Today, very difficult times are being experienced in the Land of Israel, where a war is being waged against the terrorist group Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip.
For years, terrorists have been firing missiles at various Jewish towns near the Gaza border, causing material damage, injuring and even killing people indiscriminately.
For various political and diplomatic reasons (I'm not a political analyst...) there was never a satisfactory response from Israel. Now, apparently there is.
The following poster was published today in a news service:
The sign reads: "In Gaza we will triumph," and, at the same time, "With God's help we will triumph.".
Several important points emerge from this poster:
1. It is time the world understood that military victory is not achieved solely with flesh-and-blood soldiers supported by the best technology. We must emphasize and know that "God your Lord goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to save you" (Deuteronomy 20:4). We must let God participate...
2. War has two parts: the military and the spiritual. The military war is fought by our brothers on the front lines. The spiritual war is fought by each of us within ourselves.
To explain this second idea, we must understand that the Jewish people are like a single body. Each part of the body watches over and contributes to the well-being of the others. And, in turn, the well-being of one part generates and brings about the well-being of the others.
Going a step further, each person must wage two wars within themselves: one against their own opposition to the idea that "God will fight for you" and another against the inaction that arises from the fact that many of us are not in a position to fight on the front lines for countless reasons (it sounds strange to imagine many of us who live in the southern hemisphere, on vacation, sunbathing on the beach, reading the newspaper about the war in Israel...).
The way to wage this twofold spiritual war is through increasing the observance of the Torah and the Mitzvot in merit of the soldiers on the front lines and of all Jews affected by the daily missile attacks.
The Torah has this ability to introduce God into a person's life, allowing them to become aware that it is He who can truly help us win this war and, in addition, to help the spiritual (and automatically the material) well-being of our brothers on the front lines, thus participating in the war in our own way and within our own capabilities.
May this addition, each according to their means, bring blessings in every way and lead us to the true "Vayejí Yaacov" - And Jacob lived (the name of this week's Torah section), with a full and peaceful life in our Holy Land, all together with the coming of our righteous Messiah.