Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
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?
Chodesh Nissan is sponsored anonymously in honor of all the open miracles that we're seeing daily. Mamash kacha ze. Every second. What happened in Arad and Dimona is nothing short of one of the greatest miracles that they'll talk about in years from now but we're still in the irua so it's hard for us to understand these things.
It was a miracle she'be'an miracles. Beyond beyond miracles. Sponsored also by Mishpachat Silver in Toronto לעילוי נשמת בתיה פיגא בת ישראל and by the Kram family לעילוי נשמת רייזל בת רב דוד דב רב יצחק אריה בן נחום רב עזריאל בן רב יוסף טוביה ונחה בת אפרים וזלמן ורחל. This week is sponsored by the Udlemans in gratitude to Hashem for a refuah and with deep thanks to the community for all the help love and tfillos Baruch Hashem.
And by the Blank family Ben Tzion and Sharon Blank mazel tov to Tzvi and Emuna Blank on the birth of a baby girl.
בתקוה שכל אלו שמתפללים לזיווג הגון פרי בטן יענו אם ירצה השם בקרוב. Amen. Also I want to dedicate the learning today so broken over Jeremy's Jeremy and Micah's mother who was nifteres yesterday.
Let me just pull up the name. I want to get her name. Liora Lynn. I don't know her father's name.
Levaya yesterday at twelve. Okay chaveirim. We have another epic epic epic perek to learn today. We're on page twenty-one in Hilchos Milchama v'Shalom.
And as much as there's all these miracles taking place and we're very much listening to statements by different countries and thinking about bigger picture things, bigger picture things and what's the moves and strategies and everything, it's also we have to go down to the protim. The protim on a detailed level right now is that there are chayalim fighting. There are soldiers on the battleground they are fighting. And they're fighting chazak and they're fighting yomam va'layla to have shmira over us to have Hashem should protect them and give them the koach to do what needs to be done.
And we need to sometimes zoom in I would say on the prat. We're busy zooming out but the prat the details the soldiers. So we have to look today we have to learn Tanach today Baruch Hashem. We get to learn we get to go through a bunch of different nekudos in Tanach a shtikel Zohar also and see something very very powerful.
So page twenty-one המציל את עם ישראל כאילו קיים עולם מלא. You save Am Yisrael it's as if you saved and you made you brought existence to the whole world.
מעלת החיילים שנלחמים למען עם ישראל גדולה ביותר. A soldier that's fighting for Am Yisrael their ma'ala is huge.
As Chazal have told us sorry one second just yeah yeah as Chazal have told us be'chol hamkayem the Gemara in Sanhedrin says בכל המקיים נפש אחת מישראל מעלה עליו הכתוב כאילו קיים עולם מלא. Famous statement from the Gemara that a person that k'ilu gives life gives existence to one nefesh in Am Yisrael it's as if you got the whole world in your hands.
וכל שכן כשחייל נלחם when a soldier's fighting הוא מציל מאות ואלפים מישראל מפני הטבח שמתכננים לנו אויבינו. It's very clear to us.
We're fighting people that are not just trying to kill one person they're trying to mass murder. They're trying to cause and bring about a massive massive massive damage state of damage and hurt in Am Yisrael.
וכל המציל נפשות ישראל and anyone and every chayal should remember this whoever saves nafshos Yisrael קוראים לו גזר דינו אפילו אם הוא חטא חס ושלום. That the Gemara in Bava Basra says that if you're a chayal and you've been let's admit it you've been a shtikel bad boy in your own personal private life but you're fighting to save Am Yisrael קוראים לו גזר דינו.
His gzar din his evil decree is ripped up.
ובודאי כשהוא מציל אלף אלפי יהודים מטבח נורא ומציל את כל המדינה מאבדון חס ושלום. And this is true this is definitely true when a person saves people from another chas v'shalom October 7th which is their greatest dream greatest greatest greatest greatest dream.
המציל את ישראל מקדש שם השם.
So now he says like this. And now we're going into Tanakh. Now we're seeing the beauty of it all. Do we have more sefarim here? Yeah.
Where? Oh, we have a few here, chevre, they're behind here. This is, this is, this is mamash, this is a very important thing.
חשוב להדגיש כי הלוחמים לא נלחמים רק עבור עם ישראל לבדו. The fighters are not fighting only for Am Yisrael.
Moshe Rabbeinu אמר לבני גד ובני ראובן כי הם יוצאים לפני השם למלחמה. They say, who are we going out for in this war? When we, when us Yidden go out for war, what are we doing? When we say we're going out to war, who are we, who are we doing this for? Hakadosh Baruch Hu. We're doing it for Hashem. It's a milchama la'Hashem.
It's not just milchama to save lives. Of course that's what, of course that's what be'ezrat Hashem ends up happening. But to be able to go out and say, I'm going out in the name of Hashem, Hashem's war, that's something else. Now look over here at what Avigail says to David HaMelech.
כך אומרת אביגיל לדוד.
כי עשה יעשה השם לאדוני בית נאמן כי מלחמות השם אדוני נלחם ורעה לא תמצא בך מימיך. David HaMelech, the story is David HaMelech wanted to go out against Naval HaCarmeli and rip him to shreds for what he did, without going into the whole story in the Navi. And Avigail comes to David HaMelech and basically says to him, you're going to regret this.
She says, what do you mean I'm going to regret this? She says, you're going to regret not killing him, but you're going to regret years from now, when you remember what led you to killing him and what led you to take out your rage. You're going to regret this when you're going to sit on your throne of malchut. You're going to regret it. Because you don't want to be that person that goes out and is waging war because of your anger and because of your wrath.
Rather what? You want it to be a conscious fighting consciously beshem Hashem Tzevaot. Like she says, like look at the pasuk again.
כי עשה יעשה השם לאדוני בית נאמן. You're going to have a bayit ne'eman.
You're going to be a king.
כי מלחמות השם אדוני נלחם. You're fighting the wars of Hashem.
ורעה לא תמצא בך מימיך.
And when you go out and you wage war with the consciousness that you're doing this to fight the war of God, you won't find bad in your life. Now, why are we so scared to talk like that? Because it sounds so, what, what does it sound like? If I say I'm going out and waging war because it's milchemet Hashem? Because it sounds like them. What else? It sounds messianic. It sounds all these things.
Why are we so scared of this? Why are we so scared to sound like them? It's the greatest tikkun in the world you could do, when you could actually speak about wiping out evil in the name of Hashem. And like as opposed to what they're trying to do is to wipe out kedushah in the name of so-called Allah, Lord did they do it. This is the tikkun of it. So Avigail is telling David HaMelech, welcome back, man.
Welcome back. I'm not, Avigail is telling David HaMelech, I know you want to go out against Naval right now. I know it. But do it the way that you're going to feel, do it the way that you'll be able to sleep in twenty years from now.
If you do it now just because of this, it's not milchemet Hashem, it's milchemet David. Even Rav Kahane, I remember learning in Perek Yud Bet in Or HaRa'ayon, the Perek of the nekama, Rav Kahane also was speaking about that if you're going out waging war, and even if nekama is because of your own personal vengeance, it's a chillul Hashem. It cannot be a personal vengeance. It must only be a consciousness of Kudsha Brich Hu.
The reason he wanted to kill him is because he was mored be'malchut. Nachon. Which is true, meaning that is the kazeh din, aval she knew that he also had negiya. And she said, no, don't do that.
His din is, yeah, go out and fight him. But fight him for the right reason. Very important. Moshe Rabbeinu אמר לבני גד ובני ראובן ואומר גם לנו כי כל ההצלחה והניצחון של ישראל הם הצלחה וניצחון של שם השם בעולם.
When we are victorious, it's Hashem's victory.
כשעם ישראל מנצח יודעים הגויים שהשם הוא האלוקים. When we win, the welt knows that God is King.
כך אומרת רחב לשני המרגלים על הניצחון של ישראל על פרעה וחילו.
Where do we see, where did we learn this? Also in Sefer Yehoshua, the conversation. The conversation between Rachav and the two meraglim is fascinating. You know the two meraglim were, did we ever discuss this? Calev and Pinchas. Huh? Calev and Pinchas.
Those are the two meraglim, Calev and Pinchas. And the conversations there, the stuff that she says to the meraglim are words to us today. Look at the in Yehoshua and everyone try to focus because there's a lot of pesukim here that I want you to see inside. Vanishma vayimas levavenu.
We heard, we heard what you guys went through, Krias Yam Suf, milchemet Sichon, vanishma vayimas levavenu, and we all melted, Rachav says. When we heard what happened to you Yidden and the nitzachon of Hashem, we all melted. We became frightened.
ולא קמה עוד רוח באיש מפניכם, and no spirit aroused within us to go out to be against you.
כי השם אלוקיכם הוא אלוקים בשמים ממעל ועל הארץ מתחת because God is God, up there and down here. This is not yet the situation with the Yishmaelim that live in Eretz Yisrael. They still have the chutzpah to not be scared of us. It's a chillul Hashem, that's the words, it's a chillul Hashem that any Yid ever has to drive through any road in Eretz Yisrael with an ounce of fear, a chashash of anything.
And now you have all these people that are trying to make such a tumult over a group of holy tzadikim, young children in Am Yisrael that realize that they're still living in Eretz Yisrael where there's so much fear by Yidden to live in Eretz Yisrael and they're trying, yes, it's not legal in many situations what they're doing. What are they trying to do? They're trying to change the mishvaah and I have to say, I know this because I'm in touch with many people in these areas, it's worked over and over and over again. What's worked? What's the point of it? That there shouldn't be a chillul Hashem. What's a chillul Hashem? That after October 7th, a Yid should even have a machshava for a second that there's a place that's unsafe for him in Eretz Yisrael? Have we lost our insane minds that that should be something that should be accepted? We're crazy.
Rachav says we heard what happened to you guys, vanishma vayimas levavenu, we melted, our hearts melted because we knew yesh Elokim bashamayim. And she says to the meraglim, ולא קמה עוד רוח באיש מפניכם. No one, since hearing these stories, no one ever had this cheshek, no one had this spirit come up from them to say, oh we could mess with them again. We can mess with them again.
The aftermath of all this be'ezrat Hashem shouldn't only be freedom for Iranian people, chevre. The aftermath, which we're all hoping and davening that the millions, millions of oppressed Iranians should have chofesh, should have freedom, which we daven, you know I'm very big on this here on the show, it's maybe freaked out a few people saying why are you talking so much about Iranian people, I don't know, I'm a Yid, I hear about millions of oppressed people, my heart goes out to them. My heart does. Do I think they're all the biggest oyvei Yisrael? Probably not.
I mean hopefully now, I think they're good people, I do. But the aftermath of this whole story cannot just be look what we did for them. And as much as our Prime Minister says every time he gets up and speaks, we've changed the face of the Middle East, I don't really care about changing the face of the Middle East, I care that Yidden shouldn't be scared to be anywhere in Eretz Yisrael. And as long as there are people here that see Yidden being scared in Eretz Yisrael, it's a chillul Hashem, it's a desecration of God's name.
That's the mishvaah that needs to give, it needs to change, and halevai that should be part of the aftermath of everything that we're going through. Because every time that we go in there like he says now, that's a lose, that's you lost.
ובכל הפסד של ישראל יש חילול השם. Every time Yidden lose anything, it's a chillul Hashem.
It's not just the Jewish state suffered a blow, it's a chillul Hashem, it's a desecration of God's name.
כשעם ישראל חס ושלום כשעם ישראל חס ושלום מפסיד יש חילול השם.
הגויים אומרים מבלתי יכולת השם להביא את העם הזה אל הארץ אשר נשבע להם. What do the Goyim say, the nations - the nations of the world say when they see that there's some kind of a mapala, they're like that Old Testament stuff, it didn't seem like it had the koach to last.
Chalila we should ever say the words Old Testament, but in the context of this shiur, that's why I'm saying it, you understand? They're saying that Old Testament stuff, you see, it didn't I mean, we knew this already in 1945, but then we had our doubts about ourselves because we're like whoa, what happened after 1945 with these people? Maybe that Old Testament stuff really is the right thing. And then they come back and be like, na, I don't know about that anymore, right? It's a chilul Hashem. That's the problem. That's what should keep us up at night.
Turning to Hashem, למה יאמרו בגויים איה אלקיהם. Moshe Rabbeinu after cheit ha'egel, right?
למה יחרה אפך בעמך אשר הוצאת מארץ מצרים בכח גדול וביד חזקה למה יאמרו מצרים לאמר ברעה הוציאם. It's all about Hashem, your name, your kavod, your honor. It has to be about you.
And because what happens is is that the hefsed, any moment of loss is a chilul Hashem, desecrating Hashem's name.
כך מתרחש חילול השם במיתת שאול ובכישלון ישראל במלחמה מול פלשתים. Now, this is one of the most devastating things that you've you'll ever hear in Tanach. Shaul HaMelech loses his life in battle with Plishtim.
Now, we have a very interesting relationship with Shaul HaMelech. Anyone that's delved into the whole sugya of David and Shaul, last year Purim time we were deep in it, leil Purim. It's lo patur. It's unsolved stuff.
Like we love to basically always go to Shaul and when we think about him, let's face it, what do we think about? Failed king because of Agag. So we all put our energy in saying look what happens when you don't wipe them out completely, Amalek, right? However, he was still a melech be'Yisrael and we can't forget that. And we have people named Shaul. Anointed, chosen by Hashem, and people's names are Shaul.
This is not a figure that we're saying we're gonna... what? We're not trying to erase... Chas v'shalom. Shaul was a king that was killed by the Plishtim in war.
The aftermath of his body, what happened to him, we have to remember for a second. Look what he says. This is based on both Divrei HaYamim where there's a completion of the picture and of course the story as it's told to us in Shmuel Aleph.
הם תולים את הגופה שלו על חומת בית שאן.
When they find his body, what do they do to his body? I think also his children's bodies. The body, it gets... maybe Yossi knows exactly where this is in Beit She'an. I don't know if you found it yet or...
Oh, people... Keil malei, you do... fake tour guide. There's a wall in Beit She'an, some wall on the choma of Beit She'an.
We all know where that is, right? And they put the body, talu al hachoma. Somehow they hung his body up on the wall.
ולוקחים את הראש של שאול. And they cut off his head, Shaul HaMelech.
Yimach shemam these Plishtim. They take Shaul HaMelech's head, they chop it off.
ובת כלי המלחמה שלו. And all of his weapons.
ומסתובבים איתם בכל בתי עבודה זרה שלהם. And they walk around and they go around all of their batei avoda zara, the Plishtim. Lehodi'ah le'elilim shelahem, letting their gods know, le'am shelahem, letting their people know כי הם ניצחו בזכות עצביהם עץ ואבן. That they won in merit of atzabeihem.
You know what atzabeihem is, right? Their idols. Etz va'even.
עצביהם כסף וזהב מעשה ידי אדם, right? Their idols are gold and silver. And then the psukim say here in Divrei HaYamim, ויפשטוהו וישאו את ראשו ואת כליו וישלחו בארץ פלשתים סביב לבשר את עצביהם ואת העם וישימו את כליו בית אלהיהם ואת גולגלתו תקעו בית דגון.
And they took his head and placed it in a place called Beit Dagon. In a way we could read these psukim and be like, wow, it's such a - we can't relate to these things at all, right? It's not true. And I hate to be a big depressor right now, but you all know that not everyone and everything is back from Aza. You know this, right? There's one thing still there.
There's a head of a chayal that's still in Aza. Aza. We don't like to talk about it because it really rips us into shreds when we think about this. But there is a head of one chayal that's still in Aza.
His father spoke about it. They're trying to hush him up. He went out looking for it based on some... Does anyone know what I'm talking about? Yeah.
It's not a... stam devarim be'alma. Aside from it being the most disgusting, gruesome thing you've ever heard, what it is is a Chillul Hashem. You have to keep on like centering back.
We have to always center back. What it is is a Chillul Hashem. That's what it is and that's what Rav Elyahu is trying to bring us back to. Chillul Hashem.
Chillul Hashem isn't only when you're in American high school and you go to Six Flags and they tell you you're gonna... Chillul Hashem is a much deeper concept than that. Much deeper concept than that. This is what's still the...
this is the whole inyan. And Eli, what you said at the farbrengen, still ringing, the farbrengen on Shabbos, is like, it's still ringing so loud is that every time there's a siren, every time there's a missile, the bottom line of the whole thing should be is what a chutzpah. Pashut me'od. What a chutzpah.
Chutzpah. What we need is big time deveikus right now. Deveikus ba'Hashem in our machaneh. This is what we need right now.
I was sitting with a chayal, I was sitting with a very holy head of security last night somewhere at an event and he was telling me that he was hosting some chayalim in his house the other week. And he said, he said what we have to... he said he was blown away. There were some holy chayalim that were willing to be killed but they didn't even know what Kiddush was.
Like there still are things like this, you know? So as much as we're so big on all these different investing in all these different ways of trying to bring up more Yiddishkeit in the world, I think that it's probably the best idea to instill it amongst those that are willing to be killed in the name of something they don't even understand. Kedusha needs to be bekerev hamachaneh. Davka now more than ever. Holiness, davka bekerev hamachaneh amongst the camp that are fighting.
That they should be aware as much as they can. We should help them as much as they can to be aware of their mesirus nefesh, of what it's really all about. And the Kiddush Hashem that every second of them being them brings to the world. So now he says like this.
בגלל שכל הנלחם למען עם ישראל מונע חילול השם הגדול יש לכל חייל במלחמה קשר גדול עם השם Every soldier that's fighting, their war, their battle is basically a Kiddush Hashem which means that whether they realize it or not, they're so connected. They have such a huge level of connection. Vechach hu omer as it says in Devarim at the end of the Torah כי השם אלקיכם ההולך עמכם להילחם לכם עם אויביכם להושיע אתכם When do we say this? In the Misheberach for the chayalim on Shabbos we usually say this, right?
כי השם אלקיכם ההולך עמכם להילחם לכם עם אויביכם להושיע אתכם God's going with you. God's going with you.
Just acknowledge it. Make it part of the inyan. You know what happens when you don't make that part of your war? Do you know who are some of the greatest destroyers of the dreams of what the Jewish people could be in Eretz Yisrael? They're called leshe'avarim. Do you know what that means, leshe'avarim? Exes.
What's leshe'avarim in media context? Former chiefs of staff, former ramatkalim, former prime minister, former, all these gedolim that they still are invited back to the ulpanim, they scare the daylights out of everyone and they speak words that don't sound Jewish. They just don't sound Jewish. They don't speak Jewish words. They may be speaking in Hebrew, but their words are not...
they're not Jewish words. I don't know what words they are. I don't know what you want to call them. These leshe'avarim.
The former head of Aman, former head of the Shabak, former... how many former ramatkals? Do you guys realize how much אנחנו חיים פה על ניסים Do you realize that? Do you know how many former chiefs of staffs, right, in the last twenty years have come out as the... you wouldn't believe what they say. The ramatkal...
whatever, I'm not going into names because we're melamed zechus. on the other side k'pshuto on the other side. It's not a complicated thing. You end up coming on the other side, on the sitra achara and you aid the enemy in battle.
You aid the enemy in battle. Now קרבה כזאת להשם לא קיימת this closeness to Hashem when you're fighting and you know why you're fighting לא קיימת אלא במחנה צבא היוצאים למלחמה an army that goes out to war b'shem Hashem achieve heights of closeness that are unparallel in any other way shape in any other situatzia any other situation. You know we're always working on ourselves Tikkun Haklali Tikkun Habrit all these things we're working hard on minyan it's all good and we should all strive to stay tahor. But this doesn't come close to the kirva to Hashem of a group of soldiers that are going out to fight and protect Hashem's kinderlach.
Ein devarim ka'eleh nothing can come close b'mechila from all the בתי מדרשין בחוץ לארץ who are doing beautiful things doesn't come close to what closeness to Hashem is established through ten, twenty chayalim that go out to protect Am Yisrael in Eretz Yisrael. Efshar l'hashvot.
לכן אומרת אביגיל לדוד that's why back to Avigail she tells Dovid Hamelech כי בגלל מלחמתו הוא דבק בהשם והיתה נפש אדוני צרורה בצרור החיים את השם אלוקיך ואת נפש אויבך יקלענה בתוך כף הקלע. Wow.
What is she saying what's she saying to him over here basically? That you're going to be connected to eternal life. Why? Because if you go out and fight Naval with the right consciousness of כי השם אלוקיכם הולך עמכם להלחם לכם אויבכם you're davuk to you're clinging to what real life is all about which never ends. And then when you do that the soul of your enemy יקלענה בתוך כף הקלע that means they're toast in this world and in any world. And in any world.
This is also the reason why we also have the concept of the aron Hashem. This is a very important thing and it's a machloket. Aron the aron the how do you say that? The ark? Ark.
זאת הסיבה שבגללה ארון ברית השם נמצא במחנה עם הלוחמים.
Now I don't know what it's like today on the battlefield. I don't know how it works but back then we had ways and the Rambam's going to explain this to us pretty clearly in a second that the aron of Hashem what did the aron of Hashem contain within it? Luchot. Which ones? Both. Broken ones.
How many aronot were there? Machloket how many one or two? Two. One. Right one or two. I think it's Rabbi Yehuda in the Gemara I don't remember right now I have to brush up on I have to go back into it but let's see how he brings it up.
The pasuk says like this כי השם אלוקיך מתהלך בקרב מחנך it's Hashem that's walking amongst your machaneh להצילך ולתת אויבך לפניך והיה מחנך קדוש your machaneh has to be holy ולא יראה בך ערבת דבר ושב מאחריך that means the place from which you are launching the attacks the place from which groups are being sent out to go and wage war against evil the machaneh has to be holy. Now here's where here's where the Satan came and tried to mess things up within Yiddishkeit why? Because there are many chayalim that are aware of the need for the machaneh to be very holy which definitely needs purity it also needs shmira between men and women and all these things that we know make us to be a machaneh kadosh right? So Satan comes and says well everyone here is so on the fringe mamash on shpilkas when it comes to when you bring up anything that has to do with like religion and everything so let's in the army try to cause a machloket over here about about these inyanim of purity and impurity. Don't tell me what's pure don't tell me what's impure. But the real the emes is is that call it whatever you want the machaneh where Yidden are encamping before they go and launch an attack and also while they go and launch an attack the machaneh has to be holy there needs to be purity within the machaneh.
Now the only thing is is that there's two ways of going about this thing. Just like there's two ways of telling anyone about anything about dvar Hashem. You could go out and scare the daylights out of people and sound like a lunatic and become a chillul Hashem. You could have the wisdom to speak in the name of Hashem and make Hashem sound big and beautiful and relevant and inviting.
And that we don't have enough yet in the army. Meaning we don't have that enough bechlal and on all levels that when people speak about the Ribono Shel Olam, the Ribono Shel Olam sounds bigger. Quite often when people speak in the name of the Ribono Shel Olam, they make Hashem sound smaller, like I always tell you, the famous letter from Rav Kook's son that there are people, how's, we have a posuk in Ha'azinu, it says כי שם השם אקרא הבו גודל לאלהינו. That when you speak in the name of Hashem, it's supposed to be that you're bringing godel, you're bringing greatness to Hashem.
But Rav Kook warned his son. He said, listen, you're going to go out into the world and you're going to meet people, and they're going to speak, so to speak, in the name of God. But when they do כי שם השם אקרא הבו קוטן לאלהינו, they make Hashem seem so small. So even here, even over here in the army, in every area, we have to really be, we have to merit, by be'ezrat Hashem we should merit the zchus that when we speak about Hashem, when we speak about a kiddush Hashem versus a chillul Hashem, the way we speak in all this terminology should be big ideas.
Big ideas. Deep. Deep. They're ready for it.
Don't think, yeshiva bochur, don't think, no, they first need to learn, they're ready for the deepest. They're willing to be killed and they don't even understand why. They're ready for the deepest. Give them the deepest.
Like Reb Shlomo once came to an army base during one of the wars, I think it was Milchemet Shlom HaGalil. He was always, whenever there was a war here, and if he wasn't in the country, he always flew here right away. It was like that in, right after '67, '73, and '81, '82, Gulf War, he immediately came here. I sent out a clip to the chevre last week of him speaking during the Gulf War here in Yerushalayim.
So he was coming to a certain army base, and he met with the Rav Tzvai of the base. Sweet guy, good guy. And he asked the Rav, what do you teach the chevre here? He says, well, I teach them, you know, we have to have Torah here, so we teach them hilchos netilas yadayim, I think, something like that. He's like, you ever teach them, you know, something for the neshama as well? Like what? He's like, you ever teach them Rav Kook? Where do you learn? I think he said Merkaz.
He said, so you ever teach them any Rav Kook? Rav Kook? They're not ready for Rav Kook. They can't. He's like, Ken? He's like, okay. He says, אפשר בבקשה לעשות משהו? He says, can I do something right now? He says, sure.
So Reb Shlomo asked someone if they have like an Oros HaKodesh or Oros HaTeshuva, one of the rabbanim there, and they pulled out a book. He called all the chayalim that knew Reb Shlomo from concerts, these non-frum chayalim, gathers them, starts teaching them Rav Kook for a few minutes. He said toch a few minutes there was this, there were these, a group of hungry eyes. Remember that song from the eighties? Hungry eyes.
These hungry eyes. Like, oh, what's this? This is Torah? This is Torah? They're ready for the deepest, these chayalim. You just got to be, first of all, you have to be yourself a kli for it. You have to know how to access it, and you have to have enough guts, holy guts, to give them the deepest.
They're ready for the deepest. The deepest in the world. So now, second to bottom paragraph.
בגלל הנוכחות הגדולה של הקדוש ברוך הוא במחנה ישראל.
Because of God's great presence amongst the camp of Am Yisrael.
היה נמצא עם הלוחמים ארון הברית. The Rashbam says there was always an Aron HaBris that was with them when they go out and fight.
אותו ארון שיש בו את ספר התורה נמצא בעת מלחמה בתוך מחנה הלוחמים בלי שום מחיצה.
Now, this is his, he brings a bunch of mekoros for this, because a bunch of people that didn't grow up knowing this will probably already have all these tainos saying, it's not true. He says, Rashi, Bamidbar Yud, Ramban, Devarim Yud, where they speak about which aron would go out to war with them. And Ibn Ezra on Devarim Chaf Gimmel. Because the truth is there is a machlokes, how many aronos there were.
And there's a machlokes as to which one went out with them to war. It's not, I'm not sure which one actually went out to war with them because I learned a whole shita that you could say either, if you say the shlemim, the luchos shlemim, the second luchos, that that's what went out to war with them, then you can give a whole drasha on saying, look at us. We're rebuilt... people, the people of the second chance, that's what gave us the koach.
But then you also have a beautiful drasha if you say that the shivrei luchos were the ones that were in the aron and went out to war with am yisrael during in the machaneh. Why? Even even deeper than, yeah, it's like wow, even our brokenness is going out and fighting. Look at us. But whatever shita you hold, the aron was in the machaneh.
And he says here without a mechitza, meaning it wasn't like you had to climb and get through all these different things to get access to, it was right there. And he and he brings here a yerushalmi. Look at this yerushalmi. Tani, this is a yerushalmi from shkalim.
תני רבי יהודה בן לקיש אמר שני ארונות היו מהלכים עם ישראל במדבר. This is the shita of two aronot.
אחד שהייתה התורה נתונה בתוכה ואחד שהיו שברי לוחות נתונים בתוכו. Exactly what we just said.
זה הארון שהייתה התורה נתונה בתוכו היה מונח באוהל מועד.
הדא הוא דכתיב וארון ברית ה' ומשה לא משו מקרב המחנה.
זה הארון שהיו שברי לוחות נתונים בתוכו היה נכנס ויוצא עמהן. This shita says, which was the aron that went out to war with us? Shivrei luchos.
כמו שכתוב וארון ברית ה' נוסע לפניהם ופעמים שהיה מסייר עמהן. Verabbanan amre, this is mamash the machlokes. Rabbanan say, ארון אחד היה ופעם אחת יצא בימי עלי ונשבה. That there was one aron, it went out one time in the time of Eli and nishba means, captured, shavui.
So let's end off chevre strong.
קרבת ה' שהייתה לעם ישראל בעת מצרים צריכה להיות גם היום. I'm telling you, every every few hours another person's trying to egg me on because they send me something, they're like you know we know you'll talk about this, you know, we know we'll get you real riled up with this, right? So these people send me and I've been I've been a pretty decent boy lately. I haven't really be'emes gone nuts on anything but and I'm not going to either right now but even though that Afghani face is like, you're the riler, man! I haven't sent you anything! It doesn't matter, just just looking at you.
You're the riler. So so there's this whole, you know, there's been a whole yetzias yisrael through mitzrayim to get to America this year? Yeah. It's a little bit weird. It's it is you gotta come on.
That was insane. More than a little bit weird, it's awful. Hashem has His ways. Hashem, awful.
So, I'm thinking this year like us that are in eretz yisrael are going to be talking about that we are in the midst of seeing greater miracles than even there was in mitzrayim here. You can't say that in you can't say you can't live you you shouldn't be allowed to say that. If you're if you're not here, the only problem is you probably won't even be that like I I'm seeing the ads, I'm seeing the ads for shabbos hagadol drashas and I want to puke. I cannot believe, I cannot believe the titles for shabbos hagadol drashas.
I can't believe it. Share a couple. No. I can't believe it.
I just can't believe it. I can't believe whatever, the reason why I'm not be'emes I'll tell you the truth, the reason why we're not ripping this year into chutz la'aretz pesach programs because there are thousands of yidden whose parnasas are dependent on these programs that they put their kishkas in all year long. And the older I'm getting the more sensitive I'm getting I'm becoming to people's parnasa because I see it. It's it's not a simple thing.
But where are the rabbanim? Where's the manhigus? Where is it? Why are they guest? Steve, I'm I'm begging you not to start. 'Cause I'm begging you. I'm starting, don't continue. You're right, you're right.
I'm putting matches, I'm riling you. Everything you're saying is so emes, Steve, so of course it's riling. I have to just tell you, I have two two grandchildren studying this year here in eretz yisrael. Both wanted to go home for pesach.
They wanted to go where? Home, to America. It's what I mean. No, no, no. I am very makpid when people say that, to never say that over.
Yeah, for them, their home, for pesach, Lakewood. you can spend Yom Tov with the grandparents. You're here. Why are you working so hard? And one of them just was so didn't ask any questions, he finally ended up through this crazy yetzias mitzrayim route for 3000 bucks or so.
The other one, her father said, let me ask a shaila. A shaila from our Rav, our Rav. If the Rav says that it's important to bring you home, we'll spend what we have to spend. And the Rav said, you're in Yerushalayim and you want to turn over the world to find a way to get out? You should be celebrating that you're in Yerushalayim.
Mamesh koful. So you stayed? Yes. But they're coming from the same Brisker yeshiva's background. But that's beautiful.
Of course it is, but I'm just contrasting. That's beautiful. Bezrat Hashem. That's beautiful.
That's... yeah. But those who are not even asking... So there's a closeness that happens to Am Yisrael when they're in war, as we know.
There's a closeness. With everything that we feel, there's also a sense of closeness that we don't usually taste. It's been a few years of closeness. I'm not saying it's not painful.
Closeness doesn't mean pain-free. Actually, the closer you are to someone when they're in pain, the more that you're in pain. Closeness doesn't mean pain-free, but it means closeness. And there's a kirva, there's a strong kirva that's happening.
קרבת ה' שהייתה לעם ישראל בעת יציאת מצרים צריכה להיות גם היום. The closeness that Am Yisrael had to Hashem during the exodus of Egypt has to be today as well.
כי תאמר בלבבך רבים הגויים האלה ממני איכה אוכל להורישם. You should say in your heart, Iran is a hundred times the size of Eretz Yisrael.
How in the world do I think that there's a chance here of making it out of this alive?
לא תירא מהם זכור תזכור את אשר עשה ה' אלוקיך לפרעה ולכל מצרים. Remember, you've been here before.
המסות הגדולות אשר ראו עיניך והאותות והמופתים והיד החזקה והזרוע הנטויה אשר הוציאך ה' אלוקיך כן יעשה ה' אלוקיך לכל העמים אשר אתה ירא מפניהם. These pesukim were written for today.
These pesukim were written for today. This inyan of not fearing is not just a nice idea, it's halacha. What does this mean it's halacha? Look, הדברים האלו הם הלכה.
כך כותב הרמב''ם שכל מלחמה הוא על ייחוד שם השם.
When the Rambam speaks about a milchama, and he speaks extensively about milchama, and a person's going out al Kiddush Hashem, there are halachos to the chayalim that go out on milchemet Kiddush Hashem.
מי האיש הירא ורך הלבב כמשמעו. The pesukim tell us in Parshat Ki Teitzei, the ish that's yarei, the person that has fear, and rach levav, softness of heart, you can't go out and be a soldier. It's assur for you to fight.
שאין בליבו כוח לעמוד בקשרי המלחמה ומאחר שיכנס בקשרי המלחמה. But if you have to still go out and fight v'lo meshane mah, but you know you have to do it with all the fear, ישען על מקווה ישראל ומושיעו בעת צרה וידע שעל ייחוד השם הוא עושה מלחמה. Know something, if there's a soundtrack, there's a soundtrack that every soldier must be hearing in their ears while they're fighting: lean on me. It was for now.
Yisha'en, lean on me, lean on Mikveh Yisrael.
שעל ייחוד השם הוא עושה מלחמה. You're making a war over the yichud of Hashem.
וישים נפשו בכפו ולא יירא ולא יפחד ולא יחשוב.
Don't think about anything. Lo b'ishto. Don't think- don't bring a picture of your wife and children. That's not going to help wipe out Amalek.
Don't bring anything.
לא יחשוב לא באשתו לא בבניו אלא ימחה זכרונם מליבו. These are harsh words from the Rambam. What does this mean? Yimcheh zichronam milibo.
Erase... The panic channel. Hamavil atzmo now this is amazing. There's a fight between two channels.
One is one channel calls another channel here in the news Arutz HaTaamulah and one calls the other Arutz HaTavhela. So in Hebrew Taamulah means how do you say that propaganda the propaganda channel. They call that Channel 14 the Bibi propaganda channel and they could be doing such a bigger Kiddush Hashem if they actually only spoke Ahavas Yisrael but they're ripping into everyone way too much chaval mamash chaval. I love so many of them.
I'm friends with many of them. One of them davens Shacharis here you guys don't know who it is. One of them davens with a Shacharis he's one of the main people that give the do the Chadashot. He's a tzaddik.
He actually speaks only good mamash. The other and then the other chevra call Channel 12 it is Arutz HaTavhela the channel of incitement panic panic the panic channel. Hamavil atzmo Rabbi Eliau says the panicking yourself כל דמי ישראל תלויים בצוארו. Do you realize when you panic yourself like Rabbeinu Hakadosh's lashon והעיקר לא להתפחד כלל you have Yidden's blood that are dependent on you not panicking yourself? v'hamitchazek and one that gets through the panic and gets strong כל דמי ישראל תלויים בזכותו.
It's your zchut that Yidden are alive. The Rambam continues וכל המתחיל לחשוב ולהרהר במלחמה mavil atzmo and freaks himself out over b'lo ta'aseh. Shene'emar אל ירך לבבכם אל תיראו ואל תחפזו ואל תערצו מפניהם ולא עוד אלא שכל דמי ישראל תלויים בצוארו.
ואם לא ניצח ולא עשה מלחמה בכל לבו ובכל נפשו הרי זה כמי ששפך דמי הכל.
If you didn't work through the panic. This is amazing. This is the Rambam. If you didn't work through the panic through the tavhela through the behala through the fear he is saying הרי זה כמי ששפך דמי הכל.
I'm not making you see I'm not making I'm not trying to dramatize the Rambam's words. Rambam said this.
הרי זה כמי ששפך דמי הכל shene'emar ולא ימס את לבב אחיו כלבבו. v'harei mforash bakabalah ארור עושה מלאכת השם רמיה וארור מונע חרבו מדם.
Cursed is the person that prevents his cherev from going out into war because of panic or thinking how could I is this ever going to work? Are we ever is this ever are we ever going to defeat our enemies? Well when you go out trying to defeat your enemies but you're worried more about not hurting an enemy's child than you yourself and your family getting killed you should be ashamed of yourself and it's not you should be sickened to the core about your improper and perverted way of understanding the concept of morality. There's war and there's not war. We're in war right now. And even in war we're the most moral army in the world.
I know Eli and I have a machlokes if Yidden are able to lose their humanity or not. I don't think we lost our humanity at all. I think people that try to point out how Yidden have lost their morality have lost their morality. I think leaving one Arab kid in Azza one little Arab kid in Azza today leaving one is the most immoral thing that we could ever do for our children.
Ever. That's immorality. But us going into places and saying if oh but I'm going to bring a whole world war on me guys how much crazier could it get right now? It's as crazy as we ever could have estimated could be right. Think about it with all the miracles that Rav Rimon pointed out last week last week two weeks whenever it was.
If I told all of you that on October 8th that this is where we'd be now two and a half years later you'd think that we're basically many of us wouldn't stay wouldn't have the koach to stay many of us would have to leave we'd we just couldn't take it our children our wives couldn't take it we'd have to leave just for our sanity. Look at us. Who's going anywhere? More and more here more and more deeper into the picture here. But if you prevent your sword from going into war because of the behala that's in your head then the Rambam is basically saying you are not a person that should be doing anything in the name of Am Yisrael.
That's not an Am Yisrael thing. Even across this the Zohar is saying arur. Arur.
ארור מונע חרבו מדם.
Arur. It's crazy.
צריכה הכוונה שלכם לקדש השם בלבד. End with this.
The kavana of the warrior has to be to sanctify God's name alone that's what it's all about.
וכל הנלחם בכל ליבו בלא פחד. You know it's easy for me to say these things sitting over here. I'm giving myself all the koach in the world to really feel what a chayal on the front I'm sitting right in front of a chayal so obviously saying these words is I'm saying it with eimah vafachad.
וכל הנלחם בכל ליבו בלא פחד ותהיה כוונתו לקדש השם בלבד מובטח לו שלא ימצא נזק ולא תגיע רעה. They're promised damage won't reach them and bad things won't reach them.
ויבנה לו בית נכון בישראל. You know the weddings today of chayalim that have come out of krav the weddings that have been happening the last few years I've I've been privileged to to do a few of these weddings.
There's nothing anyone could ever say that's holier and higher because he's saying ויבנה לו בית נכון בישראל. He will build a home in Am Yisrael.
ויזכה לו ולבניו עד עולם ויזכה לחיי העולם הבא שנאמר כי עשו יעשה השם לאדוני בית נאמן כי מלחמות השם אדוני נלחם ורעה לא תמצא בך. Whose words were those? We just read it about half hour ago.
Avigail's yeah Avigail's words to David Hamelech.
והיתה נפש אדוני צרורה בצרור החיים את השם אלוקיך. Hevre it's it's big it's we're in a big time hevre. It's big now.
We you can't be small. You can't be caught in katnut. It's not the time for katnut time it's not it's not katnut there's there's it's big right now. This is our time.
*WARNING NOTIFICATION GOES OFF ON PHONES*
Chilul Hashem. Mamash. Chilul Hashem. Chilul Hashem.
We should be zocheh to finally hear instead of that the trumpet of Melech Hamashiach. Amen. Yasher koach hevre everybody.