This Shabbat, Parashat Tzav is also known as Shabbat HaGadol. Long ago, before redemption came in Egypt, the people of Israel were still surrounded by fear, instability, and doubt. Nothing about their reality looked “redeemed.” And yet—they chose courage. They chose faith. They chose to act.
Today, as the State of Israel faces pain, tension, and deep challenges, the message of Shabbat HaGadol feels not ancient—but immediate.
The defining act of that original Shabbat was not a miracle—it was a decision. A people under pressure refused to surrender their identity or their future. They took a step forward, even when the world around them felt fragile. That same spirit lives on.
Across Israel today, in moments of uncertainty and strain, there are countless quiet acts of strength: people showing up for one another, holding onto hope, rebuilding, protecting, and believing—sometimes against all odds—that a better reality is still possible.
This is the essence of Shabbat HaGadol: Greatness is not the absence of fear—it is the refusal to be defined by it. It is easy to think of hope as something soft, something passive. But Shabbat HaGadol teaches the opposite. Hope is an action. It is something you do. The Israelites did not feel secure—but they prepared for redemption. They did not see the outcome—but they stepped toward it anyway.
In the same way, hope in Israel today is not naive optimism. It is the determination to keep building, to keep caring, to keep believing in life even when reality is heavy. Jewish history is not a straight line—it is a story of resilience. Again and again, from exile to renewal, from destruction to rebuilding, the people of Israel have carried forward something unbreakable.
Redemption does not begin when everything is resolved. It begins in the middle of the struggle.
Right now, in Israel and among those who care deeply about it around the world, there is pain—but there is also extraordinary strength. And strength, when guided by purpose and compassion, becomes the foundation of hope.
To believe in a better future when everything is easy – that is simple. To believe when things are uncertain—that is greatness.
Shabbat HaGadol carries a quiet but powerful promise: Just as redemption once came from the darkest place, so too can light emerge again. Not instantly. Not without effort. But inevitably—through courage, through faith, and through the stubborn refusal to give up on the future.
And just like that first “Great Sabbath,” the turning point may already be beginning—even if we cannot yet see it. Am Yisrael Chai.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Refael Cohen