We have a, what I thought, was a private joke in the family. It seems to us that all big news that happens in this war happens on Shabbos, so unless we hear something directly from our neighbors, we have no idea what's going on. It's more frustrating when it happens in the north, since you hear and see things happening, so you KNOW something is happening, but you have no idea what.
Well, I guess it wasn't just us who noticed this.
After learning how Haniyeh accidentally tripped and fell on an air-to-surface missile, people were flooding social media with their witty comments. One of the popular ones going around was, "I couldn't believe it! It wasn't Shabbos morning!" Another one was, "What? The IDF works during the week?"
So now, like half of the war has been spent, we're going to sit and wait. We just waited several days to see what Israel would do, now we wait to see what Hezbollah/Iran will do. That's probably one of the most frustrating parts of this conflict, waiting for something to happen which you know is going to happen. Heck, even when Iran launched its attack, we knew it was coming and all we could do was wait and see.
So, now begins the waiting game, once again.
"Now the children of Reuven and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of livestock. When they saw the land of Jazer, and the land of Gilead, that behold, the place was a place for livestock" (Bamidbar 32:1).
The Medresh says: "There is a teaching that three gifts were created in the world. If one merits one of them, he has acquired the preciousness of the entire world. If he merits wisdom, he has merited everything. If he merits strength, he has merited everything. If he merits wealth, he has merited everything. This is when these gifts come from Heaven and come through the power of the Torah. But the strength and wealth of flesh and blood are nothing, as Shlomo HaMelech said (Koheles 9:11): 'I again saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor wealth to the discerning, nor favor to the knowledgeable, for time and chance happen to them all.' Likewise you find with the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuven, who were wealthy and had large livestock, and cherished their money and settled outside the land of Israel. Therefore, they were exiled first among all the tribes. What caused this? Because they separated themselves from their brothers for the sake of their possessions. "
How does one know if the gifts that he has received are from Heaven or not? After all, Reuven and Gad could argue, "Look! We conquered this land, it looks great, we have tons of animals we need to care for, so it must be a gift from Hashem." However, the Medresh testified, "Because they separated themselves from their brothers for the sake of their possessions." It seems that the spiritual needs were secondary compared to their physical needs.
Perhaps it could be argued that when somebody receives these gifts in order to [and he does] use it for spiritual needs, these are gifts from Heaven. A person who receives wealth and uses it only to grow his wealth is different from a person who receives wealth and uses it to help others. Or perhaps he uses it in order to sit and learn, if he can. A politician who uses his power to maintain his power is different from a politician who uses his power in order to help others. There is a rav here, who I cannot stand (since he's my age), who has "wisdom beyond his age," who the entire community respects and relies on, more so than the others who should be in that position (I'm being careful with my words, think what you want). Why? Because, when you go to him with a question or for advice, he puts himself in your shoes and works on a solution for you. He doesn't have other interests in mind. That is the gift of wisdom from Heaven.
When we use the gifts that we are given in this world as spiritual tools, whether to help ourselves or others, we are making those "gifts from Heaven," and with those, we have merited everything.
Have a wonderful and quiet Shabbos!
Hopefully ours with be quiet.