We believe in a God who is faithful and able to do far more than we can ask or imagine. Yet life does not always unfold the way we expected. We pray, we persevere, we seek to be faithful and obedient, and still, a door closes; an unexpected diagnosis arrives; a relationship ends. Plans we held so tightly suddenly unravel. A dream we thought God had given us seems to disappear before our eyes.

What do we do when our hopes are dashed and our plans suddenly change? How do we respond when God’s answer is not what we wanted? And what does this reveal about our relationship with Him?ust a month and a half after the National Red Heifer Institute announced the birth of a red heifer around the reading of Parshat Chukat, the Institute is announcing the birth of a second red heifer, this time in the Golan Heights, on the eve of Tisha B’Av. The same week, two red heifers were inseminated in Ancient Shiloh, part of what the Institute describes as a broader effort to raise a full herd of red heifers and restore the laws of purity to Israel after 2,000 years of exile.