Avenging their Blood

Rabbi Arush’s class from last week is a MUST READ – one of the most important I’ve ever heard – Why is Hashem Doing This to Us? That article is the foundation of this article. 

The first thing we need to strengthen is the basis – emuna. Read The Garden of Emuna, and then read it again! Harav said recently that this book is our manual for life, especially right now. 

Miracles in Front of Our Eyes 

My daughter was scared to go to sleep the other night. I am grateful that things are quiet in Jerusalem right now, but the war weighs on all our hearts. I reminded her that the fact that we exist as Jews is already a huge miracle and the biggest proof of God there is. We should be found only in history books between Persia-Media, the Greeks, and the Romans. Oh, and there were these people the Jews, they lived in a land called Israel, their capital was called Jerusalem, they were conquered in 70CE… So although we do what we can to protect ourselves, the reality of the Jew is that we rely on miracles and Hashem to guard us from the non-Jews who hate us. My daughter is old enough to need to know that God Himself is protecting her! And she can talk to Him whenever she wants. 

If that wasn’t proof enough, try to consider what these missiles should be doing. A single missile can easily kill tens of people, and yet thousands of missiles have killed very, very few – statistically zero. It’s part of the problem of “death equivalency” – thousands of Gazans have been killed (assuming you can trust Gaza Health Dept, which is a BIG assumption) and yet almost no Israelis since the massacre of Simchat Torah. How is that fair? Well, war isn’t fair and who is right and wrong is not determined by death counts. But besides that, there SHOULD be thousands of dead Israelis and there SHOULD be hospitals that are over-filled. The only explanation is God Almighty Himself (no offense, it’s not the Iron Dome – there are plenty of missiles that get through, unfortunately). 

Add that to the personal stories like Rabbi Arush mentioned in Why is Hashem Doing This to Us? – I don’t need to tell you that these stories are way above nature – such things absolutely cannot be! It’s even more crazy than thousands of bombs landing in big cities but killing almost no one. We are literally witnessing outright miracles in front of our eyes. It’s absolute proof that God exists, and that every Jew has personal Divine Providence, regardless of where he is spiritually and what mitzvot he keeps or doesn’t keep. 

Antisemitism is still the same. Who is surprised that BLM supports Hamas? Not me. Clearly Black lives matter, but certainly not Jewish ones… Who is surprised that campuses continue to be hotbeds of antisemitism? More than 300 campuses have Hamas-funded campus organizations! Forget about the quotes from some professors that I’ll skip quoting here. Who is surprised that there were more than 1,000 antisemitic attacks in France in the 48 hours after the Simchat Torah massacre, and that many other antisemitic things happened around the world against Jews as well?

If Russia did in the Ukraine or in France what Hamas did in southern Israel, NO ONE would say anything positive about Russia. No one would say a peep that Russia had a right to do what they did. Suddenly, somehow, Hamas is different?! 

Time to Wake Up 

Those who were killed al Kiddush Hashem (for the sanctification of Hashem’s name), who were butchered simply because they were Jews – they are in the highest chamber in Heaven. Why Hashem did that is a very lengthy discussion which includes the Holocaust, pogroms, and the like. But the biggest thing we can do to not let them die in vain is to wake up and see what Hashem is doing! 

When we do a mitzvah because of the tragedy, we are avenging their blood. We are giving the martyrs  merit. You cannot forget them! And the captives – we can give them merit to be saved! Every second, remember – what can I do for them? 

There is a verse: “Don’t be afraid of them… because Hashem your God walks with you, to fight your enemies, to save you.” (Devarim 20: 3-4) 

We see from here how critically important it is that Hashem be with us now! Reality on the ground – without miracles, thousands of soldiers and citizens throughout the entire country are in grave danger. The very existence of the State of Israel is now on the line. Regardless of what we think of its leadership, without it, millions of Jews are in grave danger.  

What Can We Do?  

What can we do to make sure Hashem is with us? 

Shabbat 

Strengthen observance of Shabbat! The two communities around Gaza that keep Shabbat were both saved that day! The press does not report this miracle, because they only talk about those who were killed. Shabbat guarded them! It’s impossible! When we keep Shabbat, Hashem is with us. Also, I heard from a Rabbi I used to know, that the Hebrew word “neshek” (which means “weapon”) stands for “neirot Shabbat kodesh” – candles for the holy Shabbat. Ladies, your Shabbat candles give the Jewish people spiritual weapons that fuel the physical weapons! 

Modesty 

Here is the real kicker – a hidden tzaddik quoted the Torah, “Lest something immodest be seen in you and God will turn away from behind you.” He said the modest dress of the women is critical to Hashem being “with us” and not needing to “turn away” to avoid seeing our immodesty.  

Rabbi Yaakov Ades recently called for “kedusha elyona” – the highest levels of personal holiness. So are many other tzaddikim, including Rabbi Arush. 

Every centimeter of longer sleeves, longer skirt, wider clothing, etc. saves lives. Rabbi Arush said that a short skirt kills a soldier, and a long skirt guards the soldier with miracles! And oy va voy, a see-through garment kills a battalion, Hashem should save us.

Hashem simply hates and despises sexual lust. A woman’s beauty is powerful, and the entire basis of holiness is that a man be able to think about Hashem instead of running after short skirts. And for a woman, Hashem also keeps the Torah in a certain respect. A man is not allowed to look at or say a blessing around a woman dressed immodestly. So too Hashem can’t “look at” her either, and hence does not hear her prayers in the same way.

The holiness of the men is also very, very important – no Jew is exempt. But there is a reason why it says, “In the merit of the righteous women we were redeemed from Egypt, and in the merit of the righteous woman we will be redeemed from exile!” (Talmud, Sotah 11b).  See my articles The Greatest Danger, Is Mashiach Still Coming?,  and Bring Down Blessing. Our Personal Holiness category has a wide range of articles about modesty for men and for women. To take on some kabbalah in modesty as a merit for the captive children, see Just One Inch.

Segulot for Protection

Please read my article Not Just Another War which includes specific segulot for protection during this very dangerous time.

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Rachel Avrahami grew up in Los Angeles, CA, USA in a far-off valley where she was one of only a handful of Jews in a public high school of thousands. She found Hashem in the urban jungle of the university. Rachel was privileged to read one of the first copies of The Garden of Emuna in English, and the rest, as they say, is history. She made Aliyah and immediately began working at Breslev Israel.   
  
Rachel is now the Editor of Breslev Israel’s English website. She welcomes questions, comments, articles, and personal stories to her email: rachel.avrahami@breslev.co.il.