06 Feb YOU ARE INSANE

“You are insane!”
Those were the words
Rav Asher Weiss Shlit”a
used to greet me when I
visited him this week
and shared that we had a
group of 70 people from
BRS who had come to spend Yeshiva Week in
Israel. He continued that anyone visiting
Israel right now, anyone flying into a country
at war, is insane.
In a few weeks it will have been two years
since Russia invaded Ukraine. In that time, six
million Ukrainians have fled to Europe, but do
large groups of Ukrainians from around the
world come to visit Ukraine? How many have
come on solidarity missions to bring supplies,
to visit army bases, to sponsor barbecues, to
hug displaced families?
“And so, you and the many who have come
to visit Israel during this war are simply
insane,” said Rav Asher. “But it is a
magnificent insanity, a beautiful insanity, an
insanity driven by love and loyalty, by
connection and community, by a sense that we
aren’t just a people, we are a family and
family doesn’t run away from trouble, they
are willing to run towards it.”
Of course, in truth there is nothing insane
about visiting Israel right now. It feels not just
safe but tremendously meaningful, moving,

and one truly appreciates that visits make a
difference. I don’t take for granted for a
moment the privilege of spending time in
Israel during this monumental, historic, and
critical time.
There are many legitimate reasons not to be
able to visit Israel during this time. Not
everyone can take off from work. Those with
young children and those who are responsible
for taking care of aging parents cannot travel
or be far away. The expense of flying and
finding a place to stay is significant and the
relationships and connections needed to craft
a productive and meaningful itinerary are not
available to all. And so, there are many
legitimate reasons that people can’t stop what
they are doing during this war and come to
Israel.
But here is the thing. There is no legitimate
reason for every member of our precious
Jewish people not to feel with every fiber of
their being that they want to go to Israel right
now, that they are drawn to the beautiful and
magnificent insanity of running to be with our
family in Israel at this moment: for them, for
ourselves, to honor our history, and to together
forge our destiny.
As this war continues to rage, as the danger
of it expanding to a northern front increases,
as hundreds of thousands of families remain
displaced, as funerals and shivas of soldiers

are tragically still taking place, as hospitals
and rehabilitation facilities remain full of
thousands fighting to recover and resume
life, as the economy continues to be
compromised by a massive dip in tourism,
and as too many in the world are working to
marginalize and isolate Israel, every member
of our sacred family should be drawn to our
home, should feel the powerful force of the
magnetic pull to be with our people, to be in
our place, to be part of this sense of purpose.
It shouldn’t be hard to want to go to Israel
right now; it should be hard not to, it should
feel impossible to stay away, it should hurt to
not be there, to not be counted and to not be
contributing.
Rav Michael Yammer, the Rosh Yeshiva of
Shaalvim, told me about a call he received
from a talmid of the Yeshiva who was in Gaza.
Anxious and upset, the young man had gotten
access to a special phone from his captain to
be able to call his rebbe to tell him that he had
decided to put his role as a husband and father
ahead of being a soldier and that pending
permission from his rebbe, he was requesting
to leave the Gaza battlefield to go home.
Sensing that something had happened, Rav
Yammer asked him what changed, why was
he feeling this way? The young man said that
just a few hours earlier, a dear friend and
fellow soldier had been killed in fighting and
he now felt he just couldn’t go forward with
the feeling that his family might lose their
husband and father.
Rav Yammer told him there is a conflict
taking place between your head and your
heart, between what you are thinking and
how you are feeling. Come home for a couple
of days, speak to your wife and come with
her to meet me to explore if you think your
head can rein in your heart, if what you
believe can sway and control how you feel.
Rav Yammer challenged him, in this moment,
can you set aside your being an ish perati, am
individual person, to serve as an ish ha’kelal,
a person who is devoted to the greater good?
Can you put what is right for am Yisrael
ahead of what is right for you or your family?
If you can’t, that is completely understandable
and acceptable and not subject to anyone’s
judgment, but consider it thoroughly, be true
and honest with yourself.
The next day, the couple cancelled their
appointment with him explaining they had
been up all night discussing and had reached
a conclusion. With his wife’s support, he was
determined to continue to be an ish ha’kelal,
a person who was dedicated to the greater
good of his people. His head could and
would rule his heart, his commitment and
belief would be stronger than his fear, and he
and his feelings were going back in to fight
and defend his greater family, the Jewish
people.
Israel is filled with anshei ha’klal right now,
ordinary people with extraordinary
commitments to serve something bigger than
themselves, and they are making tremendous

sacrifices as they do so. While fatigue has set
in for too many, soldiers cannot afford to tire,
their wives and families have to continue to
pick up the slack, a nation whose citizens are
at most one or two degrees of separation from
October 7 victims, or soldiers who have paid
the highest price since then, has to live with
trauma and grief it hasn’t yet had time to
process or experience.
This war is and will be won by a country of
individuals putting aside their individual
needs, wants, and well-being to serve the klal,
the greater community and people. Soldiers
are risking their lives on the front lines.
Families are filling in while loved ones are
way from home for prolonged periods.
Volunteers, many of whom don’t sleep for
days at a time, are cooking, delivering,
serving, supporting, and supplying. A nation
is davening and learning with greater
diligence, determination, and dedication than
ever before. People who have been far away
from mitzvos and spirituality are experiencing
an awakening and pledging to take on
practices outside of their previous experiences
and comfort zones.
Not everyone who lives outside of Israel can
go right now but every one of us should feel
that we want to, should work to plan to, should
find a way to not do what is best for us or even
just for our families, but to prioritize what we
can do for our collective future, for the good
of our people.
Even if we can’t physically be in Israel, our
focus, consciousness, and compass can be
connecting us constantly to Israel and to the
sacrifices our brothers and sisters are making
there. We cannot and must not be tone deaf or
disconnected, acting as anshei prat, individual
people, practicing, posting, speaking and
living as if there isn’t a war raging, heroic
angels aren’t being killed, hundreds of
thousands aren’t grinding through the grueling
reality of being displaced for many months.
Before planning, posting, or doing anything
during these difficult days, ask yourself, is this
the behavior of an ish ha’klal, someone
connected with our greater people? How
would this picture, this comment, or this
message, be seen or understood by those I
claim to care about going through something
we cannot begin to truly comprehend? How
can I put my personal, individual instinct or
need aside and use my time, energy, resources
and attention to serve, contribute and put the
family first instead?
In this critical time, ask yourself simply, how
will you be magnificently and beautifully
insane?