28 Nov DAVENING FOR SOLDIERS DOESN’T CONFLICT WITH FAITH IN HASHEM

For the last month and
a half, nobody I know
has slept through the
night. Certainly, those in
Israel, especially those
married to soldiers, and
those who are parents or
siblings of soldiers are perpetually restless, on
edge, anxious, and concerned. But in truth, all
of us, the Jewish people around the world,
can’t rest comfortably, we can’t settle into a
deep sleep while our people are at war, while
our family members, direct and extended, are
on the front lines, risking their lives, fighting an
evil enemy, laying it all on the line to protect
the Jewish people and the Jewish homeland.
We are comforted by the knowledge that our
soldiers’ faith, resolve, tenacity, determination,
moral clarity, and sense of mission are
unparalleled, but it is only natural to remain
concerned and worried nonetheless.
These ordinary soldiers and reservists are in
fact extraordinary and special people. They are
motivated and inspired not by simple patriotism
and nationalism, but by a deep sense of
conviction that we are a people of an illustrious
history and a distinct destiny. The IDF’s
soldiers are well- trained, well-armed, and well
informed. They are skilled professionals with a
military superiority, but the images, videos and
reports from the front lines tell of soldiers who
know that the secret to their victory is not in
their weapons or intelligence. In fact, it is not
in their hands, but it is in their hearts, their
souls, and pouring out of their mouths. The
clips of IDF bombings and operations are
powerful, but they pale in comparison to the
power of the clips of soldiers putting on
Tefillin, asking for tzitzis, praying, singing,
dancing, and proclaiming al tirah Yisrael, don’t
be afraid Israel, ein lanu al mi l’hishaein elah al
Avinu She’bashamayim, we have nobody to
lean on other than our Father in Heaven,
anachnu ma’aminim b’nei ma’aminim, we are
believers the children of believers.
Our soldiers know and feel that the wind at
their backs, the spiritual iron dome over their
heads, are the heartfelt prayers on their behalf
being uttered nonstop by all of us, their brothers
and sisters around the world who love them,
cherish them, admire them, and feel boundless
gratitude to them.
To deny the potency, power, and effectiveness
of Torah and Tefilla as an indispensable part of
any military victory is to deny a basic
foundation of our faith. Ultimately, every area
of our lives, certainly our national safety and
well-being is dictated from Above and is in the
hands of Hashem. There must be no doubt that
our davening, our learning, our merits have
meaning, they matter, they make a difference.
Just as we know it is not the doctor nor the
surgeon who heals, but it is Hashem. It is not
the lawyer who makes the winning argument or
the earthly judge who decides, but true justice
is served by the Heavenly Judge. It is not the
businessperson or entrepreneur who closes the
deal, but it is the Senior Partner of every

endeavor, Hashem. And it is not the soldier
who wins the war, but the true General, the
Master of all Legions, the Ribono Shel Olam.
Living with Emunah and Bitachon, tenets of
our faith, means recognizing and living this
axiomatic truth, recognizing that we live in a
matrix of illusion, while the reality of
everything comes from Hashem.
Of course, simultaneously, it is also true that
we don’t passively wait to be healed, we don’t
sit on the couch waiting for money to fall from
the sky, we search out the best doctor and we
take initiative to earn an income. Excessive
effort with no faith in Hashem is heresy, but
claiming to rely on faith without making any
legitimate effort is not genuine faith.
Chazal say harbei sheluchim l’Makom,
Hashem has many agents and messengers. We
must always remember that He is guiding their
hand and outcome. But, while Hashem gives
the talent and strength, the shliach, the agent
still puts in the effort and energy to use it and is
deserving of our most basic hakaras ha’tov, our
gratitude and appreciation. During a loved
one’s surgery we daven and pour out our heart
to Hashem. And when it is a success we thank
Him, but we have never been concerned that
showing appropriate appreciation to the doctor
is a contradiction to knowing that Hashem is
the one who guided his hand. Just the opposite,
failing to recognize the doctor’s critical role is
its own denial of Hashem’s hand. We daven
that the lawyer find the right words and that the
judge come to a favorable conclusion. But we
have never felt finding the best representation
or preparing diligently for a case somehow
contradicts the reality and truth that Hashem is
the real Judge whose opinion and conclusion is
the one that truly matters. In every area of our
lives, we seek to strike the balance between
hishtadlus, our initiative and effort, with
bitachon, trust and faith. We see them not as a
contradiction or source of confusion, but two
complementary, critical elements of a Jew’s
life.
During this urgent time, with Am Yisroel at
war, it is no different. The brave soldiers of the
IDF represent our people’s initiative, they are
the shlichei Hashem fighting this milchemes
mitzvah to defend the Jewish people.
Remarkably, overwhelmingly, they practice
their initiative powered by profound emunah
and bitachon, both theirs and ours.
This combination, the relationship of initiative
and faith, has always been evident in our
attitude to war. Commenting on the words,
ו ְלִזְבּולֻן אָמַר שְׂמַח זְבּולֻן בְּצֵאתֶ ּ ָך ו ְי ִשָׂשכָר בְּאֹהָלֶֽיָך׃
of And “,עַמִּים הַר־י ִקְרָאּו שָׁ ם י ִזְבְּחּו זִבְחֵי־צֶדֶק
Zebulun he said: rejoice, O Zevulun, on your
journeys, And Yissachar, in your tents, they
invite their kin to the mountain, where they
offer sacrifices of success,” the Chassam Sofer
(Toras Moshe) comments: It can be explained
that we find that Shmuel and Shaul, when they
went out to war, before going out, they would
offer a sacrifice for protection… And when it
says, ‘Rejoice, Zevulun, in your going out to
war, for Yissachar in your tents,’ it means

Zevulun’s success at war will come in the merit
of Yissachar’s learning in the tents.”
Soldiers who fight absent Am Yisroel
davening and learning cannot be successful.
But it is also true that Am Yisroel learning and
davening without soldiers fighting and
protecting them cannot survive. Yaakov Avinu
prepared in three ways to defeat Esav, including
diplomacy, preparing militarily, and davening.
Dovid HaMelech, the very author of the
Tehillim we passionately recite, also led an
army with generals and soldiers, as did the
Jewish Kings we find throughout Tanach.
The Chiddushei HaRim of Ger, Rav Yitzchak
Meir Alter, points out that we are called
Yehudim after Yehudah specifically because
we as a nation are to be characterized by an
ever-present sense of gratitude, by an
appreciation first and foremost of Hashem, but
also of His loyal agents and emissaries who
carry out His will. There must be enough room
in our hearts and on our lips to express gratitude
to all. We must be grateful to those making
spiritual contributions, to those storming the
Heavens, and certainly to those making
extreme sacrifices, our incredible soldiers who
take the ultimate risks and an army who are
moseir nefesh for our people.
Loving soldiers, davening for them, showing
appreciating to them has always been the Torah
way, it is the example our gedolim have set,
and it is the responsibility we bear at this time,
something that should be obvious and intuitive.
In 2005, Rav Simcha HaKohen Kook and the
Bostoner Rebbe of Yerushalayim made an
urgent call to have every active soldier
partnered in solidarity with someone davening
for their safety. They launched the “Elef
Lamateh, Elef Lamateh” campaign based on a
Midrash (Bamidbar Rabbah) that says for
every thousand Jewish soldiers that went to
fight, one thousand who remained behind
matched with them and davened and learned on
their behalf.
In the introduction to the third volume of
Tzitz Eliezer, Rav Waldenberg writes:
A shudder runs through my entire body when
I think about that terrible period of the birth of
the state…We the residents of Jerusalem in
particular were cut off without any connection
with the other cities and surrounded by enemies
in the soul, who are passionate and busy as we
were driven out to swallow us…There wasn’t a
neighborhood that wasn’t hit and there wasn’t a
street where victims didn’t fall… Glory and
praise to our heroic soldiers who sacrificed
their lives to fight like lions for the conquest of
our holy land from foreigners and for the
establishment of our state with the face of a
lion, their face like deer on the mountains to
hurry and with God’s help were the messengers
of the Supreme Providence to carry out This
historic mission, God will remember those who
fell in the fulfillment of their holy mission and
will enshrine in memory the glory and eternity
of those who are alive with us today.
Rav Shach, during a visit with soldiers to his
home, expressed gratitude to them, emphasizing

“that you are esteemed, important people and
you provide excellent protection of the Land of
Israel.” He thanked them for their actions and
acknowledged their contribution, stating that
he stands before them in great appreciation.
Rav Chaim Shmulevitz (1912-1979), the
Rosh Yeshiva of the Mir once said: “The
Gemara (Bava Basra 10b) says about those that
gave their lives defending Lod, no creature can
stand in their place. It is because they sacrificed
their lives for Israel. I say the same about those
who sacrifice themselves for our salvation. The
entire world cannot stand in their place. The
obligation upon us to pray for them is boundless
because, as our Sages said, ‘One who opens for
his friend, his soul is obligated to him.’ All the
more so for one who sacrifices his life for us.
The obligation upon us is boundless.” Rav
Yitzchak Brand described that during the Six
Day War, he witnessed Rav Chaim Shmulevitz
stand before each soldier he saw in appreciation
for their mesirus nefesh to save the Jewish
people. And Rav Yisroel Lau relates how no
less a Gadol Hador than Rav Shlomo Zalman
Auerbach z”l, when asked about traveling to
daven at Kivrei Tzadikim, would respond,“In
order to pray at the graves of tzadikim, one
doesn’t have to travel up to the Galil. Whenever
I feel the need to pray at the graves of tzadikim,
I go to Mount Herzl, [the national cemetery for
fallen IDF soliders in Jerusalem], to the graves
of the soliders…who fell ‘Al Kiddush Hashem’
for the sanctification of G-d.”
In 1980, at the 6th Knessiah Gedolah of
Agudas Yisroel, a special Kayl Maleh was
recited for Chayalei Tzahal, the soldiers of the
IDF who gave their lives al Kiddush Hashem.
It was said in the presence of Rav Shach, The
Gerrer Rebbe, Rav Moshe Feinstein, Rav
Yaakov Kaminetsky, Rav Ruderman, Rav
Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, the Vizhnitzer
Rebbe, the Slonimer Rebbe, the Modzitzer
Rebbe, and the Biala Rebbe who all stood and
honored the fallen soldiers.
Rav Aharon Lichtenstein related that once
when he returned to America and was visiting
with his father-in-law, Rav Soloveitchik, he
posed a series of questions from students who
were serving in the IDF. One student worked in
the tanks division and his job was cleaning out
and maintaining the tanks. Often his uniform
got covered in oil and grime and he wanted to
know if he needed to change before davening
Mincha, something that would be terribly
inconvenient and difficult. The Rav looked at
Rav Lichtenstein and wondered out loud,

“Why would he need to change? He is wearing
bigdei kodesh (holy clothing).”
Rav Yitzchak Yosef, the current Sephardic
Chief Rabbi of Israel, said, “One must express
gratitude that we are here in Eretz Yisroel, that
we can sit and fulfill mitzvos, each as they want.
If we didn’t have security forces, if we didn’t
have soldiers could we sit in quiet and study
Torah, could we educate our children?! What
was here before eighty years, there was nothing,
Hashem helps through them, they are shlichim
of Hashem and in their merit do we sit and
fulfill mitzvos and study Torah. We must be
grateful.”
During the Yom Kippur War, a soldier
approached the holy rebbe, the Bais Yisroel of
Ger z”l and shared that the soldiers are
extremely cold during the night in the north.
The Bais Yisroel wished him well and gave him
a bracha that he should return whole. That
Sukkos, the young Gerrer student appointed to
help the Rebbe heard the Bais Yisroel knocking
on the door to his own home, unable to get in.
The “hoiz buchir” unlocked the door and the
rebbe apologized to him and explained, “The
key is metal and my hands are extremely cold. I
tried lifting it but I just couldn’t.” The Sukkos
weather was actually rather pleasant to so the
young man asked why the Rebbe’s hand was
cold. The Rebbe explained, ever since the
soldier told me it’s cold in the north and the

soldiers are freezing, I have been feeling so
cold.
When the First Lebanon War broke out, Rabbi
Yisroel Zev Gustman declared that it was a
milchemes mitzvah and later announced that
since Jews were fighting on the front, every
yeshiva student must sleep at night like soldiers,
meaning a few hours and with shoes as if they
were on the front lines, and not to waste even a
minute.
Klal Yisroel has children literally putting their
lives on the line every day to protect all of us.
Their service involves sleepless nights, stormy
weather, parents who don’t hear from their
children for days, wives who have no idea if
their husband will ever make it home, children
who yearn for their fathers and live in constant
fear, loss of life, severe injuries, and the strong
risk of all of it. This is what faces our soldiers
and their families daily and it is frightening.
If we want those whose service to the Klal
right now is through learning Torah to
understand the urgency of the moment and how
essential their role is to Klal Yisrael’s protection,
now is the time for yeshivas to consider a call
for no more off shabbosim until the war is over.
Maybe those who can should eliminate bein
hasdorim, breaks during the day, and all should
limit their breaks for coffee. Of course the
yeshiva students are diligent and are no doubt
having proper intentions in learning as a merit

for the safety and security of the IDF and the
people of Israel. But what are they doing, what
are we doing, to really feel בצרה אנכי עמו, we
feel the pain of our brothers?
Our soldiers and their families are being
moseir nefesh for our cause, are we doing our
part to leave our comfort zone, push ourselves,
maximize our time and efforts to make our
contribution? Our soldiers are living in
unimaginably limited ways, are we minimally
adopting limitations on our lives to at least be
nosei b’ol, feel the plight and pain and
discomfort of our brothers and sisters?
I was talking to a friend from our community
this week and he mentioned in passing that he
hasn’t had chocolate since the war started.
Each time he has a craving and is tempted to
indulge, he reminds himself of the conditions
the soldiers are living in and decides he can
forgo a pleasure as a small way of feeling their
pain.
What adjustments are we making to our lives
and routines to reflect that for so many of our
people, nothing is normal? Will we really
indulge in an elaborate vacation during Yeshiva
Week this year while a war rages for our people,
or will we mute our vacation and recreation as a
way of demonstrating a connection with those
who haven’t had a moment off since this began?
Do our simchas reflect our condition or do they
carry on as if no existential threat faces our

people? Can we complain about petty
discomforts or inconveniences while members
of our family are sleeping on the floor, outdoors
under trees, fighting not only our enemies, but
the elements like bitter cold and rain?
Passing up on a piece of chocolate or forgoing
an elaborate vacation or business as usual
simcha may not directly eliminate Hamas, but it
does connect us to our people, helps us resonate
with their conditions, and powers us to pour it
into heartfelt tefillos, and that makes all the
difference in the world. Nothing gets a parent’s
attention or response more than children caring
about one another and feeling each other’s pain.
The lives of our precious soldiers and of all
our brothers and sisters in Israel has been
interrupted and severely disrupted. Those
contributing from within the walls of the Beis
Medrash, and all of us wherever we are with
whatever we have to offer, must push ourselves
to the limit as well. We cannot carry on in
ordinary ways during these extraordinary times.