Massive, world-changing events are taking place and there is
no way we can do anything about them -- for we do not even
have any idea what is better for us or worse for us. It shows
clearly how fully dependent we are on our Father in
Heaven.
America was wounded deeply, both physically and spiritually,
on the 23rd of Elul. It responded, as it must, with a vow to
bring the perpetrators to justice. All of America's
technological prowess and financial might are focused on a
backward land, full of primitive but warlike people who live
a simple life that is not so easy to attack effectively with
modern technology.
After three weeks of steady bombing, it is not clear that
America has accomplished anything beyond a certain amount of
destruction. The Taliban rulers of Afghanistan are hurting,
but they are well dug in and do not seem about to sue for
peace. They managed to catch and execute their leading rival
from the Northern Alliance, and they are getting
reinforcements from neighboring Pakistan, officially a U.S.
ally, and from the people of Afghanistan themselves, who have
not generally welcomed America's bombs. America does not want
to fight all of Islam, but it is not clear if Islam feels the
same way.
At the same time, America itself is under attack. Five people
have died so far from anthrax the caught from contaminated
letters, and many more have been exposed. The whole country
is in shock and fear as it has to deal with a threat against
which it is totally unprepared, both in physical means and in
spirit. There is no better evidence of this than the fumbling
way that the American government has dealt with the crisis:
indecisively and issuing conflicting messages.
Far from the least of America's problems is the economic
recession that seems to have taken hold there. A cause of
suffering in itself, the uncertainty and loss of wealth that
it brings add to the general malaise and magnify the outside
threat. To this problem as well the American government is
not reacting firmly. The legislative package that it has
proposed to fight the recession has been subject to deep
criticism: that it does nothing at all to stimulate the
economy, but only pays off political debts to campaign
supporters. Though recessions are normally followed by
recovery, no one can yet see when the current recession will
end.
Thus the United States -- and by extension the rest of the
West since it follows Uncle Sam's lead -- is mired in three
major problems: a war in Afghanistan that may be impossible
to win, an anthrax attack at home that seems impossible to
stop (we may never even know for sure who is behind the
mysterious envelopes) and a worsening recession that shows no
sign of ending.
It is more evident than it has been for several decades that
the real power behind the flow of events is in Heaven, and if
we want to influence things in one way or another, our best
efforts should be directed to teshuvoh, tefilloh, and
tzedokoh.
