“Swords” of Torah and Prayer

Consuming Information

In recent days I have heard quite a few people say that they have no energy, find it hard to carry out tasks, and feel overcome by depression. For some this is expressed in physical sensations, and for others in the realm of emotions — feelings of fear and apprehension about what is to come, and more. There are many aspects to this. It is as clear as day that any consumption of information that creates anguish and brings a person to weakness in his functioning and in his service — the service of Hashem — is absolutely forbidden. This is not what Chazal intended when they taught us the path of sharing another’s pain. The general awareness of the distressing situation is enough to create emotional participation in another’s suffering; all the harsh information with descriptions of horrors only wounds the soul. Whoever wishes to share in the sorrow and pain must ask himself: What can I do to help another, to reduce — or even remove — his pain? Not: How can I distress myself or, Heaven forbid, harm my own soul? This is all the more true and necessary when it comes to teenagers and children.

. What Happened to Us ?

One of the most frequently asked questions in this period is: What happened to us? How did it happen that we, who grew up with the clear understanding that Torah — and only Torah — is the force that sustains the Jewish people and the entire world from time immemorial, suddenly became mobilized to send food, chocolates, and clothing to soldiers? Let us emphasize: let no one entertain even the slightest thought that we intend to diminish the value of chesed among the Jewish people, especially in time of war, and certainly toward the fighters who literally give their lives on the battlefield with self-sacrifice. Heaven forbid! We are only asking ourselves, from a perspective of emunah and Torah: Who contributes more to the salvation of the Jewish people — the fighters on the battlefield, with weapons and various means of warfare, or those who toil in pure Torah, whose merit of learning, together with the breath of the mouths of schoolchildren, accomplishes great and awesome things? The question is rhetorical. Let us look at how the evil began. With such a large and strong army, with the most advanced technology in the world, through a separation fence into which billions were invested, the accursed terrorists, may their name be erased, managed to enter and do as they pleased. And no one opened his mouth. People were trapped in their homes, calling for help, but everything seemed silent. It is clear to every thinking person that the hand of Hashem was here.

To Discuss and Investigate What a “Slap” Is...

We, as bnei Torah and believing Jews, must pay attention to this, because sadly it seeps inward even among us in one form or another, even if only partially. Let us try to view these simple and clear matters through a parable.

What is this comparable to? To a man who had a mischievous son whose conduct was harmful and who injured many people, until the father was forced to strike him on the cheek in order to teach him a lesson and improve his ways. The father then sees the child go to his room and begin to write. The father enters the room and checks what thoughts the son has put on paper, and finds that he has written a lengthy “explanation” of what this “slap” is: he describes how suddenly a hard object (the striking hand) falls forcefully upon soft flesh (the cheek), and from the forceful “contact” between them a loud sound is heard, and the impression of the blow remains on the cheek — it becomes red — and after such-and-such a time the cheek returns to its original appearance... The father was stunned by the “description” and became very angry. “I struck you so that you would understand the gravity of your actions and learn to improve them,” he told his son, “while you sit and analyze what a slap is...” In exactly this way, the Creator of all worlds gave us a devastating blow to shake us. Let our “occupation” not be contemplating how the matter occurred, where those lowly murderers came from and where they fled. About such a thing the prophet cries out (Yirmiyahu 2:30): “לשוא הכיתי את בניכם מוסר לא לקחו” — “In vain have I struck your children; they accepted no discipline.” Rather, it is upon us to understand that HaKadosh Baruch Hu is speaking to us: “שובו בנים שובבים” — “Return, wayward children.” And although there is no doubt that all this came to us from the Father of mercy Who dwells on high, and we, believers the children of believers, believe that “The Rock — His work is perfect, and all His ways are justice,” and that His blessed will from us in such a difficult hour is to hold firmly to simple faith like an immovable peg, nevertheless at the same time we must “hear the sound of the shofar” and awaken from our slumber. Just as when hearing the shofar it is not fitting to deal only with the sound itself — whether it was beautiful and valid — and nothing more, but we must contemplate the essence of the sound and awaken the heart to repentance before our Father in Heaven, so too we must not be dragged into dealing with details such as what happened, how it happened, how they did it, and how they will succeed or not succeed. Rather, we must awaken and see, understand, and grasp the will of the Creator and the message He has come to convey to us at this time. This is the real matter in which we need to be awakened as we return to Hashem through increasing Torah and prayer, matters between man and his fellow, and the unity of the Jewish people — for this is the purpose of this great trouble for every person who hears, understands, and reflects.

“This Is the Way of the World” — the Path of Cruelty

Especially because these matters are extremely severe, as is known from the words of the Rambam (Hilchot Ta’aniyot 1:2–3): “This is among the ways of repentance: when a calamity comes and they cry out over it and sound the trumpets, everyone will know that because of their evil deeds it has befallen them... and this will cause the calamity to be removed from them. But if they do not cry out and do not sound the trumpets, but say: This happened to us as part of the way of the world, and this calamity is accidental, this is the path of cruelty.”

Therefore, Heaven forbid that we should think about and occupy ourselves with the various factors, searching for natural causes and the like among the “ways of the world,” as if to attribute to them the failure that brought and caused the terrible disaster, not even partially. For this is as if one attributes the matter to chance, and such a thought is nothing but “the path of cruelty.” Rather, our task is to strengthen ourselves in faith in the Creator at this time, for He, blessed be He, did, does, and will do all deeds; it is not possible for a hair to fall from a person’s head — certainly not a drop of blood, may the Merciful One protect us — unless it was decreed from Above. “This was from Hashem.” Yet again we must ask ourselves: Is this a slogan, or a way of life? The necessary knowledge and recognition in our souls is that when we invest more energy and time to increase Torah and prayer, our own and that of others, and strive to bring merit to the public, these actions protect the nation dwelling in Zion from the evil our enemies plot. Again, all this without reducing even one gram of sincere appreciation for all the chesed organizations in Israel; this too is an amazing and wondrous phenomenon that can be seen only among us, as Chazal defined (Yevamot 78b): three signs characterize this nation — they are merciful, modest, and performers of kindness. “At that moment all the worlds would be destroyed.” Indeed, one who did not merit to invest his entire being in Torah study is certainly obligated to involve himself in communal needs in every way, since the hour is a time of war. But a ben Torah immersed in the world of Torah and occupied with the discussions of Abaye and Rava must have, in his heart and soul, the clear recognition and knowledge that he is doing the most exalted thing, as the Gaon Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin wrote in his book “Nefesh HaChaim”: “The truth, without any doubt at all, is that if the entire world from one end to the other were, Heaven forbid, truly empty even for one instant from our occupation and contemplation of Torah, at that moment all the upper and lower worlds would be destroyed and become nothingness and void, Heaven forbid.” This is true regardless of war — and sevenfold in time of war. Anyone raised according to the path of Torah, even if he has not now merited to be among those who toil in it, must remove every burden and disturbance from the bnei Torah so that they can apply themselves to their learning with even greater strength and power, for the salvation of the Jewish people, since they belong to the most elite corps working for the rescue and salvation of the entire people dwelling in Zion.

“The True Fighters”

The Slabodka Yeshiva, “Knesset Yisrael,” in Bnei Brak clearly heard the echoes of the bombings from Jaffa during the War of 5708, and special talks of strengthening were then delivered by the rosh yeshiva, Maran HaGaon Rabbi Isaac Sher zatzal. In his talks he addressed such days. In the middle of Rabbi Isaac’s talk, an alarm sounded, and this is how the matter appears in his writings: “An air-raid siren was heard, announcing that bombers of the Egyptian enemy had come to murder precious souls; may Hashem have mercy on us and save us from their hands. I told the yeshiva students that we must be calm and not frightened or agitated, for we are in the yeshiva, which is the best and safest shelter in the world. No one moved from his place; all stood together calmly and quietly, listening to my words, and I, thank G-d on High, spoke and explained as best I could. Thus I said: “We are the men of the true war, and the victories are ours. We yeshiva students are the true fighters, for we are engaged in prayer, and in prayer we ask Hashem for victory over the enemies of the Omnipresent, the haters of Israel. We have already learned that one who calls to Hashem in truth and hopes in Him with a whole heart is answered. Therefore, when we engage in prayer, we must be confident that our prayer will be accepted and that our hope in Hashem and His salvation will be answered from on high, from His holy abode, and all who stand at the gates of war will prevail in the name of Hashem.” “I said before the yeshiva students what the rosh yeshiva of Chevron, HaGaon Rabbi Aharon Cohen (who had fled besieged Jerusalem and was staying in the Slabodka Yeshiva in Bnei Brak), showed me from Targum Yonatan on the verse in Shir HaShirim: ‘הנה מטתו שלשלמה ששים גבורים סביב לה’ — ‘Behold the couch of Shlomo; sixty mighty men surround it.’ ‘How beautiful are the kohanim when they spread their hands, stand on their platform, and bless Israel with the sixty letters transmitted to Moshe their master; with that blessing they surround Israel like a great and strong wall, and through it all the mighty men of Israel strengthen themselves and succeed.’ Behold, Chazal taught us who the true fighters are and what the true power is that stands for Israel at a time of war, to overcome and defeat all enemies. From these words we learn how great is the power of Birkat Kohanim, the only service that remains to us from the services of the Temple.”

The True Forces by Whose Merit We Will Win

“Certainly at such a time, when we stand and pray to Hashem in hope for His salvation, we must take to heart what the true forces are by whose merit all those standing in war will be victorious: the power of bitachon, with complete recognition of ‘חזק ונתחזק וה' הטוב בעיניו יעשה’ — ‘Let us be strong and strengthen ourselves, and Hashem will do what is good in His eyes’; the power of prayer, with faithful hope in Hashem and His salvation; the power of Birkat Kohanim, concerning which we were promised in the Torah: ‘ושמו את שמי על בני ישראל ואני אברכם’ — ‘They shall place My Name upon the children of Israel, and I shall bless them’; the power of Torah, which is the guarantee to protect and save, to prevail and win in war, as they said: What caused our feet to stand firm in war? The gates of Jerusalem, where people were engaged in Torah. We must strengthen ourselves in all matters that require strengthening: in mussar, in emunah and bitachon in Hashem, blessed be He, that He will guard us and all yeshiva students and all who engage in Torah, which protects and saves.”

“From the Arrow That Flies by Day”

Rabbi Isaac continued with his piercing words and clarified why in a time of distress it is specifically then that one must continue learning in the yeshiva, deriving this from Psalm 91. He said: “Now, when the whole world is busy preparing and making shelters in which to hide from the fury of the oppressor and to be saved within them from the rebuke of the bombers that the enemy brings against us every day and every hour, at such a time we yeshiva students must remember that the yeshiva is the safest, best, most proper, and most fitting shelter for us. For thus it is said in Tehillim, in the song against afflictions composed by Moshe Rabbeinu: ‘יושב בסתר עליון בצל שדי יתלונן... כי הוא יצילך מפח יקוש מחץ יעוף יומם’ — ‘He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty... for He will save you from the snare of the trapper, from the arrow that flies by day.’ Rashi explains: ‘He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High’ — one who takes refuge in the shelter of the wings of the Shechinah will abide in His shadow, for HaKadosh Baruch Hu protects him.” “The verse clearly calls out to every Jew to hide in the shelter of the Most High, in the shadow of the wings of the Shechinah; and as Rashi says there, ‘for He will save you from the snare of the trapper’ — in the singular. To each individual it says, ‘He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High’; and whoever takes refuge under His wings and abides in His blessed shadow is assured protection from all evil, as the verse continues: ‘לא תירא מפחד לילה מחץ יעוף יומם’ — ‘You shall not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day.’ Rashi explains: ‘You shall not fear, if you trust in Him, the arrow that flies by day’ — a demon that flies like an arrow. In our context, this is the bomber airplane of the haters of Israel, from which salvation is promised to the one who dwells in the shelter of the Most High — the one who shelters in the shade of the yeshiva, the dwelling place of the Shechinah and the stronghold of Torah.” “The verse in this psalm continues: ‘על כפים ישאונך פן תגוף באבן רגלך. על שחל ופתן תדרוך תרמוס כפיר ותנין’ — ‘Upon their hands they will bear you, lest your foot strike a stone. Upon the lion and the viper you will tread; you will trample the young lion and the serpent.’ This means that they do not carry you on their hands because you are weak, for while you take refuge in the shade of the wings of the Shechinah, you are mighty, and you have the strength to tread upon the lion and the viper without being harmed and to trample the young lion and the serpent without injury. Why, then, do they bear you? Only because of His great affection and love for you, like a father’s love for a precious son. At the same time, He gives strength and power to succeed and overcome even the strongest obstacles standing in your way. Even those compared to poisonous snakes, young lions of the forest, or serpents of the earth — you will tread upon and trample them as well, with the power that He, blessed be He, gives you while you dwell in His shelter and lodge in His shade.”

How Is the War Decided ?

There is another testimony about Maran HaGaon HaTzaddik Rabbi Eliyahu Lopian zatzal, who came to the Slabodka Yeshiva to deliver a talk, and this is what he said: “It is written in the Gemara in Berachot (17a) that Rav Safra, when he would finish his prayer, would say: ‘May it be Your will that You establish peace in the heavenly retinue and in the earthly retinue.’ Rashi explains: the heavenly retinue refers to the group of ministering angels of the nations; when there is strife among the heavenly ministers, immediately there is conflict among the nations.” Here Rabbi Eliyahu emphasized: “What we see — two nations fighting one another — is only a picture of the war being waged above in Heaven between the ministers. When the minister of one nation overcomes the other minister above, that nation overcomes on the battlefield. It is clear that the wars in Heaven are not fought with airplanes or tanks; rather, when the minister of the nation possesses the mitzvot of that nation, that nation wins here. What happens here is only a picture of what happens above.” And he concluded: “If we want the Jewish people to win, if we want the Jewish people to succeed, there is only one counsel: that in the heavenly retinue the scale be tipped in favor of the Jewish people! Merits are needed there above to decide it. And how is it decided, with what merits? Torah and mitzvot!”

The Finest Protection

In the book “Nitzotzot Esh” about the life of HaGaon Rabbi Reuven Yosef Gershonowitz, it is told that when, during the Gulf War, he learned that the children of the Talmudei Torah had stopped learning out of fear of missiles being sent from Iraq, he was shaken and said: “If they do not learn Torah, what will protect us from the Scuds?! This learning is what creates the finest protection for a person and for the entire nation; without the merit of Torah, what will protect?”

“You Must Pay Me for the Damage”...

It is told of Maran the Brisker Rav, Rabbi Yitzchak Ze’ev, that he was learning in his home in the Geulah neighborhood of Jerusalem while shells were flying around. His sons entered and pleaded with him to go down to the shelter where they were staying. The Rav saw their distress and went down with them to the shelter. As he left the house, a shell landed on the bed on which he had been sitting while learning. Everyone rejoiced at the Rav’s rescue. But he turned to them and said: “You must pay me for the damage. Had I continued learning in that place, no shell would have landed there...” He, who truly knew the greatness of Torah study, knew with certainty that as long as he was immersed in it, he was guarded and protected, and no harm would befall him.

“We Are Running to Save the World!”

Since we became a nation and since we received the Torah, a new reality was introduced into creation: the world has no existence without Torah! Another story will illustrate this. It was early morning. The streets were almost empty except for worshippers who had risen early for prayer and yeshiva students hurrying to their learning. In the narrow Jerusalem alleyways, two young men walked and talked, heading toward the Porat Yosef Yeshiva. As they walked, a bearded Jew with a noble expression appeared at the end of the street, walking behind them. It was the rosh yeshiva, Maran HaGaon Rabbi Ben-Tzion Abba Shaul zatzal. As was his way, the Rav walked briskly and joyfully, his lips murmuring words of Torah. The boys did not notice the rosh yeshiva approaching. Suddenly they slowed their steps and examined a huge notice that had just been posted on the bulletin board, announcing a large gathering. The two stopped and looked at the notice with great interest, beginning to discuss the importance of the gathering. One asked a question, and his friend wanted to answer, but the words seemed to disappear from his mouth. From the corner of his eye he noticed the rosh yeshiva approaching them quickly, and it was evident that he wished to say something. When the Rav came near, he called to them in an emotional voice: “Pikuach nefesh, rescue, come quickly!” and continued walking quickly. The boys were frightened and immediately began running after the Rav. “Where are we running?” they asked the Rav as they ran. “We are running to save the world,” the Rav answered seriously, his kind eyes shining. “Without Torah, the world will be destroyed, as is known. If you were doctors and they summoned you, would you delay on the way to read notices? Therefore, know that your role as bnei Torah is many times more important, for HaKadosh Baruch Hu made a condition with the work of Creation: if Israel accepts the Torah, you will endure; if not, I will return you to chaos and void!” This is the reality of the mechanism of creation: its entire existence depends solely on engagement in Torah, and if the world were lacking even one moment without Torah study, it would return to chaos and void, as Chazal said on the verse: “אם לא בריתי יומם ולילה חוקות שמים וארץ לא שמתי” — “If not for My covenant day and night, I would not have established the laws of heaven and earth.” In times of war a significant role rests on our shoulders. We are obligated to do everything for the Jewish people, to increase prayer for the men of the campaign standing on the battlefield and confronting the enemy face to face, that they succeed in carrying out their task faithfully and defeat those who rise against us. Here it is appropriate to note that every person sitting in the beit midrash would do well, before his learning or during prayer, to mention as much as possible the names of those standing on the battlefield and pray for their success, for their success is our success. Certainly this contains the quality of gratitude. May it be Hashem’s will that they all return home to good life and peace, and may the merit of Torah protect them and us. Yet let us try to focus on the clear perspective of Torah outlook regarding Torah and war: not only the division of the Jewish people into its tribes, in which each one must fulfill his role faithfully with true self-sacrifice, but also the level of importance of the matters and the order of priorities — the correct view of the period and of the true forces and the true front that protect and save the holy people.

Torah Study and Saving Lives — Fiery Words from Maran the Chafetz Chaim

Chazal said (Megillah 16b): “Rav Yosef said: Torah study is greater than saving lives.” Maran, the author of the Chafetz Chaim, in his book “Torat HaBayit” (chapter 5), elaborated to depict the matter and bring it close to feeling. We will copy his golden words, which are like fine oil descending into the bones to inflame hearts for diligence in the holy Torah: “See, my brother, how much one must cherish every hour and not be idle from Torah study. If a person had the opportunity to save a Jewish soul from drowning in a river, how greatly he would rejoice, and all the days of his life he would remember that day and that hour in which he merited to save a Jewish soul from death. And indeed this is truly so, for there is no measure to the greatness of the mitzvah, as our Sages of blessed memory said: one who sustains one soul of Israel is as if he sustained an entire world. All the more so if he had the opportunity to save several souls — his joy would be very great. Conversely, Heaven forbid, if he had the power to save a Jewish soul from death and, because of his laziness, allowed him to drown in the river or burn in fire, there is no measuring the greatness of his eternal pain when he remembers that because of his laziness souls were lost.”

Who Is Greater Than Whom ?

“And now, my brother, see what Chazal said in Megillah and explained: Although in order to save lives we are certainly obligated to interrupt Torah study, and even for another small mitzvah if it cannot be done by others — for such is the will of Hashem, blessed be He, that the purpose of Torah is its fulfillment, and therefore His blessed will is that if a mitzvah comes to a person that cannot be performed by others, he should interrupt his Torah for its fulfillment — nevertheless, when the mitzvah can be performed by others, Torah is greater than all mitzvot.” “Even regarding pikuach nefesh, if one person had the opportunity to save lives and another did not have this opportunity and only engaged in Torah, and we were asked who accomplished more, seemingly everyone would answer that the one who saved lives did the greater thing. But Chazal revealed to us that although the mitzvah of pikuach nefesh is very great, the one to whom this mitzvah did not come and who only engaged in Torah at that time is not inferior to him; on the contrary, he did greater, for Torah study is greater than saving lives. See, my brother, that according to this, every hour in which you could have engaged in Torah and did not engage, it is as if people came before you to save lives and you did not save them. Although with our sealed eyes we did not know this, Chazal revealed this secret to us — how great is the value of one who learns Torah, for nothing in the world is equal to it.” End quote.

Those Who Sit and Learn Are Fulfilling a Much Greater Mitzvah ...

To illustrate these matters it is fitting to bring a story about a young man from the Mir Yeshiva abroad who passed by a river and suddenly heard screams. When he came closer, he saw a person almost drowning in the river. He immediately went down into the water and succeeded in saving the drowning man from death. When he returned to the yeshiva, he excitedly told the mashgiach, HaGaon HaTzaddik Rabbi Yechezkel Levenstein zatzal, that today he had succeeded in fulfilling a great and rare mitzvah: saving a Jewish life. The mashgiach, who met him at the entrance to the yeshiva, greatly praised the young man for the great mitzvah he had fulfilled. But when they went up to the beit midrash, he said to him: “I do not come to diminish the importance of the mitzvah you fulfilled. But see, my friend: these young men who are sitting now and learning are fulfilling a mitzvah much greater than the mitzvah of saving lives that you fulfilled, as Chazal said: ‘Torah study is greater than saving lives.’”

A Torah Scholar Protects Forty Thousand Jews with His Torah !!!

These words show us how great the value of Torah study is even in relation to the most important mitzvot, such as saving lives, before which the entire Torah is set aside except for the three cardinal sins — and nevertheless the mitzvah of Torah study is even greater! These words give a new dimension to all our engagement in Torah. And not only is the mitzvah of Torah study greater than saving lives; everyone who engages in Torah is at that very time also engaged in saving lives, for through the merit of his Torah he protects against all dangers and evil calamities. He is the true guardian of all Israel from all its enemies standing against it on every side, as they said in Sanhedrin (99b): “Anyone who engages in Torah for its own sake... protects the entire world.”

By What Merit Did This Nation Stand ?

In Midrash Tehillim (Psalm 12), it is told that Hadrian asked his ministers: By what merit has this nation stood? They said to him: They have pious people, and they have righteous people who toil in Torah and engage in mitzvot. Immediately he decreed and imposed harsh levies — evil decrees intended to frighten Israel so that they would cease from Torah. Once this yoke was placed upon them, they stopped engaging in Torah, and about this David said: “הושיעה ה' כי גמר חסיד” — “Save, Hashem, for the pious one has ceased.” Hadrian saw that all who rose against Israel were lost and did not succeed in breaking the spirit of the nation — such as the Egyptians, Sisera, Sennacherib, Nebuchadnezzar, and many others. He could not understand how this nation survived against them all. When he expressed his wonder before his advisers, they did not say that Israel’s advantage depends on weapons, physical strength, or any material power; rather, their strength is in the merit of those who learn Torah. This was understood in the great empire that then ruled the world: Israel survives in a supernatural, unusual way — something that, to our great sorrow, some today fail to understand. In tractate Sanhedrin (94b) they expounded: “והיה ביום ההוא יסור סבלו מעל שכמך, ועולו מעל צווארך, וחובל על מפני שמן” (Yeshayahu 10) — “It shall be on that day that his burden will be removed from your shoulder and his yoke from your neck, and the yoke will be destroyed because of oil.” Rabbi Yitzchak Nafcha said: the yoke of Sennacherib was destroyed because of the oil of Chizkiyahu that burned in the synagogues and study halls. What did he do? He planted a sword at the entrance of the beit midrash and said: Whoever does not engage in Torah will be pierced by this sword! They checked from Dan to Be’er Sheva and found no ignoramus, from Gevat to Antipatris and found no boy or girl, man or woman, who was not expert in the laws of impurity and purity. In other words, by what merit did Chizkiyahu defeat Sennacherib’s enormous army? By the merit of the abundant Torah learned in his time. One who contemplates this will receive great strengthening not to be drawn after other mitzvot based on mere reasoning, and will know faithfully that as long as he has no absolute necessity to stop his learning, it is obvious that the greatest mitzvah incumbent upon him is only to continue his learning with depth and diligence, with all his might.

Why Did Mordechai Decline in Importance in the Eyes of the Sages ?

The fact that Torah study is greater than saving lives is learned in the Gemara, Megillah (16b), from the fact that at first Mordechai HaTzaddik was listed after four men and later after five. Rashi explains: “Because Mordechai became a minister in the meantime, he declined in importance among the Sages.” It is explained that although Mordechai became a minister in order to save lives, and a tremendous salvation came about through him, nevertheless he was no longer as important in the eyes of the Sages as before, when he learned Torah without any interruption (and certainly afterward he also learned Torah, but he also engaged in saving lives). From this the Gemara learns that Torah study is greater than saving lives. The Taz explained (Yoreh De’ah 251:6): “Certainly nothing stands before pikuach nefesh; rather, there it says that greater merit belongs to one who merits to engage in Torah and does not have the saving of lives come to his hand than to one to whom the saving of lives comes and through it he must interrupt Torah study and engage in saving a life. This is derived from Mordechai: at first, when the matter of saving lives had not come to him, he was more important in the eyes of the Sages than after the mitzvah of saving lives came to him and he had to interrupt Torah, as it says there that the Sages did not count him as at first.”

However, the matter still requires explanation: since Mordechai acted according to the law, why did he decline in importance in the eyes of the Sages? The Chatam Sofer explained (Derashot Chatam Sofer, vol. 1, p. 193) in his sweet language: “Indeed, pikuach nefesh overrides Torah study, and Mordechai was obligated to interrupt because of pikuach nefesh. But the fact that HaKadosh Baruch Hu arranged this mitzvah for Mordechai and not for another was because the Torah of others was more beloved, and HaKadosh Baruch Hu did not want them to be interrupted from Torah study; therefore He arranged it for Mordechai. When the Men of the Great Assembly understood this, they lowered him by one level.” Now, how much happiness should fill the heart of one who merits to engage in Torah with constancy, especially in youth, when learning is engraved within him most deeply. In most cases, at that time HaKadosh Baruch Hu does not test him with the burdens of life and does not even arrange before him mitzvot that interrupt him from Torah. Let him rejoice in his good portion, for it is a sign that his Torah is beloved before HaKadosh Baruch Hu.

We all need salvations and we pray for them; let us hold in our hands both the sword and the bow. These are the true and effective “Iron Swords” of every Jew. They are the “swords of Torah and prayer,” which give existence to the world and sustain it, and only through their power will we be able to win the campaign and defeat our enemies. May it be His will that the end of the verse be fulfilled in us: “ויכחשו אויביך לך ואתה על במותימו תדרוך” — “Your enemies will submit to you, and you shall tread upon their high places”!

And may Hashem accept his prayer and hasten our redemption. Amen

By Rabbi Michael Zacharyahu

Spiritual director at the great Torat David Yeshiva and chairman of the “Legiono Shel Melech” organization