The Emuna Platoon

Photographs by David Bader
 

Sometimes Hashem gives you a day that feels like the most special day of your life. That’s just the way I felt when  I had the rare privilege of accompanying Rabbi Lazer Brody on a visit to the Gaza border near the Erez Crossing, where a platoon of the famed Golani Brigades finest infantrymen are on 24-hour combat alert.  The Gaza border is certainly no walk in a tulip garden; a mere few hundred meters from where we were lie Hamas terrorists waiting to seize the very moment when Israel drops her guard. Fortunately, Hashem – the Guardian of Israel – shall not slumber. Largely by the fact that you can find now a copy of Rabbi Shalom Arush’s Garden of Emuna in virtually every tank and ATC (armored troop carrier, affectionately nicknamed “Zelda” in the IDF) on the Gaza border, Israeli soldiers are learning more and more to depend on “The Guardian.”

 Above image: Rabbi Lazer Brody speaking to Golani soldiers stationed on Gaza border

Outside of official military chaplains, civilian rabbis are normally not guests on Israeli military installations. Yet, Rabbi Brody, as a former special forces commando, is on the recommended lecturer’s list of the Chief Educational Officer of the IDF. This status enables him to visit front-line, with whom he normally speaks about dealing with stress and fear under extreme situations – namely, combat.
 

 Rabbi Lazer Brody gives a copy of Likutei Moharan to the Company Commander

So many of us are influenced by stereotypes and by the negativity of the secular press. The younger soldiers of the platoon we visited looked dumbstruck when they first saw Rabbi Brody walk into their emplacement. One shrugged his shoulders and asked his buddy, “What’s that old Haredi doing here?” That didn’t last long, for after Rabbi Brody embraced and blessed 1^st Lieutenant Ido, the platoon commander with success, one of the platoon sergeants gathered the soldiers into the briefing tent. Within a minute, they were assembled and sitting, about to get the surprise of their lives.

Rabbi Brody began by speaking about fear under fire: “Today’s soldier is no simple chunk of cannon fodder running up a hill with a carbine. He’s a sophisticated, highly trained warrior. There’s a lot he learns, a lot he needs to remember, and a lot he needs to retain and recall instantly. Fear greatly reduces his ability to function; the more he fears, the more he forgets. That’s why you can’t go into combat without emuna. With emuna, he who fears One fears no one. That’s exactly what King David meant when he said in Psalm 23, ‘Though I walk through the valley of death, I shall not fear, for You are with me.’ Sure, guys, combat is dangerous. But that’s why you don’t want to go into combat without making sure that Hashem is with you and you’re with Hashem.”

The soldiers were all nodding their heads. They were mumbling over and over, “he who fears One fears no one…”

David P. (photo, left) is one of the very special soldiers in the “Emuna Platoon.” He came to Israel from the USA and joined the IDF, volunteering for Golani. He became an avid reader of Rav Arush’s books and started attending Rabbi Brody’s weekly emuna lessons in Jerusalem whenever he could. David has had so much of an influence on the platoon that twelve of its soldiers are already on the way to becoming observant. Platoon Commander Ido says, “David is one of our best soldiers. Everyone admires him. That’s why his influence on the others has been so strong.”

I then turned to David and asked him how his spiritual journey started. “I owe everything to Rav Arush and to Rav Brody. Since I don’t have family in Israel, Rav Brody has become like an adopted father to me.” David pulled a copy of the “Tikkun Klali” out of his breast pocket. “This belonged to Rav Brody. His tears are soaked in its pages. He gave it to me and said, ‘David, keep this with you at all times, especially on the front lines.’ I cherish this little book and I cherish the Rabbi. He dropped his entire busy schedule to come down here and spend the day with us. It means so much to us…”

Rabbi Brody spoke to the soldiers about the history of their own unit and the part that Golani played in the Yom Kippur War of 1973 and the First Lebanon War of 1982. He then spoke about the meaning of the Three Weeks, Tisha B’Av, and Shabbat Nachamu, the awaited consolation of redemption and the in-gathering of the exiles. He spoke elaborately about how every Israeli soldier must have a triple love of G-d, Land of Israel, and the Jewish people. He then spoke about the need for unity within the unit. “There’s one thing more important than advanced infantry training and highly-maintained weapons – that’s the unity factor, where you put aside differences in personalities and backgrounds and you love each other more than you’d love your favorite brother. Unity and victory go hand in hand. When you guys pull together, you’ll have a mega influence on the army and on Israeli society altogether.”

One of the platoon sergeants whispered in my ear; “I never heard any of the top brass or a politician talking like that…”

To us it’s no surprise. Rebbe Nachman said, “I have won and I will win!” It takes one of his students – a Breslev Israel rabbi – to show the IDF how to win its wars.

Our visit, which lasted until the night-patrol hours, ended very emotionally with Rabbi Brody blessing and embracing each soldier in the unit. As we were walking toward the car, one of the soldiers from a secular kibbutz in the North of Israel grabbed my sleeve and said, “I never dreamed that I’d hear a Haredi Rabbi talk for an hour, and that I’d agree with everything that came out of his mouth. The whole deal about emuna simply makes a lot of sense.”

That’s what emuna is all about. If it can make life bearable – even pleasant – on the Gaza Border, in can certainly make your life pleasant too. It’s time for all of us to join the emuna platoon and spread emuna wherever we go.