“This is the Blessing” Rabbi Elaine Zecher’s Shabbat Awakenings
October 10, 2025 | 18 Tishrei 5785
Welcome to Shabbat Awakenings, a weekly reflection, as we make our way toward Shabbat and this week, in particular, toward the possibility of peace and the return of the hostages. You can also listen to it as a podcast.
This is the blessing-v’zot habrachah וְזֹ֣את הַבְּרָכָ֗ה, the hopeful words begin this week’s Torah portion on the Shabbat in the middle of the holiday of Sukkot. Moses blessed the tribes and there overlooking the land of great promise, his story ended, but another one was soon to begin.
This is the blessing-v’zot habrachah וְזֹ֣את הַבְּרָכָ֗ה which showers these days with a promise of the return of the hostages.
This is the blessing-v’zot habrachah וְזֹ֣את הַבְּרָכָ֗ה we have longed for, amidst the darkest days of our people, pummeled by despair and death for two interminable years. Rivers of tears for the loss of children and parents, for soldiers who never reached their 21st birthday, for the suffering and pain flow without end.
We call this the time of our great joy-z’man simchateynu –זמן שמחתנו but it is more than that as the Torah instructs. It is “nothing but joy!” Ach Sameah- אך שמח. (Deut. 16:15). The festival of Sukkot is when God will bless our crops AND our undertaking. That was sure to bring pure joy.
This will be an enormous undertaking. Though we read from Ecclesiastes on this festival, we will live its words in real time:
A time for slaying and a time for healing,
A time for tearing down and a time for building up;
A time for weeping and a time for laughing,
A time for wailing and a time for dancing; (3:3-4)
There are no guarantees, not until the hostages are returned into the loving arms of their families, not until the war has ended. Only then can peace bloom with great patience to await how it can blossom.
This is the blessing of the moment for leadership, of the effort of President Trump, of Prime Minister Netanyahu, of the Arab nations willing to give a guiding hand for the Sukkat of Peace to take shape on this Shabbat. A great promise calls to us all. May this be the blessing we pray arrives soon and in our day. Nothing but joy.
Shabbat Shalom! שבת שלום
I look forward to hearing your thoughts and impressions. Share with me what you think. Your email goes directly to me!
Rabbi Elaine Zecher