Governments Say “Stock Up.” Should We Prepare for Emergencies? Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein

Start stocking up. Have you noticed what governments are telling people lately? From Britain to Japan, from Canada to Germany, country after country is putting out the same message. Stock up. Keep food in the house. Keep water. Keep your medicines. Have enough to get through a few days on your own. Sweden and Norway say have enough for a week. Germany says up to 10 days. Even Britain's prime minister was asked about it and he said with a smile that he keeps plenty of beans and soup in the cupboard and the reasons they give. War, cyber attacks on power and banking. a world that feels a lot less stable than it did a few years ago. Now, when people hear this, there are usually two reactions. Some people panic. They run to the store, fill the carts, and lie awake at night refreshing the news. And some people laugh it off. Ha! It'll never happen. Doomsday talk. Tonight, I want to look at this through the eyes of the Torah from a Jewish perspective because the Torah has a lot to say about preparing and about worry and about what it really means to be ready. Let's start with the first great emergency plan in history. Pharaoh has a dream. Seven fat cows, seven thin cows, seven full ears of grain as recorded in the book of Genesis. Seven thin ones. And then Joseph, a young Jewish prisoner, stands before the most powerful king in the world and tells him, "Seven years of plenty are coming." And after them, seven years of famine. And then Joseph says, "So prepare, appoint someone wise, store up grain in the good years, so that when the hard years come, the land will not be destroyed." Notice something. Joseph was a righteous man. a man of complete faith in God. If anyone could have said, "Don't worry, God will take care of it." It was Joseph. But he didn't say that. He said, "God showed us what's coming." Now, we do our part. In Torah, we call that effort. Doing what a responsible person does in the natural world. It's not about blind faith that let God take care of of everything. But God counts on us to make our effort. After we do our effort, then comes trust. Trust knowing that the result is in God's hands. Effort and trust, they're not opposites, they're partners. Joseph filled the storehouses with his hands and he filled his heart with trust. So let me give you a second example. When Jacob our forefather heard that his brother Esau was coming towards him with 400 men, what did he do? The great commentator Rashi tells us that Jacob prepared in three ways. He prepared gifts to try for peace. He prepared for battle in case he had to defend his family. and he prepared with prayer, practical preparation and spiritual preparation together. That's the Jewish way. [clears throat] So if your government tells you to keep some water and canned food in the house, there's nothing unJewish about that. It's sensible. It's Joseph's way. But there but here's a part I really want to talk about because the Torah also teaches us the opposite lesson and it comes from the desert. For 40 years in the wilderness, our people ate the man, the mana bread from heaven. And God gave a very strange instruction. Collect only what you need for today. Don't store any for tomorrow. And some people didn't listen. They did. They hid they they hid some away just in case. And in the morning it was full of worms. Why? Why would God make a rule like that? So the sages explain so that every single morning a Jew would lift his eyes to heaven and know my bread today comes from God. So which is it? Joseph who stored for seven years or the mana we're storing went rotten. So here's the answer. I believe store what you need in your pantry but don't store fear in your heart. Joseph stored grain but he didn't store anxiety. The generation in the desert was taught that worry about tomorrow when Hashem is why worry about tomorrow when God is giving you today will spoil. You can have a full cupboard cupboard and a calm heart. That's the goal. And now let me ask the deeper question. What are really what are you really stocking up for? King Solomon in the book of Mishi tells us to look at the ant. The ant prepares its food in the summer for the winter. Go learn from the ant and become wise. And as sages taught, whoever prepares on Friday gets to eat on Saturday. On a simple level, that's about cooking before Friday night. But the deeper meaning is about life. This world as sages say is like a corridor before a palace. Prepare yourself in the corridor so that you can enter the palace. Governments are asking us to keep three days of food. Let me ask you, how many days of spiritual supplies do you have in the house? When the lights go out, literally or emotionally, what do you have stored up inside? Do you have a book of Psalms you can say by heart? Do you have a habit of daily Torah learning of the Bible so that when things get hard, your mind already knows where to go? Do you have a community, a rabbi, a priest, a minister, people who will knock on your door, people whose door you'll knock on? Do you have faith that has been exercised a little every day so it's strong when you really need it? Those are the supplies that don't expire. My rabbi, Rabbi, the spoke many times about preparing, not preparing for disaster, but preparing for redemption. The Rebi taught that our generation's job is to get the world ready to greet the Messiah, to fill the world with so much goodness and light that it's ready for the day when, as the prophet says, nations will not lift. sword against nation. Think about that. Everyone else is preparing for the worst. A Jew is also preparing for the best. So, here's my practical challenge for you this week. Three kinds of stocking up. One, your home. Yes, be responsible. If your government recommends a few days of water, food, and your medicines, take care of it calmly. the way Joseph would, not out of panic, not out, but rather out of responsibility, and then put it out of your mind. Number two, your neighbor. When you're preparing, think about the elderly woman down the hall, the family that's struggling. A Jew never prepares only for himself. Put away a little extra for someone else. Give charity now. Kindness is the best insurance policy there is. Number three, your soul. Stock up on what lasts. Five minutes of Bible study every day like Torah. A few chapters of Psalms, a good deed you've been meaning to take on. Light the Sabbath candles, wrapped fillin around [snorts] your arm. Fill the storehouses of your soul during the good years so you'll have plenty when you need it. Let me leave you with this. In the book of Genesis, when the famine finally came, the whole world came to Egypt for food, and it was enough because one man had prepared with faith. Joseph said to his brothers, "Don't be afraid. God sent me ahead of you to keep you alive." My friend, my friends, God always sends the cure before the sickness, the provisions before the famine, the light before the darkness. So don't be afraid. Be pure with your hands. Trust with your heart and a little bit of light every day because a little bit of light pushes away a lot of darkness. And may we very soon need no emergency supplies at all in the days of the Messiah. As the Mandares writes, good things will be plentiful and delicacies as common as dust. And therefore, we are so close and ready to see the revelation of the Messiah. Every one of us does our part. Random acts of goodness and kindness and we will see the revelation of the Messiah speedily in our days. Amen. God bless you. God loves you.