Teachings of Or Vishua

In His final admonition in Parashat Ha'azinu, when we stood only at the very beginning of our journey through history, Moshe Rabbeinu already demanded of us: "Understand the years of each generation" (Deuteronomy 32:7). This demand places before us the obligation to remain alert to the meaning of events, because they are all manifestations of Divine Providence in reality.

Only thus can we escape becoming a "generation of reversals" or "children in whom there is no faith", God forbid. And to this demand was appended: "Ask your father and he will tell you, your elders and they will say to you", the complete opposite of the heresy on the lips of the one who did us such great harm in the last generation.

Shimon Peres would declare morning and evening, "The past is dead", which is nothing but a new formulation of the "Old Testament" mindset. This approach gave birth to the tragedy of that Simchat Torah, which turned from a festival into mourning for the entire nation following a pogrom the likes of which had not been seen since the bitter exile, and in the very land that was supposed to serve as refuge for persecuted Jews.

This pogrom, which brought the IDF, the Shin Bet and the government to their knees, obligates everyone imbued with faith to heed the demand of the faithful shepherd of his people: to understand the essence of the historical processes of our generation and their causes. What happened, what is happening, and what is yet to come.

The Yom Kippur Precedent

Whoever was privileged to be among the residents of the Land in the year 5733 (1973) remembers that on Yom Kippur, in the middle of the Mussaf prayers, sirens drove us from the synagogues to confront the cruel Arab attack on the holiest day, as is their custom.

And behold, exactly fifty years later, the mayor of Tel Aviv, in a despicable antisemitic decision, banned those same Yom Kippur prayers in Kikar Malkhei Yisrael. In truth, regarding the name of the place, it is quite fitting for such a decision, for all the Kings of Israel (not Judah) were utter evildoers, so prayer does not fit their agenda.

This ugly decision became a terrible accusation in Heaven. It was clear to every person of understanding who "understands each generation" that the Holy One, Blessed Be He, would not let it pass without a harsh response.

It arrived in full force and severity on the day designated for joy over the foundation of our people's existence: Simchat Torah. The despicable rejection of the sacred in the Holy Land trampled the joy and humiliated the nation, which wallowed in the blood of its children, may God avenge their blood.

The Spirit of Valor

Facing the savage attack by Hamas, the General Staff and especially the Chief of Staff with his foolish "conceptions", along with the Prime Minister and the head of the Shin Bet, found themselves in shock and helpless. Convinced that our state was about to be wiped off the map, one single option stood before their eyes: to summon President Biden, who was very unfriendly and refused to supply all necessary weapons.

But it was not to reinforce a mentality of exile dependency that the Holy One, Blessed Be He, brought this terrible tragedy upon us. Rather, it was specifically in order to return all of us to the bosom of pure faith and to restore the Jewish essence to a state whose successful hi-tech industry had immersed it in melting gold and silver into a golden calf of ignorance.

If His people had already been given over to plunder in the Gaza envelope and had paid their vows to the Most High, He said "enough" to our troubles. In His great mercy He breathed into His people a spirit of valor: it is this spirit that would bring salvation. No longer would foreigners build the walls of our defense.

All the people of Israel rose to their feet. 300,000 reservists reported for duty without any calculation, leaving their families, their livelihoods and everything, in order to rush forth and save our people.

This sublime sight, entirely one of supreme self-sacrifice, ascended higher and higher heavenward. In place of the terrible accusation, they raised their hands to defend the children of the Holy One, Blessed Be He, with a spirit of sacrifice the likes of which we had not merited to see since King David.

Israel prevailed. Their successes against the cruel enemies of Hamas were not favoritism from the Holy One, Blessed Be He, but rather justice and righteousness.

The Unprecedented Strike on Iran

But the people of Israel remained threatened on seven fronts fed by the global Amalekite root of evil in Persia, and it was vital to crush the head of the serpent. For years the security establishment tried to prepare, and enormous preparations were invested. But the mission was nearly superhuman given the magnitude of the challenge, the distances and the heavy price.

To decide to take such an enormous risk required supreme courage from the heads of state and the military. And they did not have it. The Prime Minister admitted yesterday that they were about to cancel the attack. What gave them that courage was the valor of our soldiers on the front lines in Gaza, in Lebanon and in Judea and Samaria.

By the grace of Heaven, the terrible danger of a nuclear bomb compelled them to gird themselves with that same courage of our combat soldiers on the front lines, and they launched an operation without precedent in history.

A tiny state crushed a security superpower, economically and militarily, at distances exceeding 2,300 kilometers. In one moment the pilots of the holy people decapitated all senior commanders of the Persian army and dealt the most severe blow to all governmental and military systems of Iran.

Anyone who knows even a little of the military history of humanity knows that no army in the world has ever succeeded in striking such a severe blow against its cruel enemies, and at such an enormous distance!

The war has not yet ended, but it is already shaping up as an Israeli victory more spectacular and brilliant than the Six-Day War, which has stunned the entire world! This is an achievement that only the hand of God could have granted our people, in His mercy and His enormous lovingkindness, as consolation after the terrible suffering of October 7th.

A Call to Vigilance

The people have reconnected and are reconnecting anew with their true identity, with their Divine values. The believing public, more religious or less, has proven where the root of strength and confidence is planted. The economy is flourishing. The people have united completely, in a dramatic reversal from what characterized them in the past three years. Despite the heavy price on the front lines, this is a supreme heavenly blessing and a harbinger of a wonderful future.

But caution is demanded of us: we must ensure that this tremendous operation in Persia does not overshadow the holiness that has returned to us. We must ensure that we no longer hear "my power and the might of my hand" as happened mere months after the Six-Day War. A tremendous historical turning point is occurring now in every earthly dimension. We must not allow the spiritual, faith-based, national and moral turning point to be missed! A secular approach must not steal from us this Divine victory, for it was achieved entirely thanks to the triumph of our soldiers in the name of tremendous faith in this people, in God and in His Torah planted in the hearts of so many of our nation!

May it be His will that we merit to see these footsteps of redemption growing ever stronger, for the benefit of us all.