You are standing today, all of you. When the people heard the frightening klalos, curses, of Parashas Ki Savo, they despaired.
Jewish resilience is integral to our heritage.
Indeed, tenacity is part of the Jewish psyche. Moshe Rabbeinu articulated the most frightening curses. Judaism can just as well be served by the quaint shtiebel if it is characterized by sincerity and conviction. The important concept is permanence, a phenomenon which can only be manifest by our capacity to transmit our heritage from one generation to the next. Horav Elyakim Schlesinger, Shlita, suggests that the covenant did not necessarily bind only the klal, the collective community of Klal Yisrael, but also each individual Jew, regardless of his station in life.