Ekev: Do Not Fear Them!

 by Rav Moshe Tzuriel, yeshiva.org.il, translated by Hillel Fendel

What is the main test we face in this generation?

Our lives on earth are entirely replete with tests and difficulties. As Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzato (18th century, Italy) wrote in his classic work Mesilat Yesharim (Path of the Just): 

"… A person is thus placed amidst a strong war, for all matters of the world, for good or for bad, are tests for a person: Poverty on the one hand, wealth on the other; serenity on the one hand, suffering on the other; etc. He thus finds himself in a war front and back. And if he will be a man of valor, emerging from the battle victorious on all fronts – he will be the "whole/perfect man" who merits to cling to his Creator and emerge from the corridor of This World to enter into the palace of the Light of Eternal Life… We thus understand that the primary purpose of man's existence in this world is only to fulfill the Torah's commandments, serve [G-d], and pass the tests."

What is the main test facing the People of Israel in its Land in this generation? It is to believe wholeheartedly that we are fulfilling G-d's will and command by living here – and that G-d will grant us His help in enabling us to continue to live here. 

 We face this test in our current two-front war: One is physical, against Iran's murderous threats to obliterate us, Heaven forbid, and against Arab Palestinian terrorists from within Judea and Samaria, and from elsewhere, who take every opportunity to shoot, bomb and stab to death as many Jews as possible, Heaven forbid.

And the second front is spiritual, against the defeatists and those of no faith within us, those for whom the Torah does not light their path and who feel that in truth, the Arabs are the rightful owners of our land and that our national presence here is unjust.  

We are thus pressured to give in and concede our land, our building and construction rights, our maritime gas reserves, our unfettered right and obligation to defend ourselves – all so that the Arabs and the world will accept our presence here. The message of the media and academics and many politicians is that "now is not the right time" for an offensive war of deterrence and for the destruction of the enemy's capabilities to bomb us. They hammer away that major offensives to uproot the enemy's terrorist infrastructures will cause us at least as many casualties as the terrorists already cause us, so what would be the point?

And thus the "nation in Zion" sits in frustration and despair and helplessness, brainwashed into thinking that there is no other choice.

What are these defeatists lacking? They lack faith and trust in the historic promises of G-d to Israel. It is precisely this situation of Israel's entry (no matter how protracted) into the Land of Israel, of wars and difficulties, of self-sacrifice, and of tremendous pressures, about which the Torah announced in advance. It is for these circumstances that G-d gave us His promises, in this week's Torah portion of Ekev (Deut. 7,12-11,25) and elsewhere. With Bnei Yisrael on the verge of entering the Land, Moshe Rabbeinu exhorts them: 

"And if you say to yourself, 'These nations are more numerous than I; how will I be able to drive them out?' Do not fear them; remember what Hashem your God, did to Pharaoh and to all of Egypt - the great wonders that your eyes saw… the mighty hand and the outstretched arm with which He brought you out. So will He do to all the peoples you fear… Do not be terrified of them, for the Lord Who is in your midst, is a great and awesome God. He will drive out those nations from before you, little by little – not quickly, lest the beasts of the field outnumber you. The Lord will deliver them to you, and He will confound them with great confusion, until they are destroyed." (Deut. 7,17-23)

According to Rabbeinu Yonah, one of the great Rishonim (Medieval period Torah scholars), the above exhortations not to have fear are literal, binding Torah commands. Similarly, that which is stated in Deut. 20,1 is also an obligatory Torah injunction: "If/when you go out to war against your enemies, and you see that they have great forces of horses and chariots… do not fear them." This means that we must not be afraid of various calamities coming upon us, and we must not give in to despair; we must rather trust and remember that G-d is with us and His salvation is close – as is written in Psalms 85,10, Isaiah 51,12, and elsewhere. 

There is a great difference between us and the secular public in Israel, in that we believe in all the Torah's teachings and promises, for the Torah is G-d's word. One who knows that G-d created the world, that He is all-powerful, and that He rules all – will not be afraid of any mortal man. This lack of trust and faith is precisely that which plagued the Spies sent out to scout the Land by Moshe Rabbeinu. They, too, were afraid that "the nation [in the Land] is so strong!" One of the only two scouts who trusted in G-d, Calev ben Yefuneh, tried to argue with them: "Don't rebel against G-d!" Why was this considered a rebellion? The Ramban explains (Numbers 14,9): 

"Fear of the great strength of the peoples dwelling in the Land [that G-d has promised you] is a rebellion against G-d – for [do you not remember that] it was not by your own might that you left Egypt, but only because of G-d's miracles for you. He promised that you will now enter and defeat the people living there, so you must believe it, and you will succeed!"

Elsewhere in Psalms we read another formulation of this problem: "They gave up on the beautiful land, did not believe His word" (106,24). This is a cause and effect: Why did they give up on the Land? Because they didn't have faith in G-d's word! They rather used their own logic, as some do today: "If we are few and they are many, and the entire world (West and East) is against the State of Israel, how can we survive? The only alternative is simply to give in." 

But for those who continue to believe in Hashem and His promises, the situation is precisely the opposite. G-d can do anything! He can even save a worm on a railroad track in the way of a speeding locomotive bearing down upon it – with a simple twitch of the engineer's hand driving it off the tracks. G-d thus comforted and encouraged us – "Fear not, O worm of Jacob; I have helped you, says the Lord, your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel" (Isaiah 41,14).

And the prophet continues with his encouragement, telling us that G-d can help us even crush mountains: "Behold I have made you a new grooved threshing-sledge, with sharp points; you shall thresh the mountains and crush them fine, and you shall make hills like chaff, and you shall winnow them - and a wind shall carry them off, and a tempest shall scatter them, and you shall rejoice with the Lord, with the Holy One of Israel…" 

We cling to G-d. And it is specifically our Land that can bring us closer to Him. The commandment in this week's Torah portion is to "walk in all His ways and cling to Him" (Deut. 11,22). We must fulfill this by dwelling in the Land He has given us with total trust and confidence.

Our great Torah giants say that our closeness to G-d is acquired specifically in the Land of Israel. For instance, Rabbe Natan, the top student of Rabbe Nachman of Breslov, wrote in Likutei Halachot: "For Eretz Yisrael is the place of the primary closeness to G-d. And this is why the Gemara taught, 'Whoever lives in Eretz Yisrael, it is as if he has a G-d.'" 

And the Kli Yakar wrote as well (Parashat Lekh Lekha): "For it is there [in the Land] that he will attain closeness of the Divine Presence."

And the Sefer HaKuzari, too, in the end of this classic work: "The heart will not become pure, and one's thoughts will not be totally devoted to G-d, other than in this place [Eretz Yisrael]." And the Abarbanel, as well, in his commentary to Pirkei Avot (Chapter 5), extolled at length the praises of the Land. 

And thus we see that must not leave the Land, nor may we be swayed with weak-heartedness by the heresy of the defeatists in our midst who seek to weaken the public with incitement to give away parts of our inheritance. We are, after all, "believers, children of believers" (Tr. Shabbat 97a).