The human spirit has the capacity to rise to unimaginable heights.
Imagine this. Iris Haim, mother of one of the hostages mistakenly killed by friendly fire, recorded a message to the soldiers that killed her son telling them that she and her family love them and do not blame them for his death.
“We received your message, and since then we have been able to function”, the soldier told Iris Haim, according to Kan. “Before that, we had shut down”.
It’s a story of absolute heroism ( to read the full story) all around. The soldiers themselves serving selflessly in the most extreme conditions to protect Am Yisrael and of course Iris’s beyond gracious and supremely heroic message to the unit.
Where does this strength come from?
Truth is, in this week’s Torah portion we read the famous Biblical story of Joseph— who was sold into slavery by his brothers—reuniting with them. The setting takes place in Egypt and Joseph is the second most powerful man in the world. He has all means at his disposal and every opportunity to exact his fair due from his brothers who consorted to kill him.
His response when he sees them recoiling in shock and with deep regret? “Don’t be upset or angry with yourself that you sold me to this place, for now we see that G-d sent me ahead of you to save your lives”. In fact, it wasn’t you who sent me it was the Divine plan all along.
I’ve always felt this response from Joseph was too incredible. A Biblical story if you will. Yet clearly Iris’s message to the soldiers rises to this level and just as clearly it’s a lesson to each of us that we too can rise to higher levels that at first glance may seem superhuman.
Indeed, if we tap into the Divine sparks that we each possess we can rise to heights previously unimaginable. A worthy goal for 2024!