What causes anxiety to us all, everywhere these days, is how to deal with fear and helplessness, feelings which naturally accompany a state of war.
HaRav Shach expressed his thoughts during the Yom Kippur War to a group of Jews from abroad who were studying here, who asked if they should return to their countries of origin.
He replied that a Jew need not fear; a Jew must live with full faith and trust that all will be well, and that whatever Hashem does is for the good. However, he added, fear does not derive from rational thought but from emotion. One cannot conquer emotion through facts and statistics. If a person cannot deal with emotions, with his feeling of fear, he must create walls of natural defense to fight it.
Maran was wont to give messages of comfort and reassurance, of emunah and bitochon in particular, during wartime, stressing that this did not refer to hope for better times. During the war, he imbued in us the belief that we did not have anyone upon whom to rely here in E. Yisroel, being like a lamb surrounded by seventy wolves, read: the hostile nations all around and their hatred towards Israel.
Instead, we must rely on the basis of our full acknowledgement that Hashem runs the world and that He supervises everything fully from above. Every bullet has its address, and clinging to the way of Torah and mitzvos is our only guarantee and method of creating serenity and satisfaction which will serve to deflect fear of anything to come.
"There exists only one way to liberate one from the knotty coil of his thoughts. We Jews, who trust on our holy Torah, know full well that only the Torah can assure a person's stability and wise decisions. The wisdom of the Torah was granted to us by the Creator Who created Man and is privy to his ways and inner thoughts. It is privy to the hidden thoughts of man's heart, his weaknesses, propensities and desires — all is clear and known to Hashem.
"Only the Torah is capable of guiding this created being called Man to the absolute truth. One who is privileged to tread the path of Torah is the happiest man on earth for he has discovered the innate truth in its entire purity, and this truth becomes his guiding beacon for all his ways in life.
"Such a person, who is guided by the truth of the Torah — even if surrounded by danger where it seems that there is no way out — is the happiest of men since he derives strength from the Torah, the wellspring of truth, and dredges from it a bounty of true joy.
"We find that when Yaakov fled from Esav for his life and found himself alone in a vast desert, exposed to beasts and birds of prey, he laid stones under his head as his only defense. What thoughts surfaced at this awesome time? What song spurted from his lips?
" 'Shir Hama'alos, I lift my eyes unto the mountains, from whence will come my succor?' (Tehillim 121:1). Chazal in Medrash Rabba (VaYeitze) say, 'He retraced his steps and said: Shall I lose my hope and faith in my Creator? Rather, my help comes from Hashem! He will not let my foot falter; my Guardian will not slumber. Lo, the Guardian of Israel shall not slumber or sleep. Hashem shall protect you from all evil — Esav and Lavan. He shall guard your soul — from the Angel of Death. Hashem shall guard your going and coming.' 'And Yaakov lef?'
"Yaakov our Patriarch taught us that even when dreadful hours of darkness and gloom threaten a person, even when he walks in the Valley of Death, he shall not fear evil.' A person need not be distressed at all. All the more so, being engrossed in the Torah of truth, he shall be content beyond others, knowing that his 'succor emanates from Hashem, Creator of heaven and earth.' The selfsame Creator of heaven and earth also created man, and will help and protect him from all evil, will guard his soul from all calamity.
"One who is not privy to such joy which the Torah grants to those who rely upon it, is actually surrounded by danger which depresses his spirit. He truly finds himself in the depths with no deliverance or help in sight. But one who is guided along his path by the light of the Torah, knows that even when he finds himself in the deepest pit, he is not alone because Hashem is nearby to [hear] his cry from those depths.
"Even more, a cry from the deep places is a song before Hashem. Precisely at that time of difficulty and a cry for help, he will experience a closeness to Hashem which will suffuse him with joy causing song to erupt from the depths of his heart — 'A song of the ascents, From the depths did I call unto You Hashem.' 'A song of ascents, I life my eyes unto the mountains, from whence shall come my help.'
"And why? Because my help 'comes from Hashem.' When he relied and trusted in the One Who created him and guided him along the path of Truth which Hashem showed him. 'Abba' was with him to help him. What greater joy can there be? The Torah which draws him out from the intricacies of his thoughts, delivered him now from the present danger and lifted him up from the depths, from the deep pit into which he fell."
"Rabosai, I will tell you the truth that I feel in my heart. I live constantly — day and night — with these feelings. Therefore, whichever situation the Creator sets up for me, nothing is bad for me. Since everything comes from His great Wisdom, it cannot be bad. One who lives with this feeling and awareness, he is the happiest of all people. Every Jew should realize that only one who keeps Torah and mitzvos is happy. He is the one that will feel satisfaction in his life."
He also used to stress the importance of spiritual pursuits during wartime. That is the only way to win the war.
This is what he said at the beginning of the Winter Zman in 1974 during the Yom Kippur War, exactly 50 years ago:
Even now as we are in this danger, everyone around us wants to destroy us, recall that the Torah says that even the merit of only 10 tzadikim is enough to fight to save everyone. What must we do? What are our weapons? Every Jew must not lost focus, and with every minute of learning Torah it is possible to protect and to save. We must also seize the trade of our forefathers in prayer. Even if we are not worthy, we may still ask for mercy. This will give us the merit for a miracle, because of our emunah in HaKodosh Boruch Hu.
This is our great obligation at this time. And if chas vesholom we do not do this, we do save the many who endanger their lives. Let us strengthen our observance of the mitzvos bein Odom LeMokom and the mitzvos bein Odom Lechavero, and especially learning our holy Torah, and in this merit may Hashem have mercy on us.
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HaRav A.Y.L. Shteinman spoke about emunah. He noted that in the yeshivas they talk about Torah and tefillah, but there is also the essential emunah. He added:
In our days we cannot say that we see miracles like those of Eliahu Hanovi, but even today, if one wants to see he can see miracles. The basic fact that Klal Yisrael is surround by so many enemies and reshoim, and things happen all the time chas vesholom, and still we see miracles. But one has to open their eyes. We have to mitchazeik, everyone must know and look at what happens daily. We see miracles. Many times we see that people are captures just before they were ready to murder many people chas vesholom, and Hashem saved. We see miracles every day. But we have to know what we are seeing. If one wants to know the truth, they can get chizuk.
