Dvar Torah for Shabbat Chazon

Based on Likutey MoHaran II, #112

The Rebbe said: If you believe you can damage, believe you can fix.

Shabbat Chazon is the Shabbat before Tisha b'Av (Ninth of Av), which begins this coming Wednesday at sunset and ends Thursday at nightfall. Shabbat Chazon is so named because the haftorah (Isaiah 1:1) opens with the word chazon (vision). We need Shabbat to see what Tisha b'Av means.

Take a look at the Shabbat of the past, the Shabbat of Torah-giving, the promise of a nation and its people. Take a look at what you once were. Take a look at Tisha b'Av of the past - and present. Take a look at the damage of selfishness, of hypocrisy, and of lack of faithfulness.

Take a look within yourself: how seriously do you take the different aspects of your Judaism? Does your prayer look like one talking to the Deity? Is your study of a Torah text an honest request of God for instruction on how to think and feel, of how to walk with Him in all that is part of your life?

Take a look at those closest to you, family, friends: is there sharing and caring among you? how are they growing? Are they growing?! Are you part of the problem or part of the tikun (solution)?

Take a look at the wider circle of co-workers and community: is there honesty and faithfulness in your community or has it prostituted itself? Is it really "community" or just individuals in the same milieu? Are you part of the problem or part of the solution?

Take a look at the Shabbat of the future, its plenty, its clarity, its tranquillity. How will it arrive? What will be your share in it? Take a look at Tisha b'Av of the future - the holy day when the world is reclaimed in the name of the King.

agutn Shabbos!
Shabbat Shalom!