When You Suffer, They Shall Find You

The time (in which we live) is truly “a time to work for the Almighty,” and great is the responsibility now falling upon every Jew with the ability to do so. [ . . . ] All the lands of the diaspora are aflame with fire—synagogues and houses of study, together with scrolls of the Torah, are being publicly burned to ashes; bitter decrees against us are increasing daily; our enemies have determined to uproot us together with our holy faith. [ . . . ] Tens of thousands of Jewish families are living between the borders of foes and murderers. [ . . . ] Now, to our misfortune, when faith in Israel is weakened to such an extent in the lands of the West, the Reform movement has struck powerful roots that have brought in their wake assimilation in the worst degree [ . . . ] and from there evil has emanated [ . . . ] the first signs of the powerful hatred of Jews have manifested themselves, and from there the poison and the abominations have spread to other countries; and in the lands of the east there are an increasing number of important people who have rejected the Almighty who exert force and pressure over our brethren, the children of Israel, to seduce them and lead them astray from the Torah and the faith.

But we are not allowed to be swept along by this stream. We are compelled to repent wholeheartedly in a spirit of perfect repentance, as the Torah tells us that “When you are in dire straits, and all these things befall you, at the end of days, you shall return to the Almighty, your God.” [ . . . ]