Relections on Recent Events and their Impact upon the Yeshiva

As you know, Tzahal (the IDF) has been waging a war against Hamas for the last week and a half.  Once more, we are threatened by our enemies who time and again prove to us the accuracy of the statement that we claim every year on Pesach night "שבכל דור ודור עומדים עלינו לכלותינו והקב"ה מצילנו מידם", yet also remind us of the challenge and privilege of life in Eretz Yisrael.

The unique aspect of Jewish life in our times is our existence as a nation.  The ability to live a historical existence as a people who are charged to realize a national destiny, the willingness to take upon ourselves the necessary struggles to achieve the desired goals and the sense of satisfaction at the amazing achievements of the past hundred years along with the attendant frustrations and failures are what enrich and ennoble life in Israel.  The expression of the Jewish collective as a sovereign nation building its own land and the responsibility of creating a society based upon justice, empathy and care for others is the realization of the dreams of generations.

This has also created the opportunity for Torah to be realized within our national existence and to be intertwined with the historical reality of Jewish statehood and it is upon the premise that the combination of spiritual goals and historical effort is the responsibility and privilege of our generation that the Hesder Yeshivot in general, and Har Etzion in particular, are founded upon.

It is within this framework that we must view current events and their impact upon the Yeshiva.  The need to protect innocent Jewish lives from murderous terrorist attacks and to defend the state from the Islamist enemies who are attempting to uproot us from our land and to destroy our country proves once more the vital need of serving in the IDF and participating in the defense of the country, as a religious, moral and historical imperative that must be integrated into the framework of our Torah study.  As such, the ideology of engaging the world and responding to the needs of Am Yisrael that the Yeshiva attempts to instill in its students is doubly relevant in such times and we are addressing the spiritual and educational challenges of the past few days along these lines.  Empathy with the residents of the South, concern for the soldiers, the need to reinforce and strengthen our Torah and Tefillah in times of distress and the common responsibility of each and every Jew for his brethren are the messages that we are emphasizing to our talmidim in these days of battle.

From a practical perspective, life in Alon Shvut has not been affected directly, as it is far removed from the area of conflict.  Of course, greater caution is demanded in areas of personal safety, and a security officer addressed our students and stressed what precautionary measures should be taken.  However, the Yeshiva has been able to maintain its normal routine, as very few Hesder members of the Yeshiva have been mobilized.  Due to the scheduling of the program, our 4^th year students were released from the Army a few weeks ago and are now back in the Yeshiva stage of the program while the incoming group that replaced them have not yet completed their basic training and are not combat ready.  Thus, life at the Yeshiva and its daily routine, both from the practical and Torah learning standpoint has not changed, but the spiritual perspective has been intensified.

Hopefully, the conflict will be over in the very near future.

May Hashem watch over all of our soldiers and citizens and may the results provide us with the necessary security to resume normal life in all parts of the country.

Should you have any questions regarding the situation and its impact upon the Yeshiva, please don't hesitate to call or email me, any of the other rebeiim, madrichim or the office.  All of us will be more than happy to provide any information or insight that we might have.      

BeTefila LeYeshuat HaShem

HaRav Mosheh Lichtenstein