A Plea from a Broken Heart
The heart of the people of Israel still aches from the tragic events of October 7, 2023. It is a pain felt deep within, permeating the very air they breathe. As the Kabbalist Menachem Mendel of Kotzk once proclaimed, “No one is complete when their heart is in pieces.” A broken heart is highly sensitive to its own fractures. It yearns fervently for restoration, to become whole once again.
A broken heart is like an open book, vulnerable and exposed. It notices even the faintest impurities that pass through it and can regret those moments when it lets those impurities pass by.
The stark divisiveness of the people of Israel throughout the year, expressed in the constant protests and demonstrations, all shattered with the tragedies on October 7. Today, brokenhearted, they can naturally implore for healing.
The plea is simple: may no unkind thoughts traverse our hearts, may no folly enter, and may we shed no disdain or arrogance in our interactions.
By doing so, we draw closer to balance with the fundamental laws of nature—laws of love, bestowal and connection—for if we do not wish to align our unity with the total unity that exists in nature itself, then we have a rickety basis for our unity.
How can we align our unity with nature’s unity? It is by regularly developing our very plea to mend our fractured hearts to unite as one.
In our wounded state lies an immense opportunity: to ask for healing, to pray for the unity of all, so that we could stand as a single harmonious entity—a nation bound together “as one man with one heart.”
It is my hope that this plea from a broken heart will accompany us moving forward, and that with its help, a positive sense of unity will take shape not only in our nation, but the world over.