Parshas Bechukosai
By Rabbi Dovid Zauderer
We are living in difficult times. Everyday someone shoots up an elementary school. Or a soldier gets stabbed to death. Or a bomb goes off in a grocery store. Or another person succumbs to Covid-19. Or a woman is diagnosed with late-stage cancer. Or a young man commits suicide. Or an entire family is wiped out by a drunk driver …. and the list goes on and on.
Over the centuries and millennia, we Jews have developed classic responses – based on the Torah’s worldview - when hearing about all these tragedies.
We should never have to use these responses – but it is still good to know them. [Some of these responses apply when mentioning someone else’s tragedy, while others apply when mentioning one’s own tragedy. Some are in Aramaic or Yiddish, while the majority are in Hebrew.] Here they are …
(1) Hashem Yeracheim! [Hebrew; pronounced: Hah-shem yuh-ra-khaym]. “May G-d have mercy [on us]!” A Jew turns to G-d in times of distress as the Only One Who can truly help through His divine mercy.
(2) Lo Aleinu! [Hebrew; pronounced: low ah-lay-noo] lit. “Not on us” [based on a passage in the Book of Eichah1:12 and the Talmud in Sanhedrin 104b] After sharing bad news with others, one inserts Lo Aleinu, as if to say: “May this catastrophe never befall any of us”.
(3) Refuah Sheleimah! [Hebrew; pronounced: ruh-foo-ah shuh-lay-muh] “[May G-d send you] a complete recovery!” In this classic response to hearing about another person’s (or even one’s own) illness, we beseech the all-powerful, Master of the Universe to heal us completely, with no residual side-effects.
(4) Rachmana Litzlan! [Aramaic; pronounced: rakh-muh-nuh litz-lun] lit. "O' Merciful One! Save us!"….same as #1 above.
(5) Es Zol Zein a Kapparah! [Yiddish; pronounced: ess zul zayn ah kah-puh-ruh] lit. “This should be an atonement [for my sins]. A Jew acknowledges that sometimes the illness or other challenge that he is going through is there to atone for the sins that he committed.
(6) Gam Zu L’Tovah! [Hebrew; pronounced: gom zoo leh-toe-vuh] “This, too, is for the good”. The classic Jewish response when bad things happen and one doesn’t understand why a merciful G-d would allow them. ‘Gam Zu L’Tovah’ is the Jewish person’s statement of faith in which he acknowledges that in some way, shape, or form ….it’s all ultimately good. [For an amazing illustration of how the concept of Gam Zu L‘Tovah works in real life, click on: https://www.chabad.org/
(7) Baruch Dayan Ha’Emes! [Hebrew; pronounced: buh-rookh dah-yun hah-em-ess] “Blessed is the true Judge!” Upon hearing exceptionally bad news, including the death of a close relative, one recites the blessing Baruch Dayan Ha’Emes, accepting G-d’s harsh judgment as the Truth – even though he presently has no understanding of why this had to happen the way it did.
It is our long-standing tradition that when the Messiah comes, we will no longer recite the blessing of Baruch Dayan Ha’Emes.
As we are taught in the Talmud (see Pesachim 50a):
Rabbi Acha bar Chanina said: “The World-to-Come is not like this world. In this world, upon good tidings one recites: Blessed…Who is good and does good, and over bad tidings one recites: Blessed…the true Judge. In the World-to-Come one will always recite: Blessed…Who is good and does good.” [There will be only one mode of blessing G-d for tidings … as there will only be good tidings.]
May we all live to see that day. Amen!
http://www.torchweb.org/torah_detail.php?id=712