By Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz
Recently, we’ve become all too familiar with the heartbreaking news from Eretz Yisroel: surprise attacks, bombings, hostages, deaths, and soldiers killed and suffering grave injuries. Each day brings new challenges—political unrest, legal battles, and the looming threat of the giyus. We long for the day when peace will finally prevail in our ancient homeland, and our brothers and sisters can live in safety and harmony.
Good news is rare, and when it comes, we cherish it.
Last week, there was news that gave everyone a jolt and a feeling of chizuk. Three female hostages were released on Thursday. Big deal, you say. We have become used to hostages being released by the savages who have been holding them since October 7th. But this release was different.
First, we must learn not to take the news and world events as mere facts. Every occurrence carries a lesson, a message from Hashem guiding us on how to live our lives. Nothing happens by chance; everything is orchestrated with purpose.
Second, when good news arrives, it should bring us happiness. The release of a Jewish captive, held in deplorable conditions for over a year, is significant and is worthy of celebration. It’s an opportunity to recognize Hashem’s kindness, just as we acknowledge His judgment in times of tragedy.
We should embrace good news, celebrate it, and remember it, rather than focusing solely on the sorrow and constantly criticizing. There is much good in the world, and it’s important to seek it out and celebrate it.
Last week’s release was special for several reasons. As part of the latest cease-fire deal, for some reason, the release of hostages takes place on Shabbos. Agam Berger was on the list to be released last Shabbos. Her mother asked that the public refrain from engaging in any chillul Shabbos surrounding her release. She asked that no pictures be taken on Shabbos and that none of her and her family’s friends should travel to greet her on Shabbos when she is brought to an Israeli hospital for a medical review.
The Bergers were not a religious family prior to the tragic day when Agam and so many others were taken hostage. But as the ordeal began, Mrs. Berger decided that the hostages were taken because they were Jewish and that it would be a zechus for them to be released if she and others would become more Jewish. She found her daughter’s diary where she wrote one month before she was taken away that she was working on bringing herself closer to Hashem. Mrs. Berger began reaching out to rabbonim and religious teachers to help her along her way. She began adopting Shabbos, arranging gatherings for tefillah, spreading taharas hamishpocha, and working on strengthening emunah and bitachon in Hashem in keeping with her daughter’s adoption of the posuk of “B’derech emunah bocharti” (Tehillim 119:11) as her slogan.
As an apparent gift from Hashem to Agam and her family, there was no chillul Shabbos at all involved in her release. She was freed from captivity on Thursday and instantly set off a dramatic display of kiddush Sheim Shomayim.
As she completed her ride to freedom aboard an Israeli helicopter, she held on her lap a pad that read: “B’derech emunah bocharti uvederech emunah shavti…” Instead of choosing other avenues to keep herself alive as she fought to survive amidst the hardship of cruelty of being kept as a prisoner of Hamas, she chose the path of bringing herself closer to Hashem and trusting in Him.
She then let it be known that while in captivity, despite her precarious situation, she refused to do work on Shabbos. Despite being deprived of food and water, despite being famished and malnourished, she did not eat non-kosher food, did not partake of chometz on Pesach and fasted on Yom Kippur and Tisha B’Av. She davened from a siddur she found in Gaza, no doubt a gift Hashem sent her as a reward for her mesirus nefesh and deep emunah.
Her story is reminiscent of stories of old that we read about people held by the Nazis in Auschwitz, who, though barely surviving, didn’t permit non-kosher food to pass their lips and held on to their siddur or tefillin as if it was the most precious item in the world, though doing so threatened their life. And here was a young soldier, who didn’t know much religiously, who risked her life for the observance of mitzvos.
Sholom Mordechai Rubashkin became famous for his dedication to mitzvah observance as he endured an unjust period of confinement, and his story still inspires people. Remarkably, when he was in Israel a while back, Mrs. Berger reached out to him for guidance in inyonim of emunah and bitachon. They met twice and a bond was formed.
Books filled with stories of Holocaust heroism continue to be published, inspiring readers today, many years after the events took place. Yet, there is often an asterisk next to these stories, as they occurred 80, 90, or even 100 years ago in a very different world and under vastly different circumstances. The unspoken question lingers: would people in our generation—raised in times of abundance—be able to endure and overcome such unimaginable challenges?
The truth is that Jewish people, since our founding, have faced challenges of faith, requiring mesirus nefesh for mitzvah observance and our very survival. For thousands of years, nations of the world sought to eradicate us, using all types of methods, and despite it all, we are still here. We are eternal survivors. As the novi Yeshayahu (54:17) foretold, “Kol kli yutzar alayich lo yitzloch, none of the weapons that will be fashioned against you will succeed…zos nachalas avdei Hashem, this is the heritage of those who serve Hashem.”
When we see someone from our time, who grew up in comfortable surroundings, with all the modern accoutrements, be able to so strongly defy dastardly efforts to destroy her—held in the most inhumane conditions, above and below ground, always on the brink of starvation, in the shadow of death, and not fearing evil because she knew Hashem was with her—and despite the risk to her safety and life she insisted on keeping Shabbos and kashrus, it is a source of chizuk to all.
Every person has challenges in their life, thankfully not as severe as those the freed hostages were forced to endure. And when we wonder from where we will get the strength to surmount our nisayon, we can think of Agam and her situation and do as she did, resolving to do as the posuk prescribes, “Derech emunah bocharti,” choosing the path of emunah and bitachon. When conquering the challenge, we will be able to proclaim, “Uvederech emunah shavti,” Hakadosh Boruch Hu returned me to where I belong.
A foreign visitor to the Chazon Ish asked him what message he could bring back with him for his country folk. The Chazon Ish told him that the posuk says regarding Noach, “Tomim hayah bedorosav,” that in his day he stood out for his goodness. He explained that every time period has a specific mitzvah that defines it and helps the people of that time succeed.
The Chazon Ish said that in our time, the supreme mitzvah is emunah. Those who have emunah will have everything, for everything else will follow. In our time of darkness, when the good is covered and so many are misguided and don’t recognize Hashem in their lives, the way to persevere and succeed in being a good person and a good parent, as well as a shomer Torah umitzvos, is first by looking beneath the surface and recognizing Hashem’s fingerprints everywhere, welcoming Him into your life.
Even in a time of hester such as ours, when Hashem is hidden, He is still there. It is simply that we must seek Him, for He will never abandon us. Every once in a while, He sends us reminders that behind it all, He is there. When we get such a reminder, we should rejoice and remember that if we learn seforim such as Chovos Halevavos with a good peirush and Mesilas Yeshorim with the peirush of Rav Don Segal, we gain an understanding of what emunah is and how it enhances our life.
When we hear good news, such as Agam’s story, it should strengthen our emunah and remind us who we are, why we are here, and what is incumbent upon us. Emunah is a guide for a good life, and with proper emunah, we are able to follow a path to success, happiness, and redemption.
In this week’s parsha of Beshalach, we begin with Klal Yisroel at a high point, having finally been redeemed from Mitzrayim’s servitude. They miraculously cross through the Yam Suf and sing shirah to Hashem. But then, in short order, they quickly fall, and the parsha continues with a series of complaints that the newly freed slaves had toward Hashem.
And then, finally, at the end of the parsha, a change seems to overcome Klal Yisroel, and after that change, they do not rebel against Hashem for many parshiyos that follow.
Amalek descended upon the Jewish people, intent on destroying them and erasing their existence. Faced with this threat, Klal Yisroel was changed. Moshe, Aharon, Yehoshua, and Chur led the charge against Amalek. The Torah tells us that as Moshe raised his hands, the Jews gained the upper hand in battle, and when his hands were lowered, they faltered. The Mishnah teaches that the posuk reflects a deeper truth: when the Jewish people placed their faith in Hashem, they triumphed, but when they wavered in that trust, they faltered. It was their emunah and bitachon that ultimately led them to victory over their bitter enemy.
The parsha ends as Hashem instructs to write the story of Amaleik’s attack and to know that Hashem will erase the memory of Amaleik. However, that realization will wait until Moshiach’s arrival, for until then, we will face attacks from Amaleik in every generation, as we are so aware.
Amaleik decided to attack Klal Yisroel because they saw all the complaining and reasoned that the Jewish people were lacking in emunah. They saw a void and sought to exploit it. The nation of asher korcha baderech worked assiduously to tamp down any remaining embers of faith.
However, Amaleik wasn’t aware of Klal Yisroel’s power. When rallied by their leaders, they did teshuvah and returned to Hashem. Having thus asserted themselves, they were now stronger than ever. They believed with a new certainty and focus that Hashem controls the world and everything else is just a distraction from that reality.
The encounter with Amaleik tightened their embrace with Hashem and brought them closer to Har Sinai. Similarly, in every generation, when Amaleik attacks us, he causes us to reaffirm our beliefs and turn to Hashem. This is why Hashem promises that our arch-enemy will be ever-present until the redemption. We need him in order to remain loyal to Hashem. We need him to remind us who we are and why we are here.
That is how it has been throughout our history. The Jews are forced from their homes to a new exile. There is much pain and anguish. Jews are mercilessly killed and robbed of their possessions. Beaten and barely holding on, they establish roots in a new country. Slowly, they spread out of their ghettos and gradually become accepted and comfortable in the new host country. Good times are had by all, but then, just as it seems as if Moshiach has come and brought us our home in the host country, the cycle begins again. The goyim get fed up with us, the noose tightens, and before we know it, Amaleik is at our throats again.
We must ensure that our faith remains firm, and that we remain on the path of Torah and mussar, not slackening off in how we observe the mitzvos and conduct ourselves as bnei and bnos Torah.
People have many questions: Should I go to this place? Should I do this job? How should I respond to this person? Should I fight or squabble? Should I slander a business, or a competitor, or someone who embarrassed me in shul? Which school/yeshiva should I go to? Which school/yeshiva should I send my child to? The list is endless. The answer is always the same and it’s simple. Ask yourself if doing so will make the world a better or worse place. Will it make you a better person or a worse person? Will it add to your kedusha or will it weaken any holiness you have? Ask yourself if that is the way a person with emunah should be conducting himself. You will know the answer to these questions on your own, without any help or guidance. If you follow Dovid Hamelech’s advice and say, “Derech emunah bocharti,” life becomes so much better and easier.
Amaleik is ever-present, attacking us daily with challenges, moral, legal, and ethical. He seeks to temper our dikduk b’mitzvos with different guises and categorizations. Sometimes, they sound intelligent and sophisticated, while at other times, they are directed at our baser temptations. When Torah is mocked, when lomdei Torah are mocked, when our way of life is castigated by an antireligious, leftist band that seeks to overturn the government that is supportive of our community and splinter and divide us, know that they are acting as modern-day Amaleikis and don’t let them get their foot in the door.
To continue thriving, we must do as Jews have been doing throughout the ages and remain faithful to our mesorah, unyielding in our devotion to Torah, untempted by anything that dilutes a holy life, and support the hands of the Moshe Rabbeinus of our generation with emunah, bitachon, shemiras mitzvos, and limud haTorah. By doing so, we will be bringing ourselves closer to our personal redemption and the final geulah, bemeheirah beyomeinu.