Part 4
Our Power is Only in our Mouth
"And I have given you one portion over your brothers, which I
took from the hand of the Emorite with my sword and with my
bow" (Bereishis 48:22). Rashi explains: "With my sword
and with my bow" -- "I.e., his sharp wisdom and his prayer."
Why did Yaakov cloak his meaning in hints and not simply say
clearly that he took from the Emorite with his prayer?
This teaches us an important principle in the proper
perspective on life, which is illustrated by an incident that
occurred at the end of the War of 1948 in Israel. A number of
people close to Maran HaBrisker Rav ztvk'l spoke with
too much exuberance about the heroism of the soldiers and the
might of the army in their victory over the enemy.
Maran HaBrisker Rav said: Do you think the rifles and
cannons, the tanks and the planes won the war? Not in the
least! It was the Tehillim and the tefillos, the
bakoshos and the techinos of the tzaddikim
and chachomim that won the war! (The Rov mentioned a
number of Jerusalem's tzaddikim, such as HaRav Zeev
Chechik zt'l, and HaRav Shlomo Bloch zt'l).
It is a simple matter. Concerning Am Yisroel the front
is not on the land or sea, nor in the air. All these things
are behind the real `front lines,' which is Shomayim.
There is only one front! It is in Shomayim!
The whole question is: Were our tefillos and
bakoshos accepted? Did our teshuvoh and
ma'asim tovim vanquish the accusers and prosecutors? Or
did they win, G-d forbid?
If we win on the real front, the salvation comes down below
automatically. If we lose Above, G-d forbid, we fall down
below as well.
The truth is, concluded Maran HaBrisker Rav, that whatever
happens on earth is only child's play. We need to play the
game like any other effort that we must do, but the real
front is Above! It was not the army or the air force that
won, but rather HaRav Zeev Chechik , HaRav Shlomo Bloch, and
the ones like they who won!
One of those present asked: If the tzadikim won on the
front Above and therefore the enemy was vanquished below, why
did so many Jews fall in the battles?
The Rov answered with a story. One of the Beis HaLevi's sons
became engaged, and the young man's head swelled due to the
size of the dowry. The Beis HaLevi sensed this, and told his
son: The big dowry you got was because you are my son and not
because of your good deeds. He meant to say, it was in my
zchus and not yours.
The son, who was very sharp, answered immediately: That is
not so, father. For if it was due to the honor of father, the
dowry should have been much greater, doubled many times over
than it is. Therefore, it must be because of me, and that is
why it is not so much.
The Beis Levi answered: In truth, for my honor the dowry
should have been many times more. But what can I do that you
are in the middle, and that is why it was not so big!
The same applies here, explained Maran HaRav. In truth, the
front is in Shomayim, and there they truly won. In
fact, it should have been that not one Jew would be hurt. But
what can be done? The Zionists are of the mindset: "My might
and the power of my hands." They think the cannons and the
airplanes are what wins the wars. Because of this there was a
heavy price of killed and wounded! They ruined it!
These are the words of Maran HaBrisker Rav. This is the light
he poured on the matter of the war with the Torah perspective
and the clear truth. We win with tefilloh! Not with
rifles and tanks! This is what Yaakov said to Yosef: With my
sword and with my bow, which is tefilloh. Only with
tefilloh can we win, and there is nothing else!
Tefilloh is the most effective sword, more than all the
latest tanks and jets!
This is not only true in regard to the war with the Emorite
or the War of 1948. In each and every detail of life, in each
and every matter, we have to know this principle: "Where is
the front?" When a person encounters some trouble, or some
danger, G-d forbid, or he wishes to succeed in a business
venture, he must remember that the front is Above, and the
first thing is tefilloh! Only afterwards he should make
the necessary practical effort.
This is the meaning of the posuk: "These trust in
chariots and these in horses, but we--we mention the name of
Hashem our G-d" (Tehillim 20:8). The nations of the
world fight with chariots and horses, but we, "our power is
only in our mouth." We mention the Name of Hashem. Am
Yisroel has only one front, Above in Shomayim. When
a person knows this he automatically knows that he must first
turn to the real front, and there, the language is
tefilloh and ma'asim tovim. Afterwards, he turns
to the `home front' -- a little effort!
(Lev Sholom, HaRav Sholom Schwadron zt'l)
The Tefilloh of that Rosh Hashanah was Completely
Different from the Tefillos of the Other Years
World War I had broken out. When the Yeshiva was still in its
place, in Mir, an awesome event happened on Rosh Hashanah.
Since they were all together for the tefilloh, the
entire student body of the Yeshiva gathered in the Beis
Knesses Hagodol of Mir. Suddenly, Russian soldiers arrived at
the Batei Knessios Courtyard, the Shulhauf, surrounding
the entire courtyard and imposing a search for `draft
dodgers' from the Russian army.
In fact, virtually all the students of Yeshivas Mir were
`draft dodgers.' Not one of them had reported for the
enlistment. They were in great danger, especially since they
were together in one place and could be taken straight to the
front. They thought that it would be better to split up the
students into smaller groups and scatter them amongst the
various shuls in town. In that way, they would not stick out
so much as they did amongst the elderly congregants of the
Beis Knesses Hagodol. If the soldiers were to come into the
Beis Knesses Hagodol and see a large group of young men
together, they would seize them and the entire Yeshiva would
be in their hands.
Admor (Maran HaRav Yeruchom Levovitz zt'l, the
Mashgiach of Mir) decided at that point that everyone should
instead remain together and pray together with greater
strength, trusting entirely in Hashem that He would save them
from this travail.
All the students of Yeshivas Mir from those days remember
well the uplifting inspiration and the thundering prayers of
the Yomim Noraim in the Yeshiva every year. But the
tefilloh of that Rosh Hashanah was completely different
from the tefillos of the other years. The uplifting
flame of energy was tremendous.
The soldiers searched all the other shuls, but they never set
foot on the doorstep of the Beis Knesses Hagodol, where the
entire Yeshiva was praying. It was a miracle.
(From the Kuntras HoOdam Bikor, written by Maran HaRav
Yeruchom Leibowitz's disciple, Maran HaRav Shlomo Wolbe
zt'l)
