Many of us take the time to recite a tefillah (prayer) for the soldiers of Am Yisrael. In many of the tefillot people say כִּ֚י ה’ אֱלֹֽקיכֶ֔ם הַֽהֹלֵ֖ךְ עִמָּכֶ֑ם לְהִלָּחֵ֥ם לָכֶ֛ם עִם־אֹֽיְבֵיכֶ֖ם לְהוֹשִׁ֥יעַ אֶתְכֶֽם for it is Hashem your God who walkswith you to fight for you against your enemies to save you) to remind us that we have Hashem and will win the war. However, I think we need to do more than just say the words—we must act on them!

Each person in Am Yisrael can be a soldier, and while in the pesukim this message is talking to those who are physically going to battle, I think it is a reminder to all of Am Yisrael that Hashem will walk with us and we will win. But how do we get Hashem to walk with us? How do we get to where we deserve Hashem fighting for us against the enemy? How do we merit Hashem saving us speedily?

That is up to us and we can learn it from the words, “and Hashem will walk with us.” Hashem always wants to walk with us, but sometimes we push him away. It is when we put our trust in Hashem and go out and fight, stand up proud at rallies, wear kipas, have mezuzahs, are proud to say “I am Jewish,” do acts of kindness, be kind to one another and do mitzvot that Hashem walks with us. Hashem can walk with us when we do our part and emulate Him. We must understand that when we do these actions, we are opening a door to merit ending the war and bringing Mashiach.

May we all stop pushing Hashem away and allow Hashem to walk with all of Am Yisrael. May we create much merit by doing amazing acts that emulate Hashem, causing Him to allow us to defeat our enemies and bring Mashiach speedily in our days.

Shira Sedek is a passionate educator currently working toward a master’s degree at Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration.