Natan הי״ד, shared his journey with these questions-from being the son of Holocaust survivors to becoming the father of a fallen soldier. He spoke with extraordinary honesty about his struggles, his faith and his ongoing conversation with Hashem.
We explored the movement from searching for an answer from God - Why? - to _becoming an answer_ to God’s Ayeka: Where are you? What will you do? Those questions can coexist. Our response does not erase our pain neither does it minimise the why, instead when our questions become calling they enlarge us rather than minimise us.
Kol mevasser ve’omer - a voice heralds and says. What does that voice say?
Perhaps sometimes the comfort begins with the very fact that there is a voice. A presence. Someone with us. Maybe the content is less important.
I suggested that we might understand our cries of Hoshana as a summoning: asking Hashem to come close, to be with us. We can still have questions, still protest, still grieve - and ALSO find comfort in His redeeming presence.
Avi described emunah as something dynamic: a dance with Hashem. I added that the first appearance of the word emunah in the Torah describes Moshe’s hands, held steady during the battle with Amalek. Faith here takes the form of _faithfulness_: holding on, sustained by others, even in the midst of battle.
*This Hoshana Raba, may our faithfulness to Hashem, to each other and to ourselves be rekindled as we enter Simchat Torah-a day that has become so bittersweet*.
May we feel Hashem’s presence with us as we continue to mourn, and as we find the strength to dance.
שבת שלום וחג שמח
