Rabbi Nachman Kahana
Rabbi Nachman Kahanaאתר האינטרנט של הרב

9) When you are encamped against your enemies, distance yourselves from all impurities... 15) For the Lord your God is present in your camp to protect you and to deliver your enemies to you. Your camp must be holy, so that He will not see among you anything indecent and turn away from you. (Devarim 23:

The following are quotes said by great men of Am Yisrael before going out to battle.

Can you make the association?

-...Save me, I pray... for I am afraid he will kill me and the mothers with their children

-Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.

-They are brought to their knees and fall, but we rise up and stand firm.

-Hashem, give victory. The king will answer us when we call!

-You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defiled.

-This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands, and I shall behead you and will give the carcasses of the ... army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel

-And ... said to his young armor-bearer, let us go to the positions of these uncircumcised men. Perhaps Hashem will act in our behalf. For nothing can hinder the Lord from saving, whether from many or from few.

-Let us be brave and for the sake of our nation and the cities of Hashem our Lord and Hashem will do that which is right in His eyes

-Listen Yisrael. Today you are going into battle against your enemies. Do not be fainthearted or afraid; do not panic or be terrified by them. For the Lord your God will accompany you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory.

-There is no constraint before Hashem in Heaven to save the many or the few for victory does not depend on the numbers of combatants, but on the heavenly decree.

Hashem grant me humility, grant me courage and wisdom of the heart so that I shall know how to lead -these men in the challenges that await us.

Answers:

-Our father Ya’akov when preparing for battle against Aisav

-King David

-David before killing Goliath

-Yehonatan son of King Shaul before attacking the Philistine army

-Yoav ben Tze’ruya before his battle against Amon

-The Kohen appointed for War

-Yehuda Hamacabee

-Brigadier General Ofer Vinter two weeks ago on his appointment as commanding officer of the Aish division.

The above Jewish greats, excepting the last one, were not contemporaries and the names of their enemies were different, but they shared a common understanding that victory is not guaranteed by the number of troops or tanks, but by the courage of the soldiers and the will of Hashem who shall be victorious.

In this matter Brigadier General Ofer Vinter stands shoulder to shoulder with our Patriarch Ya’akov and the others. Indeed, there and have been are hundreds of thousands of soldiers in Tzahal for whom fear of the enemy does not exist because in their hearts is the fear of Hashem.

Precursor of the Mashiach

I write this now because of what I believe is the change awaiting the Medina as the precursor of the Mashiach.

The Creator is forever deliberate, purposeful, and intentional; where every blade of grass, grain of sand, and every entity in the universe has a useful purpose. So, for what purpose is the present pandemic serving the people in Eretz Yisrael?

The coronavirus is creating a chaotic situation in the political arena which is filtering down to all walks of life: economy, education, tourism, Torah institutions, etc. And the call for a fourth national election in a year and a half is never far away.

Our secular democratic system of government, as all others, is based on the premise that the source of authority and morality is Man himself. He is the “tree” in the middle of Man’s Garden of Eden. The Knesset is empowered to legislate Shabbat, kashrut, define what is marriage, who can marry and who is a Jew. In fact, every matter of life can be controlled by the 15 members of the Israeli Supreme court, and all but three of the Justices are secular.

The time has come for a basic change which will bring us closer to displacing mortal Man and restoring Hashem and His Torah to the center of the “Garden”.

Be careful, Be healthy, Be Here

Shabbat Shalom,

Nachman Kahana

Rabbi Nachman Kahana is a Torah scholar, author, teacher and lecturer, Founder and Director of the Center for Kohanim, Co-founder of the Temple Institute, Co-founder of Atara Leyoshna – Ateret Kohanim, was rabbi of Chazon Yechezkel Synagogue – Young Israel of the Old City of Jerusalem for 32 years, and is the author of the 15-volume “Mei Menuchot” series on Tosefot, and 3-volume “With All Your Might: The Torah of Eretz Yisrael in the Weekly Parashah” (2009-2011), and “Reflections from Yerushalayim: Thoughts on the Torah, the Land and the Nation of Israel” (2019) as well as weekly parasha commentary available where he blogs at http://NachmanKahana.com