The eternal Nation, the long journey, and its price.

Parshah and its realization - Vayechi - and the war of the 'iron swords' 5784

Rabbi Eliezer Haim Shenvald

Dedicated to the IDF soldiers' success, to safeguard them lest any harm come to them, to the healing of all the wounded and the return of the abducted.

Human reason has the ability to know the past and present, but it is very limited in its ability to anticipate the future. It can identify processes and trends, but they may depend on variables that cannot be predicted in advance and their results.

Human beings are interested in predicting the future as accurately and immediately as possible. No patience to wait for things to happen and be known. This knowledge allows us to plan and budget future steps correctly or vice versa, helping with the difficult wait until the desires' fulfillment. It is not for nothing that G-d created us unable to predict the future. Not knowing in advance what the future holds, makes the person take responsibility for his life, to do what is required of him, to the best of his ability, to modify the future. However, there are those who try to circumvent this limitation, and turn to various types of mystical techniques for predicting the future, almost all of them being deceptive. The booming market for predicting the future shows how much humanity wants it.

Many ask how will the war end? And when? The war period is a difficult, painful, worrying, and nerve-racking time. Almost every morning we are greeted with the news starting with the chilling preface: "…These are the names allowed by the army to be published...". Already at the beginning, leaders from the military and political level prepared us that this type of war would not be a quick one. It will last a long time. It will be a difficult challenge and we'll pay a painful price. But we have no choice. Because the Shabbat Simchat Torah tragedy that befell upon us and the huge failure, damaged our deterrence, and obligated us to go to a difficult war to make our enemy pay. And if, G-d forbid, we do not win, it may project as weakness that will call for aggression from all our enemies around and endanger our existence. But things look different when they are happening. The bad 'news' about the fallen soldiers and the lengthening time, are challenging and difficult. It is at these times, that we need to go back and remind ourselves of the full meaning of the saying: עַם הַנֶּצַח לֹא מְפַחֵד מִדֶּרֶךְ אֲרֻכָּה "The eternal nation is not afraid of the long journey". We have patience even if the path is long and we cannot see its end, as we are paying a heavy price while being strong and suffering.

Amid the difficult reality and the painful price, we draw inspiration from the soldiers and the devoted spirit of the bereaved families, the nobility of their soul and fortitude. The spirit of the warriors and commanders is strong. In every meeting they have with the leaders, they come back and demand that they be given the opportunity to continue fighting the enemy, to do whatever is necessary, and for however long it takes, until the victory is reached. Many of the bereaved families also demand to continue the war and win so that their sacrifice will not be in vain.

Unfortunately, however, we hear other voices as well, those giving up. There are short-tempered, impatient, pessimists, who claim to know what is to come. Despite the successes and martyrdom, they see only failures. Instead of supporting and encouraging the fighters, the commanders, and captains, they are mostly full of criticism. The farther we are from the Shabbat Simchat Torah traumatic tragedy, the more the impression fades and they return to the pre- Simchat Torah divisive behavior.

Parashat Vayechi is a "Parsha Stuma", a "closed" Parsha (one with no break between its opening and the previous Parsha). Why is this Parsha closed? "Why is this section (Sidra) totally closed? …because he (Ya'acov) wished to reveal to his sons the date of the End of Days (i.e. when Israel’s exile would finally end" (Rashi on Bereshit 47:28), but the vision was closed (concealed) from him. On the one hand, the early discovery of when the end of the long exile might be may cause despair, and on the other hand, it might harm the progress and continuous achievements that are required throughout all those years, to do everything possible to shorten the exile and promote redemption:

"כי מידיעה זו ימשך נזק זה שלא יקראו אותי ולא יבקשו פני הדורות הקודמים ויבקשו לישב וכמתייאשים מן הגאולה, על כן סתם וחתם ה' הקץ האחרון כדי שבכל דור ודור יבקשו את פני ה' ואת דוד מלכם ויהיו מחכים קץ ישועתו תמיד"

"Because from this knowledge, only harm can follow, people will not remember Hashem for generations and they will despair about redemption, therefore G-d sealed the end so that in every generation they will seek Him and David their king and will always wait for the end of the salvation" (Kli Yakar on Bereshit 47:28 in the name of the "Ba'al Aḳedah", and there Rabbi Isaac ben Moses Arama criticizes the members of his generation who despaired of redemption and the longing to return to Eretz Yisrael, because they believed according to their assessment that there was no realistic chance that the exile would end in their lifetime).

We will continue the path, for the sake of the goal with the required patience, even when the journey is long and despite its painful price.