Shoftim - Winds of Peace

Why do we call out for peace when we go out to war? Why does Hashem order things in the celestial and spiritual realms so that there will be peace if there is no jealousy or competition in those realms? How was Moshe able to contradict Hashem and look for peace or mercy when Hashem seemed to want war and judgment? Why did Hashem ultimately agree to Moshe?

Find out in this week's parsha podcast.

Running time: 26:50

Lech Lecha - Abraham's War and the Final War

What is the importance of the story of the war of the five kings vs. the four kings? What do our sages mean when they say that the war was about killing Abraham? Why does Abraham not accept the people of Sodom into his own care? What is the connection between this and the story the midrash tells about R' Eliezer ben Hurkenus? How does that war parallel the final war of Gog Umagog?

Find out in this week's parsha podcast.

Running time: 25:23

Masei - Warring for Israel

Why do the thirty one kings desire to fight in the war on Sisera's side against the people of Israel? Why are they willing to do it for free? What does it mean that they 'thirst to drink of the waters of Israel?' Why did Jacob, Moses and King David run away from their enemies? When is it time to run, and when is it time to fight? What is the secret power of the Jewish people when they reach the amount of 600,000?

Find out in this week's parsha podcast.

Running time: 22:14

Ki Seitze - Facing the Spiritual War

Why does the Torah stress that one is to be careful about illicit and licentious behavior in times of war? What is the difference between co-dependent and interdependent relationships? How do we face the spiritual war that surrounds us in our times?

Find out in this week's parsha podcast.

Running time: 18:20

Shoftim - Preparing for war

How can we be assured that God will be with us when we go out to war? Why does the Kohen use the phrase 'Shema Yisrael' - Hear O Israel - when he introduces his speech to the cavalry? Why is the concept of the heart repeated so many times? What is the concept of hearing and how does it relate to the heart and to the idea of Binah/intuition? What is the concept of Hashem's throne? How does this connect to the sound of the Shofar?

Find out in this week's Parsha Podcast.

Running time: 22:05

Worth fighting for

My sister in New York shared the following about a Rav and his son who very recently spent time here in Israel. They came to celebrate his Bar Mitzvah, and as part of his trip here, they decided to deliver pizza to the troops fighting in Gaza. As the rabbi and his son were giving the soldiers their pizza, one of the soldiers turned to them and said, "It's people like you that make it worth fighting."

The Moon and the war - part two

As I was reading the article mentioned in the previous post about the moon, I wondered what the significance is to the phenomenon that the tides and waves are caused by the moon's gravity. What could the message behind this be?

I was נתעורר to some interesting thoughts when I saw a piece from the Ben Ish Chai.

He is explaining how the concept of מים - water - has to do with the concept of מודים - admitting. He points out that if you spell out the letters of מים you get the following: מ"ם יו"ד מ"ם. When you take the middle letters, you find the word מודים. We need, of course, to understand what this signifies.

I started thinking about something we say at קידוש לבנה. We say כשם שאני רוקד כנגדך ואיני יכול לנגוע בך כך לא יוכלו כל אויבי לנגוע בי לרעה - just as I am dancing in front of you and I can not touch you (the Moon), so should my enemies be unable to touch me for evil. As we say this, we raise our feet in a little dance, similar to the motion of kedusha.

This also needs explanation. What kind of tefillah is this? Just like I can't touch the moon, my enemies should not be able to touch me? This seems like such a strange thing to say. What's the פשט?

Coming back to the concept of the Moon, it has no light of its own - all its light is from the Sun. It represents Klal Yisrael who reflect the light of Hashem, but it also represents the idea that one can only accomplish when we recognize that we have no power of our own. וזכרת את ה' אלוקיך כי הוא הנותן לך כח לעשות חיל - you should remember Hashem your God, for He is the one who gives you power to be mighty. When we forget where our success stems from, we lose our might. When we realize that we are only reflecting Hashem's light, it indeed shines brightly through us. When we think we produce our own light, Hashem allows us to try to create our own, and we are left with nothing.

When we make that motion, up and down, reaching for the Moon and recognizing that it is beyond our grasp, we inject humility into ourselves. We have learned the lesson of the Moon that only reflects the Sun's light and does not create its own. This humility is what gives us the power against our enemies - the power that is Hashem's - ה' ילחם לכם ואתם תחרישון - Hashem will fight for you and you will be quiet! This, I believe, is what we are saying - Just as I am dancing and can not reach you (humility!), so should my enemies be unable to touch me for evil (with Hashem's help).

It struck me that this motion that we do as we reach for the Moon and recognize our inability, is the same motion that waves do. They go up and down, up and down, constantly pulled by the gravity of the moon, constantly reaching up and coming back toward Earth. The motion of the water itself hints to that power of הודאה - of admitting. The waters are pulled to admit by the ultimate representation of admittal - the Moon. This is why the word מים contains the word מודים, because the motion of the worlds waters teaches us the lesson of הודאה.

This could also be why the Torah, which is compared to water, can only be acquired with humility. The Gemara in Nedarim says ממדבר מתנה וממתנה נחליאל - כיון שעושה אדם עצמו כמדבר שהוא הפקר לכל תורה נתנה לו במתנה - when a person makes himself like a wilderness - ownerless to all - the Torah is given to him as a present. The Torah can only be acquired by one who has made himself empty of ego, because the Torah is the ultimate source of Hashem's light, which can only shine through one who has no light of his own.

I heard the following story from a reliable source close to the Gadol about whom this story was told.

It was Friday, the seventh day of the Gaza war, and the ground troops were getting ready to invade Gaza that Friday night. The shamash of the Gadol received a phone call from one of the higher ups in the Israeli army, who asked to receive a bracha for the impending military operation. When the shamash brought this request to the Gadol, he responded that he could not give a bracha for the operation if it would begin that night, as it would involve too much desecration of Shabbos. Not only that, but the operation would not see any סימן ברכה if it began on Shabbos.

The Shamash called back the general and relayed the words of the Gadol. The response was that the army had strong reason to believe that Hamas would begin attacking over Shabbos, and they wanted to begin with a surprise attack. The shamash reiterated the Gadol's words that if they would begin the operation on Shabbos, they would see no סימן ברכה, and added the Gadol's reassurance that nothing would happen over Shabbos.

Indeed, nothing happened over Shabbos, and on Motsaei Shabbos, the shamash received a call from the same general. He said that the army had decided to take the Gadol's advice into account, and had waited until after Shabbos to begin. The Gadol gladly granted the requested bracha, and the operation then began.

The power of this story is that there was a surge of humility that would be with the entire IDF throughout its fight against this enemy whose entire existence is pride. Hashem has shown tremendous miracles at every stage, and continues to do so. Let us hope that the humility will continue, and Hashem will surely continue to shine His light through us, until it bursts forth to the entire world, may it be speedily in our days.

The siren's message

At about one PM today, we here in Ramat Bet Shemesh heard the sound that has become normal for the residents of the south.

My four year old daughter and her nursery class were all guided to crouch under their desks, and were told they would receive a candy. They davened together with their Morah.

My wife was in a taxi, whose driver quickly pulled into a parking area with an overhang.

I was in Shul where they were in middle of davening Mincha.

My son was in cheder, and was later upset because he didn't hear the siren.

Someone else shared with me that his fourteen year old daughter came home especially scared because there are girls in her class who are here from the south - to get away from the sirens - and they were totally petrified when it went off here, and in turn scared all the other girls.

As we nervously tried to figure out if it was a drill or the real thing, I experienced a certain sense of satisfaction. I am finally part of my people's suffering.

After Mincha, I was learning the Parsha and came across another strikingly relevant Rabbenu Bachai. The pesukim at the end of פרק ב speak of how Paroh died, and the Jewish people called out to Hashem from their difficult labor. He says that the time for the קץ had arrived, but it was still necessary for them to call out. Only the prayer of the Jewish people crying out because of difficulty has the power to come in front of Hashem. It was that heartfelt plea, the result of suffering, that started the Geulah process, whose time had come. This is why the subsequent pesukim immediately speak of Moshe's experience with the burning bush - the Geulah process had begun.

Rabbenu Bachai finishes off by saying that just as it was thus in regards to the גאולת מצרים, so it shall be with the final Geulah.

When trying to understand why it must be this way, we need to understand why only this type of tefillah enters before Hashem.

I believe the answer is that in order to get into the area of לפני ולפנים - the inner sanctuary where Hashem's essence is found (so to speak), is only if it comes from the לפני ולפנים - the very essence of the person himself. When do we truly call out from our very depths? Only when the difficulty strikes us at the very depths.

The Jewish people called out to Hashem at this point in Mitzrayim because they saw there was no hope. They saw there was no end in sight and the difficulties were only getting deeper. When a person calls out from that place, it reaches to the highest Place.

When the current situation touches us personally, that's when we will call out, and that is when we will be answered.

The seed of redemption is in the suffering - it is darkest before the dawn.

The Moon and the war

החודש הזה לכם, ראש חדשים - This [lunar] month is for you, first of the months.

These were the words that Hashem said to Moshe, giving the Jewish people its first national mitzvah. Henceforth, the Moon would represent us, having no light of its own, reflecting the light of the Sun. We, the Jewish people, also have no light of our own, we just reflect the light that Hashem shines upon us. The less we try to shine our own light, the more Hashem's light shines.

We find numerous sources linking the Moon to the Jewish people. She is our representative, and we dance with her every month as she begins to wax larger, coming into view. We encourage her with words we ourselves need to hear - soon you will be returned to your former glory. Soon your light will shine as it did on the six days of Creation. Soon the whole world will reflect the Light of Hashem, and we, the Jewish people, will also reflect His light, being returned to our rightful status, a true reflection of His Kingship.

I came across this article which tells of a unique occurrence that has not happened since 1993, and will not happen again until 2016. The full Moon of December (Kislev) and January (Teves) were significantly larger and brighter than usual - "14% wider and 30% brighter than lesser Moons." This was because the Moon was at its closest point in its elliptical orbit as it came into view at the middle of the lunar month. This also had a significant effect, raising the tides about 15 centimeters, as the tides are dependent on the Moon's gravitational pull.

As I was reading this, I was touched by the clear showing of Hashem's love for us. He guided things so that the current war we are facing would come out in this time when the Moon is largest, representing the idea that our spiritual power is greatest. We have merited great miracles in this war on many fronts, and we have merited a sense of Achdus and purpose. We have seen a display of the spiritual in places we would not have expected, and this is 'reflected' in the Moon that accompanies us, testifying to our spiritual power, which is but a reflection of Hashem's Infinite Light.

Feeling their pain

I heard a few interesting stories and thoughts over Shabbos.

The one that I got the most from was told by the Rav of my shul.

This past week, a couple in Jerusalem came to him with the following scenario. The husband had decided to get his wife something special for her birthday recently. He chose a food that he knew she liked very much. When he brought it to her, she responded with great appreciation for his thoughtfulness, but she declined to eat it. When asked why, she explained that she had accepted upon herself that as long as the Jews in the south of Israel are suffering with constant missile bombardment, she would not eat any treats or delicacies, except on Shabbos. She could not enjoy these things as long as her brethren were in pain. Being that this treat could not be saved, she would not be able to eat it.

When we think about how we can relate to the difficulty of our brothers and sisters who have been driven out of their homes, we find it hard to really connect. This woman was able to find something tangible to do that would allow her to share in the pain of those who are suffering, to make it her own. Perhaps we can do the same.

My rav also said that when we show 'solidarity' for our fellow Jews who are suffering here in Eretz Yisroel, it is completely different from any other nation showing solidarity for their suffering brethren. The way we show solidarity is by davening and saying Tehillim and strengthening our Mitzvah observance, Torah study and dedication to our relationship with Hashem. When we do this, not only do we show that we have our brothers' suffering in mind, but we actually give them spiritual strength - the strength they need to overcome the obstacles they face.

When you daven for a soldier in Israel, you are literally helping that soldier defeat his enemy, and come out unharmed.

My rav also explained that when Yakov spoke of his gift of Shechem to Yosef, he referred to it as the place he acquired with his "sword and bow." Onkelos explains that the "sword" is the prayer, and the "bow" is the request. My rav explained that the sword is something that once one's enemy is close, one does not require a tremendous amount of skill to attack and destroy him. The bow requires precision, but one who aims properly can take out his enemy from a great distance.

The same thing is true of our tefillos. The tefilla that we say every day is like a sword that does not require the same tremendous effort to have an effect. That effect, however, may not be as far reaching. When we invest extra effort and kavana in a special tefilla for our brethren who are suffering, this is like the bow and arrow that when properly aimed can have a long range effect.

Let us all try to take this to heart and invest our efforts in feeling for our brothers and sisters who are in pain. A little extra tefilla with kavana and a little extra sensitivity can go a long way to helping us here in Eretz Yisroel, no matter where you may be.

Fill in the blanks

Guest post by Daniel

A teacher I had in yeshiva once said to me that "nothing the Jews do right according to Torah can be used against them by the enemies of Israel."

i.e. That which klal Yisroel fails to do properly can be used against them by the enemies of Israel.

This is reflected in the Kinnos liturgy from Tisha b'Av:

"We have been made into slaves
Because we did not follow the commandment to release slaves on time.

We pay with our very lives for our bread
Because we skipped over the hands of the poor amongst us.

The women of Zion do they torture
Because the wife of our fellow we have defiled and adultered."

What can we learn, as a klal, from Hamas' war tactics?
Fill in the blanks.

In Gaza,
Our soldiers are being drawn into booby-trapped homes,
Because we...

Our soldiers are being lured into booby-trapped schools,
Because we...

Our soldiers are being chased by suicide bombers,
Because we...

Our civilians are being bombarded with rockets ("words" are likened to "arrows"),
Because we...

Our soldiers are threatened with kidnapping,
Because we...

They use underground tunnels carved out of Eretz HaKodesh (the Holy Land),
Because we...

Fill in the blanks.
I mean, we need to really fill in the blanks.

Thoughts under fire

This past Wednesday, I was on a bus on my way to Jerusalem for a Sheva Brachos. The bus driver had the radio on and the radio announcer was giving updates on how many missiles had fallen that day. They proceeded to interview a number of people and it was clear that there was a lot of fear.

As I was listening, I couldn't help thinking to myself that the media is aiding the Palestinians in creating a panic in the general public. When seen through the eyes of the Torah's teachings on Emunah and Bitachon, this fear, while not unfounded, is not necessary. If we trust in Hashem and know that all He does is for our best, and that He is looking out for us, we have nothing to fear.

Perhaps I do not have the right to say this, as I am living in Ramat Bet Shemesh, where there are no missiles falling, b'ezras Hashem. But my relative who lives in Sderot does. He has told me on numerous occasions that he is not afraid of the rockets. He has tremendous trust in Hashem and knows that each missile has an address. He told me that when the sirens go off there in the middle of the night, others run to their bomb shelters, but he rolls over and pulls the covers over his head.

Tonight, after I had put my son to sleep, he called out and said that he was scared. I came back to his room and he told me that he heard at a neighbor's house something about missiles that made him fearful. I told him that we can trust Hashem, who is constantly taking care of us - providing for our food and all of our needs every day - that He will continue to do so. We have special protection because we are involved in learning Torah and are committed to loving Hashem and doing His mitzvos.

I also told told him something remarkable I heard on Rabbi Chanoch Teller's tape series called "The Righteous Live On." He has a whole lecture about the Mir Yeshiva's story of survival during World War II, and how they escaped to Shanghai. During the war, Shanghai was being bombed, and unbelievably, the natives there knew that if you wanted protection, you should gravitate to the Mir bochurim, as nothing would ever happen to them!

I told my son that we too have that protection, and we have nothing to fear. אמן, כן יהי רצון

Help fight this war

In the daf yomi today (בבא קמא דף ג) the Gemara brings the passuk in Yeshaya (21:12):

אמר שומר אתא בוקר וגם לילה אם תבעיון בעיו שבו אתיו - The watchman said that the morning has come, and also night, if you would ask, then come again.

Rashi on the passuk is powerful. He says that the 'watchman' is reference to Hakadosh Baruch Hu. Says Hashem, the morning will come, that is, the day when He will shine upon us; and the night as well, that is, the time that is prepared for Esav at the End of time. If you will ask to quicken the end, you can, by way of teshuva.

It seems clear that Teshuva is the essential component of Moshiach being revealed early. My gut tells me that if we are to merit Moshiach this year, it will be an early appearance. If that is so, Rashi tells us it can only be attained by doing Teshuva.

We keep hearing teshuva, over and over again. Daniel mentioned to me a while ago that teshuva is a common theme throughout the Geulah blogosphere, but we never seem to hear exactly what it means.

I would like to put forth a simple and straightfoward answer to the question.

Teshuva means to return. It means to return to Hashem. It means to return to your highest point, to what you know inside the deepest depth of your heart.

We know that success in the war that is going on here in Eretz Yisrael is not dependant on the might of the IDF nor the IAF. It is dependant completely upon our connection and relationship to Hashem. Nach is replete with stories of success and failure in the wars of the Jewish people. Recent history also tells the same tale. When we depend on Hashem, he takes care of us. When our connection is broken, we fail רחמנא לצלן.

We can run through Dreaming of Moshiach, Shirat Devorah, Mystical Paths, Lazer Beams, I Heart Noahides, Dani18, and a plethora of other Moshiach related blogs scanning for whatever buzzes our brain and gets us a little excited. But if all it does is give us a buzz and doesn't move us off of our computer chair into the Beis medrash for at least a few extra minutes a day to learn some Torah and connect to Hashem, then WE HAVE MISSED THE POINT!!!

The only way we can win the war is by returning to Hashem and reconnecting to Him. That is what Teshuva is about. It doesn't mean that you have to turn around and become a different person overnight. That is ridiculous and unrealistic. But we can take on to learn a few more minutes a day. If you need a place to find a five minute dvar torah, try out www.arigoldwag.com. It doesn't have to be my site - my point is not to plug my site - there are tons of great Torah sites (www.simpletoremember.com is a great one of note).

Commit to five minutes of Torah before you open up your internet browser. That is concrete Teshuva. That is how we can win this war and perhaps bring Moshiach early.