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The Laws of War and Peace with Rav Shlomo Katz is a series based on Hilchos Milchamah VeShalom by Rav Shmuel Eliyahu, opening up the Torah of מלחמה ושלום for the times we are living in right now.
In these episodes, Rav Shlomo explores the halachic, biblical, and inner spiritual foundations of war, courage, national responsibility, emunah, and redemption. Through the lens of Tanach, Chazal, and the living reality of Am Yisrael, this series asks: How is a Jew meant to think, feel, pray, and act in a time of מלחמה? What does true gevurah look like? How do we fight evil without losing humility? And how do war, mesirus nefesh, and miracles become part of the unfolding geulah?
ברוך אתה ה' אלקינו מלך העולם שהכל נהיה בדברו. Amen. Friday, remind me. B'ezrat Hashem.
Nachon. Nachon, you're right. Okay, good morning my dear brothers. Chodesh Nissan.
We're learning sponsored by anonymous in honor all the open miracles that we're seeing every single day. Mishpachat Silver in memory of בתיה פייגא בת ישראל. The Kram and Miller families le'ilui nishmas ריזל בת ר' דוד דוב, ר' יצחק אריה בן נחום. Oh wow, that's your zaydie, grandfather from your father's side.
And then tonight is my... the next... is your other grandfather ר' עוזריאל בן ר' יוסף טוביה, נחא בת אפרים זלמן ורחל, תהא נשמתם צרורה בצרור החיים. Amen.
The week is sponsored by the Yudelsmans in gratitude to Hashem for refuah with deep thanks to the community for your help and love and tefillos. And the week is also sponsored by Bentsion and Sharona Blank, mazel tov to Tzvi and Emuna Blank on the birth of a baby girl. Mazel tov, simcha, simcha, simcha! Alright brothers, open up please to page 24. What we're going to be learning today and seeing with our own heart if the heart could see is what's in the air right now.
The air in the air right now is not what we're reading on headlines because they don't mean anything. They just don't mean anything. Nothing has happened that anyone said would happen. So nothing with headlines is what's when I say in the air, that's not really what's in the air, what the emes of the air is.
In the air there's the holiest air in the world for a long time already, but bifrat now it's getting holier and holier. And that's the air that's produced by mesiras nefesh. The air, mamash the air, avira d'Eretz Yisrael. The air of Eretz Yisrael is so holy always, it becomes so much more refined and pure because of the existence of mesiras nefesh of people on the front lines willing to give their souls.
I saw yesterday a headline that's probably not true because I don't need that to let me know about the emes of mesiras nefesh but thousands and thousands and thousands more chayalim are going to be called up right now. And even when a chayal is called up but he doesn't end up actually going to the front line because of a change in the order of command, that's also mesiras nefesh and that also puts a lot of holiness into the air that we're going to see right now. Like there was a boy in the community that he's working so hard on upping his profile, his profile, do the physical stuff it's very low and it's like he's... what they call a non-kravi soldier in Israel is a very funny word.
I never understood why it's called this: Jobnik, Jobnik. What's a Jobnik? Tomech Lechima? Tomech Lechima, a supporter of the warriors.
אבל אני רוצה להגיד שהוא גם לוחם, זה העניין. I want to say that he's also a warrior because anyone that's willing to be under the category of mesirus nefesh, he is included amongst that group of people that are purifying the air and have lifted Am Yisrael to places like never before.
Yeah. What if someone is a Jobnik, they're not willing to do though because they don't want to like... B'davka. B'davka.
But Rav Shmuel addresses kind of that, but I don't want to say anything. Why is that you? No, no, chas v'shalom. But mesirus nefesh is a big, big, big inyan and usually we refer to mesirus nefesh to people that actually gave their lives. They're moseir their nefesh.
We say, "Ah, that falls into the category of those that chalila aren't in this world anymore." זה לא נכון וזה לא טוב. Could be mesirus nefesh for you to listen to my voice for some people, I don't know. Mesirus nefesh to come to minyan, I don't know. Mesirus nefesh to smile when your kids wake you up early in the morning.
Mesirus nefesh is a lot of different... we're not talking about that type of mesirus nefesh. But the concept of mesirus nefesh regarding those that are willing to go to battle and that do go to battle and also those that come home from battle all fall under that same category. We have to redefine these things for us to get it clearer.
מסירות נפש אפילו כשיוצאים מהמלחמה בלא פגע. Mesirus nefesh also for those that come back from battle without getting hurt.
חיילים שמכניסים את עצמם למצב של סכנת חיים נחשבים מוסרי נפש גם כשהם חוזרים בריאים ושלמים לביתם. They come back home be'ezras Hashem all of them healthy and happy and gevalt and shleimim, complete.
They're still under the category of moseir nefesh.
כך היה עם דוד שמסר את נפשו במלחמה עם גוליית, אבל לא נפגע כלום וזכה למדרגה גדולה של רוח הקודש. He was willing to go out and risk his life to fight Goliath, David right? Golyat, comes back... I mean he has the slingshot, nothing happens to him.
He comes back fine and when he comes back what does he receive? He receives Ruach HaKodesh. Why does he receive Ruach HaKodesh? Because he was shot with an arrow and he healed and he held on to his emunah? That's not the story. But yet he comes back and רוח הקודש שורה עליו.
כך זכה יצחק אבינו למדרגה גדולה בעסק עקידה.
What ended up happening to Yitzchak? I know there's one medrash that says he was actually shechted, he went up to Gan Eden, but according to most meforshim the pshat is actually how it works out. According to most meforshim, what happened to Yitzchak Avinu lemaise on the akeida? Nothing, right? Lemaise, according to the pshat. Except he allowed himself. He was ready.
What happened to him? Right, but he was ready. Ah, that's the point. That's exactly the point.
ובזכותו נשבע כי עם ישראל יצליח מאוד ויביא ברכה רוחנית לכל העולם.
In the zechus of Yitzchak Avinu, in the zechus of Yitzchak Avinu we are here today, in the zechus of Yitzchak Avinu all the things that we always speak about happened. Now look what he quotes here from the end of the story of the Akeida: ויאמר בי נשבעתי נאום ה' כי יען אשר עשית את הדבר הזה ולא חסכת את בנך את יחידך. You were willing... now it's amazing.
It's called Akeidas Yitzchak but he's speaking to Avraham Avinu and he's saying you were willing to not spare your son. Ah, bizchut ze.
כי ברך אברכך והרבה ארבה את זרעך ככוכבי השמים וכחול אשר על שפת הים ויירש זרעך את שער אויביו והתברכו בזרעך כל גויי הארץ עקב אשר שמעת בקולי. Because you heard my voice.
Now I'm thinking about these words nonstop in the context of what we learned on Monday. The previous shiur.
עקב אשר שמעת בקולי. If we had to guess or estimate or kind of assume, what is the kol of Hashem today regarding mesirus nefesh? What would it be? To discern, to think about Hashem that's not really...
That's one, okay so that's one thing we said about the siren. I have a new - I have a new chap with my Nachman. Now we have a new thing. We were in the office yesterday and the siren went on, it was on my pocket computer and it went on and now what - when it comes on, so that first annoying thing which according to our mazel will probably happen again right now, we go right away.
It's great, it nips it in the bud, mamash. It goes on right away and instead of the kid looking at you with eyes of like God how did you bring me - Hashem or looking at me, Abba how could you bring me into a world like this, which is what I usually feel my kids look at me like that, and then I look back up at Hashem and I'm like I don't know what to tell them. But now we're going counter right away. Yitzchak Avinu.
Azoi. Yitzchak's laughter. But עקב אשר שמעת בקולי. If we had to if we had to really, I don't know, if you had to honestly answer the question, what was the voice of Hashem telling Am Yisrael today? What is it? What is Hashem telling Am Yisrael today? Trust me.
I got you. Trust me. What else? On a commandment level, what is Hashem telling us to do? Calm down. Have no fear.
Have no fear. You're all so politically correct today, it's unbelievable. Gam ken, ma od? It's all happening here.
עקב אשר שמעת בקולי.
Listen to the voice. It's all happening here. It's all happening here in Eretz Yisrael. Everything that matters and that's important is all happening over here.
So it's mesiras nefesh to really understand that and to realize that and to share that message in a way that can be heard like the Rebbe would say be'ofen hamiskabel, in a way that could be received, which we're working so hard on. We're working so so hard on in a way that could be received. Now, mesiras nefesh is doing a lot. There is a state of taharah.
This is so beautiful. There's a state of purification that's hovering above Am Yisrael right now. I know it's hard to understand these things, I myself don't understand it. I'm taking the words of Chazal.
But there is a - if - there is a state, we say we call it shmira because there's been you understand what happened last night in Bnei Brak? Incredible. And yesterday morning in Tel Aviv. And and and and and and and this is not things that our brains could litfos. We can't comprehend these things at all.
This is and even when I say it, it doesn't mean anything because it's larger than anything. Where were you where'd you send me the footage from yesterday? Dimona. You were you went to Dimona. It's miracle.
It's you stand there and you don't understand how people survived. It doesn't add up to the - to the logical brain. It doesn't add up. It doesn't add up.
Gurnisht. What were you saying? Arad and Dimona. The number of people who were injured is crazy, but that there weren't more killed? I mean I wasn't there personally, just from what I saw in pictures. Well he went, he showed me footage yesterday.
He went down there. Now, mesiras nefesh that that Am Yisrael has today, you see this sefer was I think put together before the - the missiles, the ballistic missiles were being shot. He was mainly focused on - on - on the Chayalim going out when we're talking about mesiras nefesh like this. This is what it's really referring to over here.
When was this published? This is the second edition. I'm not sure exactly when but based on the way that he's speaking, is that it's referring mainly to the aftermath of Simchas Torah Pay Daled. But mesiras nefesh brings about kappara. Why - why do we feel that there's something here in the air? What is it exactly? So look what he - this is this is a midrash many of you know.
It's a gemara, sorry, that many of you know. We're going to chazer it right now.
מסירות הנפש הזו מתעלה על החטאים. This mesiras nefesh goes above the place where people are in a state of chet.
חכמינו מספרים כי כאשר הקדוש ברוך הוא בא לגאול את ישראל עולה מידת הדין לקטרג עליהם כי הם לא מספיק צדיקים לטעמה. When Hashem's coming to redeem us, the mida of din comes up and says, I don't know Ribbono Shel Olam, it doesn't seem like they're on that level. This sounds like the - a repeated motif going back - going back to Hashem thinking about creating man where the angels came and said, you know, do you think that you should create them? Look what's going to happen to them. It repeats itself again when Moshe Rabbeinu goes up to receive the Torah.
The angels are saying מה לילוד אישה בינינו. Why is this human being doing up here? This is not for them. And then again over here. This is before this, but it's an amazing amazing thing.
How do you answer, how do you answer the middah of din saying that we're not deserving of judgment, or we're not deserving of geulah? Because I don't know if we'd ask ourselves right now and be real, and I mean, you'd probably lead the way over here where I'd say do you think we're deserving of redemption right now as a people? What would we say? No. Come on, not that pessimistic? Yeah, I'm optimistic. Nah. However, what happens and by the way, al pi, keilu, teva, you are right.
We're much higher than the 49th level of tumah they were in in Mitzrayim. Like why not? Am Kadosh, Sgulat Hashem. No, I'm just saying like Hashem redeemed us from the worst. We're certainly better than the worst level of tumah.
Yeah, yeah, you've got a precedence. I mean, if not, I think it's tinok shenishba. Oh, so either, so it's kind of, so either if according to what you're saying is right that we're not the 49th, although again, there could be an argument that maybe we are, maybe we're at 65, you're saying. Yeah, it could be, but let's say you're right.
Like, so then hey, let's step it up and get a little bit lower so that I could go for the seat. I'm just saying that that's a... if I'm at 30, then I'm kind of deserving of it. We weren't deserving of it before and we're not, we're not there.
It's immaterial. Yeah, the argument is we're not, we're not there. But Avi, it's as an Am, we're not talking about the people in this room. No, as an Am, we're much better than they were in Mitzrayim.
It could be questioned. As an Am, we're somewhat Amcha kuleinu Tzadikim... no, come on, let's be real. We're not like we were in Mitzrayim, no matter how bad you think it's become.
We might be worse. Yeah, I'm not sure how you can say that we're not. I mean, how many people were learning then and putting on tefillin and all this kind of stuff? They didn't have the mitzvot though. They didn't have the mitzvot though.
Okay, but they were so low that Hashem almost didn't redeem them. I'm sorry, say that again? They were so low that Hashem almost didn't redeem them. Even as pessimistic as you could say as an Am, as a nation, we're not at that level. I mean, come on.
Okay, in your judgment maybe, and then you only get one of those. I don't know that you get another one. You get another, you're upsetting, but you're like as if hey, that's it. You're limiting Hashem.
No, no, no, I'm not limiting Hashem. I'm asking based on our, the way I see it, our vision and our cheshbon. Well, Baruch Hashem it's not up to us to this though. Maybe with this I am optimistic though.
Let's just say, and this sounds strange because it's not supposed to be that way before the days of Mashiach, but let's just say our kids are better than us, which is really what our dream is and that's what we want. But let's just say you actually really do see mesirut nefesh, you actually do see something really deep where you're like, alright, look Hashem, like this is kind of the real deal, this is really what's happening. I am very bullish on the future, on these kids, on the guys with peyot and tattoos and, I mean, it's tzitzit and tattoos and no kippah and just they seem to get something that I don't have. They seem to have something much bigger than them that I really or maybe even us doesn't possess.
And so that could be coming our way. I'm not telling you we're like that far off, but it doesn't feel necessarily like we're there. That part's strange where I think about the next generation being better than you, it's supposed to be I thought worse. They're supposed to be more chutzpah de-ikvata, they're supposed to be, yeah, but closer to, like closer to...
but that part according to, I mean, Avi is answering even based on who we have today, the alte kakers in the room. He's not even banking on, listen, it's true I went, I'm surprised you could hear me. I went a few weeks ago to take Nachman for a haircut by Eli and the guy, I don't know if you know the first guy... yeah, that guy...
guy, tattooed, mamash, ink all over, tzitzit flying, Torah... it's true, I mean, he's saying even before the Yechiels of the world that we're not as bad, right? It just, it is, it is a... it's got to wake up something inside of us be like, what would you really think Hashem is saying right now? It says in Gemara that Hashem is mavtiach goel us, no, goel otanu לא בזכות הצדקה והגבורה אלא בזכות התפילה. Right, Yossi, Yossi's saying no, no, so then we're really in trouble because...
because we got much worse than we thought. I think what Hashem is... is saying and it's nothing new, it's nothing new: Makir tov. We are not sufficiently as an am, makir tov the incredible, when...
What is he saying that we're going to pay for that? No, no, I'm saying he's trying to get us to wake up and not say that what we think is teva, it's not teva. A child born in the midbar on the first year grew up thinking that mahn fell, food grew. Right. Just that's what Rav Druckman said about Yidden that are born in Eretz Yisrael after 1948.
They take it for teva now instead of saying wow, wow. But it is teva for us though. No, it's not. It's lemala min hateva.
It shouldn't be. Meaning, it's teva for us but it... No, no, you're saying the same thing. It's teva for us but it shouldn't be viewed as teva for us because אנחנו צריכים לקלוט שאנחנו חיים מעל הטבע.
It's true. You're right. But we have to realize it shouldn't be like that. He doesn't take teva for granted so for what he's saying.
Good, good, Baruch Hashem, yeah. When we take it as teva, s'kumt undz, it's coming to us. I said I want to hear what he wants to say. I don't even know what geulah means, but whatever geulah means, whatever in the history of the world has there ever been this many Yidden living in Eretz Yisrael? And this isn't after 6,000 years of being persecuted all over the world? And there's more Yidden now in a world that hates us, as it's always, that are mechubar to...
I was watching Big Brother the other night. What's that? It's a TV show, HaAch HaGadol. Oh, HaAch HaGadol. And on the show, there was some woman, some woman who is well known, who was dating an Arab a year or two ago, it's in the news then, and she did hafrashat challah on the show.
Whatever, five minutes there they were fighting about why didn't you call this person also to do hafrashat challah, but for a minute I was thinking, I'm like, this woman who was dating an Arab a year or two ago is doing hafrashat challah on this sleazy reality show. There's more Yidden that are mechubar to Yahadut now in Eretz Yisrael. And if we're waiting, I don't want to be a buzzkill, but if we're waiting for everyone to be wearing a shtreimel, for every Yid to be wearing a shtreimel and waking up for vasikin every day... Only you.
Only waiting for you to do that. I'm trying to count to the eighth chapter sometimes. I'm saying the odds of that happening in our lifetime, and Hashem could do anything, but it's, if that's what we need for geulah, for every Yid to be sitting and doing 46 weeks of Pesach cleaning and making sure with a magnifying glass, that's probably not going to happen. But Baruch Hashem, I don't think that anyone, anyone that I know is holding there.
I don't think that anyone that I know and that I connect to is thinking like that. There's no one. So I'm saying, what else has to happen? I'm saying, if this isn't ma od? Like what, what else needs to happen? Listen, every time they put a picture of one of these boys or girls that their lives were taken the last specifically two and a half years, but you know, I have this, I'll share with you guys. I have this weird, weird collection in my house and actually half of it is in the office, I misplaced something.
I have a big box, you'll see it in the office. And I saved every newspaper that ever came out, back when people were like go to the store and buy a newspaper. So every pigua that ever, any Yid that ever lost his life since Oslo, I saved. I have it in my, I have it in the office.
And it's the panim, it's the face of every, every person that, and so there's, nebich, thousands. I used to remember some of the, you know, most of the names, but you can look at it and realize that's the question of like, every panim and saying what else needs to happen? So that's Hashem's cheshbon. What Yitzchak Avinu's mesirus nefesh is coming to do to the, to remind us in this Gemara is basically looking to Hashem basically saying what else needs to happen? Look at your Yidden. It can't be that they're that bad.
It can't be. So he's really going back to middas hadin and saying whatever cheshbon you came up to whereas we're not deserving or worthy vechulei, it cannot be that we're that bad. Kind of like really what you're saying, Avi. And it's based on the Gemara.
Look at, look at the Gemara over here on the bottom.
כך אומר הקדוש ברוך הוא ליצחק: banecha chatu li. Your kinderlach have sinned to me.
אמר לפניו ריבונו של עולם: banai velo banecha? My kids, not your kids? Right? That's what Yitzchak's saying back to Hashem.
My kid, not your kid?
בשעה שהקדימו לפניך נעשה לנשמע קראת להם בני בכורי. Didn't you call them... b'ni bechori עכשיו בני ולא בניך now suddenly they're not your kinderlach v'od kamah chatu and how bad could they actually be?
כמה שנותיו של אדם שבעים שנה generally speaking right 70 years דל עשרין דלא ענשת עלייהו פשו להו חמשין meaning a person אדם חי כשבעים שנה he lives 70 years טורד עשרים שנה ראשונות דלא מעניש עליהם don't tell this to the people bar mitzvah because usually bar mitzvah's like oh now it's on your cheshbon we got 20 years according to this so the first 20 years is not their cheshbon רק בית דין של מטה nish'aru rak chamsh'in so all you have left is really a count of 50 years out of the 70 דל עשרין וחמש דלילותא פשו להו עשרין וחמש take down 25 years of nights so all you have really is 25 years on a time level דל תרתי סרי ופלגא דצלויי ומיכל ודבית הכסא פשו להו תרתי סרי ופלגא meaning take another 12 and a half years of davening and eating and bathroom the cumulative time-wise what's left 12 and a half years of sinning so that's the cheshbon the gemara's saying over here of ke'ilu how much could we how much bad could we actually be doing most of the time most of the time yeah be'diyuk most of the time yeah אם אתה סובל את כולם מוטב ואם לאו פלגא עלי ופלגא עלך this is a famous famous phrase ואם תאמר כולו עלי הקריבת נפשי קמך what does this mean אם הקדוש ברוך הוא אתה סובל את כולם מוטב אם לא חצי עלי חצי עליך ואם אתה אומר שכולם עלי הרי מסרתי את נפשי לפניך what does Yitzchak what's the end here what is Yitzchak Avinu telling the Ribbono shel Olam basically let's call it for what it really is right let's end and if you want to say Yitzchak Avinu's saying and if you want to say that there's still a cheshbon she'magia d'midas hadin should be that they're doomed and they have a bad situation Yitzchak Avinu ends off after the whole cheshbon he say okay what do I got left what do I got left I was willing to die for you like after the whole cheshbon after the whole back and forth Yitzchak Avinu at the end is saying if you're still going to say these yiddelekh are deserving of din right and not rachamim ha'krivis nafshi k'mach what are you going to tell me I was willing b'mesirus nefesh before you now this is the gemara speaking about Yitzchak Avinu as one person Rabbi Tzehidi gave this gemara a couple years ago on Rosh Hashanah second day nachon nachon Rosh Hashanah before I think Rosh Hashanah the second day in the afternoon yes now if you go back to what I was saying about the nuss I have boxes I stopped I think after I got married and shalom bayis and stuff but I have it I have stacks stacks stacks right Yitzchak Avinu could say it and then Nachshon Waxman could say it and you want to start throwing out names we'll be here till Shavuos right so therefore if Yitzchak Avinu's coming to Hashem saying bottom line after all the cheshbon of din masarti nafsh'cha I was willing b'mesirus nefesh before you then we're really more than good Dalia's friends the Crisp-ers what about the people from the Holocaust added to the cheshbon meaning you keep on adding these things up up up and they should give us the bitachon and the oz that this may be shaky now but there will be geulah amen yeah look how he continues here on the top of 25 יצחק אבינו היה מוכן לעלות על גבי המזבח וזה יכול לכפר על חטאיהם של כל ישראל משך כל הדורות חברה what's the difference be'emes achshav what's the difference between Yitzchak Avinu and any chayal that's going right now into Lebanon Yitzchak Avinu legamrei Lebanon legamrei stam dugma just I'm just saying Lebanon only because this is an active front right now that's posing a The examples are ein sof, but like mamash, what's the difference? So you have the mochin dechutz la'aretz that says it's when you battle for a on behalf of a Zionist entity that's not really kulo Torah, then you can't compare to Yitzchak Avinu. Excuse me for my French, gai kacken.
You know what that means? That is what many say, sadly. Yes, Eli. I think anyone who says anything like that is misunderstanding. It's a Gemara in Shabbos and you see davka you have Avraham Avinu and his midas hachesed, you have Yaakov Avinu, his emes and Torah, and who's the one who's melamed zechus on Klal Yisrael and mamtik dinim bishorasham? Yitzchak Avinu.
And that's that is real Chassidus, it's the Kedushas Levi, Levi Yitzchak, the one who's most seemingly din is the one who sees the cheshbon bederech zechus. Mamash. And that's that's the real pnimiyus of Am Yisrael that we take everything and bring out the tov. This is the I think this is really what this Gemara in Shabbos is saying.
I think that's what that's what it is. It has to be, it has to be. And this is this is the point of what we were saying from the beginning of shiur today. This is what's in the air.
Like the air right now, the air, avira de'Eretz Yisrael is so pure, it's true, it's true like I don't know, were you guys last night there was like no there was no siren because there wasn't anything happening here but the window, I don't know about you guys, but like these so you could say hey that seems like din to me, that seems like din, right? Then nachon on the outside, then mochin dechutz la'aretz that seems like total din to live in such a state. Inside what are we smelling like whoa, when you get exposure to the shemira that's over you face to face, panim el panim, is mochin d'Eretz Yisrael. It you can't give this over to someone that's not experiencing it. You cannot give these things over to anyone with all the posts, all the pictures, all the videos, you really feel Yitzchak Avinu with every boom saying מסרנו את נפשנו בשבילך ריבונו של עולם, right?
מסרנו את נפשנו בשבילך.
Yeah, there's there's a Midrash that further like brings everything we're talking about home when Yishmael is talking to Yitzchak and he says why why should you get the covenant and the birthright and all that stuff, I was willing to be moser nefesh and get a bris at 13 years old, you didn't even have a choice, you got it at eight days. And then he said well I'll give up I would give up my entire body for Hashem everything, and only then after he said those words did Hashem set everything in motion for the Akeida in the first place. So it just shows that it is about mesirus nefesh, even Yishmael understands that, but Yitzchak had to be like no no no, I would give up everything. And that's what it's about.
That's we're we're there. I mean we're more or less there. I don't know what more could be, needs to be. So this inyan comes about, you know, we're sitting around the table with people that are their lives are dedicated to taking care of chayalim.
It's an amazing thing. And this should this should strengthen all of us as he says over here, look at the next paragraph.
חיילי צה״ל שחוזרים בשלום לביתם מסרו את נפשם למען עם ישראל לא יום ולא יומיים לא חודש ולא חודשיים. They didn't go for a week or two.
They didn't go for a month or two. You have people, yesterday was nine months since October 7th, right? You have people that are counting, their numbers are in the 600s, 700s? I know people in the 700s. It's crazy.
הנשים שלהם מסרו נפש והחזיקו לבד את הבית בחשש ובדאגה גדולה במשך חודשים ארוכים.
Their wives, the Nashim Tzidkaniyos holding up the fort all those months and months and months and months.
חיילים אלה יכולים לכפר על כלל ישראל. These chayalim, you know what kapara on Klal Yisrael means? That let's go with yes for a second and say you know what, it's it's true, like on the emes level we're we're not we're not up to par, we're at the restaurant and the bill's going to come, right? We're going to have to pay. No.
No. He's saying over here, mesirus nefesh of chayalim, they got the bill. That's what he's saying over here. That is what he's saying over here.
We get a coupon. Mamash, that's what it is. You know I I have these a certain style that that it's not for everyone when I'm when I'm having discussions. I do this with my family all the time, finally get them around the table, like my son comes home in the middle of a war and we're around the Shabbos table.
So I'm making a case for like the Charedim and the mesirus nefesh that they have, and you know... Finally he goes, "Do you have any idea how much emuna and faith and mesiras nefesh that we need to have to go into an empty Hezbollah building in Lebanon that you don't know who's behind the door? Do you have any idea what kind of strength that takes, what kind of clarity that takes, and trust between all of us to go in and not know what's behind the door, under the bed, or behind the couch?" I have to admit even Rav Shmuel was like that was it. Argument was over. Done.
Yeah, what are you gonna come back with after that one? It did, it made a roshem. It made a roshem. I mean that they bring Rav Shmuel is saying here they bring a kapara on Klal Yisrael. There's a kapara.
If there was din, let's say there was din. Let's say Avi it's worse than maybe you think, let's say. No, meaning this comes this mesirus nefesh brings kapara on Klal Yisrael. Bimyuched especially look at what he says here כשלא מדובר באדם אחד שסיכן את חייו.
We're not banking on one tzaddik that risked his life. Ela be'me'os alafim. How many people fall under this category of mesirus nefesh bringing about kapara on Klal Yisrael? Hundreds of thousands. That's why the air is so holy here right now.
These years. It's like holier than ever because there's a constant state of hundreds of thousands of people that are willing to be moseir their nefesh bringing about kapara on Klal Yisrael.
ויש מתוכם כאלו שנפצעו קל או קשה איבדו יד או רגל איבדו שתי ידיים או שתי רגליים. How many people have lost limbs, gone, injuries of all levels?
ועוד יש מאות אלפים שמסרו את נפשם בפועל ממש and how many thousands actually did moseir their nefesh legamre ad hasof? Ad hasof.
Levaya after levaya.
הקרבן שלהם ושל הנשים שלהם הקרבן הגדול של ההורים שלהם הקרבן האדיר של הילדים שלהם שגדלים כיתומים בלי אבא. How many orphans are there in Am Yisrael in the last two and a half years? Too many. How many almanos? All this מעלה את כלל ישראל למדרגה גדולה מאוד.
It has brought whether we are living up to our own part of the game whatever which is still obviously a work in motion b'ezras Hashem, still working on it. The metzius is that on a kapara level for Klal Yisrael there's a mikvah that's been happening here like we've never seen in our we've never ever tasted in our lifetime. We've never tasted this in our lifetime. This is the metzius in the air of Eretz Yisrael right now that there's a kapara on Klal Yisrael.
I know we're so scared to say those words because I'm just taking what he's saying. There's a kapara on Klal Yisrael. So your ma'ala would be if there's a kapara on Klal Yisrael then that should be enough to wipe out the enemies. No, shniya achas.
First there's a kapara on Klal Yisrael then when someone is mechupar then he's muchshar right? Muchshar means what? Kosher. Prepared. Ready. Meaning muchshar right it means of course it means kosher but like when you go to kibbutz I don't know if they still have this when they have hachshara right? Do they still do this? It was back in the my mother was in the 70s in the kibbutz hachshara right? I remember the first time I saw the poster there's hachsharas avreichim I was trying to understand mah kesher between them and kibbutz lavi because you do these things in kibbutz is hachshara.
Hachshara means preparation machshir yourself right? You're ready for it. Okay now you're ready. You had to go through a kapara. Now you're ready for something which is what we're all what we're all dying what we're all living for.
Now he goes through I don't want to go through the next thing. The next thing is he says Yehuda did this to the world, Tamar Malchus Beis Dovid did this to the world, mesirus nefesh the next the whole page on the next page is all about Esther how she did this in the world. But I wanted to end off this morning with something that's shayach to the zman that we're in right now. If you look at the top of 27 you should if you have the koach to go through this page do it but it's davka this inyan.
I think I shared with you once that on Yom Yerushalayim, Yom Yerushalayim for many years I had the privilege of performing with Chaim Dovid at the Kosel plaza. Yehoshua were you ever there when I would do it? It’s real, it was really something cause like people always ask what’s the biggest venue you ever played in, that’s like a musician’s question, that’s like well I don’t know 90,000, really 90,000? Like yeah yeah right and you could pull out footage to see you’re playing this, there’s probably 90 to 100,000 people at the plaza at the Kotel at the end of Yom Yerushalayim once that long parade Rikud Degalim. We’re speaking about once you get to the Kotel plaza, I didn’t play for 200,000 people, once you get to the plaza over there it’s it really is surreal, it was surreal, surreal, mamash surreal. For a few for a few really strong years.
One year during the now the only downside was when the politicians would have to come up and give a speech. It was such a and some of them were I just found footage of some of the interesting up-and-coming politicians that were coming up who later became prime ministers for 20 minutes and came down. A bunch of things. So I would always get off the stage, go and hang out with Amcha Bais Yisrael behind stage and there was a Yid there and look mamash like this, one Yid.
He was looking and in his eyes were both, it was both eyes of like of Kedusha and also pain. Who was this Yid? Very holy Yid, his name’s Rav Chaim Richman, have you heard of him? Sure, used to be from the, I don’t know if he’s still Temple Institute? Yeah, Temple Institute, Machon Hamikdash, Rav Chaim Richman. And I thought I’m going to make I’m going to take this opportunity and strike a conversation with him. So I asked him Rav Chaim, what’s the what’s the saddest day in the world for you on the calendar? So obviously you know because I’m as as heilig as it was 90,000 Yidden Kotel, it’s clear to any Bar Da'as that we’re on the wrong side of the wall.
So I was I wanted I was sure that when I’d ask him that for him the saddest day of the year obviously is is Tisha B’av because he lives a metzius of Mikdash. He said Yud Daled Nissan. Without missing a beat. He said Yud Daled Nissan.
I said really? He’s like Yud Daled Nissan, yeah, Korban Pesach. Without missing I realized like a Yid that’s really tuned into the pnimiyus of the Mikdash his answer’s not is not Tisha B’av or Shiva Asar B’tammuz, boom, without missing a beat he said to me Yud Daled Nissan. We don’t understand this, but would you like put it like this, would you like if if there was a gzeira on the tzibur to not do a Bris Milah for your children would you like mekabel the gzeira and say listen I’m not able to do it? Would anyone in the right mind not do it? It was like niskabel in Klal Yisrael that we’re going mesiras nefesh with Bris ad hasof. What’s the difference between a Bris Milah and a Korban Pesach? Not a thing.
No? Just the will to do it. No? Just the will to do it. What’s the difference between the chumra of not doing either of them? So nothing. There is no difference.
You realize how because of avoda zara being politically correct we actually took a mitzva, have downplayed the daylights out of it, but in emes there is no difference between a Korban Pesach and a Bris. Now look what he says here.
בגלל החשיבות הגדולה של הצלת חיים, because the great importance of mesirus nefesh of saving lives, we’re on the top of 27 we’re going to end with this.
הוא דוחה את כל המצוות.
Mesirus nefesh and saving life is doche all mitzvos כולל המצוות החשובות ביותר כמו, and he says including the most important mitzvos like Bris Milah and Korban Pesach.
שתי מצוות העשה היחידות שהעובר עליהן חייב כרת. So the only two mitzvos aseh that if you don’t do them you’re chayav kares.
בגלל חשיבותן הן דוחות את מצוות בדיקת חמץ אם אי אפשר לקיים את שניהם ביחד.
Because they’re so important they’re also doche the mitzva of bedikas chametz if you can’t do both of them together. And he brings the famous this is the famous Mishna, ההולך לשחוט את פסחו ולמול את בנו ולאכול סעודת אירוסין בבית חמיו ונזכר שיש לו חמץ בתוך ביתו אם יכול לחזור לבער ולחזור למצוותו יחזור ויבער ואם לאו מבטלו בליבו. So he’s... but he remembers that he has chametz in his own house.
If he can go back and take care of business, he should. If not, he has to mevattel ballev. Why? Because what's the most important thing over here based on this? Pesach u'Milah. Because they're the most because they are the the most important things.
Aval מי שנמצא בדרך להציל נפשות. But what about when you're on your way to save people?
להציל מן הנוכרי ומן הנהר מן הליסטים ומן הדליקה ומן המפולת יבטל בלבו. What about those that are on their way to go and save people from different situations that are life-threatening, then regarding the bedikas chametz, you mevattel in your heart.
לא הטריחו חייל או אזרח שהולך להציל נפשות לחזור ולקיים בדיקת חמץ ביחד עם ההצלה.
We don't tell a chayal or any citizen who's involved with the mitzvah of pikuach nefesh and hatzalas nefashos, hey, you know, double-whammy it or it's be-khlal not on the radar when you're in the mitzvah of pikuach nefesh.
ולא יחזור ואפילו יש שהות דמדאורייתא סגי ליה בביטול בעלמא. So he doesn't go back even if there's makom to say that maybe it could work out and everyone could benefit because we know that mide'oraisa sagi be'alma bittul, meaning that a bittul in the heart should be enough, should be enough for when it comes to the inyan of chametz which is kareis obviously.
לא הטריחו אותו לחשוב אם יש לו זמן או אין לו זמן.
Rotzim chachamim, meaning they're saying to him don't even get involved in the cheshbon, will I have enough time to do both or not? Why? Like if you could do both, you should try to do both. But why is why are chachamim saying over here don't even get involved in the cheshbon of trying to knock everything off if you have to do all these mitzvos together? So he says a gevaldig.
רוצים חכמים שהוא יהיה פנוי ומרוכז כולו במצוה הכי חשובה של הצלת נפשות ולא בשום דבר אחר. Because Chazal want us to be focused, fully focused on this mitzvah of pikuach nefesh and nothing else should come into play with these things.
Lamdan, שהצלת נפשות חשובה יותר. That saving your life, saving someone's life is more important than those mitzvos asei that you're over on and then you're chayav kareis. Now why why why do we want to really bring this out today? Because usually I don't know what it's like in your homes, לא יודע מה הסיפור, but the whole inyan of the erev pesach frenzy, spring cleaning is not just not right, it's already on- fringing on levels of shtus. Pashut shtus.
And ויש על מי לסמוך על Rabbeinu, Rebbe Nachman ben Faige who writes about this in tinyana mem chet mem daled where he talks about the chumros on Pesach, he was makpid on it all, he was makpid on every word of the halacha. You have to know the halacha to be able not to be machmir, right? Boston Rebbetsin always famously said Pesach should be chag same'ach ve'kasher and Purim should be chag kasher ve'same'ach. So let's put things into perspective right now. We are finding shelter, we're in days of finding shelter.
We're in days of finding shelter, we're in days of really days of really holding on and be-mikhaven lammattarah.
השם בעזרת השם ימשיך לשמור על כולנו. Hopefully. But I think it's very interesting that davka these days leading up to yod daled nissan, right? where that really is, you know just like a bris that was something we would never not do.
Our hearts, our kavanos should be that makir tov to the chayalim on levels like we never tasted before. As much as we think we've done enough for our soldiers, to makir tov that these heilige neshamas, they are bringing down kapparah. They bring they're bringing down kapparah on Klall Yisrael every single day and they're matzil our nefashos, they're shluchim to be matzil our nefesh day in day out. I always, you know, our Baruch Hashem our kids, our girls when they were younger whenever we would drive by the machsom when the older ones were younger, so I didn't realize how much it got into them but one day we were driving by the machsom and then One of them said, Abba! I said, what? She's like, Chayalim! Chayalim! Like you know this, this is mamash zeh, this is mamash zeh, but that's where we're at.
This is not just a plug for all the chesed that the chevra are doing here, that they should be able to continue to do it, but to realize, chevra, there is kapara in the air right now. There is kapara in the air right now. There is a tahara taking place on Klal Yisrael that's in the air right now.
זר לא יבין זאת.
You cannot explain this to anyone that's not here. We should be zoiche just to fully, fully be here more than we ever have, taste this kapara and push us weiter with our emunah and bitachon and love for each other to witness the coming of Melech HaMoshiach and then we'll be able to do the Korban Pesach, b'ezrat Hashem, b'ezrat Hashem.
רבי חנניא בן עקשיא אומר.