A SHABBOS OF PEACE FOR A PEACEFUL NATION

It was a friday afternoon, just like today, and the first man just could not stand the temptation of munching on the forbidden fruit from the "tree that let us differenciate between good and evil"

To this day we live, breathe and act upon the effects of this treacherous misdeed, to the extent that our sages tell us that "there is no good without a lil' evil, and no evil without a lil' good" have a look around this world of ours, what confusion, the UN is a supreme example.

There is one catch, the result of this sin was not manifest until after the holy shabbos, from friday morn up till shabbos eve, a full 36 hours of full, complete, holiness and serenity.

We are also taught, that the seven days of our week, reflect the seven days of creation, the heavnly peace of the first shabbos replays itself weekly on our holy day of rest.

This matter is magnified when we refer to the shabbos of this week, shabbos chazon, where the holy temple is shown to us in the sky, a glimpse of the ultimate redemption and eternal rest.

We find ourselves during the nine days, in a state of mourning for the temple of old, thousands of years later the jewish nation still suffers, jewish blood still flows on the very same ground, and the nations of the world show precious little sympathy, and now shabbos chazon is upon us.

Let us pray, that we can find rest in this shabbos of calm, may the families of departed souls find consolation, may the soldiers be shown an easy victory, may the displaced jewish families find comfort, and may the leaders in the holy land find it within their hearts to make the right decisions to protect those under their jurisdiction and may the serenity that this shabbos brings us carry through to the ultimate redemption.