By rav Lazer Brody
Almost everyone in Israel laments our lack of deterrence. Some trace it back to Israel's hasty retreat from Lebanon a dozen years ago. Others go back further, to the first Intifada, or Arab uprising, in the late 1980's. Still others claim that our lack of deterrence is a result of Israel's failure to score a decisive victory over the Hamas and coalition of Gaza terrorists, both in operation “Cast Lead” two and a half years ago and in the recent round of Gazan rocket attacks against the south of Israel last month. Even worse, Israel failed miserably against a mere few thousand Hizbolla fighters five years ago in 2006, who virtually paralyzed the north of Israel.
The above facts, although noteworthy, are mere symptoms; they are not the core reason for Israel's lack of deterrence.
So where's the deterrence?
The Torah gives us the secret of deterrence (Deuteronomy 28:10): "For all the nations of the earth shall see that the Name of God is upon you (literally, that the Name of G-d can be read from your countenance, in other words, that you reflect His Name) and they shall fear you." That's the entire doctrine of deterrence in a nutshell.
Our sages tell us that by way of the mitzva of tefillin, the "Name of Hashem shall be upon you." The Lubavitcher Rebbe of saintly and blessed memory began his tefillin project worldwide right before the Six-Day War in 1967; according to the Kabbalists, this invoked the Divine Compassion that tipped the scales so miraculously in Israel's favor. By putting tefillin on so many Jews around the world, the Lubavitcher Rebbe made sure that the Name of Hashem was upon our people; sure enough, the nations feared us.
In 1972, my wife was a young soldier in the army, the personnel secretary of a tank battalion. On more than one occasion, she boarded a rickety old Arab bus that took her from East Jerusalem to Bethlehem, where she'd frequent Rachel's tomb. Today, no lone female soldier in uniform would dream of doing such a thing.
Everyone is aware of the famous photo from Jenin of recent years as a lone 9-year old Palestinian boy with a rock in his hand confronts an Israeli tank. They no longer fear us. Why?
As a nation, we no longer reflect the Name of Hashem.
After Cain's heinous transgression of killing his brother Abel, he lost the Divine reflection from his forehead. He became deathly afraid. He protested Hashem's severe punishment that sent him into exile. He claimed that any animal that would see him would kill him. Hashem recognized Cain's claim as totally justified, so He gave him a letter of His Holy Name to reflect from Cain's forehead as a protection.
One who commits a serious sin, particularly a sin that's punishable by ka'ret, or severance from the Divine Presence, loses his tzelem Elokim, the Divine image that reflects from a person. To an animal, a person without the reflection of the Divine image looks lower than an animal. A dog or a wolf will readily attack such an individual. Interestingly enough, have you ever seen a dog enter a train station with hundreds of people milling about, yet make a beeline dart towards a certain individual? You can bet that the particular individual did a serious transgression recently.
Hashem gave Cain a “letter” to protect him. Remarkably, both Shabbat and telillin are called an ot, or a letter too. As such, one who wears tefillin six days a week and observes the Sabbath on the seventh can be assured of having Hashem's protective letter emanating from his forehead.
Both the Prophet Daniel and the holy Rabbi Chaim ben Attar were thrown into lions' dens. But the hungry lions were awed and humbled by the dazzling reflection of Divine light that reflected from the foreheads of these two prodigious tzaddikim, so they purred like pussycats in their presence.
With the above concept in mind, we can now understand why in ancient Israel, whether in Joshua's army or in King David's army, a person would be dishonorably discharged if he spoke between donning his arm-tefillin and his head-tefillin. Why such a severe punishment for such a seemingly minor offense? Joshua and King David knew that the army's success in general, and the soldier's safety in particular, depended on the impeccable performance of the tefillin mitzva. Without the full light of the Divine image emanating from their foreheads, soldiers would be a danger to themselves and to their comrades. The Lubavitcher Rebbe was well aware of this secret, and that's why he went out of his way in mobilizing all of Chabad for “Project Tefillin” that began worldwide in May of 1967, a month before the miraculous victory of the Six-Day War.
The Torah gives us a second secret of deterrence (see Deuteronomy 23:15): “For the Lord your God walks in the midst of your camp to save you and to subdue your enemies before you; your camp shall be holy and there shall be no impure thing, lest His presence leave you.” In other words, personal holiness is a key to deterrence. Any breach of personal holiness creates a breach in national deterrence.
We are commanded to steer clear of evil and those who do evil things. That's basic ABC practical advice, for places of debauchery are simply dangerous.
The IDF rabbinate, rather than choosing the path of truth and Torah, has opted for the path of political expediency, refusing to back observant soldier's who want to steer clear of such Halachic breaches as listening to women sing. That doesn't help deterrence.
The Israel Ministry of Tourism openly and officially encourages gay tourism. Homosexuality and sodomy are one of the thirty six heinous sins punishable by kar'et. This not only kills are deterrence, but is tantamount to national suicide. Those of us in the south of Israel have all too painfully felt the result of our lack of national deterrence in the 220+ missile attacks of recent weeks.
Private lewdness behind closed doors is one thing. Debauchery as an official government policy is an entirely different issue.
It's high time we make a serious personal an national self-assessment. The only way to bring back our power of deterrence is to bring back the Divine reflection from each one of us. Strengthening personal holiness, modesty, and the mitzvoth of tefillin and Shabbat are the order of the day. Who knows how little time we might have to get our national act together. May Hashem have mercy on us and redeem us soon, amen.
Almost everyone in Israel laments our lack of deterrence. Some trace it back to Israel's hasty retreat from Lebanon a dozen years ago. Others go back further, to the first Intifada, or Arab uprising, in the late 1980's. Still others claim that our lack of deterrence is a result of Israel's failure to score a decisive victory over the Hamas and coalition of Gaza terrorists, both in operation “Cast Lead” two and a half years ago and in the recent round of Gazan rocket attacks against the south of Israel last month. Even worse, Israel failed miserably against a mere few thousand Hizbolla fighters five years ago in 2006, who virtually paralyzed the north of Israel.
The above facts, although noteworthy, are mere symptoms; they are not the core reason for Israel's lack of deterrence.
So where's the deterrence?
The Torah gives us the secret of deterrence (Deuteronomy 28:10): "For all the nations of the earth shall see that the Name of God is upon you (literally, that the Name of G-d can be read from your countenance, in other words, that you reflect His Name) and they shall fear you." That's the entire doctrine of deterrence in a nutshell.
Our sages tell us that by way of the mitzva of tefillin, the "Name of Hashem shall be upon you." The Lubavitcher Rebbe of saintly and blessed memory began his tefillin project worldwide right before the Six-Day War in 1967; according to the Kabbalists, this invoked the Divine Compassion that tipped the scales so miraculously in Israel's favor. By putting tefillin on so many Jews around the world, the Lubavitcher Rebbe made sure that the Name of Hashem was upon our people; sure enough, the nations feared us.
In 1972, my wife was a young soldier in the army, the personnel secretary of a tank battalion. On more than one occasion, she boarded a rickety old Arab bus that took her from East Jerusalem to Bethlehem, where she'd frequent Rachel's tomb. Today, no lone female soldier in uniform would dream of doing such a thing.
Everyone is aware of the famous photo from Jenin of recent years as a lone 9-year old Palestinian boy with a rock in his hand confronts an Israeli tank. They no longer fear us. Why?
As a nation, we no longer reflect the Name of Hashem.
After Cain's heinous transgression of killing his brother Abel, he lost the Divine reflection from his forehead. He became deathly afraid. He protested Hashem's severe punishment that sent him into exile. He claimed that any animal that would see him would kill him. Hashem recognized Cain's claim as totally justified, so He gave him a letter of His Holy Name to reflect from Cain's forehead as a protection.
One who commits a serious sin, particularly a sin that's punishable by ka'ret, or severance from the Divine Presence, loses his tzelem Elokim, the Divine image that reflects from a person. To an animal, a person without the reflection of the Divine image looks lower than an animal. A dog or a wolf will readily attack such an individual. Interestingly enough, have you ever seen a dog enter a train station with hundreds of people milling about, yet make a beeline dart towards a certain individual? You can bet that the particular individual did a serious transgression recently.
Hashem gave Cain a “letter” to protect him. Remarkably, both Shabbat and telillin are called an ot, or a letter too. As such, one who wears tefillin six days a week and observes the Sabbath on the seventh can be assured of having Hashem's protective letter emanating from his forehead.
Both the Prophet Daniel and the holy Rabbi Chaim ben Attar were thrown into lions' dens. But the hungry lions were awed and humbled by the dazzling reflection of Divine light that reflected from the foreheads of these two prodigious tzaddikim, so they purred like pussycats in their presence.
With the above concept in mind, we can now understand why in ancient Israel, whether in Joshua's army or in King David's army, a person would be dishonorably discharged if he spoke between donning his arm-tefillin and his head-tefillin. Why such a severe punishment for such a seemingly minor offense? Joshua and King David knew that the army's success in general, and the soldier's safety in particular, depended on the impeccable performance of the tefillin mitzva. Without the full light of the Divine image emanating from their foreheads, soldiers would be a danger to themselves and to their comrades. The Lubavitcher Rebbe was well aware of this secret, and that's why he went out of his way in mobilizing all of Chabad for “Project Tefillin” that began worldwide in May of 1967, a month before the miraculous victory of the Six-Day War.
The Torah gives us a second secret of deterrence (see Deuteronomy 23:15): “For the Lord your God walks in the midst of your camp to save you and to subdue your enemies before you; your camp shall be holy and there shall be no impure thing, lest His presence leave you.” In other words, personal holiness is a key to deterrence. Any breach of personal holiness creates a breach in national deterrence.
We are commanded to steer clear of evil and those who do evil things. That's basic ABC practical advice, for places of debauchery are simply dangerous.
The IDF rabbinate, rather than choosing the path of truth and Torah, has opted for the path of political expediency, refusing to back observant soldier's who want to steer clear of such Halachic breaches as listening to women sing. That doesn't help deterrence.
The Israel Ministry of Tourism openly and officially encourages gay tourism. Homosexuality and sodomy are one of the thirty six heinous sins punishable by kar'et. This not only kills are deterrence, but is tantamount to national suicide. Those of us in the south of Israel have all too painfully felt the result of our lack of national deterrence in the 220+ missile attacks of recent weeks.
Private lewdness behind closed doors is one thing. Debauchery as an official government policy is an entirely different issue.
It's high time we make a serious personal an national self-assessment. The only way to bring back our power of deterrence is to bring back the Divine reflection from each one of us. Strengthening personal holiness, modesty, and the mitzvoth of tefillin and Shabbat are the order of the day. Who knows how little time we might have to get our national act together. May Hashem have mercy on us and redeem us soon, amen.
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