I was waiting in the airport earlier this week, returning from dropping my girls off at camp, needing a coffee hit. Alas, the creamers that I prefer oat milk or coconut milk lacked the appropriate Kosher symbol.The less desired almond milk had the O-U indicating that it was kosher and pareve.

It struck me how “randomly” just an hour earlier I was sitting in an office in Crown Heights attending a Torah class. I wasn’t supposed to be there but while walking on the street with my girls I bumped into a friend who invited me to join. Having an extra hour before needing to leave for my flight I joined.

The subject matter was a discussion about the words of the first haftorah of the three weeks period we currently find ourselves in. These weeks commemorate the destruction of both Beit Ha’Mikdash’s (Jerusalem Temples) and is generally viewed as a negative time.

And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: What do you see, Jeremiah? And I said, “I see a rod of an almond tree.”

And the Lord said to me; You have seen well, for I hasten My word to accomplish it.

It takes three weeks from the time the almond tree buds till the almond ripens. Similarly, G-d is telling the Prophet that the end will hasten to come and will take only three weeks to occur.

Among the things that are interesting to note is the fact that G-d shows him a rod as opposed to an actual branch. There are no almonds on the rod that the prophet sees.

There is a powerful albeit difficult message contained in this vision. A branch represents connection and life. When the almonds are blossoming it is evidence of a connection and a source of life – “you are safe”.

A rod is disconnected from its source. The fruit doesn’t naturally grow on a disconnected piece of wood. But when the wood is disconnected it becomes much stronger than it was when connected to the tree.

In other words, in the disconnect, in the loneliness, in the darkness, we find our voice and our inner strength in a way we never would in connection.

Indeed these are difficult days for us. We can get lost in the disconnect and darkness as many have indeed. We then turn to unhealthy coping mechanisms including disconnecting ourselves yet further from the Jewish People and Torah.

A better plan is to look deep and call on our inner strength to turn the rod from a place of disconnect to a place of profound inner and outer strength.

Good Shabbos and praying for happier times!

Am Yisrael Chai!