About a year ago one of my sons showed me a World War II documentary. What was most interesting was that it wasn’t a documentary about the war itself but about what went on in the background. How Americans — from the factory workers to the captains of the massive ships that brought over the supplies through dangerous waters — worked together for the war effort.
In the video the skies are blue as blue. The seas are happy the workers look strong their faces filled with hope and determination as they labor with love.
Everyone got involved because getting involved was a given.
And that’s what came to me the other day when I was walking down the street and I noticed this baby in a carriage. The baby’s clothes were white as pure snow the carriage gleaming and the mother elegantly dressed.
And I thought It probably takes a whole war effort to get her there. She must have a great backup crew.
Even in our house I see how much we help my married daughter when she visits us. I pack a little sandwich fill the bottle my other ones hold the baby so she can get ready before she goes out.
On the other side of the street a little further down I saw the opposite scene. A baby with dirty clothes an old beat-up stroller the mother looking bedraggled.
No backup crew I immediately thought.
Well it doesn’t start the day the new baby comes home; it starts like in a war way before that new soul comes down. It could even start generations before what we call zechus avos the merit of our forefathers.
The grandmother prepares the mother who prepares the daughter fills her with all the supplies and training for life. She comes with a boat full of goods and ammunition. A whole team working behind her. And she comes out a winner a hero.
Then there’s one whose supply chain was somehow lacking not functioning or even cut off. No parents no guidance no community no family. She’s shlepping though the war alone. Kind of running and hiding just trying not to get hit.
What happens to the ones who came without the zechus avos no so-called “money in the bank ” no supplies?
They look bedraggled. The shoes might look good but there are holes in the bottom and water seeps through and it’s cold and they get sick and they keep stumbling deeper and deeper.
It can play out in a few ways. Either the enemy falls upon them or the one who has the supplies comes and shares and helps and binds them back together.
Or G-d takes over completely.
I know someone with no family no help no money no backing. A baalas teshuvah with a baby straight out of our dysfunctional scenario. The whole family kind of fell down one by one and she thought Why am I even trying? It’s a losing battle. So she tried to lie down and stop trying but life didn’t let her do that either. Everyone kind of just pointed fingers at how bad it all looked. Especially those with a whole war effort behind them keeping them on the high ground looking down.
I saw an item recently and read it to her:
“Challenged souls enter [This World] stumble and fall. They pick themselves up and fall again. Eventually they climb to a higher tier where more stumbling blocks await them. Their accomplishments often go unnoticed — although their stumbling is obvious to all.
“But by the time they leave new paths have been forged obstacles leveled and life itself has gained a new clarity for all those yet to enter… The challenged meet the enemy on its own ground. Any real change in this world is only on their account.” (Rabbi Tzvi Freeman Daily Dose Chabad.org)
Though it’s not food or money or clothes I hoped this thought could be some ammunition for her to fight off that little enemy that always whispers in our ear “You’re a loser.”
Maybe it’s one of the most important supplies in the war effort. —