Rallying for Israel, Part Two.

Valuing for Israel part two. The rally of November 7th contravened the belief that Ein od Milvado, that Hakadosh Baruch Hu's the only true existent, all powerful and control of all. Do natural, meaning non-spiritual initiatives, such as the rally, insinuate or reflect a heretical belief in natural geopolitical etiology, cause, causes? And in adopting natural measures alongside spiritual ones, are we guilty of professing an idolatrous belief in Kochi Ve'otzem Yadi? So let's review a few sample seminal sources. Some are halachic and some are meta-halachic which reflect upon the ethos of halacha. There's a Yerushalmi which is quoted lehalacha that says that in a situation of pikuach nefesh, if a person is shoel, if a person delays responding to the pikuach nefesh by asking a shayla whether or not it's justified on Shabbos, הרי זה שופך דמים, guilty of bloodshed Rachmana litzlan. In the Parshas Shoftim, in the Parsha Milchamah, we learned this a little bit in shiur this week. So there's an amazing juxtaposition in the pesukim. The Torah describes

כי תצא למלחמה על אויבך וראית סוס ורכב עם רב ממך.

You'll see a more powerful foe, a foe, an adversary more powerful than you. They have the weapons that they bring to bear, the sus varechev are greater than yours. Nevertheless,

לא תירא מהם כי ה' אלקיך עמך המעלך מארץ מצרים.

You shouldn't fear because you don't need to combat the threat. Hakadosh Baruch Hu's going to combat the threat. And in fact, והיה כקרבכם אל המלחמה, when you approach war, ונגש הכהן ודבר אל העם, the mashuach milchamah speaks to the nation,

ואמר אליהם שמע ישראל אתם קרבים היום למלחמה על אויביכם אל ירך לבבכם אל תיראו,

skipping a few words,

כי ה' אלקיכם ההלך עמכם להלחם לכם עם איביכם להושיע אתכם.

Because Hashem Ish Milchamah, Hakadosh Baruch Hu is going out to war with you. So clearly the Torah is describing that Hakadosh Baruch Hu is waging the war. The war's going to unfold on a supernatural plane, on a metaphysical level. And then all of a sudden the Torah, the very next pasuk,

ודברו השטרים אל העם לאמר מי האיש אשר בנה בית חדש ולא חנכו ילך וישב לביתו פן ימות במלחמה ואיש אחר יחנכנו.

The Torah lists those who are chozrim me'orechi hamilchamah, those who in the case of a milchemet reshut are exempt from military service because of the natural dangers and uncertainties associated with milchamah. the ones who are going to be waging the war and winning the war. Hakadosh Baruch Hu is going to be doing it. And me'idach gisa, no, the person who בנה בית חדש ולא חנכו, he might die. There are no guarantees in war. It's fraught with danger rachmana litzlan. So the Ramban explains how this juxtaposition is possible. On the one hand, יזהירם שלא ירך לבבם ולא ייראו מן האויבים, they shouldn't be timid, they shouldn't be afraid of the enemies. ויאמר שלא יבטחו בזה בגבורתם, they shouldn't be trusting in their own might, לחשוב בלבם גיבורים אנחנו ואנשי חיל למלחמה, that we're strong. רק שישיבו לבם אל השם ויבטחו בישועתם, they should be trusting in Hakadosh Baruch Hu.

כי לא בגבורת הסוס יחפץ ולא בשוקי האיש ירצה כי רוצה השם את יראיו את המיחלים לחסדו. ואמר להושיע אתכם שהם ינצלו במלחמה ולא יפקד מהם איש.

So on the one hand the Torah is telling us that Hakadosh Baruch Hu will fight on our side and with Hakadosh Baruch Hu on our side there doesn't have to be a single casualty. And then the Torah says אבל השוטרים ידברו בנוהג שבעולם. But then the shotrim speak on the natural level.

פן ימות במלחמה כי בדרך הארץ בכל המלחמות ימותו אנשים גם מכת הנוצחים.

In all wars naturally, even the victorious side suffers casualties. So how does all this, how does this cohere? How do these different strands come together in one tapestry? So the Ramban says

כי התורה תצווה בדרך הארץ ותעשה הניסים עם יראיו בהסתר.

Mitzvos hatorah are given on a natural level. Bederech ha'aretz means the natural, the way the world functions naturally. כי התורה תצווה בדרך הארץ. And it is within the natural workings of the world that Hakadosh Baruch Hu generally for the most part performs his hidden miracles, ותעשה הניסים עם יראיו בהסתר. So on the one hand Hakadosh Baruch Hu will miraculously save us from our enemies and yet the Torah mandates that while we have complete and unwavering emuna in his involvement we're required to approach war on a natural level, bederech ha'aretz, without relying on miracles. The two-tier, this two-tiered system the Ramban explains allows for nissim nistarim that don't override natural law. Hakadosh Baruch Hu providentially miraculously operates within natural processes and in most instances ratzon Hashem eschews, it, it opts not to perform nissim gluyim but rather nissim nistarim. Kavyachol Hakadosh Baruch Hu is poised to perform nissim nistarim on our behalf but we as it were are commanded to provide him with cover that they should be nissim nistarim not nissim gluyim. Hakadosh Baruch Hu guarantees that he'll perform nissim nistarim, he doesn't guarantee nissim gluyim when nissim nistarim would suffice. Hisbonenu ure'u rabosai. The frightening implications of this divine principle and halachic mandate, misguided passivity, misguided quiescent pietism, albeit unmistakably But when nissim nistarim are possible, there isn't necessarily a haftacha for nissim gluyim. For the nes to be a nes nistar means that we're operating at full throttle on the natural level. Natural initiatives such as a rally don't insinuate a belief in kochi v'otzem yadi; they fulfill ratzon Hashem. They don't encroach upon the belief of ein od milvado; they implement kabbalas ol mitzvos. Moshe Rabbeinu, Moshe Rabbeinu employed all relevant natural means and tactics. Hence in year two in the midbar he approved of the request to send meraglim and in year 40 he dispatched another set of spies. V'zo eitza haguna, the Ramban writes in Parshas Shelach b'chol kovshei ha'aretz. This is sound tactic.

וכן עשה עוד משה בעצמו שנאמר וישלח משה לרגל את יעזר וכן ביהושע בן נון שנים אנשים מרגלים ועל כן היה טוב בעיני משה.

That's why the request to send the meraglim appealed to Moshe Rabbeinu; he thought it was correct. כי הכתוב לא יסמוך בכל מעשיו על הנס. The Torah never relies on miracles, meaning even nissim nistarim, the Torah tells us not to rely on that. אבל יצוה במלחמה להחלץ ולהשמר ולארוב to arm themselves, to take precautions, to employ military strategy. כאשר בא הכתוב במלחמת העי שהיתה על פי השם when the war is ordained by Hakadosh Baruch Hu, when Hakadosh Baruch Hu is telling us to engage in the milchamah, nevertheless, we're supposed to employ all natural means available. The Ramban clearly explains that naturalness characterizes all of halakha. It's not limited to the mitzvah of milchamah. כי התורה תצוה בדרך הארץ. That's what the Torah does generally. The future in Loshon HaKodesh is sometimes used what I think is called as a hoveh tamidi. Onkelos translates השם ימלוך לעולם ועד. So yimloch is future. So Onkelos teitches ה׳ מלכותיה קאים לעלם ולעלמי עלמיא. Ka'eim is present. So a present which is constant and will always continue that way, so in Loshon HaKodesh that's often expressed in the future. It's called it expresses a hoveh tamidi. ki haTorah tetzaveh is a hoveh tamidi. The Torah again, this is a hallmark of halakha. כי הכתוב לא יסמוך בכל מעשיו על הנס. Any suggestion that belief in ein od milvado warrants passivity and that the belief in ein od milvado precludes initiative distorts halakha as a whole. Sefer HaChinuch also presents and explains this two-tiered system of divine providence and human initiative. He's commenting on the mitzvah of ma'akeh that ועשית מעקה כתיבה לביתך חדש is what is I forget how the posuk goes.

לא תעשה ועשית מעקה לגגך לא תשים דמים בביתך כי יפל הנפל ממנו.

So the Torah says that the reason there's both a mitzvas asei and lo sa'asei associated with building a guardrail around a flat roof is lest someone be on the roof using the roof and he fall off and and fall to his death. So לא תשים דמים בביתך. Mishorshei hamitzvah writes the Chinuch, לפי שהיה השם ברוך הוא משגיח בפרטי בני אדם. Hakadosh Baruch Hu exercises a detailed individualized hashgacha. משגיח בפרטי בני אדם and knows all of their deeds according to the Chinuch's understanding. וכל אשר יקרה להם according to the Chinuch's understanding, anything that happens to a person, tov oh ra, bigzeiraso ubemitzvaso. According to the Chinuch's understanding, is a result of either of gzeiras Hashem.

וכעניין שאמרו זכרונם לברכה אין אדם נוקף אצבעו מלמטה אלא אם כן מכריזין עליו מלמעלה.

So according to the Chinuch, anything that's not self-inflicted is by Hashem. And that that's the representing one, one major school of thought in terms of understanding hashgacha. אף על פי כן, says the Chinuch, nevertheless, צריך האדם לשמור עצמו מן המקרים הנהוגים בעולם. A person has to be careful. A person has to exercise care. כי האל ברא עולמו ובנאו על יסודות עמודי הטבע. Hakadosh Baruch Hu created a world that functions according to natural law. Vegazar, and as part of that natural law, שתהא האש שורפת והמים מכבים הלהבה. Fire burns, but water extinguishes a flame. Uchemo chen, and similarly, yechayeyv hateva, natural law dictates

שאם תיפול אבן גדולה על ראש איש שתרוצץ את מוחו.

It will crush, it will crush him. או אם ייפול האדם מראש הגג הגבוה לארץ שימות. If a person falls off a high roof, he'll die from injuries.

והוא ברוך הוא חונן גופות בני אדם ויפח באפיו נשמת חיים בעלת דעת לשמור הגוף מכל פגע.

And Hakadosh Baruch Hu endowed us with the understanding and the intelligence and the ability to be careful. Ve'al ken, I'm skipping several lines, tetzavenu hatorah. That's why the Torah commands לשמור משכנותינו ומקומותינו לבל יקרנו מוות בפשיעותנו. That's why the Torah says we have to take precautions. Sefer HaChinuch used the word seatbelt when he, when he drove. He also didn't speak. Nor presumably did he text while he was, while he was driving either. Ve'al ken tetzavenu hatorah lishmor mishkenoteinu umekomoteinu. The Torah says that the Torah commands us to be careful לבל יקרנו מוות בפשיעותנו, because otherwise, death will result from our own neglect. ולא נסכן נפשותינו על סמך הנס. And and we're not allowed to jeopardize, endanger ourselves relying on on a miracle. But but now listen, listen to what comes.

ואמרו זכרונם לברכה שכל סומך על הנס אין עושין לו נס.

Chazal say if a person relies on a miracle, the miracle doesn't happen. A person banks on the miracle, the miracle does not happen.

שכל הסומך על הנס אין עושין לו נס. ועל דרך הזה תראה רוב ענייני הכתובים בכל מקום.

All over Torah, this message is telegraphed. כי גם בהילחם ישראל מלחמת מצווה על פי השם. Even when, when al pi Hashem, at Hakadosh Baruch Hu's behest we're engaged in milchemet mitzvah, hayu orchin milchamtan. They would start... Strategize. They would employ military tactics, u'mezaynin atzman, v'osin kol inyanam, and they would conduct everything כאילו יסמכו בדרכי הטבע לגמרי as though they were entirely relying on their natural initiatives, on natural means. V'chein ra'uy la'asos, and that's what was supposed to be done, lefi ha'inyan shezacharnu. ואשר לא יחלוק על האמת מרע הלב יודה בזה. Hakadosh Baruch Hu created a world which functions according to natural law. Respect for His world, for His natural law, for ratzon Hashem requires that we operate fully and effectively on a natural level. Otherwise, Rachmana litzlan, we're being contemptuous of Hakadosh Baruch Hu and His world. We fervently believe in hashgacha pratis v'nisim, yet we don't rely upon them at all.

ועושין כל ענינם כאילו יסמכו בדרכי הטבע לגמרי וכן ראוי לעשות.

You can take a look that the Rav talks about this a little bit in Lonely Man of Faith. The statement quoted in both the Tur and Shulchan Aruch, v'im monea atzmo in a situation of pikuach nefesh הרי זה שופך דמים, which can be traced indirectly to a Talmudic passage, is a cornerstone of Halakhic thinking.