Emuna: War and the Seventh Year Reminder

by Rav Yosef Veitzen, Rabbi of Psagot in the Binyamin Regional Council, yeshiva.org.il, translated by Hillel Fendel.

Our daily Amidah (Shmoneh Esrei) prayer comprises 19 blessings, and the Talmud explains (Megillah 17b) that their order is quite precise: 

"… And why is Redemption the topic of the seventh blessing? Rav said: "Because Israel is destined to be redeemed in the seventh year [of the Shmittah cycle]." 

"But [we learn elsewhere that] the sixth year is one of [shofar] sounds, the seventh year – wars, and at the end of the seventh, the [Messiah] son of David arrives! [Answer:] War is the beginning of redemption."

We see from this Gemara that the Sages reveal an intrinsic connection between the Shmittah year and war. We are called upon during that year to go out to war against the savage Ishmaelites. What is the essence of this intrinsic connection between war and Shmittah?

The Holy Zohar cites a story involving R. Yosi and R. Chiya. They were walking along and saw two other men who then met a third man – who said that he had lost his way and had not had anything to eat for three days. One of the two men took out food from his pack and gave it all to the hungry man, leaving himself with nothing to eat. R. Chiya and R. Yosi discussed the matter: The former felt that the generous man was too generous, and did not do the right thing in leaving himself without anything. R. Yosi, however, said that it could be that a grave judgement had been decreed upon the giver, and that Divine providence had granted him the chance to do this good deed so that he could be saved from the decree. In the end, R. Yosi was proven correct, in that a miracle was wrought for the man who had given away all his food. 

R. Yosi cited this verse: "Trust in G-d and do good, [that you may] live in the land and be nourished with faithfulness" (Psalms 37,3): If you do good, with trust in G-d, He will save you from troubles and you will thus dwell in the land. 

The Message of Shmittah

R. Yosi's words seem to clash with the traditional teaching that we are not to rely on miracles. In truth, R. Yosi acknowledges that while this is true in general, there are exceptional cases, such as when a person faces a harsh judgment, when he must do a particular mitzvah with devotion and without calculations, and then G-d will protect him.

That is, there are times when a person must ignore regular considerations of money and the like, and simply trust that G-d will help him. The Zohar says that we can learn this from the idea of Shmittah, when we must let the land lay fallow and trust that our sustenance will come not from our work, but from Him. 

Our purpose in this world is simply to cling to Hashem – but He Himself placed us in a world that does not allow us to be engaged only in that. Rather, the rules of the world obligate us not only to keep our eyes on our physical and material goals, but also to plan out ways to achieve them. As such, we work our fields for six full years, just like all the other nations, and then in the seventh year we rest. 

However, there are risks that stem from our preoccupation with earning a living in the "natural" way. We might not only forget our real purpose, but we are liable also to assume that our material success comes exclusively thanks to our own efforts, our hishtadlut. That is, while hishtadlut is important, it might lead to forgetting G-d. And this is why we have the Shmittah year, a "Sabbath unto G-d." This is a full year in which we are exempt from worrying about our sustenance, but rather spend our time and efforts in doing goodness, engaging in matters of the spirit, and rest and cease from all other work. We thus throw our trust only in G-d. 

As the Torah states when it commands us regarding Shmittah: "And if you should ask, Whatever will we eat during the seventh year? … I will direct My [extra] blessing to you in the sixth year…" (Vayikra 25). 

Yes, the Shmittah year is a test: Even though we have little food for ourselves, we are told to trust in G-d and give of ourselves to others. That is, in accordance with the verse cited above, the test is to see if we set aside our personal calculations and seek only to come close to G-d. 

Similarly: During times of war, our individual lives are considered simply a means for the goal of the welfare of the entire country and for the Sanctification of G-d's Name.

While it is difficult to know when we must act like the generous man in the above story and put aside all personal considerations, it appears that during a war, the general rule is that we must set aside our personal issues and devote ourselves to the collective. The Rambam says that when one goes out to war, he must erase from his mind all thoughts of his wife and children, and concentrate exclusively on his war mission. The sacred goals of victory, neutralization of all national threats, and the prevention of a chilul Hashem (desecration of G-d's name) – all these override all personal calculations. 

This is why during the storms of war, we don't count the number of our dead; individual lives must give way to our collective life.

In War, the Ends Generally Justify the Means

When we are engaged in a war, the goal of "victory" is that which determines our strategy. We must wage war in an ethical and moral manner – but only when doing so will not lead to the most unethical and immoral result of all, that of losing the war! When our enemies seek to wipe us out with great cruelty, this is the ultimate immorality, both in terms of the murder and suffering, and also in the chilul Hashem that it entails. 

Yes, of course we fight our wars ethically – for our wars are, essentially, battles for justice and ethics; how can we fight unjustly for the sake of justice? This would be like cutting off the branch on which we sit. But this can never become a reason for us to lose the war, which would be more unjust and unethical that any individual unethical act we could do. 

Trust in G-d During War and in Shmittah

We have thus seen an important connection between the Shmittah year and waging war. Both of them require that we have total trust in Hashem that we will be able to attain our objectives. The attribute of trust in G-d produces within us new strengths; we no longer need to rely only on our own limited capabilities, but rather know that we have infinite Divine forces on our side, which no earthly force can withstand. 

"Give us aid against the adversary, but the salvation at the hand of man is futile. Through God we shall gather might, and He will trample our adversaries." (Psalms 60,13-14)

Emuna: Let Us Be Strong, Worthy, and Aware in This War

Adapted from an article by Rabbi Eliezer Melamed, Rabbi of Har Brachah and Rosh Yeshivat Har Brachah, yeshiva.org.il, translated by Hillel Fendel.

Let us begin with a prayer and praise for our soldiers – and their forbearers: 

May our words be to the merit of the soldiers and field officers who risk their lives every day for their country and their people. They perpetuate, with their valor, our holy heroes throughout our generations: our forefathers in Egypt who did not forget or forfeit their identity; Yehoshua Bin-Nun and his warriors who captured Eretz Yisrael; King David who established the Jewish kingdom; Daniel and his comrades who were willing to give their lives in order to keep alive the embers of the faith of Israel in the Babylonian exile; the Hashmonaim who helped the Jewish People survive the decrees of the Syrian-Greeks and who re-established the Kingdom of Israel; Rabbi Akiva and his colleagues; and all the holy ones throughout our centuries of exile who preserved their Jewishness and were willing to give  - and actually gave - their lives for it during the Crusades, the Inquisition, and the pogroms; and the six million who were wiped out during the Holocaust. 

Our soldiers today are meriting to wage war in the Israel Defense Forces in the name of all the generations of our history, on behalf of our independence and our national honor. 

May it be G-d's will that in the merit of the tremendous mitzvah that they are fulfilling, we will be privileged to destroy those who wish to harm us, to settle the Land, to absorb Aliyah from all over the world, and to fulfill the great vision from the days of our Patriarch Abraham of establishing a nation of justice, charity and G-d's way that will be a blessing for all peoples.

May it be G-d's will that the sturdy spirit of our soldiers inspire all sectors of our nation – and even our military, political and societal leaders. 

The soldiers who fell in these battles, thus sanctifying G-d's name, merited to rise beyond their individual levels, all the way up to the level of Jewish national sanctity. They already have their large share in the World to Come, while we here below will strive with all our might to be worthy of their sacrifice and continue to walk in the true and correct path. And in their names and for the uplifting of their souls, we will add life and blessing. 

Understanding the Muslim Language

In the course of writing a work on Jewish faith vis-à-vis idolatry, and our relations with other religions, I have come to learn that not only is the Islamic religion significantly more combative than other religions, it also has a unique approach to the concept of "speech." Since we are at war with many practitioners of this religion, it behooves us to understand this. 

Words have great power in Islam. One can accept the Muslim religion simply by making the appropriate declaration, and a man can both betroth and divorce a woman simply by saying some specific words. It is no surprise, then, that the idea of what comprises truth and deception in Islam is also different than in the rest of the world. 

Generally, we understand speech to reflect reality; if it does not, it is a lie. In Islam, however, what one says is reality – and therefore he can say what he thinks should be the case, and does not feel that he is lying. Islam forbids what we call "lying" for egocentric purposes; it is permitted only if it serves the purposes of the correct values. But if one lies in order to portray infidels as wicked, this is considered the truth, because it serves the goals of the ultimate truth. They can even portray their defeats as victories, because in the end, their understanding of reality is that they will emerge victorious. 

There is more to elaborate on this topic. But one conclusion is that if we wish to truly deter our enemies, we must defeat them so decisively that they will not even be able to begin to exaggerate, deny, lie, and explain away the defeat as a victory. By acting as if they have not lost, their countrymen and coreligionists are encouraged to fight yet another war. Our victories must be total and absolute. There can be no half-victory and then assume that our enemies are "deterred;" they are not. We must strike them with full force, take over territories, and encourage them to emigrate.

When is it Time for Prayer? 

Prayer is very important – but sometimes, we must cut them short and take action instead. When the Children of Israel left Egypt, they soon found themselves at the Sea of Reeds with the Egyptians in hot pursuit – and they were scared. Moshe encouraged them and then began to pray, but Hashem stopped him: "Why do you cry out to Me? Speak to Bnei Yisrael and have them travel [through the sea]!" (Sh'mot 14,15)

Similarly, when one must rush a patient to the hospital, he should not take time out to pray. He must rather make sure to obtain medical help as quickly as possible, while whispering a prayer, if he wants, that does not cause any delay.

When a Jewish army goes out to war, a short prayer is offered up beforehand, but again, without causing any delay. For the main thing is to fulfill the tremendous mitzvot of "saving Israel from its enemies" and ensuring that the Land of Israel remains in our hands. 

The more we understand the value of the mitzvah at hand, the more value there is to the prayers that accompany it. But the more one denies the importance of the mitzvah that our soldiers are fulfilling, and believes that the main thing is to cry out to G-d – the prayer is actually valueless, and even worse. As is written: "He who turns his ear away from hearing [and fulfilling] the Torah, even his prayer is an abomination" (Proverbs 28,9). 

Two Talmudic Sages, R. Yirmiyah and R. Zera, expressed differing opinions (Tractate Shabbat, p. 10a) about whether one should interrupt his Torah studies in order to pray at the right time. But all agree that if one is engaged in Torah study or is about to fulfill a Torah commandment, this is not the right time to engage in prayer; Torah action and study come first.