The other night, there was a wave of rockets that attacked some villages a tad north of us. As the alerts went off and the explosions began, my kids ran into the office and asked if they could go on porch to see if they can see any "yerutim" (intercepts). I was a bit in a quandary. On one hand, it was late and they should have been in bed because it's a school night. On the other hand, I was never allowed to stay up late on a school night to watch a nearby village get attacked by rockets when I was a child. And frankly, I don't want to be that type of parent. I want my kids to grow up healthy and normal. So, I told them that they have 15 minutes and/or if the rockets start coming towards us. Whichever comes first. So, they ran outside happily, and I continued my work amongst the explosions and sounds of my kids yelling "Look at that one! Wow!"
Okay, on to more important things.
We see in many places, and we hear the calls of the Jewish leaders, that in times of distress, when we are being attacked, one of the things we need to do is to improve our Torah learning. For many, it might sound like a bit … bland. After all, what connection is there between the hatred of the non-Jews for us and learning Torah. However, there are many sources for such a thing.
One of the first is in the beginning of Sefer Yehoshua (see Eruvin 63b), when the Jewish nation is about to conquer Eretz Yisroel. An angel comes to Yehoshua and berates him for the lack of in-depth learning (please note that), even on the eve of a major battle. It is the in-depth learning that provides the merit needed to win the war on conquest.
Similarly, we know that regarding Tisha B'Av, one of the reasons given for the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash was the lack of proper respect given to Torah learning. Yes, people were learning, but it was like any other discipline, no different than math or science. As a result, we now say a bracho on our learning every morning.
The Ohr Yisroel asks, why was such a sin, which does not seem to be the biggest sin in the world, punished through the destruction and loss of Eretz Yisroel?
He replies that we find the answer to this question in the first bracho we say on the Torah, "Who chose us from all nations and gave us His Torah." The fact is, Hashem chose US, the Jewish nation to receive the Torah, rather than give it to the entire world. With this, we see that we have a higher purpose in life, which can only be acquired through the Torah.
Somebody who acknowledges this, cannot believe that the Jewish nation is like any other nation. We work on a different level and, as we are constantly reminded about today from every other nation, we are held to completely different standards.
We believe that Eretz Yisroel is not like other lands. Just as the holiness of the Jewish nation is above that of others, the holiness of Eretz Yisroel is above that of others. Just as the reality of the Jewish nation is different than others, so too is the reality of Eretz Yisroel different than that of others. The Jewish people and Eretz Yisroel are lifted above the reality of the world, only through the Torah.
When we give honor to our Torah learning, we give honor to Eretz Yisroel. When we bring merit into this world from our Torah learning, we give merit to Eretz Yisroel.
Right now, there are many different forces at work. It's quite interesting to see and watch. Thankfully, there are thousands who are learning in-depth Torah, full-time, providing merit to keep Eretz Yisroel in our hands. And thankfully, we have soldiers on the frontlines who take every opportunity to learn, even after being in active combat, some of them finishing entire tractates of gemara. What they are lacking in in-depth learning, they are certainly making up with the amount of effort they must put in.
Hopefully, in such merit that these groups provide, we will have the merit to keep Eretz Yisroel (and our lives). And in the meantime, we can all learn from both groups. First, we need to have people learning in-depth, without distraction, whether we can do it or support those who can. Second, those who cannot, for whatever reason, can still provide immense bracha through the effort they put in through their learning. We all have different things that keep us from learning, but the effort we put in to overcome such hurdles, provides immense merit to the nation.
With that, I wish you all a quiet Shabbos and a meaningful and safe Tisha B'Av.