Iron Swords

From Being a Pursued Yaakov to Being a Victorious Yisrael 

Sometimes we forget that we are not a nation like all others. Unfortunately, the harsh reality awakens us and reminds us of the deep hatred the nations of the world harbor toward the Jewish People. That hatred began way back in the womb, between Yaakov Avinu – who is Yisrael, the father of the Jewish nation – and wicked Eisav, Amalek’s grandfather. At the end of the previous parasha, Eisav marries into Yishmael’s family and together they develop and refine a pure hatred of Yisrael. 

The Jewish People was born from persecution. The twelve tribes of the Jewish People were actually born as a result of Yaakov escaping from his great enemy, Eisav, who wished to kill him. Yaakov had chosen the bechora (firstborn rights), the Divine destiny, over lentil stew, i.e., the desires of this world. 

And to this day, the nations hate us and persecute us because of that same Divine destiny, because of that same holy firstborn right that we carry with us: “My firstborn son, Yisrael.” 

During the entire exile, Yaakov Avinu was still called only ‘Yaakov’, and only at the end of the parasha does he make his way back to the Land of Israel, where he faces the wicked Eisav and defeats both him and his angel in Heaven, thus receiving his eternal name: ‘Yisrael’! 

What caused Yaakov Avinu, the pursued, to decide that he is returning to the Land of Israel and taking on the challenge of dealing with evil? Yaakov Avinu ran away because he knew that he didn’t have the ability to defeat the evil of Eisav, so what changed in Yaakov that gave him the confidence that now he can vanquish that evil? 

This is not just a theoretical historical question, but rather one that is very relevant to us, because “the deed of the fathers is a sign for the sons”. Everything that our forefathers experienced, we experience in every generation, because in every generation there is someone who wishes to annihilate us. And if we understand what gave Yaakov the strength to cope with the evil and vanquish it, we will be able to understand what we should be strengthening in our generation so that we will be able to vanquish the klipa of Eisav and Yishmael, plus the current Amalek that has attacked us with such incredible cruelty.  

The Secret Weapon 

The Torah tells us that the turning point was the birth of Yosef Hatzaddik: “When Rachel bore Yosef, Yaakov said to Lavan: Send me away and I will go to my place and my land.” 

Rashi explains why it was Yosef’s birth that gave Yaakov Avinu the strength and the confidence to return to the Land of Israel and to battle evil: knowing that Yosef Hatzaddik has the ability to vanquish Eisav’s klipa: 

“When Rachel bore Yosef – When Eisav’s opponent was born, as it says, ‘The house of Yaakov will be fire, and the house of Yosef will be a flame and the house of Eisav – straw.’ (Ovadia 1:18) Fire without a flame doesn’t go far. When Yosef was born, Yaakov trusted in the Holy One, Blessed Be He, and wanted to return.” 

In other words, Yaakov Avinu is fire. The fire of holiness. But that is not enough to take on Eisav. Against Eisav one needs a bursting flame. And Yosef is that flame. Yosef is such a powerful flame that he can eat up all the house of Eisav, all his chiefs and the military power, all Eisav’s evilness and power, like a flame that consumes piles of straw in a few seconds. And therefore, only when Yosef was born did Yaakov know that he could withstand that rasha (evil person) and finish him off.  

And so, Yosef Hatzaddik’s holiness is the real “secret weapon” of the Jewish People! 

Yosef Hatzaddik is the symbol and sign of shmirat habrit (maintaining moral purity). The circumcision, our covenant, is our connection with Hashem. All the nations hate us just because of that covenant, that special connection between the Jews and Hashem. And that is where the solution lies: the more we strengthen ourselves and strengthen our connection and covenant with Hashem, so all our enemies will be consumed, and all evil will be banished from the world.  

This topic is true for every situation and any time, and it’s true for every salvation and for anything one needs in life. The solution and the biggest power is shmirat habrit and tikkun (rectification) habrit. How much more so in our situation and this time of fear and war, when we can bring a great salvation to the Jewish People and inflict complete defeat on our enemies, and bring closer the complete Geula that we are looking forward to. 

If we really want to help the Jewish People and bring the Geula closer, with mercy, there is no getting away from maintaining the brit and strengthening everything that is connected to its purity. 

A Covenant of Fire 

Practically speaking, this means that men should be more careful about what they see and be faithful; and it means that women should be more careful about modesty both in dress and in speech. Shmirat habrit means marrying at a young age, with the entire connection between a man and woman being only within the framework of marriage and strengthening one’s shalom bayit (marital harmony) and the special connection between husband and wife. 

Holy Jews! The holy Zohar says that the first word in the Torah, Bereishit, has the same letters as brit esh – covenant of fire. Because the brit is fire, a holy fire that burns up all evil in the world. Fighting against evil is done not only by way of guns and tanks; rather, one fights the evil in the world by adding holiness and light to it. 

Now is a time of war, and Jews are searching for something in which they can make an improvement in order to be saved and help our soldiers. Any improvement is good and desirable, but there is small change and there is big money. Rabbi Kadouri zt”l used to say that shmirat habrit is the big money and everything else is the small change; the yetzer hara (evil inclination) wants to allow a person to improve in anything, as long as he doesn’t work on the biggest and main thing in life – tikkun habrit. The yetzer hara does everything to hide from the person that his main tikkun and yeshua – and that of all Jews – depends on this thing.  

Rabbeinu, the Avir Yaakov, Rabbi Yaakov Abuchatzeira, said that shmirat habrit is what gives meaning to all of Torah and mitzvot. If there is shmirat habrit, all of Torah and mitzvot shine brightly. But if there isn’t shmirat habrit, says Rabbi Yaakov, all these are null and void! 

Therefore, dear Jews, whoever wants to truly do good and help the Jewish People should give Hashem yitbarach the biggest thing, which is shmirat habrit. There is much to say about this. It is a mission that is life’s mission and purpose. I have had the merit to write a detailed guidebook to the work of shmirat habrit for men, called The Garden of Purity. For women, I have written the book, Women’s Wisdom – essays on improvement in matters of modesty and the holiness of the Jewish home.  

The War of the Covenant 

We have even received a hint that this war is a war about the brit kodesh. The war is called “Iron Swords”, hinting to the knife used to perform the circumcision: upon entering the land of Israel, before conquering it, Yehoshua Bin Nun circumcised all the people, using charvot tzurim – swords made from sharp stones. 

But at the time of David’s battle with Goliath, Goliath’s iron armor refused to open before David’s stone, and the stone promised the iron that if it will open to it, it will allow the iron the honor of performing the brit mila with an iron knife, and indeed, it says in the Shulchan Aruch that it is a mitzvah to circumcise with an iron knife. 

And so, those charvot tzurim of Yehoshua Bin Nun – those knives used for the brit that gave us the merit to conquer the land – are today charvot barzel, iron swords, with which the Jewish people make the covenant with the Creator of the World.  

Another hint that furthers this idea is that the war began on the eighth day of Sukkot, known as Shemini Atzeret, alluding to the passuk about the brit – “And on the eighth day the foreskin of the child shall be circumcised.” 

By improving ourselves, even the tiniest bit, in matters connected to shmirat habrit, even if it’s just a willingness to do so and a prayer, we are revealing the kedusha (holiness) of Yosef Hatzaddik, on whom the entire Geula depends. Moshe Rabbeinu knew that it will be impossible to leave Egypt without Yosef’s coffin. Yosef’s coffin went before the camp, and it was due to it that the sea split, and the Jews merited great and awesome miracles, and all the enemies and haters surrendered to them. 

In this generation, too, we will certainly merit great miracles if each and every one of us – men and women – will strengthen themselves in shmirat habrit and tikkun habrit, and we will see the fulfillment of the passuk:  

“The house of Yaakov will be fire, and the house of Yosef will be a flame and the house of Eisav – straw, and they will blaze among them and consume them and there will be no survivors of the house of Eisav, for Hashem has spoken.” (Ovadia 1:18) 

And we will see the complete Geula, with chessed and mercy.