The True Hasidim

I was planning on going to the Kotel today for the mass prayer but suddenly, I have two funerals to attend. The father of fallen soldier, Yonatan Netanel, z'tzl, is a friend from the neighborhood, and a teacher of two of my sons during their years in Talmud Torah. The father of fallen soldier, Dr. Dagan Wertman, z'tzl, is a neurologist that treated my parents.

The word "Hasid" means a righteous and saintly person, who is fervent in the proper and joyful performance of the Torah's commandments. Often, when you hear the word "Hasid," you picture a devoted Jew dressed in black clothes, a follower of Rebbi Nachman or Chabad. But the original meaning of the word is much different, as King David describes in a Psalm which we recite every day:

"Let the Hasidim be joyful in glory; let them sing aloud upon their beds at night. The exalted praises of G-d are in their mouth, and a double-edged sword in their hand, to execute vengeance upon the nations, chastisements upon the peoples, to bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron; to execute upon them the written judgment - this is the honor of His Hasidim. Halleluya." (Psalms 149)

The True Hasid

The soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces, who are risking their lives for the honor of G-d and the Jewish People, they are the true Hasidim. May the Almighty fight alongside them until the enemy is utterly crushed.   

O Jerusalem

Make no mistake. This is not a war over the Gaza Strip. This is not a war to bring quiet to Israel’s southern communities. This is a war for Jerusalem.

We gave the Arabs Gush Katif and the Gaza Strip, and still they fire their missiles. They are not satisfied with Gush Katif and the Gaza Strip. They want Jerusalem. They want all of the Land of Israel. They want the Jews out. It is as simple as that. If they had missiles that could reach Jerusalem, they’d fire at us too.

The name of the holy soldier who fell this morning was Dvir. The name Dvir is another name for Jerusalem. He gave his life fighting for Jerusalem. There is no higher honor than that.

Israel’s Prime Minister is wrong when he says over and over that our war is not with the Palestinian people. Not only Hamas wants Jerusalem. All of the Arabs have been indoctrinated with the same fanatical hatred for the Jews as Hamas. They all want Jerusalem, or, as they cry out in their cheers, “El Kudz! El Kudz!” They all want us out of here. They are all potential shihidim.

If there was ever a concept of Jewish ‘Jihad,” this war is it. As we have repeated written – Judaism is more than eating bagels and lox, and going to the movies on Motzei Shabbat. True Judaism is rebuilding the Nation of Israel in Eretz Yisrael. True Judaism is fighting the wars of Hashem. We have a Torah commandment called “Milchemet Mitzvah.” The Jewish People are commanded to go to war to establish Jewish sovereignty over all of the Land of Israel. Another part of this mitzvah of obligatory war is to defend the Jewish People against enemies who attack us. So we are now engaged in a milchemet mitzvah twice over. We are also commanded to wipe out the memory of Amalek. This means annihilating Amalek through war. The same spirit of Amalek that raged in the Nazi monster during the Second World War is the fire that burns in the hearts of Hamas and all of its fundamentalist Islamic offshoots, from Egypt to Iran. This evil spirit must be uprooted and destroyed.

No two-week military operation in the Gaza Strip will help. Any cease fire without first wiping out Hamas will only lead to missiles falling on Jerusalem, G-d forbid. There is absolutely no justification for allowing the enemies of Israel to continue to live in this Land. They must either be destroyed or transferred from our midst. For the sake of Jerusalem. To insure that Dvir has not given his life in vain – may his memory be for a blessing.

Prayers for a Swift and Total Victory

Tonight at the Kotel, while we were reciting Psalms with the Kabbalist Elder Rabbi Eliyahu Leon Levi, word came that our troops had entered Aza. Immediately, the Rav asked everyone to stand and to recite Psalm 20 out loud 12 times. Soon a large crowd had gathered and the roar inside the Kotel chamber was deafening:

  "For the conductor, a song of David.

  May the Lord answer you on a day of distress; may the name of the God of Jacob fortify you.

  May He send your aid from His sanctuary, and may He support you from Zion.

  May He remember all your meal offerings and may He accept your fat burnt offerings forever.

  May He give you as your heart [desires], and may He fulfill all your counsel.

  Let us sing praises for your salvation, and let us assemble in the name of our God; may the Lord fulfill all your    requests.

  Now I know that the Lord saved His anointed; He answered him from His holy heavens; with the mighty acts of    salvation from His right hand.

  These trust in chariots and these in horses, but we-we mention the name of the Lord our God.

  They kneel and fall, but we rise and gain strength.

  O Lord, save [us]; may the King answer us on the day we call."

 

HaRav Leon

Between each Psalm, Rav Leon cried out petitions to Heaven, filled with Kaballistic codes based on the Hidden Name of G-d, asking Hashem to guard our soldiers and annihilate Israel's enemies. His voice choked with tears. In his youth, he was a paratrooper who fought in the Six Day War. "Our soldiers are just young boys," he reminded everyone. "Suddenly, they are in the midst of a terrible battle. How frightening it is. How much they depend on our prayers." 

Rav Leon said that just as our soldiers are sacrificing their lives for the nation, we must be ready to make sacrifices too, by keeping sleep from our eyes during this long, difficult night, and praying, reciting prayers and the Tikun Hatzot, studying Torah, and judging all Jews in a scale of merit.

Our prayers continued for two hours. I felt as if they roaring echo of our shouts could be heard all the way to Aza, accompanying our troops off to battle, giving them spiritual fuel and drawing down a Divine shield to protect them.

Pray for Israel with all of your hearts, and may Hashem in His mercy answer our prayers for a swift and total victory.