Get in Formation!

The opening portion in the Book of Numbers runs like a military drill.  

First, we are commanded to count all males of fighting age who are eligible to fight in Israel’s wars. Then, we are ordered to get into formation. The tribe of Yehuda in front, Dan in the back forming a diamond of men. The Levites inside the diamond, a second wave of protection. The Mishkan, the Tabernacle, our connection to God – in the center of our entire nation.  

Today, I am sitting in my home in the Jezreel Valley, watching a black pillar of smoke rise from behind a mountain just east of Al-Nasrat.  

We are at war. The war of Bamidbar. The battle to bring God’s presence to its eternal home.  

When you read about an event, say the Battle of the Bulge, it’s theoretical. It happened in a different place, and at a different time. Unless you are a tactician, it doesn’t relate to our reality. It’s hard to conceptualize what they faced, even if it is exactly what we face.  

We have to try.  

Thousands of years ago, in the plains of Moav, everybody went to war. The fighters went to the battle, but the entire nation was in a life-or-death situation. If our soldiers fell, our women and children would become slaves to Moav and Midian. These perverted, sadistic nations would put our innocents through absolute hell. Everybody knew it. Everybody knew that they had to fight. How did they fight? 

The same way we must fight today.  

What We are Defending 

What are the Antifa and BLM fanatics fighting for? They are fighting for communism and anarchy. 

What are the police fighting for? They are fighting for law and order. They are fighting for democracy.  

What are the Arabs fighting for? They are fighting for Islam. But when they fight for Islam by killing innocent children, destroying property,  and stealing a nation’s Divinely ordained homeland, they are not fighting for God. The Arabs are fighting for conquest.  

Thousands of years ago, we fought for the Mishkan. We fought for the center of the universe, the place where God rested His presence before all the nation. We fought for God.  

We fought under God’s command. He ordered us to fight. He sent us to battle. He commands us to be holy and when we are, He fights our battles for us.  

During the period of the Judges, Hashem wanted to make it very clear Who wins Israel’s battles. Against 135,000 Midianites, Amalekites, and Edomites, He commanded Gideon to send most of his  soldiers  home, save for 300 men.  

Gideon held the streams of Harod. The Midianites stood atop the Hills of Mor’e.  

Harod sat at the bottom of a valley. Mor’e was a huge mountain with a long plateau, steep climbs, and thousands of trees.  

I know – I live there. Every week my wife and I hike these hills. You can easily hide 135,000 men, their camels, and artillery from any unsuspecting attacker.  

You can also see Harod miles away.  

The Midianites could see the camp of Gideon. They could see him coming for hours. An army with incredible manpower, resources, and high ground sat and waited for a small force of 300 men to attack them.  

Hashem decreed victory for Gideon. He forgave our sins, accepted our repentance, and gave us another chance.  

A hopeless situation, more dire than the days leading up to the Six Day War, turned into an easy victory because Hashem fought for us.  

When Hashem is happy with us, we cannot lose. When He is angry, we cannot win.  

Jewish Mitzvot Matter! 

We are fighting the same battle today. Every act of repentance by a Jew can tip the scales from total  annihilation to complete victory.  

They are the only factor in this war.  

If we do them, it is like Moshe raising his hands in supplication to Hashem as his army fights Amalek. If we don’t do them, his hands grow heavy and he can no longer ask Hashem for salvation. That is where the tide turns.  

The fate of the soldiers, border police, policemen, and residents of Lod, Ramle, Haifa, and Jerusalem are in your hands.Your decision right now contributes to the merit we have to petition our Commander in Chief to fight for us. 

Every one of us must fight. Every life is at stake.  

The Arabs are no longer targeting Jewish settlements in East Israel. They are no longer looking for discotheques in Tel Aviv. They are attacking everywhere. They have murdered a five-year-old child. They have murdered an 85-year-old holocaust survivor. They will murder anyone they can with no regard, restraint, or remorse.  

They have murdered people. They have torched cars, endangering the lives of hundreds sleeping in the apartments above. They have destroyed businesses. They broke into an apartment, turned the entire place over and set it on fire. They are razing Synagogues to the ground. They are shooting indiscriminately at Jews walking by on the street. They are telling their people to spend $2 to buy a knife, and slit a Jew’s throat with it. 

The war is everywhere. Everyone has a target on their back, just like the war of Sichon and Og.  

We are in the same situation. We must fight in the same manner. Our counter attack must be with mitzvot. To hit them hard. To push them back, and away forever, they have to be the most intense mitzvot. The really powerful Commandments.  

Isolating, Attacking, and Destroying the Enemy 

The enemy are not just the Arabs. They aren’t only the Iranians. They are not Europe.  

Our enemy is the Evil Inclination. This is everybody’s enemy.  

Each one of us is tasked with fighting the demons within ourselves  to add light to the world.  

The Six Day War was preceded by an unprecedented wave of unaffiliated Jews putting on Tefillin and reciting prayers for Israel. It was a time of national unity, perhaps the last time we were so united.  

Five armies against a single nation with no allies. 72 hours before the war began, the American President said, “Israel will not go it alone unless Israel decides to go it alone.” 

The entire nation unified behind prayer. We unified before God. The government of Israel, for the first time, united left and right under a single banner.  

God accepted our repentance. He protected us with His Great Light.  

The five armies surrounding us on all sides never stood a chance.  

Today, we must act likewise. We must recite psalms asking Hashem to protect all of our brothers and sisters in the Holy Land. We must strive to learn more Torah every day, or learn what we are already learning with greater focus.  

We must accept upon ourselves nuclear weapons grade mitzvot like Guarding Your Eyes and modesty for women,  and  Shmirat HaLashon – Guarding our Tongues. We must heed the calls of the greatest Rabbis of our generation to seriously work on our bein adam l’chavero – be very careful with the commandments between people.  

From the days Abraham fought four armies with just over 300 men to today’s battles, there is only one way for a Jewish nation to win: Holiness.  

Every Jew must work to be holy in charity, holy in Torah Learning, and constantly Holy in repentance.  

This is how we all fight.  

This is how we will all win. 

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David Ben Horin lives in Afula with his wife and children. Since moving to Israel in 2002, David has discovered Torah, writing hi-tech, hiking, coding ReactJS Apps, and hearing stories about the Land of Israel from anyone excited to tell them. Check him out on Highway 60 or email him your favorite Israel story at:   david.ben.horin@spreadyourenthusiasm.com.