May 2004 From Sorrow To Joy By Rabbi Alvin Kass The festival of Shavuot which will soon be upon us is a time of great joy and happiness, celebrating the Revelation of the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai and the harvesting of the first fruits in Israel. The holiday follows, nevertheless, immediately after the Sefirah period which historically has constituted seven weeks of sadness and suffering that recall times of plague, pestilence, and persecution in the annals of the Jewish people. The contrast between the joy of Shavuot and the doldrums of the preceding Sefirah is sharp and stark. One wonders how an atmosphere of mourning could be so suddenly and totally transformed into an aura of happiness. Yet in life, bitterness has the capacity of yielding exultation. As the popular adage puts it: "It is always darkest before the dawn." Barbara Tuchman was quite correct when she wrote: "Social decadence is the compost of social improvement." Indeed, Jewish tradition tells us that the Messiah to whom our ancestors looked for salvation and the resolution of all human problems was born in the midst of despair, on Tisha b'Av, when the temple was destroyed. That the worst of times can become the best of times is most reassuring when one observes the attitudes of so many Americans as a result of both the serious domestic and foreign problems presently facing this country. On the home front, corporate scandal and the malady of selfishness are running rampant, unemployment is still dangerously high, and our economy is slow to produce new jobs. The stock market, while climbing higher for the most part over the last several months, responds edgily to bad news, and there has been plenty of it. Abroad, the United States has suffered one humiliation after another. More American soldiers have died in Iraq following the end of the war than during the conflict. Spain has threatened to withdraw her soldiers from the coalition forces. Poland has accused the United States of misleading her as to why war was launched against Iraq in the first place. North Korea threatens to detonate an atomic bomb. Osama bin Laden is still running around loose, and the perils of terrorism remain unabated. Moreover, our so-called "allies" have to be virtually dragged into taking concrete steps to assist us in our sundry fights. There are many Cassandras in our midst making all kinds of dire predictions about the end of American prestige, leadership, power, and influence in the world. But, we need to view these events in perspective. We have faced economic and foreign distress before and have prevailed. The fact that we do not succeed in everything, everywhere, all the time does not mean that we do not and will not succeed in anything, anywhere, at any time. The fact is that America, past and present, has had a notable record of vigorous, humane, and generous leadership in many areas of which we can all be very proud. Even the current difficulties are not without their redeeming qualities. Economic distress can lead us to seek satisfactions in other areas of life. Perhaps we may rediscover the simple joys of sunshine, fresh air, friends, and family which are ours at no or very little cost. The foreign debacles too may prove instructive as we painfully learn how vulnerable we really are, how limited is the efficacy of military might, and how unreliable many of our foreign "friends" are. If we derive the right lessons and draw the correct conclusions from recent calamities, then today's sufferings may actually be a harbinger of hope and optimism ahead. As the Sefirah gives way to Shavuot, so may our domestic and foreign follies give way to policies grounded in wisdom, prudence, understanding, idealism and confidence in the future of America.