<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META content="text/html; charset=US-ASCII" http-equiv=Content-Type>
<META name=GENERATOR content="MSHTML 11.00.10570.1001"></HEAD>
<BODY id=role_body style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; COLOR: #000000"
bottomMargin=7 leftMargin=7 topMargin=7 rightMargin=7><FONT id=role_document
color=#000000 size=2 face=Arial>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT lang=0 color=#0000ff size=2 face=Arial FAMILY="SANSSERIF"
PTSIZE="10">
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" color=#000000 size=2
face=Arial>From: Micha Berger via Avodah
<avodah@lists.aishdas.org><BR>...<BR>: Judaism's preference of the
optimist over the pessimist is made clear<BR>: not only by what the Torah has to
say on the subject of the spies<BR>: but even more so by the first remark
attributed to the Creator upon<BR>: His completion of the work of creation. "And
God saw all the He made,<BR>: and behold it was very good..." (Gen. 1:31).
[--Cantor Wolberg]<BR><BR><BR>RMB wrote: >> ...But in any case, the
spies are an imperfect example, because they had<BR>G-d's promise that this
specific mission would succeed.<BR><BR>We don't have such reason to be
optimistic....<BR><BR></FONT></DIV><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent"
color=#000000 size=2 face=Arial>
<DIV><BR>....Similarly, if someone wants to argue that the Torah wants us to
be<BR>optimistic, don't we have to address what the Torah would tell a
Jew<BR>living in Lodz in 1939? <<<BR><BR>Micha
Berger
</DIV>
<DIV>micha@aishdas.org </DIV>
<DIV></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>>>>>></DIV>
<DIV>I once heard a powerful and inspiring talk given by R' Joseph Friedenson
a'h. He had survived a number of different concentration camps in hellish
circumstances, and had lost all or most of his family. He said in his talk
that the last time he ever saw his father, his father said, "I don't know if you
and I will survive this war, but no matter what happens, remember
this: Klal Yisrael will survive!" </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>R' Friedenson said that he never saw his father again but he went through
the war with an unshakeable optimism. That's what he called it,
optimism. He underwent horrendous suffering, but nevertheless he had a
firm conviction that the Nazis would ultimately fail. He
always held onto his father's words, "Klal Yisrael will survive."</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#0000ff></FONT><BR><FONT color=#0000ff><STRONG>--Toby
Katz<BR>t613k@aol.com</STRONG></FONT><FONT lang=0 color=#ffffff size=2
face=Arial FAMILY="SANSSERIF" PTSIZE="10"><BR><STRONG>..</STRONG></FONT><FONT
lang=0 color=#0000ff size=2 face=Arial FAMILY="SANSSERIF"
PTSIZE="10"><BR><STRONG>=============</STRONG><BR><BR><BR>-------------------------------------------------------------------</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: blue 2px solid"><FONT
lang=0 color=#0000ff size=2 face=Arial FAMILY="SANSSERIF" PTSIZE="10"><FONT
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" color=#000000 size=2
face=Arial><BR><BR><BR></FONT> </BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></DIV></FONT></BODY></HTML>