For thousands of years, the world has looked at the Jewish people and wondered: How do they keep going? They have seen us walk through the fires of empires that rose and fell, carrying a journey weighed down by heavy suffering, yet always moving forward with a quiet, stubborn pride. To understand why we do not break, and to understand where we are going, you have to travel back thousands of years to a lonely, dusty roadside near Bethlehem. There, you will meet our mother, Mame Rochel- the Matriarch of the Jewish people.
Rochel was a woman of breathtaking empathy. When her father tried to publicly humiliate her sister Leah on her wedding night, Rochel did the unthinkable: she gave her sister the secret signs she had prepared with her beloved Yaakov. To protect her sister from shame, Rochel completely conquered her own ego and jealousy. She introduced a new sort of love to the world, to put the diginity of others before our own.
Years later, as her life cut short, after seven years of infertility Rochel gave the birth of Yosef, she died while giving birth to Benjamin.She was not buried in the tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron. Instead, by Divine design, Yaakov buried her by the lonely roadside. It looked like a tragedy. But it was a prophetic act of absolute devotion. Rochel chose to stay outside in the cold because she foresaw that centuries later, her children would be marched past that exact road in chains, weeping as they were driven into golus. She refused a place of comfortable rest because she knew her children would need a mother standing on the road to embrace them in the dark.
For generations, Rochel has been weeping for her children. Even now, in a world still broken by pain, she is weeping. Every time an act of hatred occurs, every time her people suffer, her tears fall.
But if you listen closely to the story, bitterness is never the final word, the Nevi'im tell us that as our great leaders of history pleaded for mercy, the heavens remained silent. It was only when Rochel stepped forward, offering her own self-sacrifice as a shield for her children, that HaShem responded. Moved by her boundless compassion, HaShem gave her a promise that shatters the decree of golus:
Restrain your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears... there is hope for your future, and your children shall return to their own border." - Yirmeyahu 31:16-17
This promise is what we call Geulah - The Ultimate Redemption.
But it doesn't stop there, for the Jewish people, this means returning home "on the wings of eagles"-an absolute, permanent end to the running, the hiding, and the unhealed trauma of history. It is a return to the land of Israel where we truly belong. We do our jobs daily, getting heaven down to earth by bringing holiness into the physical world through our ancient traditions, our Torah, our Shabbos, mitzvos, chesed and tzedakah.
But Mame Rochel’s tears are not just for her children; they are the catalyst for geulah of the entire world.. Today, so many good, beautiful people across the nations of the world are suffering. The world is heavy with anxiety, shattered by fear, and exhausted by a relentless struggle for survival.
The story of Mame Rochel teaches us that when the Jewish people finally return home and our mission is complete, the suffering of all humanity will end.
The role of the nations is to lift the world up from below, stabilizing it through the 7 Laws of Noach, by establishing justice, honoring HaShem, respecting human life, protecting the family, and treating other human beings with dignity. When the nations build these strong foundational walls of a just society, and the Jewish people draw the Divine light down from Shamayim, it will meet perfectly.
Geulah will dry our tears. It is a promise of a better, happier life for all people. Weapons will be turned into tools for peace, economic anxiety will dissolve, and the heavy fog of fear and mental anguish will be replaced by universal peace and real joy.
When we look back at our history not just to remember the pain, but to remind the world that the story ends in joy. We are almost home, and when we arrive, we are bringing the whole world into the light with us.
This teaches us how to look at every dark chapter of our thousands-of-years journey. We do not look back at history just to mourn; we look back to find the sparks of light that were hidden in the dark, knowing that those sparks are what fuel our mission.
Every mitzvah we do today, every act of goodness by the nations keeping the Noachide laws, and every moment of emunah amid difficulty is turning the wheels of history closer to that destination. Because we know where the story ends, we can endure the bitter parts with a proud heart, knowing that the ultimate and the complete revelation of HaShem’s goodness..is just around the corner with the coming of the Moshiach.
Mame Rochel is the Ultimate example of maternal love, self- sacrifice, and spiritual plea for the Jewish people. She introduced a completely different spiritual state of being to the world: the power of absolute Bittul.
The 11th of Cheshvan, the Yahrzeit of Mame Rochel, we are honoring the eternal unconditional strengh of Jewish motherhood.