The dream and its realization - above and beyond the expectations
Parashat Hashavua – Parashat Vayishlach 5785
Rabbi Eliezer Haim Shenvald
Praying for the IDF soldiers' success, to protect them from any harm, to the healing of all the injured and the return of the kidnapped.
I spoke with someone I knew in my younger years, who works endlessly for the wounded and their rehabilitation. I heard about his work from my son Mordechai נ"י who met him during the long months of rehabilitation at Tel Hashomer. "Lately," he says, "when I visit the wounded in the rehabilitation ward, I meet their families, in which the high percentage of religious families is very noticeable" he said with sadness. "This illustrates the high percentage of Zionist religious fighters, above and beyond their percentage in the general population. On the one hand, this is heartbreaking because it illustrates the extent of the absence of certain populations from combat service, but on the other hand, it expresses the realization of the vision of religious Zionism, of the combination between Torah and the world of action, and between the study of Torah and the defense of the people and the land."
On the 19th of Kislev, we will mark the passing of Rabbi Moshe Zvi Neriah, Zt"l, the father of the knitted kippah generation, a man of vision, one of the founders of the Bnei Akiva Youth Movement, the first Bnei Akiva Yeshiva, the Bnei Akiva Yeshiva and School for girls Center, and the National Religious Movement - a living and vibrant spiritual and educational movement. From this emerged the idea of Hesder Yeshiva and Yeshiva Gevoha that combine Torah study and military service, and later also the pre-military preparatory schools.
It is not every day that one gets to see a vision coming true. People with long-term visions do not always get to see their dreams materialize. Their successors must continue in their path, remembering the visionaries, and thanking them for their work. Often, visionaries who see to the distance are required to go against the flow, contrary to the norm, and deal with the mockers and cynics, who despise them as delusional, as well as with expressions of sympathy and skepticism. However, sometimes the vision is realized above and beyond what its dreamers envisioned.
Over the years, we have witnessed the realization of the vision of integrating Zionism with the Torah and nationalism with Judaism. Not as a provisional combination, a passing trend, of the temporary wave of nationalism that has conquered the people and the world. Nor as a type of a momentous response, but as an original spiritual conception of Judaism, of Torah of Life, which combines great Torah with all areas of life, on the personal and national levels. The Torah is not only connected to life but it adds value to it. This vision has been realized above and beyond expectation.
Rabbi Neriah Zt"l foresaw, among other things, how the study of Torah would affect the soldiers’ fighting spirit:
"הנכונות המקובלת לחרוף נפש בשדה הקרב, מצויה היא גם בין אומות העולם. אולם אם בצה"ל מתגלים גילויים מופלאים, הרבה למעלה מן המקובל באומות וכו', הרי המקור למורל גבוה זה הוא דווקא המעיין הסמוי הנובע בצינורות פלא מאהלי תורת ישראל. צה"ל יונק את כוחו המיוחד לא רק מאימוני יום יום קשים ומפרכים, אלא גם מדורות של יהודים שחונכו למסירות נפש למען ערכים רוחניים, של יהודים שלמדו בישיבות להעדיף חיי עולם על חיי שעה, צרכי אומה על צרכי יחיד, שיהיו מוכנים בכל עת ובכל שעה למסור נפשם על קדוש השם"
"The customary bravery and courage on the battlefield are also found among the nations of the world. However, if the IDF exhibits miraculous manifestations, far above what is customary among the nations..., then the source of this high morale is precisely the hidden spring that flows through the mysterious channels of the Torah of Israel. The IDF draws its special strength not only from difficult and arduous daily training, but also from generations of Jews who were educated to devote themselves to spiritual values, of Jews who learned in Yeshiva that eternal is preferable to temporal, that the needs of the nation come before those of the individual, that one has to be ready at any given time, to do Kiddush Hashem (Sanctification of G-d's Name)". (Rabbi Neriah 'Bnei Ha-Yeshiva Ve-Giusam', 1968).
His students enlisted in the War of Independence and fought as part of the 7th Brigade for the liberation of Galilee.
One of the results of the vision stood out in the last war, and especially in its final months. This spirit influenced the other members of the unit as well and the fighting spirit of the entire unit, not by way of preaching but by personal example and comradeship. We also saw it expressed in heroism and intensity of the war over time, above and beyond what we thought we could withstand. The prophecy is dwarfed under its execution.
In our Parasha, we read about Ya’acov’s story as he set out to fulfill a historical vision, to establish the family of the people of Israel, the eternal people, "to plant tents where the Divine Presence will dwell" (Rabbi Samson Rephael Hirsch, Bereshit 28:10). His place is in the Land of Israel: "In Aram, there is no place for that family life that the Holy One, desires" (Ibid.31:13).
On his way, he confronts Eisav and his chieftains who approached him from the country of Edom. The fewer against the many and come out victorious! Beyond expectations. In preparation for confronting Eisav,
הִתְקִין עַצְמוֹ לִשְׁלֹשָׁה דְּבָרִים, לְדוֹרוֹן, לִתְפִלָּה וּלְמִלְחָמָה.
"He prepared himself for three things: to give him a present … for prayer, for war…” (Rashi Bereshit 32:9)
In prayer, as a spiritual preparation:
הַצִּילֵנִי נָא מִיַּד אָחִי מִיַּד עֵשָׂו כִּי יָרֵא אָנֹכִי אֹתוֹ פֶּן יָבוֹא וְהִכַּנִי אֵם עַל בָּנִים
“Please, save me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Eisav, because I fear him, lest he come and strike me, mothers with children”. (Bereshit 32:12)
With presents as a ploy and a trick against Eisav’s lust for possessiveness:
וַיִּקַּח מִן הַבָּא בְיָדוֹ מִנְחָה לְעֵשָׂו אָחִיו
“…and took from what he had at hand, a tribute for his brother, Eisav”. (Ibid 14)
These gifts neutralized the enmity and the motivation to harm him and make war unnecessary. It was preceded by a spiritual victory in the struggle with Eisav’s guardian angel:
וַיָּשַׂר אֶל מַלְאָךְ וַיֻּכָל
“Indeed, he struggled with the angel, and prevailed” (Hoshea 12:5).
The absolute victory!
Without expecting it, he caused Eisav to retreat and return to the land he had come from:
וַיִּקַּח עֵשָׂו אֶת נָשָׁיו וְאֶת בָּנָיו וְאֶת בְּנֹתָיו וְאֶת כׇּל נַפְשׁוֹת בֵּיתוֹ וְאֶת מִקְנֵהוּ וְאֶת כׇּל בְּהֶמְתּוֹ וְאֵת כׇּל קִנְיָנוֹ אֲשֶׁר רָכַשׁ בְּאֶרֶץ כְּנָעַן וַיֵּלֶךְ אֶל אֶרֶץ מִפְּנֵי יַעֲקֹב אָחִיו… וַיֵּשֶׁב עֵשָׂו בְּהַר שֵׂעִיר עֵשָׂו הוּא אֱדוֹם.
“Eisav took his wives, his sons and his daughters, and all the members of his household, his livestock and all his animals, and all his possessions that he had acquired in the land of Canaan, and he went to another land because of his brother Ya’akov…Eisav dwelled in the hill country of Se'ir – Eisav, who is Edom”. (Bereshit 36:6,8)
From here the way to the Land of Israel opens up for Ya’acov, the fulfillment of his vision, for generations to come, forever!
More than 4,000 years later, it is clear that it has come true beyond what humans thought possible.