Opinion & Comment
The Three-Pronged Strategy

The winds of war are blowing outside. No, not the war with Iraq, but the war against Hashem, against His Torah and against shomrei mitzvos. Now a remark made by one of our gedolei hador has acquired new dimensions: "The elections are more cause for alarm than the Iraqi threat." Everything is now clear as day.

We certainly have cause for concern but there is no reason for fear and certainly not panic. In fact, times like these contain tidings and changes that, when seen at a distance, are positive and perhaps even necessary.

The first thing for us to do is to remember that nobody is alone. We, the general chareidi community -- unlike other, fragmented sectors where every man faces his fate alone and is cast to the wolves -- are a huge, united community with tremendous power derived from steadfast belief in our path of total compliance and subordination to gedolei hador shlita, and at their bidding we are prepared to pass through fire or water--kechol asher yorucho--even at a high personal cost.

No one can ignore this kind of might; certainly nobody can harm our emunoh, abuse us or deny our rights and starve us. Look around at the people sitting next to you at shul, the people living in your building and the buildings nearby--they're all in the same boat, all of them must cope with the same threat and against the same terrible instigation. We are not alone. After internalizing this knowledge and the inspiring message it contains, all that remains is to stand behind the gedolei hador and put our faith in them unquestioningly. Simply to load all of our worries onto their backs. They are no longer our worries but our generation's worries.

And once we've taken off this heavy load we can prepare for the events to come, just as Yaakov Ovinu prepared to confront Eisov, who was coming to destroy him. With gifts, tefilloh and war.

The Gift

The first gift is what we received. The closing of the ranks among haters of Judaism immediately gives us the boost we need, instantly strengthening us in emunoh and keeping mitzvos.

Everywhere I go I hear the words, "We have to strengthen ourselves in emunoh and bitochon," for this is the making of a Jew when he comes across a problem, a cause for concern, misfortune or even calamity, Rachmono litzlan. He gains strength and grasps onto his emunas chachomim, his mitzvah observance, his G-d. We were in need of this kind of chizuk, and because we didn't do it ourselves, good ol' Tommy--who loathes us so--was sent to light the torch of emunoh for us.

The second gift is the return of nidchei Yisroel. All of the stray sheep who sought refuge in right-wing parties by joining the Likud or voting Cherut now see the truth. All of them now understand that even if the Likud is closer to religious values than the Left, it still does not base its path on gedolei hador and depends on various leaders. And, truth be told, their leaders are very different from us.

Thus we have learned that if you are chareidi and are concerned over your children's future, you will follow gedolei hador through fire and water. We must bring them back and receive them with open arms like a lost child returning from the perilous desert.

The gift is to wait quietly for what the future holds in store and to believe that the Borei Olom will not abandon his creatures and to be willing to sacrifice our comfort for the sake of sustaining Torah and mitzvos.

Tefilloh

The only way we can help in this existential war is to pray. Prayers should be for those who are in the greatest danger, which is our wayward brethren who are now liable to be exposed to spiritual doom, choliloh, such as the erasure of their Jewish identity, assimilation and the loss of all ties to Jewish mainstays such as Shabbos, halachic marriage and kashrus. It's no secret that losing one's way spiritually can quickly lead to physical dangers and therefore we must pray for them. And this prayer will be part of the gift we give them.

But we must also pray for ourselves, that this memsheles rish'o pass from the earth and that the difficulties we face, if confronted with them, will not be the kind that harm us in ruchniyus or gashmiyus.

The Last Thing is War

Our war is not a physical one but a spiritual one. And it is not over land but over the path to travel. Our only weapons are emes and emunoh. Just like good soldiers we will look to the gedolei hador and listen to their orders. And whatever they say is what we'll do.

We will not be dragged into any provocation, because the first thing Tomi Lapid wants to do is to de- legitimize us by turning us into a violent element, just like members of Rabin's government did to the settlers. We have a certain advantage in this area: we don't know how to be violent even if we try.

And in general a violent person is a weak person. People on the right who waged a battle against the government that trampled over them fought for land and houses, and felt so weak that they saw a need to use violence.

We are not fighting for land or houses, but for a path, for emunoh and for Torah learning. We are much stronger than we think, and therefore there is no reason for us to consider methods that are foreign to us.

The winds of war are blowing outside, and we are inside the tents of Torah. Mah tovu oholecho Yaakov.

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