Are the Arabs Winning?

It shall be that if you listen to the voice of Hashem, your God, to keep, to perform, all His commandments that I command you this day, then Hashem, your God, will make you supreme over all the nations of the earth. (Parshat Ki Tavo, Deuteronomy 28:1) 

My wife and I are watching the hit series Fauda. It features a team of Israeli intelligence officers who sneak into Arab towns throughout Judea and Shomron, find the terrorists, and eliminate them.  

It’s a fine display of the best of the Israeli military. On the surface, it makes you proud to be an Israeli. The creators of the show have done what nobody in the Finance Ministry has accomplished: They make me proud to pay taxes.   

Beneath the surface, you can see the power of our enemies.  

The creators of the show were actual intelligence officers who lived and breathed Arab life for years. Their portrayal of Arab culture, norms, and values is art imitating life. 

This is what scares me.  

Moshe Rabbeinu, on the eve of our war with Og, king of Bashan, was terrified.  He wasn’t worried about Og’s size and strength, nor was he concerned about his army. So, what worried Moshe? Generations ago, Og did a favor for Avraham. He informed Avraham that Lot had been taken hostage by his enemies, enabling Avraham to attack and rescue his nephew.¹ 

It was Og’s Divine merit that Moshe feared. The merit of a kindness, especially to a tzaddik, was so powerful that, hundreds of years later, Og was still a king.  

We see it today.  

In the merit of Esau honoring his parents Yitzchak and Rivka,² Esau’s descendants now reign over Russia, Europe, and America, boasting massive cities, trillion-dollar economies, and global domination. 

The Merits of our Enemies 

Even though Og’s deed was righteous, his intention was evil. Og wanted Avraham to go to war so he could be killed, and then Og could take Avraham’s wife, Sara.  

It didn’t matter. A good deed is a good deed, regardless of intention. Even though we learn that Hashem punishes a non-Jew for evil intent – even if the deed he intended didn’t pan out – the merit of a good deed still brings blessing. 

What a kindness from Hashem.  

How many deeds do we perform in life without the right intention? Even for those deeds, Hashem gives us blessing. How many of our brothers and sisters live their lives without Torah? Even without the sublime joy of living according to Hashem’s will, He still blesses them every time they go to Shul on Yom Kippur or smile at a fellow Jew.  

Fauda is made by Israelis. The heroes are Israeli. The show is from the perspective of the Israeli point of view.  

They don’t whitewash our enemies. They make the bad guys look as sinister as possible.  

This is what scares me. Even when they make the terrorists look like monsters, they still uncover all the good they are doing – and terrorize us with the level of merit they confront us with.  

In the first episodes of the show, the wife of the worst terrorist is loyal to her husband. She dresses modestly from top to bottom. She tells her “Israeli handler” how she will not throw someone out of her home, even her arch enemy.  

Among the team of counter-terrorists, one member of the team is cheating on another member’s wife. The head of the team is taking advantage of a female subordinate.  

Every sentence an Arab mutters praises God – even among the terrorists. They are not simply praising God for killing innocents; they praise Him when they hear good news or even when they greet each other.  

Fauda, a secular Israeli show, uncovers why we have been demolishing Gaza for two years, yet they haven’t surrendered. This war is spiritual, and they are armed with merit.  

Hashem Gives us the Power 

Praised be Hashem!  

We destroyed Hezbollah. We leveled Yemen. We stunned Iran into surrender. However, the smallest and weakest of our enemies, occupying a space one-tenth the size of Rhode Island, continues to be a thorn in our sides.  

Hashem is telling us the same message He told us in the dreaded parsha Ki Tavo³: The only way to win this war is to return to Him. If we fail, there will be another Holocaust.  

Our job is to support our entire nation, from soldier to student to citizen, by adding to our spiritual merits.  

This is the Jewish War. This is the Jewish victory.  

For Elul, we must join our brothers and sisters in uniform by doing the following: 

• • Learn more Torah. Dedicate more time than you are learning today.  

• • Improve your speech. Do everything you can to not speak or listen to hateful speech on the computer or in person.  

• • Work on controlling your heart and eyes. Make double effort to control what you see and how you react to it. TIP: Google “how to disable images on my browser.” You can go to any page online without seeing anything. Trust me, you will spend less than half as much time online! 

Sun Tzu, the legendary Chinese master of war, warns in his book The Art of War that a battle is won or lost before it’s even fought. The side that sets the battle by commanding the terrain, the time, and how forces are deployed will win, even if it is outnumbered.  

We have been fighting an Arab war on Arab terms. Even here, in His mercy, Hashem is blessing us with miracles. To achieve complete victory, every one of us is drafted into service to turn the tide of this war by increasing our mitzvot, our merits, and by fighting like Hashem commands every Jew — by surrendering to Hashem’s will. Then He will wipe out all our enemies because no European Union, United Nations, or Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud can stop Him.  

¹ Bereishit (Genesis) 14:13-14. According to Midrashic tradition, the fugitive mentioned in these verses was Og. 

² The Zohar notes that the greatness of Rome was attributed to the exemplary trait of Esau in honoring his father. 

Rabbi Yesa said: It is written: A son honors his father, and a servant his master. [Malachi 1:6] Such a son was Esau, for there was not a man in the world who showed as much honor to his father as he did, and it is thanks to this fact that he obtained dominion in this world [through his descendants the Romans]. [Zohar, Bereishit 1:146b] 

 ³ Devarim (Numbers) 28:1-2

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David Ben Horin lives in the Jezreel Valley with his family, Afula’s famous sunflowers, and the local camel, Matilda. David loves to write about Judaism, Torah, Israel, and personal happiness.