Last week we were privileged to gather by HaRav Dov Lando, who derided us vociferously for not living with a constant awareness of the danger which faces us these days, surrounded as we are with bloodthirsty enemies, both within and out, who declare full voice their determination to destroy, kill and obliterate all of the Jews in Israel, Hashem forfend. Their hands are quick on the draw of newer, more sophisticated weapons which can reach every spot in the country.
It is our obligation to cry out and trumpet our voices to Hashem to have compassion and mercy on the remnant of our people that He rescue us and speedily redeem us. We must shout from the very depths of our heart, as the Rambam says in his introduction to the laws of fasting: "It is a positive mitzvah from the Torah to cry out to Hashem in every time of trouble lest it truly befall us."
Our prayer and outcry to Hashem is the very purpose of our being threatened with troubles and suffering in our exile — so that we draw closer to Him and return to Him. What has been facing us since Simchas Torah till today seems to be the realization of the prophecy in Hoshea 2:16-17 and Rashi's commentary:
"Therefore will I entice her and lead her to the desert and I will speak to her heart to follow Me — in the exile — which will be to her as a desert and desolation — and then will she realize how good it was when she obeyed Me, rather than when she rebelled against Me. I will give her there her vineyards [i.e. her supporters and leaders], and [transform] the sullied valley to an opening of hope [exchange the vastness of her tribulations which are contamination] and give her a gateway of hope, for from those very trying times will she realize that she must return to Me.] And she will answer as in the times of her youth and when she emerged from Egypt; when she will realize, having dwelled many years in Egypt and then emerged... When she cried out to Me in Egypt and I redeemed her; so now as well."
We learn here that when Hashem seeks to tempt and entice Yisrael to come closer to Him, He inflicts suffering upon them while sending them leaders and supporters to guide them and set them on the right path by teaching them to utilize the very suffering for their true purpose, which is to arouse their hearts to return to Him. These leaders urge them to cry out in voice and shofar, as they did in Egypt, and were granted salvation, as Rashi notes: "And I redeemed her, as I will do now."
We find by our ancestors as in Egypt, "And they cried out, and their cry rose up." Similarly, we often find in the Nevi'im, "...and Bnei Yisroel cried out to Hashem, and Hashem sent a redeemer unto Bnei Yisrael."
