The beloved People of Israel has suffered a very terrible shock. We all share the great mourning coming from the difficult, heart-rending reports. Many of our best citizens, idealists sitting on the country’s borders and protecting it with their settlements and their lives were murdered without distinction. Blood has touched blood. There is no consolation for the greatness of our national heartbreak.
On the other hand, we understand that we are undergoing something tremendous:
- An enormous upheaval from a difficult and hate-filled internal dispute towards a great unity round our very existence here as a nation.
- A clear understanding that our war is a war of existence for our lives. We all understood that Hamas and Hezbollah – they have no goal in life but to “destroy and kill and wipe out all the Jews from youth to elderly, children, and women in one day.”
We were all amazed at the greatness of spirit revealed among the residents of the nation. The rapid enlistment of many good people to save lives while greatly endangering themselves, the enormous dedication, the inconceivable enlistment rates, the recruitment of the rear which showers our soldiers with boundless love.
The sense of a war of no choice, along with frustration and endless fury towards the detested murderers, the embodiment of evil, the partners of the devil and brothers of the ISIS murderers – restored the nation the roots of its awareness and consciousness of its existence.
Revelations of faith and prayer, the love of Israel and the coming together, along with fearless enlistment and a powerful, uncompromising spirit, remind us of Bilam’s words in his curse-blessing “A nation shall arise and as a lion will condescend, he will not rest until eating prey and drinking the blood of the fallen.”
It is the nature of the lion that it can lie down comfortably, usually not pursuing its food. That is the job of the lioness. But if someone disturbs the lion or if it smells danger, then it arises from its slumber and fights with all its great might until defeating its enemy.
That’s how Rabeinu Yosef Bechor Shor interpreted the words of Bilam, as though appealing to Balak, King od Moav, and saying “You believed you could humiliate them. Not so, for they will arise and overcome as a lion. They will not rest in their lot and on their laurels.”
And these things are so relevant. Our enemies tried to harm us and humiliate us and primarily to break our spirit while we celebrated our holiday in peace and rest. But the People of Israel arose as a lion, is united and determined to strike its enemies as we have never been determined. With God’s help, there will be great results. As the Prophet Yirmiyahu said: “And it is a time of trouble for Yaakov and from it, he will be saved.” (Jer. 30:7) This means that the People of Israel shall arise specifically from the trouble and be saved.
Of this Rav Kook said already as a young Rabbi in Zaumel, Lithuania: “But here, not only is Israel saved from the evil to defend their lives, but much blessing will come to them from the evil itself, which is the main purpose of God for creating evil, so that good come from evil itself. And the suffering of Israel then bring about much good for them and the world.” (Sefer Metzi’ot Katan 67)
We all feel it in the depths of our hearts. We feel the greatness of the hour with all the great pain. But we yet face great challenges to apply it effectively, in war and in repairing and building the great and united spirit of our people, with its experience of suffering and difficulties.
The ability of the People of Israel to break out of a crisis and be rebuilt, as it was in the Yom Kippur War, attests to a brave spirit and great faith.
We saw this with King David and his great spirit, when he reached the point of great crisis in the beginning of his path and even before he was king, when the Amalekites captured his whole camp at Tziklag, and the whole nation who was with David were of a bitter spirit and said to stone him outright.
The verse attests there that upon exiting the crisis “And David became stronger in the Lord, his God.” (I Sam 30:6)
This strengthening tie to God is a strengthening of faith and spiritual courage, along with determination and power. Only they have the power to turn a bitter reality into victory and success.
It may be that like in a process of repentance from love, where intentional sins become merits, meaning all the forces of the soul directed to different directions are now all in a positive direction and become merits, so, too, in the reality before us. All the forces which stoked the fire of disputes are now channeling their great power to a fire of giving and love. All the energy of refusal to serve has become a flame of dedication and sacrifice.
And the People of Israel is now becoming more excited and stronger. We saw this with our eyes and it’s wonderful!
Dear friends, each one of us must take something of that greatness, be encouraged, encourage, strengthen weakening hands and knees, overcome our bloodthirsty enemies, and together we will arise another step in the process of redemption.
“Let us be strong and become stronger for our nation and the cities of our Lord” and with great faith we will say “And God will do what is good in His eyes.”
Rabbi Eliyahu Blum is Rabbi of the Rambam community in Neveh Sha’anan, Haifa