Pay Attention

Well, the major ceasefire breach has finally happened here in Eretz Yisrael, besides for all the smaller ones. I don’t know, but when our enemies try to kill us and fail, it is somehow considered minor, as if nothing happened and should be ignored — even though they tried to kill us. Whatever.

Sunday night, ten ballistic missiles were launched by Iran at Israel, in response to Israel attacking Beirut after Hezbollah had breached the “ceasefire” and fired directly into northern Israel. And the President was messaging for everyone to calm down — we’ve almost got a deal, don’t ruin it! Maybe that was part of the plan?

So Israel did respond, and at 6 a.m. we were awakened by a siren. That one was from Yemen, with several more sirens around the country until about 10 a.m. Iran fired over twenty missiles, which were all intercepted, baruch Hashem. Israel was going to respond again, but the President said enough. So now the ceasefire has returned.

In the meantime, all schools were closed. Yeshivot with safe rooms kept learning — limud Torah must continue — and many people were on edge. Then we heard the news: the ceasefire is being reinstated, back to normal, back to school. Yay! Back to finals. Noooo!

What should we focus on amid all this confusion?

Let us try to bring some encouragement from the parshah.

There is a common human behavior: when a person gets used to something, it is easier to simply continue along that path. It is easier to keep going and not seek or ask for advice about making changes, even if the current method is not succeeding. It is similar to the law of inertia — something in motion remains in motion unless it is stopped. A person just keeps going with the same process.

Why?

Simply, because it is easier. Change is challenging. People are lazy, even if not changing is self-inflicted! But there is a deeper reason as well. People are nervous and scared of change.

This trait manifests itself in many ways — physically, spiritually, mentally, emotionally, and financially.

One of the major blockages to Mashiach’s arrival is this very trait. As wonderful as everything will be for us — no wars — people, even very religious people and even Bnei Torah, are nervous about all the changes that will come. Even though things will be wonderful beyond belief, they would prefer that things remain the way they are, with the lifestyle they are used to in our current world.

We need to truly want him to come.

The meraglim were tzaddikim, at least initially, especially in the eyes of Moshe and klal Yisrael, as the Medrash says. How could they have given such a negative report and misled klal Yisrael so badly?

They were nervous about the changes that would come after entering Eretz Yisrael.

They were not merely concerned about working and being involved in physical activity — agriculture, commerce, building — which would remove them from a fully spiritual existence. They had that even in the Midbar, just on a smaller and easier scale.

Rather, the meraglim knew that their existence in the Midbar was supernatural, and that Hashem led them in miraculous ways — food, water, protection. That was their norm. But once they would enter the land, the way Hashem led them would change to a more natural path. They did not want that change.

In the Midbar, they defeated their enemies through miraculous means. But against the Canaanim, it would appear to come through the natural means of warfare. And from that viewpoint, yes, the enemy was much stronger.

They should have realized that even with the changes, it would still be great. Even through natural means, Hashem would still help them with miracles.

They should have realized that they were twelve Israelites, with the appearance of tzaddikim, undisguised, walking around for forty days — and the Canaanim did nothing to them! The Canaanim were terrified of bnei Yisrael. They had burned and chopped down their trees, hiding their treasures from them. Forty years later, Rachav would describe to Yehoshua’s spies, who had to disguise themselves, how terrified the Canaanim were of klal Yisrael.

And now, for forty days, no one noticed them.

They were being miraculously led through natural occurrences. They should have realized that this would accompany them and remain with them even in Eretz Yisrael.

At the completion of Creation, Hashem said tov me’od — the world was very good. Now, the Torah does not speak like a child: “It was so big! Very, very good! Far, far, far away…” When the Torah says “very,” it is teaching us that it was amazing beyond belief.

The meraglim returned and said, tovah ha’aretz me’od me’od — the land is very, very good. They realized how amazing the land was, but they were afraid of the future.

In Parshat Beha’alotcha, Aharon picked up and “waved” each of the Leviim for their inauguration — all 22,000 of them, all in one day. Rabbeinu Bechaya says that everyone saw how extremely strong Aharon was.

If we say a day is twelve hours, then Aharon raised, waved, and put down thirty to thirty-one Leviim per minute! Or, it was a miracle.

Question: If it was miraculous, why say that Aharon was so strong?

Rav Aharon Leib Shteinman zt”l answered that at that moment, it was not recognizable as miraculous. Only when looking at the entire picture afterward could they see: wow, 22,000! Even for a mighty person, that is a miracle!

The lesson we can see is that it is incumbent upon us to pay attention. We may not be able to see and understand everything from this part of the picture, but when the picture is complete, it will become clear that Hashem orchestrated everything for us in the best possible way.

We can see this today, with all the signs of Mashiach, more than there has ever been before.

The Gemara in Yoma (10a) brings two opinions about the end of days: either Rome will defeat Persia, or Persia will defeat Rome. These two opinions — well, we see them being fulfilled today. Trump says, “We won!” Iran says, “We won!”

At the very end of Gemara Ketubot, it says that in the generation that Mashiach comes, there will be kategoria — accusations — against talmidei chachamim, with decrees upon decrees. We see this being fulfilled today beyond our wildest imaginations. Things that the Israeli Supreme Court said cannot be done against terrorists and their families are being done against the Bnei Yeshivot and their families.

With the wars in Eretz Yisrael, even with all the hardships, we see how Hashem has performed so many miracles for us, disguised in natural ways. Tens of thousands of missiles have been fired — each one capable of leveling a building. Many have been intercepted. Others have landed in open areas, or failed to explode as expected, and some have caused tremendous damage with very few deaths.

Pay attention to the details, and notice how they are all connecting to form that clear picture.

Be ready and willing to change in order to serve Hashem. Desire and be ready to greet Mashiach very soon!

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R’ Dovi Chaitovsky and his family have the zechut to live in Eretz Yisrael, where he dedicates himself to learning and teaching Torah. His divrei Torah often draw from the shiurim of R’ Yisrael Altusky shlit”a of Yeshiva Torah Ore, available on KolHalashon.com. In his column, Connecting The Dots: Torah Thoughts For Modern Times, R’ Dovi offers thoughtful insights that bridge timeless Torah wisdom with the challenges of contemporary life, using stories, parables, Torah sources, and reflections on current events to highlight practical lessons from Jewish tradition and encourage readers to apply them in their daily lives.