Through a Maamin’s Eyes

Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz 

With the Hamas massacre fresh in the minds of people around the world, the Hamas murderers pulled off another terrible crime against the Jewish people. They made up a story that Israel bombed a hospital in Gaza, killing over 500 innocent people.

The lie spread like wildfire across the world. Jews are baby killers. They deliberately targeted a hospital full of the sick and those caring for them, killing masses of people.

Hamas, the same group that savagely killed babies, old people, young people, parents in front children and children in front of parents. The same group whose stated aim is to kill Jews and destroy Israel. The group that defines evil. Yes, that bunch of wicked people made up a story, and virtually every news organization in the world believed them. The media ran vicious headlines, and the story gained traction, reinforcing malicious, anti-Semitic stereotypes. The Jews are killers. All across the world, large demonstrations were held, calling for Jews to be gassed and killed.

That story and what it caused cannot be undone, even though the hospital was not bombed and 500 people didn’t die. A Palestinian rocket shot towards Israel misfired and landed in a hospital parking lot. That’s the beginning and end of the story. Anybody who cares about the truth could have found that out, and the media should know better than to trust statements of evil killers. 

Back in the days when we were still in elementary school, there was always a kid who would make up stories. Everyone learned not to believe him and certainly not to quote him. Responsible media ought to know better, and they do, unless the story involves a chance at bashing Jews.

Hamas hates the Jewish people and their supporters hate the Jewish people. All those who attend anti-Israel rallies hypocritically calling for peace also hate Jews.

There is no moral equivalence between vicious, brutal torture and murder, and fighting barbarians in an attempt to defeat evil and restore a country’s safety.

Those of us who live in the United States are pained when we see such rallies going on in the cities in which we live and the country’s large and small towns. We are upset when we see members of Congress echo the lies and lead support for the butchers. We thought that it’s different here. We have grown to feel comfortable here, as if this is our home and we belong here. We have forgotten that we are in golus, and although many people here are decent and kind, the latent hatred our people have dealt with since the days of Avrohom Avinu in this week’s parsha is still around, just below the surface.

That has been the pattern of Jewish history. After enduring untold persecution and suffering in one country, we uproot and flee as refugees to a new country. Slowly, we get acclimated, until we feel that we have found a safe place for us to put down roots. But as we begin to prosper and become part of the country’s fabric, the old Eisov sonei l’Yaakov kicks in again.

Much of the hatred is brought on by Arab attacks on Israel and then Israel’s response. We have been seeing this for decades now. Palestinians attack Israel, either by sending rockets into population centers, by unleashing terror, by blowing up busses, or by conducting shootings and stabbings. All their actions share the same aim of murdering and terrorizing innocent civilians.

Israel retaliates, as any country would, and promises to go after the bad guys until they have been severely weakened.

Palestinians and their Jew-hating supporters around the world rally to support the attackers. World-wide demonstrations, fake news media reports filled with half-truths and lies, and feckless politicians slowly begin to besmirch Israel and ramp up the pressure on it to tone it down and allow the Palestinians another moral and propaganda victory.

The media gets filled with articles, pictures and clips depicting poor Palestinians who were attacked by Israel. The true story is never told, explaining that Israel was acting in self-defense. Israel is always the aggressor, and the poor Palestinians are always the innocent victims. People who don’t know better begin believing the fictitious propaganda they see wherever they turn.

As usually happens in such situations, Israel promises that this time they will take the battle to the end and erase the threat once and for all. But then world pressure mounts and the government decides to end the war ahead of a pronounced victory. The enemy regroups and rebuilds for the next showdown, to be determined at the enemy’s discretion.

For all of Israel’s bravado, it is heavily dependent on material, financial and moral support from the United States. Each administration treats Israel differently. Some appreciate the history and the importance of a dependable ally in a treacherous spot on the map. Others have less use for Jews and their state. Leftist administrations remain locked in to long-ago-disproven theories such as the two-state-solution and do their best to vanquish anything they think will kill their dream.

To quote the New York Times, “Palestinians from all walks of life routinely experience exasperating impossibilities and petty humiliations, bureaucratic controls that force agonizing choices, and the fragility and cruelty of life under military rule.”

There is no mention ever that Palestinians are subject to repeated security checks because of their history of terror. Everyone ignores that Israel’s many attempts to arrange peace were foiled by Palestinians. Gaza is under Egyptian and Israeli blockades because it is a terror state that uses whatever is allowed into the area to arm itself to do battle, as evidenced by the many rockets and tunnels there. But instead of focusing on the lies concerning the formation of the Palestinian people and the reason they are in their current situation, the blame is always placed on Israel.

It’s all about impressions and creating sympathetic facades and narratives. Israel had the world’s sympathy for a little over a week this time, and then, following the hospital lie, the Israelis lost the propaganda battle hands down. That has serious repercussions there and around the world. Passions have been inflamed. The lies have taken hold and supporters of the people who are portrayed as suffering victims are seeking revenge. They are marching in capitals around the world and attacking Jews in cities where they have felt safe until now.

It is shameful that in the current war between Israel and the group that was elected to run Gaza, the gang that wants to destroy a democratic country is viewed by worldwide protesters as the side that wants peace, and the democratic country is perceived as the combatant that desires war. Is there anything more preposterous than to claim that? If anything, this war was started by Hamas and Iran in an attempt to derail the peace deal that was brewing between Israel and Saudi Arabia. And then they created the hospital blood libel just in case it was necessary to offer a new justification for their genocide. Yet, the Hamas supporters have the nerve to call Israel the aggressor.

And if you believe their ridiculous claim that they desire peace, is there anything stopping the state behind Hamas from perpetrating the same carnage in the United States and then claiming that they are on the side that is fighting for peace and America is the aggressor?

The weak intellect of the collective media fills their publications and news shows with pictures of dead Palestinians, equating the number of dead on each side, as if the way to determine which side is virtuous is by counting the number of dead they have.

Had these journalists been reporting in the time of World War II, it appears that they would fill their pages with pictures of victims of America’s atom bombs, creating sympathy for the poor Japanese who were allied with Hitler in a bid to take over the world and make it Judenrein.

Had these same leftist intellectuals and pro-Hamas protestors been around during World War II, it appears that they would have been calling for a ceasefire in the battle against the Nazis and to send food, water and fuel to the poor suffering Germans. 

Hamas is funded and armed by Iran, as is Hezbollah to the north of Israel, yet the United States under the current administration has not exacted any punishment on the world’s largest sponsor of terror for causing this mess.

It has been previously shown that appeasement of terror and of Iran leads to further terror, while standing up to them and freezing their income works. The worst approach is not to confront Iran as its clients, Hamas and Hezbollah, shoot rockets into Israel and worse. The Reagan doctrine preached that strength leads to peace. The current administration has awakened evil by demonstrating weakness.

But we are the eternal people. Many have tried to rid the world of us, yet we are still here. We take the long view and recognize that we are here for a higher purpose. Chazal teach that when “Torah yordah l’olam, sinah yordah l’olam.” The intense hatred the nations have for us was manifested when we were given the Torah at Har Sinai. Greatness has its price, and ours is levied in the form of jealousy and deeply felt animosity.

The Torah gives us the strength of purpose to be able to withstand the punishment we suffer at the hands of our enemies. It provides us with chochmah and daas to recognize what is important and what is trivial, enabling us to excel at what is important.

The Torah provides us with the ability to shine light on our situation and find our way through the darkness. Studying Torah builds us into great people and enables us to separate fact from fiction, and good from bad, leading lives that are fulfilling and satisfying, regardless of what is going on around us and around the world.

The Torah tells us (Bamidbar 8:11) that Aharon Hakohein lifted the Levi’im and welcomed them to perform their avodah in the Mishkon. He raised them literally and figuratively, placing them on a higher level, where their lives revolved around holiness and they weren’t hampered by the worries, concerns and pressures that confound other people. They were enveloped by Hashem in His cocoon, studying and observing the Torah, and performing their responsibilities in the Bais Hamikdosh.

Even though there is no Bais Hamikdosh and we are living in troubled times, we can lead the blessed lives that they lived. The Rambam famously writes (at the end of Hilchos Shmittah) that every person who separates himself and dedicates his life to serving Hashem, learning Torah, conducting himself properly the way he was created to, and freeing himself from the many calculations, rationalizations and cheshbonos people make, is raised to be kodesh kodoshim, the holiest of the holy people. He will be rewarded in this world and the next, and will receive everything he needs to live on, just as Kohanim and Levi’im did.

Regardless of the world’s situation and the bitter plans of our enemies, we can achieve holiness here and now if we tune out all the distractions and instead spend our time properly studying and observing the Torah and fulfilling our obligations.

The yeitzer hora creates many different ways for us to be steered from the path we belong on, wasting time on matters of no or little consequence. Instead of staying glued to our phones, not missing a morsel of information available on the war, we should be beefing up our study of halacha, so that we can be better Jews.

Instead of fretting over the army’s plans and worrying about what Israel’s enemies’ next move will be, we should be learning seforim such as Chovos Halevavos, beefing up our emunah and bitachon, for the stronger our belief is, the better off we will be. A boteiach baHashem sleeps well at night and operates properly by day, for he knows that Hashem is arranging and managing everything and there is no room for fear.

Instead of talking incessantly about the war, the protests, and what this one said and that one said, we should concentrate our speech on tefillah, as Chazal teach us, “Ein kocheinu ela b’feh.” The more Tehillim we recite, the slower we daven, and the more kavonah we have, the better our chances are for safety and victory.

It is said that Rav Yisroel Salanter once asked his students what they would do if they were given all the money in the world to disburse. How would they distribute the world’s wealth? Each talmid had a different answer. One said that he would start with the lomdei Torah, and once they were provided for, he would work his way down to everyone else. One said that he would give the money to the rabbonim who pasken shailos to decide who should get how much. Another said that he would begin with giving the people who were poor what they need and then work his way through the rest of society. And so the conversation went until Rav Yisroel stopped it.

“You are all wrong,” he said. “The world’s money is distributed by Hakadosh Boruch Hu, who knows best how to do that. The proper course of action would be to leave everything the way it is and not to change it.”

To be a maamin is to appreciate the depth of the veracity of Rav Yisroel’s lesson. The optimal way to get through times such as these is by being maaminim, knowing and understanding that everything is from Hashem, who performs His job perfectly. Our job is to do ours as well as we can and to continually seek improvement.

May Hashem hear our tefillos, accept our avodah, and bring us peace, yeshuos and nechamos very soon.

What Can We Do?

Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz 

There is a terrible war going on, and it is growing more intense each day. Just over a week ago, 1,300 Jews were tortured and killed, over 3,000 were wounded and 199 were taken captive. It’s heartbreaking.

How are we to react? What is expected of us and what can we do to help the war effort?

Last week, we began again our weekly study of the Torah, beginning with Parshas Bereishis. The first words of the Torah guide us how to behave. When bad things happen to good people, Bereishis, the first thing we need to do, is to remember bara Elokim, that Hashem created the world and leads and controls it. Remember that nothing happens by itself, and since everything that occurs is because Hashem decided that it should, when a tragedy such as the recent one befalls us, we should know that Hashem is behind it and that He loves us.

Additionally, Chazal derive from the word Bereishis that the world was created for Torah and for Klal Yisroel: “bishvil Torah shenikreis reishis ubishvil Yisroel shenikreu reishis.” And since the world was created for Torah and Yisroel, it stands to reason that in tough situations, Klal Yisroel should remember the purpose of the world and strengthen their study and observance of Torah.

There is a famous story told about the rebbe Rav Meir of Premishlan. He was going to do a mitzvah on a cold winter day and had to walk down a hill to get to his destination. Although he was walking on treacherous snow and ice, he did not slip or fall, arriving without a mishap. The chassidim who were following him all slipped, slid and fell as they navigated their way. When they caught up to the rebbe, they asked him how it was that he remained steady as he walked along the hazardous path, while they all fell.

The rebbe answered, “Der vos iz tzugebunden in oiben falt nit unten. A person who is tied to the higher level doesn’t fall as he goes along the lower level. Rav Meir’l iz tzugebunden in oiben, falt ehr nit unten – Rav Meir’l is tied to Heaven and therefore does not fall as he walks on the earth.”

We need to be better connected to Hashem in Heaven, and those who have a strong connection do not fall or falter as they go through life down here in this world.

When tzaros befall us, when tragedies and catastrophes occur, those who are tied to Hashem don’t falter or lose themselves. They tighten the connection, for they know that everything that happens down here is controlled from Above. They remain strong and determined. They don’t become broken and overcome with anxiety. They strengthen that connection with teshuvah and tefillah.

At the onset of the Gulf War, Rav Nochum Kook was discussing something with his rebbi, Rav Elazar Menachem Man Shach. As they spoke, the first air raid sirens went off, their piercing wails slicing through the silence across the country and spreading fear of incoming Iraqi chemical warheads.

Reb Nochum interrupted the conversation. “Rosh yeshiva, voss tut men yetzt? What do we do now?” he asked, wondering if the rosh yeshiva had a prepared sealed room in his apartment in which they could seek refuge or if they were to hurry to the basement bomb shelter.

As the siren’s wail filled the room, Rav Shach sat in silent contemplation. Finally, he looked up and responded, “Reb Nochum, everyone knows himself what he needs to be mesakein! Lomir machen ah cheshbon. Everyone knows what they need to rectify. Let us make an accounting of which of our actions require us to do teshuvah!”

Rav Shach wasn’t thinking about the safe room or the basement shelter. He wasn’t thinking about what they were saying on the radio.

He was thinking about Hashem.

He was thinking about how he could tie himself stronger to Hashem.

The Torah states that when Moshe Rabbeinu left Paroh’s palace where he had grown up and saw the suffering of his brothers in Mitzrayim, “Vayar besivlosam – He saw their pain.” He didn’t shut himself off from seeing the awful treatment they were experiencing at the hand of the evil Mitzrim. He saw it and he felt it and decided to do something about it.

Feeling the pain of our brothers and sisters is a primary obligation. We can’t shut our eyes, ears and hearts to what is happening. We have to see and feel the tragedy of 1,300 dead Jews, old people and infants, mothers and fathers, along with grandfathers and grandmothers, who suffered gruesome deaths. We need to shed tears over them. And each one left behind heartbroken relatives and friends who need consoling.

As bnei Avrohom, Yitzchok and Yaakov, we must feel the pain of our grieving brethren and think about what we can do to help alleviate the suffering. Each one of us is charged with doing our part to help bring this tragic chapter to a close.

What is our part?

Our current problems are from Yishmoel, whose golus Rav Chaim Vital teaches is worse than the other exiles we suffered through. In his sefer Eitz Hadaas Tov, on Tehillim 124, the prime talmid of the Arizal writes, “There are four exiles, Bovel, Modai, Yovon and Edom, but at the End of Days, Yisroel will be in golus Yishmoel, as is brought in Pirkei D’Rebbi Eliezer and in Midrashim and in the Sefer Hazohar at the end of Parshas Lech Lecha… This exile will be more difficult than the others. This is why his name is Yishmoel, because Yisroel will cry out during that golus, and Hashem will listen and respond to them - Yishma El Veya’aneim.

“Yishmoel will…attempt to eradicate the name of Yisroel as if it never existed… They will cause Yisroel great tzaros, the likes of which have never been seen before.”

“Am Yisroel will have no choice but to cry out to Hashem and He will answer them. We will have no hope or recourse other than our trust in Hakadosh Boruch Hu that He will save us from their evil hands.”

Even though it discusses the relationship between Yaakov and Eisov, Parshas Vayishlach is still relevant to us in our trying period, for the parsha represents a guide on our relations with the world. Chazal state that chachomim who traveled to intercede with their rulers in Rome would carefully study the parsha before setting out on their missions. As our chachomim throughout the ages studied that parsha and Yaakov’s behavior before confronting the exile, we must do the same. Though we are not dealing with rulers, prime ministers or presidents, there are lessons for us in our golus as well.

The Ramban writes that the parsha “contains a hint for future generations, for all that transpired between our forefather Yaakov and Eisov will occur to us with Eisov’s children, and it is fitting for us to follow the path of the tzaddik (Yaakov).”

Throughout the generations, the children of Eisov sometimes present themselves as achim, brothers, concerned about our welfare, and other times their evil intentions are more apparent.

No matter how they present themselves, our response to the nations of the world remains constant. We deal with Eisov the same way Yaakov did, so it is important for us to properly analyze Yaakov’s actions and statements.

The posuk says, “Vayishlach Yaakov malochim lefonov el Eisov ochiv” (Bereishis 31:4). Yaakov sent malochim to his brother, Eisov, to inform him that he was returning to the Land of Israel, seeking a peaceful brotherly reunion.

What was the message Yaakov sent to his wicked brother to convince him to retreat from his threats to inflict bodily harm on Yaakov? He told the malochim to tell Eisov, “Im Lovon garti, although I lived many years with the wicked Lovon, taryag mitzvos shomarti, I observed all the 613 mitzvos.”

The parsha and the dealings between the brothers have historical significance. They are written in the Torah for us to learn from as we navigate our golus experience. There are several issues that bear explanation in order to understand the message Yaakov sent Eisov. Yaakov chose to send malochim, actual angels, rather than human messengers. Why? And since when does man have the ability to send angels on missions with messages? Secondly, why would the wicked Eisov care that Yaakov was able to maintain his lofty levels while living by Lovon? Of what interest was it to him that Yaakov had observed the 613 commandments?

Chazal teach that the performance of mitzvos creates malochim. Every mitzvah creates a malach. The Vilna Gaon taught that since every word of Torah studied fulfills a mitzvah, it follows that every word of Torah we study creates a malach. Who are those malochim? What is their task? Those malochim surround us and protect us from harm.

Yaakov was telling Eisov, “You won’t just be fighting me and my family. If you go to battle against us, you will be fighting the malochim created by the 613 mitzvos I fulfilled even in the house of Lovon. Lest you think that I fell under his influence and created malochim mashchisim (destructive angels), be forewarned that I am the same Yaakov “ish tom” you knew back home. “Im Lovon garti, vetaryag mitzvos shomarti.” There will be thousands of malochim defending me as I enter your turf. Beware.

There is no protection stronger than that of Torah. The Gemara (Sotah 21a) teaches that Torah and mitzvos are “magna umatzla,” Torah and mitzvos protect a person. Torah study and mitzvah observance create a fortress, an impenetrable protective wall. At the yeshiva of Sheim v’Eiver, Yaakov merited learning Torah without hesech hada’as, and in the house of Lovon, he learned Torah “b’af,” through suffering and challenge. He rose above the distractions and oppression, creating malochim the entire time. Try as he may, Eisov would not be able to escape that fact.

 “Im Lovon garti vetaryag mitzvos shomarti. Know this, my brother, Eisov: I continued learning and performing mitzvos even under Lovon, so you will not be able to defeat me.”

The Chofetz Chaim participated in the construction of a hospital in Radin. At a meeting of sponsors, wealthy philanthropists each announced how many beds they would sponsor. They turned to the Chofetz Chaim and asked how many beds he would sponsor.

“Fifty,” he said.

“Oh, wow,” the board members said, impressed.

The Chofetz Chaim explained that the Torah studied by the bochurim in his yeshiva protects the town and prevents illness and suffering. In their zechus, the town would require fifty fewer hospital beds.

Torah saves lives. Malochim created by observance of mitzvos and limud haTorah stave off punishment, creating a security fence that saves lives and prevents pain and suffering.

So what can we do? We can create malochim. We can sponsor hospital beds. We can respond to those awful murders by making a real difference, by forming a legion of malochim mamash of our own.

Every time we learn, every time we do a mitzvah, every time we daven, we have to do so with an awareness that we have the ability to impact the balance of power in this world.

We have to care. We have to feel the pain. We have to know that we are all brothers and sisters, despite differences of language, country and custom.

When we daven, we should have in mind the hostages. When we make the brachos of “matir assurim” and “motzi assirim,” we should slow down and think about the assirim and ask Hashem that they be freed. That is how in our own small way we can buy “hospital beds,” and gain freedom for the poor hostages.

Some people see what’s happening today, glimpse at the articles, peek at the pictures if they are not too gory, shake their heads, and move on. Instead of mourning the loss of yet another young life, people send around messages like armchair generals and budding diplomats. The messages we should be sending to each other and the thoughts we should be thinking should be focused on what we can be doing about the slaughter of our people and how it obligates us.

Sharing clips of people offering words of consolation and condemnation, even if they are eloquent and have British accents, makes people feel good, as if our millennia of suffering and pain needs or is assuaged by outside validation.

The immorality of giving money to Iran, the world’s leading supporter of terror and participant in the recent massacre, goes unsaid.

President Biden and Sec. of State Blinken are to be commended for their immediate strong support of Israel and for traveling there in a time of war to express solidarity. But even as they read prepared emotional statements condemning the massacre, the administration hastened to warn about being proportional in response and the obligation to adhere to international rules of engagement, as if Israel is suspected of not doing so.

While political leaders proclaim they will destroy Hamas, doing so is complicated, especially as Hezbollah seeks to expand the war to a second front.

Anti-Semites of all types around the world are gleefully parading in public, celebrating the carnage and bashing Jews. As they thirst for our blood, they call for peace.

Sending around clips portraying the world’s perfidy will not help anyone. Only through Torah can we find and bring about salvation.

The Torah in Parshas Ki Savo (28:1) states that if we will adhere to all the mitzvos, we will merit to be ascendant over all the other nations.

It is interesting that this posuk is preceded by the one which states, “Arur asher lo yokim es divrei haTorah hazos - Cursed shall be the one who does not uphold [raise] the Torah.”

The Ramban cites the Yerushalmi in Sotah (7:4) that this curse is referring to people who are in a position to influence others to come closer to Torah and to support Torah and fail to do so. Anyone who shirks their responsibility is included in this arur. Even if the person is a complete tzaddik in everything he does, if he could have drawn others closer to the holiness and truth of Torah but doesn’t, he is cursed. Fearful words.

The Chofetz Chaim would repeat this teaching of the Ramban and reinforce its message by quoting the Gemara in Shabbos (54) that someone who has the ability to protest against wrongful actions of the people of his town and doesn’t do so gets caught up in their sins. However, someone who gives proper mussar to his fellows and brings them to the right path, thereby strengthening kevod Shomayim, is showered with the brachos that were delivered on Har Gerizim.

He would say that there is no better brocha than this, and therefore, everyone should use whatever abilities they have to help build Torah. If Hashem blessed someone with money, he should use it to build and support yeshivos. If a person is blessed with oratorical skills, he should use them to raise money for yeshivos and for other Torah causes. He should also speak out against practices that cause a weakening of Yiddishkeit.

As the world spins out of control and our eternal enemies act to destroy us, we realize that there is no one we can depend on to protect us other than Hashem. We seek sources of merit for ourselves and to be included with those the posuk refers to as boruch, the blessed ones.

We require extra brocha to vanquish the ever-present ruach shtus and remove us from falling, G-d forbid, into the grasp of those who are arur.

We are all blessed with different strengths and abilities that we must use for worthwhile purposes. Hashem made each of us differently for a reason, and that is because it takes the varied capabilities of a group of individuals to build a community and strengthen a nation.

Let us all follow the advice of the Chofetz Chaim and use our kochos to increase the study and support of Torah. Let us find more time to learn and seek out worthy causes to support with increased generosity. Let us inspire others to do the same. Let us use the power of speech to spread leshon tov and not leshon hora. And let us also seek to do away with some of the evil that pervades our world.

Let us be ever vigilant in our behavior, making sure that our actions follow halacha and do what we know is true and proper.

We should set a time to study Hilchos Shabbos to improve our observance. There are many seforim to can learn from, including the English works by Rav Simcha Bunim Cohen and by Rav Dovid Ribiat. They clearly teach the halachos we can all use brushing up on in easy to understand pieces. Doing that will make us better Yidden and will be a zechus for ourselves and for Klal Yisroel.

In general, whatever we have been doing until now we should do a little better. We should bentch better, daven better, be nicer to other people than we already are, and seek ways to make ourselves and the world a little better. We should act in ways that will cause others to praise Jews, and not in ways that reinforce evil stereotypes and lead to further antisemitism.

Let us also work on maintaining the strength of character and purpose necessary to remain upstanding and connected above in a tipsy world.

Please Help Us!

Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz

For many Israelis, the day began the same way. They were sitting at home, drinking their morning coffee, when the air raid siren sounded. At first, they thought it was a false alarm that was ruining the peaceful silence of their Shabbos morning, which also was Shemini Atzeres and Simchas Torah. There wasn’t anything that could ruin the festive day ahead of them.

But then the siren blared again and again. They knew it was serious. Then, depending on where they were, they heard the sound of the booms of rockets being blown up by the Iron Dome. They looked out of the window and saw empty, desolate streets, except for the occasional person scurrying to shul.

As the day went on, bits and pieces of information filtered into the frum communities from reservists being called up, from Hatzolah and Zaka volunteers, and from people with non-Jewish help. But for those away from the southern Gaza border area, the enormity of what was happening didn’t sink in until later.

When Shabbos and Yom Tov were over, they found out that they had lived through what was the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust. Over one thousand of our brothers and sisters were killed, bombed, burned and mutilated in an historically horrific manner.  Over one thousand dead. Some three thousand wounded. Over 150 taken hostage.

Do we have any understanding of the immensity of the tragedy of one thousand Jews being killed? How many people do we know? How many people live in your neighborhood? How many people belong to your shul? One thousand people is an entire world. Even one Jewish life is equal to an entire world. Is there any way to absorb what happened?

Tears. Only tears.

Some three thousand Jews wounded. Devastating. Who knows how many of them will survive? Do we have any idea of what it means when in war time a person is listed as wounded? It doesn’t mean scratches. It doesn’t mean things that a Band-Aid, or Tylenol, or Acamol can fix. We’re talking about the types of wounds that last for a long time, that may never heal, inflicting hardship and incessant pain. Nebach, we can cry for those people.

And how about those who were taken hostage by savages? Eini eini yordah mayim. Rivers of tears are shed for each person those beasts are holding. We shudder at the thought of what they must be enduring. Who knows where they are and how they are being treated? Who knows what condition they are in physically, let alone mentally? We daven for them with all of our hearts that they be allowed to live and be kept whole and pure. We daven that they be returned to their loving families bekarov.

The enormity of the tragedy is so immense that it is difficult to grasp and feel what happened. Tragically, we have become sort of immune to attacks in which one or two people are stabbed, shot, rammed or blown up by a bomb. We read the news, are pained for a moment, and then our focus shifts as we turn the page and some mundane topic occupies our mind.

Yes, it’s hard to wrap our minds around the thought that one thousand innocent Jewish people were brutally murdered just because they were Jews.

This horror is reminiscent of the Holocaust era, when Jews were rounded up and chased through forests to be shot and killed just for the crime of being Jews. Everyone knows the awful stories about the atrocities that annihilated so many of our people during the Holocaust. Nobody thought that those same scenes would be repeated in this century in a Jewish country.

The terrorists went from house to house, room to room, shooting at anyone they found, no matter their age. They dragged people out of the miklatim, killing them. Men, women, and children. Old and young, it made no difference to them, just like the pogroms in Kishinev and cities and towns across the Jewish Diaspora. Anyone who thought that those days had ended got an awful awakening.

We have thankfully forgotten what war is.

The simplicity of the attack, consisting of a bunch of backward savages armed with guns, overpowering the most technologically advanced country in the world, was too much to bear. They killed hundreds of people escaping from a festival, shooting them as they ran and then later as they sought to flee in their cars. They dragged them out of the vehicles and shot them. They took others as hostages.

The unskilled animals took over some 23 towns, killing entire families and a dozen policemen in their station, and overrunning army bases while beheading soldiers. They seized an army tank with the crew inside and killed them.

There was nobody there to protect them. It took many agonizing hours until Israeli forces were able to break through to rescue Jews under siege in the moshavim. The great state that prides itself on its army failed its people. 

And when it is all over, the government, the Knesset, the army, the police and the Shin-Bet will establish committees to figure out what went wrong, how they failed on so many levels, and how to prevent such a tragedy from occurring again. But the people’s belief in the army won’t fade. They will cling to their trust in the intelligence, the police, the Shin-Bet, or the entire vaunted defense complex.

How could it be that the most advanced army, with the most courageous fighters, backed by the world’s best intelligence agency and the toughest government in Israel’s history, allowed such a catastrophe to happen?

It is staggering that thousands of terrorists participated in the attack, yet nobody noticed. The attackers came by land, crashing through the world’s strongest border in eighty places and rushing through. No alarms went off. Nobody monitoring the area saw anything. How can it be?

Terrorists came by air, flying over the border on paragliders, yet nobody saw them coming. No radar picked them up. No human intelligence and nobody guarding the border saw them. How is it possible?

It was possible because Hashem willed it so. When Hashem is on the side of the Israelis, they are the mightiest, working miracles and fighting like no one else. And when Hashem wants to teach Am Yisroel a lesson about who their real Protector is, who really fights their battles for them, and who it is that keeps their enemies at bay, then things that make no sense happen, and the strongest, mightiest, and brightest are shown to be helpless without the brachos of Hashem.

To me, this is a source of great nechomah, for we see clearly and plainly that the reason a calamity of this magnitude has not previously occurred is because Hashem prevented it from happening. We see that the amazing Yad Hashem has been there for Am Yisroel all these years, preventing something this atrocious from happening. We can be appreciative that we merited the protection of our Divine Father and we can pray that we merit again, all across the world, that He continue to protect us from all those who seek our destruction.

When we see the realization of the klalos we studied a few weeks ago in Seder Devorim, we know that when we rectify our ways, we will return safety to all of Israel and enjoy all the brachos Hashem has promised those who follow in His path.

The Chofetz Chaim, as quoted in the sefer Chofetz Chaim Al HaTorah in this week’s parsha (perek 4, posuk 4) says as follows: If there is a time when Am Yisroel veers from Hashem’s path and mixes with the nations, this creates a kitrug in Shomayim and catastrophe is paskened for them, r”l.

But in His infinite mercy, Hashem, who desires that the wicked repent and not be killed, does something else. What does He do? He sics the goyim on them to fight and torment them so that He can fulfill the posuk which states, “VehaElokim yevakeish es hanirdof – Hashem sides with the victim.” This is so even if a tzaddik is pursuing a rasha and certainly when a rasha chases a tzaddik.

And so, continued the Chofetz Chaim, who could have been speaking about today’s events, this is the explanation for what is happening in our time. When we see that our nation has been made for a laughingstock and our people are led like sheep to slaughter, killed, hurt, lost and embarrassed, we have to know that the Pamalia Shel Maalah has declared that we are, r”l, deserving of destruction.

But Hashem, in His compassion, seeks to find us meritorious and works for our benefit. Therefore, He turns us into nirdofim, victims, in such a terrible way, so that He can find sources of merit to save us. And He enables us to absorb the blows and defeat our enemies. They will crumble and fold, while we will rise and be strengthened and victorious.

Apparently, Rav Moshe Shterbuch had a premonition that something awful was going to happen. On Sukkos, he spoke to the talmidim of his yeshiva, and this is what he said: During the Holocaust period, one year before Simchas Torah, word reached them in the yeshiva in London about the terrible butchery that was being perpetrated by the Nazis against European Jewry. The bochurim in the yeshiva were overcome with grief and were crying bitterly over the fate of their relatives.

They approached the rosh yeshiva, Rav Moshe Schneider, and told him that they would not be able to dance that year on Simchas Torah. Rav Schneider responded, “Hitler can kill us, but he cannot uproot even one minhag Yisroel. We will sing and dance as usual.”

Rav Shterbuch continued with his message: “We don’t know what the future holds for us. We are in a very dangerous state now and must daven to Hakadosh Boruch Hu that He save us and that we should be able to remain strong and rejoice when Hashem returns to His nation, and simcha and sasson will return to us speedily in our days.”

We just celebrated the beautiful Yomim Tovim of Sukkos and Shemini Atzeres, during which we proudly stood reciting Hallel, shaking our daled minim as we recited the request, “Ana Hashem hoshiah na - Hashem, please help us.”

The Bais Halevi would say that when we plead for Hashem’s assistance in Hallel and say, “Ana Hashem hoshiah na. Ana Hashem hatzlicha na,” we don’t do more than utter a simple request. Please help us. Please help us succeed. We don’t give examples and offer suggestions of what He should do to help us or what we need.

He explained that this is because Hashem doesn’t need our advice to tell Him how to help us. He knows what to do. We need to let Him run things His way, for that way, we will all succeed and merit what is beneficial for us.

We have all become armchair political strategists trying to make sense of the bizarre. Instead, we should find ourselves in the bais medrash, concentrating on learning Torah, recognizing that what happens is Divinely orchestrated for reasons we may or may not understand with time.

We don’t understand what is happening. It is beyond human comprehension. But we are people of faith and we know that there is a Divine plan unfolding behind the scenes, way deeper and more impactful than we can imagine.

Far be it from me to try to understand Hashem’s plan, but permit me to offer a thought, if only to demonstrate that we have no comprehension of the world’s topical issues and events.

When it became known that Iran was on a mission to secure for itself nuclear weapons with which to threaten Israel and the world, people began to panic. Israel wanted to bomb the Iranian reactor, much as they bombed the one Saddam Hussein was contracting in Iraq. America put a stop to that idea, and people again began worrying that Iran would secure the bomb and wreak havoc in Eretz Yisroel.

I had heard that my rebbi, Rav Moshe Schapiro, had spoken about that crisis, so when I met him in the United States at that time, I took the opportunity to ask him how he understood what was going on. He answered that he saw it building to a crescendo, with a showdown with Iran that would precipitate the coming of Moshiach.

Much has happened since he spoke those words. The US administration struck a deal with Iran, which took the issue off the table. The next president changed all that, backing out of the treaty. That began to isolate Iran and squeeze the regime economically, forcing them to curtail their nuclear ambitions. With the current administration, the United States returned to the previous appeasement policy.

It makes no sense to us. How can they be so blind? How can they be so foolish and misguided?

But we must all recognize that all that transpires is part of a Divine plan. We may not always understand the workings of Hashem, but we must recognize that He is what causes everything to happen and nothing happens randomly, just “because.” As observant Jews, we must ensure that we don’t act erratically and foolishly in golus. We may be in for hard times, but let’s keep it all in perspective and remember that it is up to us and our maasim tovim to determine the outcome of this trying period.

Rav Moshe Schapiro foresaw back then that the showdown with Iran would lead to the coming of Moshiach, and for all we know, the recent events will bring about the arrival of Moshiach. Let us hope and let us pray.

We don’t know what the Ribono Shel Olam’s plan is, but we beg him, “Ana Hashem hoshiah na.” Please, Hashem, help us and save us from anyone’s evil plans.

Let us do what we all know is incumbent upon us to merit the Divine mercy as the world prepares for the coming of Moshiach tzidkeinu, bimeheirah beyomeinu.

We are Jews. No matter where we find ourselves and how dire our circumstances are, we never give up and are never beaten. As bnei Avrohom, Yitzchok and Yaakov, we know that if we cleave to Hakadosh Boruch Hu and follow in His ways, in the end, we will triumph.

Let us turn to Torah and tefillah, let us complete the teshuvah process we began during Elul but apparently didn’t finish, and let us practice ahavas Yisroel for real, loving one another. Let us feel the pain of our brothers and sisters in Eretz Yisroel. Let us imagine that they are our sons and daughters, and plead with Hashem for mercy and rachamim.

Let us pray that this awful war will be the final step leading to the geulah sheleimah. Amein.