A thought that weighs on my mind in times like these while our brethren are living through turbulent times in our homeland is what is there for us to contribute? The Jewish People are connected and are one organic body; some of us are waiting on the Gaza borders while others are enjoying the summer comfortably. But not being there does not exempt us from doing our part. In Parshas Mattos we find the proper model for the different divisions of Klal Yisrael in a time of war.
As Moshe prepares the Jewish people for battle against the Midianim, he chooses a thousand men from each tribe. As the Torah describes the selection, it uses the phrase alef lmateh a number of times. The Medrash comments that there were 12,000 that were chosen to go to battle, 12,000 to prepare the equipment, and the final 12,000 to daven. Using this battle against Midian as a model, we see that spiritual support is equal to the actual military mission. Historically the success of Klal Yisrael in battle couples with the Jewish people strengthening themselves in their spiritual pursuits. This is the significance of the Aron of Hashem going out to battle alongside the soldiers, to symbolize that our military might must always been seen as partnering with the strength that the Torah gives to the Jewish people.
When the tribes of Reuven, Gad, and half of Menashe approach Moshe and ask to dwell on the other side of the Yarden, Moshe’s reaction is: “Your brothers will go to war and you will sit here.” How should we who are so physically far from our homeland respond to Moshe Rabbenu’s charge? In 1948 when the War of Independence began, Rav Eliyhu Lopian came to deliver a speech in the Chevron Yeshiva, he quoted the tefillah of Rav Safrah in the Gemara in Berachos that peace should be made between the kingdom of heaven and this world. We should not see this world in a vacuum but we must raise our eyes skyward. By bringing peace in the kingdom of heaven through Torah Avodah and Gemilus Chassadim we create peace in the heavenly spheres. When peace is felt above then peace can be achieved below. The zechyus that we can raise for Klal Yisrael go hand in hand with the military preparedness of the IDF. Chazal tell us only when the kol is the kol of Yaakov we can overcome the hands of Eisav. At this crucial moment we must prepare our tools for battle.
The Torah in Parshas Vayechi gives us a glimpse of what our tools should be. Yaakov recounts how he conquered Shechem with his sword and bow, Onkelos translates this to mean “prayer and supplication.” Onkelos chooses to emphasize the prayer of Yaakov as opposed to his physical force. The question is what is the difference between prayer and supplication? The Meshech Chochma explains that tefillah is the basic set prayer that Chazal has established for us to pray three times a day and supplication is a unique tefillah that comes more spontaneously from a deep part of our souls. In these times both aspects need to be strengthened; our set tefillos we say every day and try to conjure up in our souls tefillos geared specifically towards this situation. Through our focus in these days on growing in Torah, Avodah, and Gemilus Chasidim, we hope that the peace is achieved in the heavenly realm and thorough that we can see true peace in our homeland.
Rabbi Finkelstein is a member of the Wexner Kollel Elyon of Yeshiva University. For this coming year he will be the Rosh Beis Medrash for the CBY night learning program (all are encouraged to come learn) He lives in Bergenfield with his wife and three children.
By Rabbi Jason Finkelstein
