{"id":12889,"date":"2025-09-10T15:48:05","date_gmt":"2025-09-10T15:48:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/?p=12889"},"modified":"2025-09-15T15:34:55","modified_gmt":"2025-09-15T15:34:55","slug":"how-to-feel-the-pain-of-the-jewish-people","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/how-to-feel-the-pain-of-the-jewish-people\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Feel the Pain of the Jewish People"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Ask the Rabbi with Rabbi Chaim Mintz<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n

Our fellow Jews in Israel have gone through so much lately and we all feel bad for them. But how can I truly<\/em> feel their pain from so far away?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Rabbi Chaim Mintz responds:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our Leading Example<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Torah\u2019s first account of Moshe Rabbeinu (Moses)\u2019s actions provides a model for responding to suffering. Moshe went out to \u201csee\u201d the burdens of the Jewish people in Egypt (Shemot 2:11<\/a>). But as Rashi explains, he didn\u2019t merely observe\u2014he \u201cfocused his eyes and his heart to feel<\/em> their pain,\u201d truly empathizing with their distress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Moshe\u2019s example we learn that just being aware and saying \u201cI feel so bad\u201d is not enough. We must try to internalize and feel what our fellow Jews are going through<\/a>. Think of families in Israel jolted awake night after night, racing to bomb shelters with their frightened children. It may be helpful to listen to firsthand accounts or watch footage of attacks to begin to grasp\u2014at least in some small way\u2014the horrors our people are enduring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Balance Is Key<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

However, this must be done with care. While empathy is essential, too much emotional exposure can backfire. One man I spoke to was so distraught by the events in Israel that he repeatedly broke down in tears. Others suffer from nightmares or can\u2019t sleep at night. There\u2019s also the opposite risk: overexposure to violent images may dull our sensitivity rather than deepen it. The key is to strike a balance\u2014enough exposure to truly feel the pain, but not so much that we become overwhelmed or desensitized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Creating small reminders that the Jewish people are in distress can be very helpful. Consider refraining from everyday comforts and indulgences\u2014like putting less sugar in your coffee, having a smaller portion of dessert, or cutting back on music. These small gestures help keep the pain of others on our minds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But this too must be done with care. If giving up music, for example, leads to tension at home, it may be too much. Instead, try reducing it by fifteen minutes instead of cutting it out altogether. The point is not to suffer\u2014it\u2019s to stay aware.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Time To Act<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

But emotional connection is not enough; those feelings should move us to act. While it may seem there\u2019s little we can do to protect our brothers in Israel, we actually possess powerful ways to help them. When Yaakov (Jacob) was pursued by Eisav (Esau), he turned to two spiritual defenses: 1) immersing himself in Torah study at the yeshivah of Eiver<\/em>, and 2) heartfelt prayer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We, too, should follow his example and intensify our involvement in Torah study and prayer, by adding extra time for learning and praying with heightened devotion, including a special plea for Hashem (God) to safeguard the Jews in Israel. Furthermore, it is highly recommended to recite at least one chapter of Tehillim (Psalms) daily, such as chapter 121<\/a>, on their behalf.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Increasing acts of kindness is another potent tool in these challenging times. The Chofetz Chaim explains in Ahavat Chesed<\/em> (II:2) that performing acts of chessed <\/em>(loving kindness) invokes Hashem\u2019s kindness, leading Him to shower the entire Jewish People with abundant blessings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In short: We can connect to the pain of our fellow Jews by reflecting on what they are going through and internalizing it. Firsthand accounts can help, but be mindful to avoid despair or numbness. Reduce indulgences as a reminder of their suffering, but with a balance. Increase Torah, prayer, and acts of kindness.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
Learn more about Jewish unity with a TorahMate. Sign up for a weekly learning partner today!<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Have another question to ask a rabbi<\/a>? You can ask Rabbi Mintz your own question at asktherabbi@oorah.org<\/a>, or head to oorah.org\/asktherabbi\/<\/a> to watch the latest Q&As or join Ask the Rabbi Live, Tuesdays at 9PM ET.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ask the Rabbi with Rabbi Chaim Mintz Our fellow Jews in Israel have gone through so much lately and we all feel bad for them. But how can I truly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13294,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sfsi_plus_gutenberg_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_show_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_type":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_alignemt":"","sfsi_plus_gutenburg_max_per_row":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[584,598,583,573,702,8,701,551,695],"tags":[252],"class_list":["post-12889","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-anti-semitism","category-ask-the-rabbi","category-current-events","category-current-events-news","category-jewish-philosophy","category-judaism-101","category-mitzvot","category-prayers","category-torah-study","tag-ask-the-rabbi"],"yoast_head":"\nHow to Feel the Pain of the Jewish People - Jewish Resources<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"We learn how to feel the pain of others from Moshe\u2019s empathy: feel pain without overwhelm, deepen Torah study and prayer for Israel, increase chessed.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/how-to-feel-the-pain-of-the-jewish-people\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Feel the Pain of the Jewish People - Jewish Resources\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We learn how to feel the pain of others from Moshe\u2019s empathy: feel pain without overwhelm, deepen Torah study and prayer for Israel, increase chessed.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/how-to-feel-the-pain-of-the-jewish-people\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Jewish Resources\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/torahmates\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-09-10T15:48:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-09-15T15:34:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/shutterstock_255825061.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"4976\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"4976\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"TorahMates\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@oorah\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@oorah\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"TorahMates\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/how-to-feel-the-pain-of-the-jewish-people\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/how-to-feel-the-pain-of-the-jewish-people\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"TorahMates\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/#\/schema\/person\/df1cd798c41777159e9fee85cb392ef9\"},\"headline\":\"How to Feel the Pain of the Jewish People\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-09-10T15:48:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-09-15T15:34:55+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/how-to-feel-the-pain-of-the-jewish-people\/\"},\"wordCount\":665,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"ask the rabbi\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Anti-Semitism\",\"Ask the Rabbi\",\"Current Events\",\"Current Events & News\",\"Jewish Philosophy\",\"Judaism 101\",\"Mitzvot\",\"Prayers\",\"Torah Study\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/how-to-feel-the-pain-of-the-jewish-people\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/how-to-feel-the-pain-of-the-jewish-people\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/how-to-feel-the-pain-of-the-jewish-people\/\",\"name\":\"How to Feel the Pain of the Jewish People - Jewish Resources\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-09-10T15:48:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-09-15T15:34:55+00:00\",\"description\":\"We learn how to feel the pain of others from Moshe\u2019s empathy: feel pain without overwhelm, deepen Torah study and prayer for Israel, increase chessed.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/how-to-feel-the-pain-of-the-jewish-people\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/how-to-feel-the-pain-of-the-jewish-people\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/how-to-feel-the-pain-of-the-jewish-people\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How to Feel the Pain of the Jewish People\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/\",\"name\":\"JEWISH RESOURCES by Oorah's TorahMates\",\"description\":\"brought to you by Oorah's TorahMates\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/#organization\",\"name\":\"TorahMates\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/tm.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/tm.jpg\",\"width\":921,\"height\":824,\"caption\":\"TorahMates\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/torahmates\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/oorah\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/torahmates\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/oorah-inc?original_referer=https:\/\/www.oorah.org\/\",\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/oorah\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/OorahKR\",\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Oorah_(organization)\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/#\/schema\/person\/df1cd798c41777159e9fee85cb392ef9\",\"name\":\"TorahMates\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/26e85981eb7a7ffe0e513841f5d6b26a09f4f1ab01d3eff73b79b111f5b3a80c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/26e85981eb7a7ffe0e513841f5d6b26a09f4f1ab01d3eff73b79b111f5b3a80c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"TorahMates\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How to Feel the Pain of the Jewish People - Jewish Resources","description":"We learn how to feel the pain of others from Moshe\u2019s empathy: feel pain without overwhelm, deepen Torah study and prayer for Israel, increase chessed.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/how-to-feel-the-pain-of-the-jewish-people\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How to Feel the Pain of the Jewish People - Jewish Resources","og_description":"We learn how to feel the pain of others from Moshe\u2019s empathy: feel pain without overwhelm, deepen Torah study and prayer for Israel, increase chessed.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/how-to-feel-the-pain-of-the-jewish-people\/","og_site_name":"Jewish Resources","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/torahmates","article_published_time":"2025-09-10T15:48:05+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-09-15T15:34:55+00:00","og_image":[{"width":4976,"height":4976,"url":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/shutterstock_255825061.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"TorahMates","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@oorah","twitter_site":"@oorah","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"TorahMates","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/how-to-feel-the-pain-of-the-jewish-people\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/how-to-feel-the-pain-of-the-jewish-people\/"},"author":{"name":"TorahMates","@id":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/#\/schema\/person\/df1cd798c41777159e9fee85cb392ef9"},"headline":"How to Feel the Pain of the Jewish People","datePublished":"2025-09-10T15:48:05+00:00","dateModified":"2025-09-15T15:34:55+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/how-to-feel-the-pain-of-the-jewish-people\/"},"wordCount":665,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/#organization"},"keywords":["ask the rabbi"],"articleSection":["Anti-Semitism","Ask the Rabbi","Current Events","Current Events & News","Jewish Philosophy","Judaism 101","Mitzvot","Prayers","Torah Study"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/how-to-feel-the-pain-of-the-jewish-people\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/how-to-feel-the-pain-of-the-jewish-people\/","url":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/how-to-feel-the-pain-of-the-jewish-people\/","name":"How to Feel the Pain of the Jewish People - Jewish Resources","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-09-10T15:48:05+00:00","dateModified":"2025-09-15T15:34:55+00:00","description":"We learn how to feel the pain of others from Moshe\u2019s empathy: feel pain without overwhelm, deepen Torah study and prayer for Israel, increase chessed.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/how-to-feel-the-pain-of-the-jewish-people\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/how-to-feel-the-pain-of-the-jewish-people\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/how-to-feel-the-pain-of-the-jewish-people\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How to Feel the Pain of the Jewish People"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/","name":"JEWISH RESOURCES by Oorah's TorahMates","description":"brought to you by Oorah's TorahMates","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/#organization","name":"TorahMates","url":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/tm.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/tm.jpg","width":921,"height":824,"caption":"TorahMates"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/torahmates","https:\/\/twitter.com\/oorah","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/torahmates\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/oorah-inc?original_referer=https:\/\/www.oorah.org\/","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/oorah\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/OorahKR","https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Oorah_(organization)"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/#\/schema\/person\/df1cd798c41777159e9fee85cb392ef9","name":"TorahMates","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/26e85981eb7a7ffe0e513841f5d6b26a09f4f1ab01d3eff73b79b111f5b3a80c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/26e85981eb7a7ffe0e513841f5d6b26a09f4f1ab01d3eff73b79b111f5b3a80c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"TorahMates"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12889","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12889"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12889\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13305,"href":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12889\/revisions\/13305"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13294"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12889"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12889"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12889"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}