When a difficult situation arises in our lives and especially for our nation as a whole, we turn to God with the hope that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. But as time passes and no way out of our situation presents itself we become quick to dismiss that God has propitious plans for us, all the while oblivious that salvation may in fact be in the works.

The Talmud of the Land of Israel (Berachoth 1:1) likens the  process of salvation to the gradual manifestation of the light of the Ayeleth HaShaHar (morning star). Signs of salvation first manifest in small stages, often far apart from each other. It is only after a long period of time that these stages become more frequent and successive.

The lesson that the Talmud of the Land of Israel teaches us here is that salvation is far from immediate or successive. Rather it is an extremely gradual process studded with gaps of unrelated, possibly counter-indicating events. Salvation comes unexpectedly and the events that lead up to it are unpredictable!

In times of distress, the lack of continual improvement in the situation of a person or our People and even apparent set-backs should never be taken as a sign of God’s abandonment.

May we wait patiently and witness salvation in our personal lives and the ultimate Salvation of our people!