Moreinu HaRav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik, zt'l, pointed out on different occasions that Hashem did not reveal Himself only in ancient times and only to people like our great prophets. Rather, He continually reveals Himself to all of mankind, as the most wondrous revelation of His presence is evident in creation, in the natural order, in the cosmic drama. Most of the time, though, the vast majority of people, busy as we are, remain oblivious to this revelation, and are unable to see His presence through the wonders of nature. Occasionally, however, an event takes place which clearly demonstrates to all the power of Hashem and of the forces which He built into His world, and the utter helplessness of even modern, technologically advanced, 21st century man to contend with that power. A perceptive analysis of such an event should lead to at least some measure of humility.

In the wake of the devastating storm of this past week, which wreaked havoc upon us all and disrupted the regular and comfortable routines of virtually everybody in the New York City area, we are certainly humbled by what transpired and we are reminded that even with all of our marvelous scientific developments, we are still rather limited human beings. At the same time, of course, our hearts go out to those who endured unimaginable suffering, resulting from the tragic loss of the lives of loved ones, of homes, of property and of personal belongings. We should all stand ready, even when in awe of Hashem's greatness and might, to be of practical assistance in whatever ways we can to those individuals who are in need of our help; it is our plan in the coming days at MTA to involve our talmidim as necessary in special chessed projects geared towards providing such assistance. In the meantime, we wish everyone as pleasant, as safe and as warm a Shabbos as possible.  

More Pictures on Flickr (photo credits: Shimmy Socol '16)