The Security Situation

It's been very hard for me to wrap my mind around the tragic events of this week. Very hard. That four men were massacred in a shul in Har Nof while wearing their tallis and tefillin hits very close to home. I know that neighborhood and I know that shul. I also know I'm not alone with this. We are all probably sharing a lot of the same emotions.

That the Arab terrorists carried out such a vicious act in such place rocks our sense of security. And security, I was once told, is what this country is built on. But there's something a little deeper down that is disturbing me. In this week's Parshah the verse reads: "The voice is the voice of Ya'akov, but the hands are the hands of Eisav." The Torah tradition explains this verse to be teaching us that the power of the Jews – Ya'akov - is in our voice. It is our Torah learning and prayers that keep us alive. Where as our enemies – Eisav – live by the sword (See Gittin 57b). That these men's lives were taken while engaged in that which gives life is a hard one to digest. Do I have an answer as to why or how this could happen? No. I don't have answers.

After the attack, Rav Shteinman shlit"a issued a statement that we can't understand why such things could happen. He did, however, prescribe a response to the tragic events: To strengthen our Torah! More acts of kindness! Greater consideration for our fellow Jew!

The word for security in modern Hebrew is "bitachon." That same word is used in the Torah tradition for trust in Hashem, to feel and know that you're being taken care of by Him. Our response to the security issue needs to be bitachon. Bitachon that prayer and Torah learning are the keys to our survival. It's always been that way and it always will. Perhaps we're being tested to see if we really believe it. Moshiach is knocking on the door! Will someone please let him in?