You Are All Alive Today

Parshat Va'Etchanan

by Rabbi Avi Billet

In times like these, one feels a sense of helplessness. A sense of unworthinesss.

                

Now that Hamas has resumed their rocket attacks, and Israel has been drawn in again to war, we shudder with the thought of every new story that comes out of Israel, of the short life of a fallen soldier, which has and will continue to make us wonder if we are doing our part for the sake of the Jewish people. How many of us, were we fit and trained properly, would be willing to go to the front lines, or send our sons to the front lines, knowing we or they might not return?

                

We are here, at Shabbos Nachamu, looking for comfort, and yet the words of Eichah 1, “There is no comfort” (repeated four times in the chapter), are what resonate. How can we be comforted when so many young men, true “giborim” fell at the hands of the enemy?

                

There is no comfort.

                

I have read of a Hamas plot for this coming High Holiday season that may have been averted on account of Operation Protective Shield. If true, it might be a slight comfort.

                

But who knows? I, for one, would rather have every one of these soldiers and teenagers back now, and deal with the next challenge when it comes.

                

Alas, this is the price of war. Fallen soldiers, lost sons, brothers, fathers, husbands, fiancés, and families bereft.

                

And yet, a united nation. From the left to the right, Israelis have supported this war and understand its validity and necessity. When a bereaved mother can say “Am Yisrael Chai” (the nation of Israel lives!) and that “Ahavah t’natzeach” (love will win the day), a world of sensible people looks on with admiration and in awe.

                

The Torah tells us, “You, who cling to Hashem your God, you are all living today.” (4:4) The translation doesn’t do justice to the Hebrew “Chayim kulkhem hayom.” You are all “Chayim.”

                

Understandably, the specific context of that statement was Moshe speaking to the generation about to enter the Land of Israel. Their parents had lost a connection with God on account of the Golden Calf and the sin of the spies, but the present generation Moshe was addressing had never sinned in such a manner.

                

Why does Moshe tell them they are living? Obviously, if he’s talking to them, they are alive!

                

Because the concept of living has different meanings. The first definition of “living” is obvious to us all – blood flowing, brain functioning, a person who contains the breath of life. Living also refers to what we are doing with our lives. We may be alive, but is the life in which we exist one in which we live it to the max? A life of meaning and of purpose? With goals?

                

And there is also the living that comes after death. Every Shabbos, we say the prayer of “Av Harachamim” which invokes some of the language King David used to eulogize King Shaul and Prince Yonatan who fell in battle. “They were lovely and pleasant in their lives, and in their death they have not departed.” (Samuel II 1:23)

                

They have not departed because they still live in us. If Rashi “says” (present tense) and Rambam “says” - they are both still living. If David’s friendship with Yonatan never ended, Yonatan was always alive to him. If we can welcome Eliyahu at every bris, it is because Eliyahu is still “living.”

                

The Or HaChaim takes this several steps further when he offers a number of interpretations on our verse. He notes that the tetragrammaton can have a prefix added to it, but the prefix does not attain the holiness of God’s name. In Ba’Hashem or La’Hashem the bet or lamed can be erased. However, when a suffix is added to the name “Elokim,” the suffix attains a level of holiness akin to God’s name, and cannot be erased.

                

The Or HaChaim says “You who cling to Hashem your God” is a message to those who cling to Hashem in the manner of “Your God” – who attach themselves to God in such a way that we achieve holiness and can’t be erased as being not really part of God’s name – “you are living today.”

                

When the nation of Israel, in Israel and abroad, can unite under the banner of a united People under God, when Jews the world-over can say the Shema, recite Tehillim, gather to pray, the nation and its people live. When we count every soldier who falls as a lost son, and pay no attention to whether he was from a left-wing kibbutz, a secular family, a Hesder yeshiva, or a Nahal Haredi, we are living. And the memory of the soldier, who gave his life for the highest purpose, lives on.

                

If on Tisha B’Av we still remember those martyred during the time of the Second Temple, the Ten rabbis who were murdered in the 100 years following, the Crusades, the Inquisition, the Chmielnicki massacres, the Holocaust, and all those who have fallen since the establishment of the State of Israel, then those who “were pleasant and beloved in their lives, and in their deaths have not departed” becomes true for us and future generations.

                

We mourn because we are broken and sad by the loss of these beloved soldiers. And we shout Am Yisrael Chai because we cling to God in a manner that makes us all holy as well. When one of us falls, a piece of God’s holiness is lost in this world. This is why we all feel it, and why it is so hard to find comfort.

                

May we be able to find comfort soon, when the IDF completes its mission, and the entity of Hamas is destroyed forever. When the Land of Israel is free of attacks our people will merit to fulfill all meanings of “Chayim kulkhem hayom” – that those who cling to God find the fullest meaning in life itself. 

The Victory That Comes From Doing God's Will

Parshat Devarim

by Rabbi Avi Billet               

Moshe said, “God was also angry at me… [as He] said, ‘You too shall not go there. Yehoshua bin-Nun… is the one who will apportion it to Israel. As for your children of whom you said ‘They’ll be taken captive,’ and your children who did not know good from evil this day – they will come there. To them shall I give it and they shall possess it.’” (Devarim 1:37-39)

                

Without going into too much of the background, in this passage Moshe outlines who will be inheriting the land – as the apportioner and the apportionees – and who will not be involved in the process (Moshe himself).

                

His focus on the children being the ones to inherit – along with the emphasis on good and evil – prompted the Midrash Tanaim to explain that this is a reference to war. “They have to know that it is God who wages war for you, and that you do not have to fight when you are doing God’s will.” The Baal Haturim goes along similar lines when he says exile would have never happened had the people not turned to sin.

                

Rabbi Yehuda Amital, the founding Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat Har Etzion (“the Gush”), was appropriately critical of people (i.e. certain contemporary rabbis) who would look at any event and ascribe causality to it. “This tragedy happened because…” is in an ineffable statement to make. We don’t explain rockets, destruction, wars, and a Holocaust. We are not prophets. We do not know why these things happen.

                

God-fearing people say “This is God’s will. It is part of His Master Plan,” and continue to live their lives in the service of God, trying to get closer to Him despite the sadness that may pervade at any particular point in time. Rav Amital, whose fifth yarzeit was this past week, was in several labor camps during the Holocaust and lost his entire family. In response to the question of how he could have faith in God after the Holocaust, he explained that if he had lost his faith that wouldn’t bring his family back. It wouldn’t answer any of his questions about God’s hiding His face during that era of darkness.

                

But the message of the Midrash Tanaim is still worthy of consideration. We do not understand how the “doing of God’s will” plays a role in the upper spheres. But every one of us can probably pinpoint a time in our lives when we knew we were doing things right, and other things in our lives fell into place. Whether it was a job, a promotion, a family member getting better from illness, or life just being good. It happens all the time – we just don’t always notice.

                

And so it is up to us, particularly at this time of year with Tisha B’Av approaching, to ask ourselves if we are properly doing God’s will. The great prophets and Sages were granted the insight to say the first Temple was destroyed because of murder, idolatry, immorality, and the Second Temple was destroyed on account of baseless hatred. And while we don’t dare make similar pronouncements in our times (and shame on those who do!), we can certainly improve in those areas! Idolatry and murder are, thank God, not big challenges for our people. But immorality is. And baseless hatred certainly is.

                

There’s a reason many of the “al chet”s we include in our Viduy confession are for sins of the eyes and the mouth, because it is through these channels that most of our sins are committed – whether we ourselves look at things we should not be looking at and say things we should not, or whether we cause others to look at things they should not see or have them hear things they should not be hearing.

                

The good and evil that the Midrash Tanaim says refers to war could have two meanings. The esoteric meaning is for the internal battle that a person fights between the yetzer hara (the evil inclination) and the yetzer hatov (the good inclination).

                

But in a practical sense, it refers to the battles which were to soon be waged by the Israelite armies entering the land. And Moshe is recalling how 39 years earlier he told the generation that was not going to be entering the land that it would be up to their innocent children, who had not yet tasted good and evil, to lead the charge in inheriting the land.

                

The verses which follow show the response of the people when they heard this pronouncement:  “We have sinned to God! We will go up and do battle according to everything that our God has commanded us!” (1:41)

                

And the Exodus generation was told not to, because God was no longer with them and would not fight their battles any more.

                

Are we reliving this history? Every generation in Israel has borne the responsibility of fighting the battle that the previous generation did not finish. It is the “children” (18-22 year olds are young men, but they are all sons of the nation of Israel) who are fighting, the children who learn quickly about the difference between good and evil. Many of these “children” are older reservists, and they too are battling in the trenches.

                

Our job is to love them, to care for them, and to do our part through doing God’s will. Unlike the generation who left Egypt, who were told (when they messed up with the spies) that God is no longer with them, we must assure, for the safety of our soldiers and our People in Israel and around the world, that we are doing God’s will, so God will in-turn be with us.

                

When the enemy is so evil and only cares to rack up deaths on both sides, we must know where we stand. War is sadly a necessary evil. And it brings great sacrifice in pursuit of a hopefully attainable and sustainable peace. The attitude of Tzahal (IDF) through all of this has been inspiring.

                

May our efforts, not just during the Nine Days, but throughout the year as well, sway God to continue to guide the soldiers of Israel in their important work, and may all of Israel merit to live peacefully under the banner of the promise that “your children who did not know good from evil this day – they will come there. To them shall I give it and they shall possess it.” In safety, in peace, and – much like has been demonstrated in Israel in support of the soldiers – with a complete sense of Ahavat Chinam, loving our fellow Jew.

To Defeat An Enemy

Parshat Masei

by Rabbi Avi Billet

When the war with Midian did not originally go as planned, the Torah told us (31:14) that Moshe became angry at the appointed officers. The “Ish Yehudi” explained Moshe’s anger, in light of Moshe being a humble person with a checked demeanor, suggesting that the Torah is showing that when the going was tough, Moshe was powerful, resolute and strong. During war, the Ish Yehudi said, there is no place for softness and emotions, and not for giving in and for forgiving.

           

Really, war is meant to destroy enemy infrastructure (31:10), so they can give up any desire to fight and focus only on rebuilding and bettering their lives, rather than thinking only of killing the enemy.

            

As General Patton said in his famous speech to the Third Army during World War II, prior to the Normandy invasion, “I don't want [to hear] any messages saying 'I'm holding my position.' …We're advancing constantly and we're not interested in holding anything…Our plan of operation is to advance and keep on advancing. We're going to go through the enemy…to absolute victory.”

            

The beginning of Masei reminds us of another epic battle waged against an Israelite enemy. As it recounts the journeys, the Torah says “And Egypt was burying those who had died when God struck the firstborns and destroyed their gods.” (33:4) The only “proportional response” to Egyptian treachery was to hit them where they’d lose the will to keep the slaves any longer.

            

And even when they chose to chase after the Children of Israel, Egypt’s aims seemed to be to attack civilians. Was it a traditional battlefield? Hardly. Did all of Israel have their backs to the sea? Yes. And thank God, He carried the day and wiped out the Egyptian army so they would have no desire to fight the Israelites anymore – we don’t hear from them for over 500 years! There is even an alliance between Egypt and Israel during the time of King Solomon! The first attack of Egypt against Israel takes place in the fifth year of Solomon’s son, Rahavam’s, reign. (Kings I 14:25) A very different time, and a very different set of circumstances. It would be similar to Britain attacking the United states in the year 2276.

            

In anarticle written in March 2012, during a different Gaza operation, Rabbi PhilipLefkowitz (Agudas Achim in Chicago) quoted a WWII veteran who explained how wars are won. Using Dresden, Hiroshima and Nagasaki as examples, the veteran said wars are won when the leadership no longer has the support of the devastated population.

            

Or, as we saw in ancient Egypt, when the enemy army is annihilated.

            

Of course, assuming the election in 2006 was legitimate, and that, as I’ve read, Hamas gained power most likely on account of PA corruption, one wonders how things would go were there to be another election in Gaza.

            

Silly me, thinking Hamas would ever allow an election.

            

There was another article in the Blaze about how there are over 1000 millionaires amongst Hamas leadership. You know, the same leaders who send others out as suicide bombers but personally and cowardly hide in bunkers. So much for ridding Gaza of corrupt “politicians.”

            

Gazans don’t have their backs to the sea. Israel has no interest in pushing them there. It just wants a peaceful, demilitarized neighbor.

            

Israel does its best to avoid civilian casualties – no army in the world does it better. And, I suppose, since Israel would prefer to live in peace with its Gaza neighbors (who have every opportunity, with proper anti-fighting leadership, to create a Singapore or Miami Beach!), it is not interested in pulling a Dresden, Hiroshima, or Warsaw to force the enemy to capitulate – even though militarily it seems like the most definite way to end Gazan fighting and infiltration once and for all. Israel will continue its pinpoint strikes and put its own soldiers in harm’s way to protect the civilian population of Gaza.

            

I wish for the civilians in Gaza, who truly want peace, to live out productive lives with leadership who accepts Israel’s presence as a reality and acknowledges Israel’s right to exist. A leadership who is concerned more for their own civilians’ wellbeing than in any military actions against peace-wanting-and-loving Israel. And civilians who accept similar notions. Absent such an approach, there will never be peace in Gaza.

            

And of course, we pray for Israel’s safety, for the safety of Israel’s precious soldiers who are sons, brothers, fathers – too many of whom have been lost this week – and for peace to reign in the region. May the IDF and the Israeli government be granted insight from Heaven, and may they be guided through the darkness of war to achieve their goals and more, to bring about a resolution that can last at least 500 years.

To Not Lose A Man

As I post this, Israel has begun its ground offensive, and news of the first Israeli casualty of war has been announced. Saddest condolences to his family and to עם ישראל. God bless the IDF. May they eradicate Hamas מתחת השמים.

Parshat Matot

by Rabbi Avi Billet

After the battle with Midian, the Torah tells us that the generals and captains, who were officers over the army's divisions, approached Moshe. They said to him, 'We have taken a census of the warriors under our command and not a single man has been lost!” (31:48-49)

            

The Battle of Midian is one of the more horrific battles described in the Torah, at least as far as casualties and what the Children of Israel were tasked to do. Isn’t it incredible, then, that after a long and arduous battle, there are no casualties on the Israelite side?

            

Of course, the literal translation is not the only perspective on what it means to not lose a soldier. Rashbam says no one died in a plague. There are two ways to look at such a statement. It may be referring to a plague that God wrought – in other words, no one died of a sin. The other possibility is that in the history of wars, until World War II and the advent of modern medicine, it was always the case that more soldiers died of illness than on the battlefield. If no one died from illness, that was also an amazing miracle.

            

Chazal taught homiletically that “we didn’t lose a man” means “to sin” (Shabbat 64a), that no soldier fell to depravity and committed a moral error that makes the rest of us look bad. [Fascinatingly, the Baal Haturim notes – based on Yebamot 61a – that this Hebrew phrase has the same numerical value (gematria) as “La’aveirot” – “to sins” (718)]. The gemara asks, if that was the case, why did the soldiers feel a need to bring a sin offering? To atone for their souls, because they had thoughts to commit sins, though they did not act upon them. The Alshikh couched this idea as two battles – the physical battle in the trenches, and the spiritual battle which one has in one’s heart.

            

Rabbi Yochanan Luria (Meshivat Nefesh) examined the story and concluded that much of what happens to the general populace, or to the regular soldiers, is dependant upon the behavior of the leadership. In their particular case, since the princes at their time were model citizens, it became a merit for Israel – even if the soldiers plundered for themselves (in 31:53).

            

The Meshekh Chokhma adds that, in a sense, this was an admission of wrongdoing in the Baal Peor incident that concluded Parshat Balak and ran into Parshat Pinchas. The leaders are saying now, “We were able to see that when we effectively lead our men, we can prevent them from falling into moral depravity. Had we only been good leaders when the daughters of Moab came along, we could have prevented the plague that took the lives of 24,000.”

            

In a roundabout way, the Kli Yakar suggests that “We didn’t lose a man” is a follow up to the instructions of 31:17-18 of whom to kill in the war. The point of the removal of much of the civilian population was to avoid suspicion that the Israelite soldiers had ulterior motives in battle, beyond enacting the revenge that God had commanded them to conduct at the beginning of the chapter (31:2). [Read it inside – on 31:17 – to understand his comments in full.]

            

Were we living in a different time, I would probably focus on the second teaching of the Alshikh for the final lesson here. That we wage a battle with our yetzer hara (Evil Inclination) on a regular basis, and we must be able to overcome.

            

But these times are far from normal. And the State of Israel is facing an existential threat. The international community will surely yell, and call for a cease fire, and for Israel to exercise restraint, and only to utilize proportional response. But this is not how a war is won. Unless Hamas and its infrastructure (its people and its machinery/ technology) are eradicated, it is only a matter of time before they rebuild and do this all again.

            

R. Luria talked about leadership, and the Kli Yakar focused on soldiers being above suspicion. Which leads me to two concluding thoughts.

            

Israeli leadership emphasizes over and over that there is no fight with the civilian population of Gaza. But, as Bibi Netanyahu also noted, “We use missiles to protect our civilians. They use their civilians to protect their missiles.” There will unfortunately be civilian casualties because their own leadership tells them to be human shields.

            

If you haven’t read the letter written by Givati Commander Ofer Winter on his thoughts about being the Brigade that will rid the world of Hamas, you haven’t seen what Jewish leadership is all about. Google it, find it, read it, and be proud that we are part of Am Yisrael. And of what a true Jewish leader is.

            

Finally, that Israel’s soldiers should be above suspicion. I believe with a complete heart that Israel’s soldiers will do their duty and will not fall to the depraved state of committing moral sins. War is war and war is horrible. But the soldiers are duty bound to protect Israel and its citizens, and not to engage in any horrific acts against the civilian population – whether women or children (except in defense of their own lives).

            

We certainly pray that Israel “not lose a man” – not in battle, not in sin, and not psychologically, and not from disease. And that God should watch over and protect them, from every trouble, woe and injury, so they may all return safely home, to live out lives telling the story of how they saved the State of Israel, ridding it of a terrorist organization, with honor, dignity and through sanctifying God’s Name. 

A Lone Voice - Shlach Sermon 2010

See ">this video

It is amazing to watch how a young man, who does nothing other than wear an IDF t-shirt and carry two flags, can incite a crowd to lose their reason (if they had any). Most normal people would ignore a single "counterprotestor." And he wasn't even loud, and didn't say anything until the news people asked him questions.

I don't like to talk politics - there are people smarter, more knowledgeable and worldly than I who can discuss these things. In the context of a sermon (or even this blog), politics, to my mind, has no place.

But sometimes, something happens. Sometimes a few people, sent by a greater force, are instructed to find out information. To find out if their target is safe or not, good to go or not, peaceable or not, serving man honorably or not, looking to destroy outsiders or not, looking to bring people under their umbrella of peace or not.

And the result of their actions, their report, can have upheavals that impact the coming decades. After this particular action, no one knows what the future holds. We may not even see the complete unfolding of these events in our lifetimes.

It’s a frightening thought to consider. But as you may have imagined, the events of this week, with the so called Flotilla, are not new events. Kohelet rightly said there is nothing new under the sun. And in what way do the events of Sunday and Monday differ from the story of the spies that we read this morning?

The description I mentioned a moment ago can fit for both stories.

The differences between then and now are in how small our world is, how quickly mass media and the information superhighway get news around the world, and in that Moshe’s connection with God allowed the people to learn, right away, what the outcome of the spies incident would be. In their case, forty years in the wilderness for the forty days they spent spying, and then reporting critically of the land.

Do not misunderstand and think I am judging Israel, and the IDF, for the events that transpired. Piloting an uncleared boat into the military zone of a nation with major security concerns surrounding its borders, which is essentially in a never-ending war against their enemies, is at least a violation of international law, and at most an act of war.

Hanging a banner of “Peace activists” is meaningless when you carry a weapon in your back pocket that you will use in an instant. Gandhi was a peace activist. Martin Luther King Jr said brotherhood comes about when people are willing to “work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.” (towards the end, two paragraphs before "my Country Tis of Thee") His form of going to jail was as a result of civil disobedience. Love them or hate them, they caused change through not physically attacking their adversaries.

Standing up for freedom is a completely different outlook than bashing investigating coast guard officers over the head with a metal bar.

In his address in Gettysburg, President Abraham Lincoln said, “The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here.” We know, of course, that he was wrong, but I use the same line about what I say and about what most rabbis say as well on Shabbos morning. Which is why I don’t like to talk about politics.

Politics gets some people riled up, especially when they disagree with someone who they think is so blind to the reality and unaware of the facts. Everyone picks the facts that they want, and spins the “facts” the way they want to see them or present them.

What makes my opinion any better than your opinion?

The only thing that I’ll say is this – and these words are inspired by one of the most clearheaded and brilliant journalists on our side of the aisle, Caroline Glick.

We are living in a frightening time. Between a President who gives every indication that Iran is more his friend than is Israel, and a “United Nations” who claims to be the majority of the opinion of the world when the only time they seem to be united is for one kind of decision, the kind that bashes Israel, the Jewish people have much to be concerned about.

If we aren’t writing to or calling our politicians to express our fear that Israel has lost the support of its greatest ally, the United States, and that the United States continues to estrange itself from its greatest ally, Israel, we must change our attitudes.

The Talmud records in many places שתיקה כהודאה (Yevamos 87b-88a, Baba Metzia 37b), that when one is silent, one gives and indication that one agrees with what is going on and what has been said.

While I will never say that “x happens or happened because of y” I do think it is safe to say that if we do not take action, do not make a loud noise, do not express our disappointment in the current administration’s view of Israel, do not vote out of office people who do not subscribe to the interests that best suit our needs as a people, Israel as we know it will, in the perhaps not-so-distant future, cease to exist. The freedoms we enjoy in this country will come under attack.

It won’t be the fault of a flotilla incident. Much like the spies, spying was not the problem. The problem was the aftermath – the bad reporting – Israel has the worst notion of public relations. They do more harm than good to themselves every time they “explain” themselves. For example, if instead of talking about humanitarian aid they could say “Who sent this ship in the first place? Who is the provocateur? Who defied international law? Who is responsible for our needing to protect our borders and our citizens?” their PR appeal would come across very differently.

No, it was not about what took place on the boat. The problem will continue to be in how Jews and nations react to the story. If all people can see is critique, and no one can see Israel’s side, how they were provoked, how they had no chance to look good because the “suicidal activists” didn’t care if they lived or died, it would be understood that the fight is not a simple one. In addition to whatever else people scream about, the longest hatred, what we call anti-Semitism, is what is behind all of the protests, resolutions, and articles slamming the Jewish State.

In their eyes, the world would be a better place were all Jews, particularly those in Israel, no longer on this earth.

The Jews in the time of Moshe followed the masses who criticized the land of Israel. As a result, they never got to see the land that had been promised.

Only two people, two lone voices, said “This is not right. It is a good land.”

And those two individuals, Yehoshua and Kalev, entered the Promised Land. They got to see what life would be like after those 40 years. They outlived their peers and saw the conclusion of the first redemption. And lived to see what the Promised Land not only looked like, but what it felt like to live in it.

Was there ever true peace in their days? During the tenure of certain leaders there was, before more upheaval, more unrest and more fighting.

What goes around comes around. The land of Israel has never been, in all its history, a land that was forgotten and not fought over. Perhaps now, only because the Jews control it, is it the center of the political hotbed of a climate that exists in the region. But the story is not yet over.

We do not have the luxury of knowing when the redemption will come. Perhaps we don’t know what it will look like.

But if we do nothing to stop those who will say Israel does not deserve to live in peace or to experience the ultimate redemption, what makes us think we will ever see that peace or that final redemption?