Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, the Chief Rabbi of Safed, published a special letter to dozens of yeshiva students from Hesder yeshivas who are enlisting for combat service, including his grandson Nave, the son of Minister of Heritage Amichai Eliyahu.
"Hear O Israel!" Rabbi Eliyahu opens the letter with the eternal call of the anointed priest of war. "Even if you have no merit other than the recitation of the Shema — it is enough to save you. All this is because you are enlisting with responsibility, courage, self-sacrifice, and mutual responsibility."
Rabbi Eliyahu reminds the young recruits of their place in the chain of generations. "Today, you are part of the army of Israel for all generations! All the armies of previous generations, from the times of Moses and Joshua, are with you. You are part of the army of David, of Mattathias, and Bar Kochba! It is you whom the prophet Michah prophesied about, saying, 'And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the nations, in the midst of many peoples, like a lion among the beasts of the forest, like a young lion among the flocks of sheep.'"
"Do not have mercy on the cruel enemy," he cautioned. "Before you stands a cruel enemy, and if you fall into their hands, they will not have mercy on you. Do not have mercy on him, have mercy on your brothers!" He further quotes the stern warning of the Talmudic sages: "Whoever is merciful to the cruel, in the end, becomes cruel to the merciful."
The Rabbi assures the recruits that the Divine Presence is with them. "The Lord is within the camp of Israel... the Lord is within every soldier and fighter. Therefore, it will be fulfilled in you: 'And all the peoples of the earth will see that the name of the Lord is called upon you, and they will fear you.'"
The Rabbi also reminds them of Abigail’s words to King David, promising the recruits: "Whoever fights the wars of the Lord will merit to build a proper house in Israel, he and his children for eternity, and he will merit the life of the world to come. His soul will be bound in the bundle of life with the Lord your God."
"You are called 'Israel,'" Rabbi Eliyahu writes to them — "because when you wear the IDF uniform, you set aside your personal needs. You give up comfort, studies, family, and friends — and place before you the needs of the people of Israel."