| A Message from the Kalever Rebbe | |
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| In the city of Brisk, the maskilim once staged a play to mock the Torah's laws of war. | |
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| They dressed hundreds of men as soldiers, marched them onto the stage, and one by one the announcer called out the Torah's exemptions. | |
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| "Who has built a new house and not yet inaugurated it? Let him return home!" And a great number left. | |
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| "Who has planted a vineyard and not redeemed it? Let him return home!" Again, many departed. | |
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| "Who has betrothed a woman and not married her? Let him return home!" More walked away. | |
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| Finally: "Who is fearful and fainthearted? Let him return home!" With that, the stage was emptied—save for two lone people. One was dressed to look like the Shaagas Aryeh and, the other, like the Vilna Gaon, leaning on their staffs, Gemara in hand. | |
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| When they told this to R' Chaim of Brisk, he responded and said, "Indeed, that is exactly how a war according to the Torah looks! Except they forgot to demonstrate the proper ending and the main point which is that these geonim, these Torah sages, are the ones who win the war. Through the power of their Torah study they bring about the downfall of the enemies!" | |
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| The Shield of the Jewish People | |
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| Torah study is the shield of the Jewish people. This is the secret of Jewish survival. Not by might. Not through the power of armies and soldiers, but by Torah. | |
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| The nations look at us and wonder: How can a single lamb endure among seventy wolves? And the answer is the same as in the days of Dovid HaMelech as it says in Tehilim (122:2), "Our feet stood firm within your gates, O Jerusalem..." Why were the Jewish people victorious against their enemies? Because in the gates of Jerusalem, Torah filled the air, and the sound of their study rumbled throughout the city. | |
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| The Chafetz Chaim once explained this concept with a parable: | |
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| In the old days, when a fire broke out, one man would stand at the well, drawing water into pipes, while others at the flames directed the stream. Once, a foolish fellow told the man at the well, "Why stand so far away? Go to the fire and help!" Had he listened, the fire would never have been extinguished. | |
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| So too with Torah study. The person studying Torah is like the man drawing water. The Torah he learns destroys the enemies of the Jewish people. And, during wartime, if someone were to say, "Leave the beis midrash and take up arms," and he foolishly listened—the flow of protection would cease and the power of Torah would be weakened, which is the very thing that enables the Jewish people to overcome their enemies. | |
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| A group of generals once came to the Techbiner Ruv, and explained to him that the Jewish people were in danger. They requested that he issue a ruling to draft the yeshiva students into the army. | |
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| The Tchebiner Rav answered their request with a story: | |
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| "There was once a Jew traveling in a wagon drawn by horses. Along the way, the wagon sank deep into the mud, and the horses could not pull it free. The driver began unloading some of the heavy packages, but it made no difference. | |
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| "He stopped, thought for a while, and then suddenly exclaimed with excitement: 'I've found the solution! The wheels are made of iron and weigh so much. If I remove them and set them aside, the wagon will surely move more easily!' | |
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| "But of course, without wheels a wagon cannot move at all." | |
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| The Rav of Tchebin turned to the army chiefs and said: "This is exactly what you are proposing. The very wheels of our nation are the yeshiva students immersed in Torah. They are what keep us moving, what give us the merit to survive. To remove them is to dismantle the very thing that keeps us moving." | |
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| R' Yehoshua of Belz, and other tzaddikim, would say about themselves, that all the wonders they performed beyond the bounds of nature, were not accomplished by adjurations using holy names and the like, but only through the power of Torah study. During their learning they prayed to the Hashem, that through the power and merit of Torah and the holy learning He should fulfill their request to bring salvation to the Jewish people. | |
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| Because of the power of Torah study, the Yetzer Harah works diligently to make us forget its greatness. It taunts those who work, that the times they can set aside to learn in the mornings and evenings, costs financial loss, and that that time can be spent earning a greater livelihood. | |
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| But the truth is the opposite. We must remind ourselves again and again that the same Creator who gave us His holy Torah is the One who sends blessing and success to the work of our hands. In the merit of Torah study, our efforts are multiplied. We do not lose by learning; we only gain. | |
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| Perhaps this is why, as Yom Kippur begins with Kol Nidrei, we embrace the Torah scrolls. In that moment, we declare with our very arms, "This is our life. This is our treasure." | |
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| By holding the Torah close, we accept upon ourselves to cherish it more, to deepen our bond, to add to our learning. | |
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| And in the merit of that commitment, the gates of Heaven open, and our prayers on this holy day draw down blessing and goodness for us and for all of Israel. | |
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