Every summer, Israelis head North to enjoy the beautiful hikes and springs. But this summer, Hezbollah’s frequent rocket attacks ruined most vacation plans, which gave us a tiny taste of how Hezbollah ruined the stability of so many who live there and have been evacuated from their homes. In addition to serving in the IDF, what can we do to bring security to the North?
In Parshat Balak, Balak hires Bilaam to curse the Jewish people, but their efforts remain fruitless as G-d places brachot in the mouth of Bilaam rather than curses. When Bilaam finally accepts defeat and returns home, the pesukim immediately jump to Bnei Yisrael having inappropriate relationships with both the women of Moav, Balak’s nation, as well as Kazbi of Midian, from Bilaam’s nation, which leads to results that Balak and Bilaam’s plotting could not – a plague of 24,000 dead. The message is glaring. Nations can plot against us, but Hashem will ruin plans that we never even knew about – as long as we merit such protection.
During the Three Weeks, we need to look at our division which led to the destruction of the second Beit HaMikdash, and for which the third Beit HaMikdash is not yet rebuilt. Not just in Israel, where the political and ideological divisions have led to the ugly vitriol that made us vulnerable to attack, but also across the Jewish world where sometimes an unhealthy emphasis on hashkafic differences ruin our unity. When we are able to see the ayin tova rather than focus on the minutiae that divide us, that unity will offer us protection from all of our enemies.
