Let us again consider my brother-in-law’s analogy. The billionaires – the large, powerful nations – wanted our little dollar because overnight that little dollar had become more precious than gold. The mighty United States of America was, at the time, embroiled in the long and costly war in Vietnam, and American generals wanted to know the secret of Israel’s astonishing military success.
The secret was a simple one. Alas, the majority of our people did not know it – and still do not know it or even want to know it. But unless we know and can identify the source of our strength, it will disappear. If that happens, disaster is sure to follow.
The simple source of our power can be summarized in one word: Hashem. I say “simple” because we need only recognize it and it will appear.
Although there are multitudes who recognize the guiding Hand of G-d in the history of Israel and in all its battles, the vast majority of Jews do not.
When the Jewish people place their trust in G-d there is no strength or power that can prevail against them.
“They [the nations] may go forth with chariots and horses but we go forth with the name of our G-d” (Psalm 20).
As we come closer to the awesome days of Mashiach, the Jewish people will experience stunning victories as well as terrible tragedies. Events will unfold so rapidly that before we absorb one, another will follow. If, G-d forbid, we refuse to acknowledge G-d’s presence, the consequences will be painful and horrific.
The Six-Day War was a miracle. We rejoiced. We sang and shouted with exultation. Six days – six incredible days. Everything that befalls us individually and nationally is orchestrated from Above. But we choose to be blind. We do not wish to see. Instead of thanking G-d, we congratulated ourselves and proclaimed the words the Torah tells us never to proclaim: “Kochi…my strength and my might did this.”
We deluded ourselves into believing it was our acumen, our military know-how, our strategic planning, and our valor that brought about our miraculous victory.
We are living in dangerous and ominous times. The winds of war are blowing and our spiritual blindness can be deadly. We must learn to open our eyes, ears, and hearts lest we continue to stumble and fall. If we continue to be blind and deaf and refuse to see the Hand of G-d reaching out to us from Above, we cannot hope to survive.
The Torah likens the Jewish people to a little lamb surrounded by 70 ferocious wolves always ready to devour us. I know I have mentioned this many times but I will refer to it again and again until such time that we have an awakening that will bring an end to the Jewish tragedy of spiritual blindness. This can be realized only if we understand – not just intellectually but in our hearts as well – that our protection comes solely from Hashem.
We just celebrated the great Yom Tov of Shavous. The Midrash teaches that at Sinai Hashem picked up the mountain and, holding it above our heads, warned of the consequences that would befall us if we did not remain loyal to the Torah.
Not once but many times in our long saga have we seen the disastrous reality of that warning.
This is our Jewish tragedy: The inability to see and the inability to hear.