Needless to say, the entire topic about what is happening in Eretz Yisrael is a very tricky thing to approach. The whole tragic situation is very tough, and no one knows what will be. More than that, no one really knows what is happening right now or at any given moment in time.
Needless to say, the entire topic about what is happening in Eretz Yisrael is a very tricky thing to approach. The whole tragic situation is very tough, and no one knows what will be. More than that, no one really knows what is happening right now or at any given moment in time. Jews everywhere – especially in Eretz Yisrael – feel this sense of insecurity hanging over their head. For some it is a matter of life-and-death. For some it is this new and unusual reality. Whatever the case may be, it is very hard to pinpoint how to respond. Let us try to see what aspects we can work with.
What is the Question We Should (and Should Not) Be Asking
A lot of people are asking whether or not a particular political or military plan was right or was wrong (looking backwards) and what strategy should be employed (looking forward). These are questions that, by-and-large, are not answerable for people like you and me. We simply don’t possess adequate information to render an educated opinion. It’s like asking my thoughts on the latest development in cancer research – when I am not an oncologist, I simply don’t have the foggiest notion whether to weigh-in on one side or the other.
So, on the one hand we have this whole tragic situation that is very much affecting you and your neighbor and Jews everywhere, and yet when it comes to processing that situation, we really don’t know what the givens are. We are not equipped to advocate what is the right or wrong way to go. Thus, this is not the question we are dealing with.
Rather, the question we should be asking is how can we arrive at a response within ourselves without getting caught-up in a fruitless debate over what is the right or wrong way to proceed. How can we generate a proper attitude towards a situation that is very much affecting us without knowing what is the right thing to do?
Clearly From Above
From the very outset to the ensuing war, to the current situation, it is clear to all that this entire event was orchestrated from Above. It was such a miracle that everyone was blind to what was unfolding. (And even if retroactively they will point fingers at all those individuals who made this mistake or that error, the probability that all these people made the same mistake at the same time is absolutely zero). This being the case, it is so clear that Hashem initiated these events.
Blame whoever you like – the army or the government – all the signs were clearly written on the wall and yet no one saw anything coming. Why not? Because Hashem initiated that and, in so doing, affected the whole tzibbur. We have to think, what does He want from me?
“What to Do”
The starting point of this difficult situation requires us to focus on the right place. The question of “what to do” is not a question posed to your hands. It is more internal. Let’s explore this.
Everyone is asking “what shall I do?” This, we will see, is not (just) a matter of doing something per se. While it’s true that many people have been motivated to undertake all sorts of initiatives, these pro-active initiatives are not necessarily available to everyone.
Our response has to be more than doing something. There is something broader that is demanded of me. When Jews are attacked in a deliberate fashion for no other reason other than because they are Jewish, the whole yishuv is in danger. I cannot hide behind the illusion that the enemy was only seeking to conquer a certain geographic region and I, Baruch Hashem, live far from that region and thus am out of danger. No, the enemies attacked Jews because they are Jewish – and I am also Jewish. They simply wanted to kill Jews and, thus, the fact they didn’t come to me is just a mikreh, happenstance. All of Eretz Yisrael is in fear because the Arabs that live in the next town over could come and bang down our doors. So when we consider our response, we must realize we are all in the line of fire.
In his discussion of the troubling sugya of the pilegesh b’givon, the Ramban describes the vast number of Jews that died in the ensuing war with shevet Binyamin. The day afterwards, they made a big gathering and brought korbanos because they thought every last one of them would be killed.
I had a similar hargasha after October 7. Arabs went out with the single-minded goal of getting Jews … and I’m also Jewish. So b’etzem, I was also under a threat. Bemikreh, I was far away from the actual attack, geographically, but be’tzem I was not far away. Someone who is after Jews, is someone who is after me as well.
Since this attack relates to us very personally, we should contemplate our response accordingly.
The First Step: The Maturity to Respond Within
As mentioned, many of us are not in a position to respond with our hands. To mamash do something. Some of us are not cut out to organize chesed initiatives or to fund tzedakah projects. So what is the first step? The yesod is as follows: we must be mature enough to recognize that when something changes within our own personalities, that change is extremely worthwhile; it is of uppermost importance. The whole “effort”, if you will, is “worth” it from Hashem’s side, if, as a result we can change something within ourselves.
When we talk about “doing” something within one’s “inner world,” what does that mean? This topic demands maturity on our part. Let me demonstrate this idea.
People often come to me to discuss a certain tragedy going on at home (could be a loss of money or a danger of life or even the loss of life in very tragic way), and they invariably ask, “why did that happen to me?”
The answer, is simply – I cannot know. Who can say they know the reasons why Hashem brings about certain things? Who knows? Maybe you are a gilgul from Yeravem ben Nevat. No one knows for sure what’s going on in Heaven. No one can pinpoint the reason. Fine. But we can contemplate what is wanted from us. We can try to understand what is wanted from us by way of a reaction.
So let us shift our focus. Not why an event transpired; but rather for what purpose? By way of example, a person came to me to discuss his condition – a certain disease left him significantly handicapped. We spoke together about what could be the reason for such a matzav. We discussed how uncomfortable it is to walk around knowing that you are perceived as a person who cannot use their body in normal way. How lousy it is to feel like a second-class citizen. Yes, I told him, perhaps that is the message we can work with – that it can be a good thing to be a second-class citizen.
What?! “That’s why I got this terrible disease, just to work with the notion of feeling like a second-class citizen.” That cannot be. It simply has to be something much bigger and something much broader and have such an unbelievable message – otherwise why would such a big, life-altering thing happen?
When it comes to change, we invariably want to think about big changes. I’ll change my whole life. I’ll leave my work. I’ll leave my family at home and learn around-the-clock in Tifrach.
In formulating our response to the tragic situation in Eretz Yisrael, we need the maturity to accept that doing big things or implementing macro, life-altering changes is not the answer. That’s simply not the response. To the contrary, when you move even just one millimeter, then everything is worthwhile. Even for that seemingly miniscule change.
For those of you who recall when cameras actually came with film, there was a situation that would sometimes occur when the film didn’t move quickly enough. The camera would actually capture two images in one shot. The images were almost the same thing but not entirely. They were only one millimeter off. And yet, that one millimeter difference between the first image and the second image rendered everything blurry. The image was not clear anymore. This is our yesod. Moving just one millimeter can render the entire picture totally different.
A Small Change in One’s Inner World is a Big Thing
There is a problem here, however: we don’t get this whole notion, i.e., that a small change in one’s inner world is truly a monumental accomplishment. This is the maturity mentioned earlier. We must have the maturity where we can properly evaluate the inner world. We must realize that when it comes to penimiyus, moving even a little bit renders everything worthwhile.
A source of this idea can be found in the Ramban where he discusses at-length the terrible events surrounding the pilegesh of givaon. For those of you who aren’t familiar, there was a tragic ma’aseh with a woman who was violated and killed; her body was sent out to all the tribes of B’nei Yisrael. In response, they organized this big initiative to show that such a thing should not be tolerated among Am Yisrael. And in order to really drive home the point, they requested that Beis Din impose a chiyuv misah (even though the perpetrators were not chayiv al pi din).
A war ensued that lasted three days and took the lives of eighty-thousand Jews. Now, just to put this in perspective, the Gra says that he doesn’t have any idea how big a person – even a simple peasant – was in the time of Tanach. So take eighty thousand Jews – bigger than the Gra or the Ramban or anyone you can imagine.
Now, let us ask the question – what was the reason for these tragedies? The Ramban writes that the underlying cause was because of the comparative response for the honor of a beis din of basar v’dam as opposed to the response to the pesel Micha. When it came to that idol worship, they simply didn’t do anything. They didn’t make any protest. When the kavod of beis din was besmirched, they were up in arms and going to war; yet when it came to defending the kavod of the Borei Olam they didn’t do anything.
Let’s analyze this. Why did Hashem give them such a punishment? Going out to war on behalf of beis din is OK. So where is the problem? Just the comparison was wrong. You simply didn’t do anything when it came to Pesel Micha – and that is the whole problem. Again – the action itself is fine – you are allowed to go to war if Shevet Binyamin doesn’t want to listen; but where were you when it came to Pessel Micha?
In short, you made an inner mistake, not a mistaken action. To us and our modern-day ears, we wouldn’t give a dime for that error. Meanwhile, the Borei Olam took eighty-thousand Jewish lives (each bigger than the Gra) because it was worth it to teach that lesson. Unbelievable. No action was wrong; only the comparison was wrong. What do we see?
We see the price the Borei Olam is willing to pay for one millimeter of penimiyus. This very point we cannot imagine; yet this is the point we need the maturity to understand.
The Tectonic Plates and Volcano Inside
This perspective is really something we confront on a regular basis. Perhaps you have heard that a person is compared to an olam katan. Just like there is a big world out there, each person is a small world unto himself . Let’s see how that works.
In San Francisco, the people live in fear of earthquakes. And those who live in the Pacific islands suffer now-and-again from volcanic eruptions. What’s happening there is as follows. Inside the earth there is a super-hot fire burning beneath the surface. So what makes tour planet livable? There is a thin shell that separates the outside world from the consuming fire within. Once in a while, though, the plates moving below trigger an earthquake or the fire erupts out.
Guess what, you are also such an olam katan. When someone asks you, “how are things” and you answer, “very well, Baruch Hashem,” that’s just an outer shell. When someone asks, “how is your parnasa?” and you respond, “I can’t complain” it’s just a thin outer layer. It makes things livable.
But if you could look inside, you’d find a whole tsunami and fiery volcano breaking out. Yes, there are lots of tzarros beneath the surface. To date, I have never met that person who is AOK from the outside all the way through the inside.
Our olam katan, you see, is built exactly like the olam gadol. There is a fire churning within, yet our thin, external shell renders things livable. So, what shall we do with the uncomfortable things that disturbs us inside? We immediately think that it has to be some very deep, super bombastic thing that will be resolve this inner pain. This approach is a mistaken one.
To the contrary, we need the maturity to realize that what we need to work on may be much more subtle. Yes, even when there are big tzaros going on, moving just one millimeter is enough. Why? Because a little bit in that inner world – in the world where we have to work – is truly a very big thing. We cannot even estimate the price one would pay to trigger an event that could cause us to move from within.
Big Changes Rarely Last
With this fundamental pre-requisite in place, we can begin to formulate a responsible reaction to the events of October 7. One thing is for sure, if your approach is that you have to make such a big reaction because the events are so overwhelming, that is a recipe for failure. Any attempted large-scale reaction will fade (nearly) immediately. Nothing will really move in any perceivable way. Rather, we are speaking about an inner reaction. A reaction that is no less real and one that will remain with us.
Getting this point across has been a major challenge throughout my life. For instance, when I share certain ideas, people mistakenly perceive that I am encouraging them to implement major changes in their lives. For instance, if I place an emphasis on bein adam l’chaveiro, I might be alluding to a micro-change, like a smile to one’s chavrusa. What do people hear? They hear “I have to leave yeshiva and join Hatzala or launch some big chesed organization.” That’s wrong. I don’t want you to change with your hands. I want you to change in your mind. If there’s nothing in your inner world, then there’s nothing to talk about.
In sum, one must appreciate that an inner change is worth everything. To be sure, this is a big work and not an easy one. But this is the first step, to appreciate the reality (and importance) of our own inner world so we can set the stage to move there.
The Two Main Areas to Focus On: Number One: When The Borei Olam Enters the World
Now that we have the prerequisite in place, let us turn our focus to the two main areas for us to contemplate. Both of which have emerged very clearly throughout this ordeal.
First and foremost, when you look at the October 7 attack, we must realize that this is not an attack on Israeli life – it is an attack on Jewish life. Some may live closer to the epicenter, some may be further away, but be’etzem, every one of us is under attack.
The day after the massacre, something very awkward and unexpected occurred. There was a worldwide wave of antisemitism that was unleashed.
Antisemitism, we must realize, is a force that cannot be held in check by explanations. They simply do not work. One of the biggest frustrations worldwide is that no one – no one – is interested in truth. Not at Harvard and not at Yale. Truth isn’t worth a dime to them. The instantaneous and over-arching world response of anti-semitism has absolutely no rational explanation whatsoever. How leftists could make a shidduch with Hamas defies any and all logic we could possibly muster. No normal (let alone educated) person could think this way.
This worldwide wave of antisemitism shifted the whole sugya. It was not an “Israel” l issue, it was something that touched the whole globe. It became evident that the Borei Olam wants something from the whole world.
Now, admittedly, COVID was also a problem that took the whole world by storm. Everyone – from Australia to Miami – was forced into isolation. So that, too, was a painful worldwide message. Now, however, we have another worldwide message. But this is not just a world message – this time it is specifically a Jewish message. A message to every Jew wherever you may be.
The message is that the Borei Olam clearly has some issues with Jewish Nation. To say otherwise — or to think otherwise — would require total blindness. It is no longer a frum–secular discussion. To address it in these limited terms would simply be idiotic.
When there are shootings at yeshiva in Montreal, it’s clearly not just an Israeli problem. It’s a worldwide agenda that the Borei Olam has revealed. The Borei Olam for sure has something to tell the Jewish nation as a whole.
The most basic thing arising from this shocking event is that clearly, the Borei Olam is in charge. This is so much more than COVID. Why? Because COVID was not against the saichel, logic. Yes, the virus was extremely dangerous; but it was at all times going with saichel.
Here, October 7 and the aftermath are totally against the saichel. Any attempt to explain anything in a rational way is doomed to fail. That would be a very big mistake to think that explanations will help. One must simply read the reality – explanations are bankrupt. No one is interested in listening to them. Even for someone like myself who goes around trying to explain everything under the sun – well, good luck trying to explain anything to a person for whom truth has no relevance whatsoever. All the facts in the world will not matter when “truth” is not a commodity.
So this is the very first thing we must contemplate: that the Borei Olam entered the world. From the very outset, we saw the Borei Olam enter our world. In Eretz Yisrael, totally frei Yidden who were never shomer Shabbos are acknowledging that the Borei Olam is part of the equation. It’s an unbelievable turn of events. It’s a shocking worldwide event that bespeaks how the Borei Olam is taking the world into His hands
Making the Borei Olam Part of Your Picture
Practically speaking, what does that mean for us to make the Borei Olam part of the picture – part of your picture? Here, this must mean more than just stories about Tehillim standing in the way of bullets or amazing stories about soldiers in tanks.
It means, for example, seeing the Borei Olam as an essential part of how you conduct your business. The Borei Olam has to become a part of that picture as well. Shabbos could be another example for us to consider whether (and to what extent) the Borei Olam enters not only the picture – but your picture.
The Borei Olam is not just entering the lives of the soldiers in harms’ way. He is entering your life. And now, be careful, that doesn’t mean that you have to revamp your entire life as you know it. It does not mean you must (or should) daven a three-hour Shacharis or living off bitachon until you don’t have a nickel in the bank. The challenge is not in doing something different. The place to do something different is within.
Number Two: Understanding What Does it Mean to Be Jewish?
The second fundamental idea for us to contemplate is how the Jewish Nation as a whole is reacting. People from all over the spectrum are sensing an obligation to say, “I am Jewish.” To express that “I am a part of this Jewish Nation.”
This forces us to confront a fundamental challenge: What does it means to be Jewish? Is it a matter of genetics? Is it a matter of waving a flag? Clearly it is much more than that. To be Jewish is to be something unique – for sure – but what does that mean for you?
We might say it means kiyum mitzvahs, but that also cannot be the sum-total. After all, we find that Hashem rendered two-thirds of our mitzvahs no longer relevant. We have no tumah and no taraha and no parah adumah. So seemingly being Jewish runs much deeper than mitzvahs and their fulfillment.
So that leaves us with a challenge – with something basic to figure out — what does it mean to be Jewish? How are we working with that reality of being Jewish. We must find tochein to that reality. We must understand what lies within the statement we make everyday, “shelo asani goy”.
For those of you who remember, Ben Gurion posed a question during the fledgling phases of the Jewish state: “Mi Ho Yehudi?” The fact that Jews could now live in Israel begged the all-important question — who is a Jew? Not surprisingly everyone – frum and frei – had an answer to that question.
Today, I am just pushing that envelope one step further and ask you, “mah ho Yehudi?” What is that unique creation known as a Jew? What makes us so different from any other people? What is this reality of “being Jewish?”
Conclusion
Our response to the tragic situation in Eretz Yisrael is one that must unfold – not with our hands; but within ourselves. Quick fixes are not the answer. True growth will take time. Taking on larger-than-life acts is not likely to keep-up. Rather, a small movement within one’s inner realm is the real place to focus one’s efforts. Listening with one’s hands will not do the trick. We must listen with our ears – and our ears are in our head.
We have to hear and work with the two over-arching messages coming out of October 7. First, that the Borei Olam must become a part of our lives. The events leading up to October 7 and the ensuing war clearly express that the Borei Olam is most definitely a reality. Second, that the Jewish nation has been thrust to the forefront of the world’s consciousness (what’s going on in Israel has virtually supplanted any talk of the war in Ukraine). This leaves for us a real challenge to clarify what does it mean to be Jewish?
We cannot expect to overhaul our lives immediately. Although this is a process that will take time, it is the work we have to face: How to make the Borei Olam real in your life and what it is that makes you Jewish — These are the challenging questions on the table that I invite you to discuss and explore – you and your families.
