Debunking Viral Claim About the Talmud and Minors
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If this is where I am and I have no choice but to be here, this is where God wants me to be. Now the question is: What is my mission?
They went for eight days but will end up being stuck there for eight months. Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, two NASA astronauts, traveled to the International Space Station in June on Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft. However, during the test flight for their return, the propulsion system malfunctioned, and engineers determined it wasn’t safe enough to bring the two astronauts back to Earth alive.
NASA and Boeing officials have been careful with their language describing the circumstances, reluctant to use the words, “stuck” and “stranded,” which would reflect poorly on them. Describing their predicament, Suni also avoiding those words, saying, “Butch and I have been up here before, and it feels like coming home. It’s great to be up here, so I’m not complaining.”
Cynics are challenging the diplomatic description of the “extended stay.” Delian Asparouhov, a founder and the president of Varda Space Industries, posted on X: “I don’t know about you, but if I got stuck at an airport for seven months longer than expected, that would definitely qualify as ‘stranded.’”
i don't know about you
but if i got stuck at an airport for 7 months longer than expected
that would definitely qualify as "stranded" pic.twitter.com/xxpaxL9h4i
— delian (@zebulgar) August 7, 2024
Starliner, the spacecraft that brought them, will return to Earth unmanned, and the two astronauts are set to return in February on a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft. The two have plenty of supplies and say they aren’t anxious about their extended stay or being stuck. Wilmore's wife Deanna told AP that her husband is "content" at the space station, "neither worrying nor fretting." She said he has faith God is in control, and that this gives his family "great peace."
While it may not be for eight months, many of us feel stranded or stuck in situations or places we find ourselves: a cancelled flight, a hospital stay, an unexpected business trip, a long line, even a traffic jam, and it is hard to just feel that it is an “extended stay.” The key is to know and internalize that God is in control and through that to find great peace.
The key is to know and internalize that God is in control and through that to find great peace.
Sapir Cohen was abducted from Nir Oz on October 7 and held by Hamas for 55 days. She described being dragged out from her hiding spot under a bed, placed on a motorcycle between two terrorists, and driven back into Gaza where she was abused by civilians. She talked about her harrowing time being held first aboveground and then in a tunnel where she encountered Sinwar.
Her first few days being held hostage, Sapir described she kept replaying what had happened, second-guessing her decisions. Why had she and her boyfriend gone to his family for the Simchat Torah? Why did she hide under that bed instead of in a different spot? After several days of feeling tortured by her captors but also by her own mind, Sapir had a major paradigm shift. She simply said to herself, if this is where I am and I have no choice but to be here, this is where God wants me to be. Now, the question is why? What is my mission.
Sapir described that she was being held with a teenage girl who was struggling and suffering terribly with their condition. From the moment she went from feeling stuck and stranded to being there for a reason, she became determined to help this girl and get her out of there alive. She took the girl under her wing, encouraged her, and took great risks to ensure she had enough food. When they learned they were being taken into the tunnels, the girl panicked. Sapir told her, we are in Gaza and what is Gaza’s biggest attraction? The tunnels. We can’t be here and not see them for ourselves!
Sapir Cohen with her boyfriend Alex Trufanov who is being held hostage Gaza (Photo by Sapir Cohen)
With humor and positivity, she turned the girl’s attitude from helplessness to hope and from dread to determination. After an “extended stay” of 55 days, Sapir and the young girl were released in the final swap on November 30. Of course, we continue to pray that Sapir’s boyfriend Sasha and all the hostages are released and return home.
The Torah describes, “These are the journeys of the Children of Israel” and then goes on to immediately list 42 encampments, 42 stops. Which is it, were they journeys or stops? The Lubavitcher Rebbe explained (Likkutei Sichos, vol. 23, pp. 227-8):
This is because these encampments were not seen as ends unto themselves but as way-stations and stepping-stones in the larger journey of the Jewish People to attain their goal of entering the Promised Land. Therefore, the stops themselves are referred to as journeys because they were part of what brought about the ultimate objective.
The same is true of our journey through life. Pauses, interruptions, and setbacks are an inadvertent part of a person’s sojourn on earth. But when everything a person does is toward the goal of attaining the “Holy Land”—the sanctification of the material world—these, too, become journeys of their own. Ultimately, these unplanned stops are shown to have been the true motors of progression, each a catalyst propelling us further toward the realization of our mission and purpose in life.
Like the astronauts in space, a Jew is always where he or she is meant to be. Wherever you are, the goal must be to focus on and figure out what is your mission and how can you make the most of this journey.
As I read this, I thought of the journeys we face in our life related to our physical health. Sometimes the journey is pleasant, but at other times it's a much more difficult, circuitous journey. However, if we have given our lives to G-d and are following Him, He guides us every part of our journey and every pause has its reason. That has been my experience this year. It's all about trust. "Never doubt in the dark, what you knew to be true in the light."
Thanks for this insightful article.
Possibly - we can also relate this to the story of our ancestors - who waited for the 400 years they spent in captivity - in Egypt. Until - G-D remembered His promise to Abraham - and after the long wait - came to redeem them.
This was just the perspective I needed in the middle of a year during which I went through one medical issue and am now in the midst of another. It’s not going to work for everyone at every time (and maybe not even for me every time), but it was right for me at this moment.
I see the truth in this perspective, and how it can diminish the suffering and worry of what one is going through. . But the reality of the situation remains and the pain can remain intense. One can still feel famished when denied food, major discomfort stuck in a spaceship, heatbroken over a breakup, etc., devastated by illness etc. (sorry to sound so negative)
Is there any way to significantly reduce/eliminate the pain of difficult times, even if I trust in
G-D that it has purpose and meaning?
Being held hostage in Gaza, with the abuse and very little food, reminds me about my mother's(obm) experience in the Holocaust, a Holocaust Survivor that lived in the south of Israel where the terrorists attacked their kibbutz called the terrorists "Nazis(may their name be erased) that speak Arabic", in my opinion I agree 100% with this Holocaust Survivor's view of the enemy, and being in space stranded is very different then being in tunnels, that you don't see the sun and will need strong sunglasses, if you are lucky enough to get out alive, the sunlight will bother the eyes of the hostages that are in tunnels, only Hashem knows who is alive or not
GREAT!
This is beautiful. I once woke up in a hospital to learn I had been in a coma for 2 weeks . It was another month before I was well enough to be discharged. Since then, I’ve never had reason enough to complain about being “stuck” anywhere else.
As the saying goes, God is sometimes slow, but is never late.
A beautiful perspective. Meshing the astronauts’ experience with Sapir’s really drive home the mindset in a meaningful way. Thank you. I’ll remember this when I encounter obstacles on my life’s journey.
This reminds me of a time, many years ago when I was at a hospital pharmacy and waited over 2 hours to have my prescription filled. I was naturally feeling pretty frustrated by the situation. At hour 2, it suddenly came to me; 2 hours (or more) is the perfect amount of time for me to wait. If it wasn't, I wouldn't still be here. Only G-d decided this is what I need to be doing right now, and I accept that his wisdom is far greater than mine. I have incorporated this belief countless times over the years, and it has helped me immensely.
I love this article. It really resonates- I will try and remember this next time I stuck, delayed or stranded somewhere.