Where’s the Deterrence?

Funny, but the nations of the world should be afraid of us. Israel’s elected leadership has admitted that it possesses a nuclear arsenal. The news of its high-tech weapons of destruction are constantly and boastfully leaked to the press. Yet, something has badly backfired. Not only have the nations of the world lost their fear of Israel, but now openly scoff in her face. A photo of a lone eleven year-old urchin from Jenin charging a Merkava tank with a rock in his hand has become the symbol of the Palestinian resistance movements.

If that’s not enough, let’s see what's happening around us lately:

* Egypt is opening the border to Gaza against Israel's wishes and freely violating Camp David accords with stationing more troops in Sinai.

* Iran’s Chief of Staff declared that he no longer worries about an Israeli attack, because Israel is far too weak to defend itself against an Iranian reprisal.

* For three years already, Syria has been smuggling massive amounts of arms into Lebanon and the hands of the Hizbolla in flagrant violation of UN Resolution 1701. Not only does the Israeli government fail to react, but they offer the Syrians the entire Golan Heights.

* Gilead Shalit continues to wither away in Gazan captivity. Meanwhile, the young guard of Hamas militants takes over the Hamas Shura (advisory) council, and raises the price for Shalit’s release.

* The Knesset’s Committee of Foreign Affairs and Defense officially told the media that every inch of Israel from Dan to Eilat is now targeted by an Arab missile.

* The Israeli government promised its citizens relief to our sorely acute housing shortage with new apartments in Beitar, Brachtfeld, and other towns in Judea and Samaria, but one phone call from Washington again froze all building plans.

* The worldwide Arab unrest and the Fatah-Hamas agreements caught Israel unprepared and off-guard, particularly diplomatically.

What’s happening? Where’s our power of deterrence? Has Israel become a paper tiger?

Any thinking individual with any semblance of spiritual awareness must ask himself not only where has our power of deterrence disappeared to, but how do we regain it?

The Torah says emphatically (Devorim 28:10), “And the nations of the earth shall see that The Name of Hashem is upon you and they shall fear you.” Rebbe Pinchas the “Haflaa” explains (in his elaboration on tractate Ketubot 77b) that when The Ineffable Name is reflected from a person’s forehead, evil forces flee from him. This helps us understand why Hashem had to place a letter of His Holy Name on Cain’s forehead, because Cain blemished The Holy Name when he killed Abel, for transgressions of Torah erase the letters of Hashem’s name that should be reflecting from a person’s forehead.

As soon as The Holy Name is blemished, it no longer illuminates. When The Holy Name fails to illuminate from a person’s countenance, then that person loses his power of deterrence against man and animals alike.

Rabbi Zev Wolf of Zhitomer, author of “Or HaMeir” and one of the leading pupils of the legendary Maggid of Mezheritch, explains the Zohar’s teaching (Book II:96b), that The Name of Hashem guards the person who is careful to preserve The Holy Name that reflects from his forehead. As such, the nations of the earth see a tzaddik with a holy countenance that reflects The Divine Countenance. King David referred to this phenomenon when he said (Psalms 42:12), “The salvation of my countenance and my G-d.” King David knew that his rescue from any and all calamity was dependant on the shining image of Hashem’s Holy Name reflecting from his forehead. This image is what makes the nations of the earth shudder in fear.

Correspondingly, Hashem promises to give us the Holy Land and to grant us victory over our enemies on one condition, namely, that we maintain the holiness of our countenance. That way, our foreheads reflect His Holy Name and our enemies cower.

Rabbenu Bahiya explains the secret of deterrence in an allegorical fashion: the servant of a government minister doesn’t have the status of a king’s servant. In fact, the king’s servant walks in and out of the king’s chambers freely, and all the ministers are afraid of slighting the king’s servant, lest they invoke the king’s wrath. So, when the servant carries the name of the king and is known as “the king’s servant,” even the ministers fear him.

The Jewish People live according to a special set of spiritual dynamics that override natural variables. No armaments or physical might can gain us the power of deterrence. Our foreheads must reflect Hashem’s Holy Name for our enemies to fear us. That behooves us to strengthen our emuna and our practical observance of the Torah and its laws with no compromises. There’s no other way, for our national security depends on it.

Rebbe Nachman of Breslev emphasizes that it’s not enough for our enemies to fear us – we have to believe in ourselves. Believing in ourselves means that we believe that our prayers and hitbodedut have the capability to transcend nature and natural limitations, and to bring about salvations.

Moshiach will fight all his battles with prayer (see Likutei Moharan I:2). He’ll also show us what real power of deterrence is, for the nations of the world will fall at his feet without his firing a single shot. May we see him conquer the world with our own eyes, speedily and in our days, amen!