Q:
What’s more important for defending the Am Yisroel? Soldiers who are at the front stopping terrorists or yeshiva men who are learning Torah?
A:
גדולה תלמוד תורה יותר מהצלת נפשות – Learning Torah is greater than saving lives (Megillah 16b). It’s a greater thing, a more meritorious thing to learn Torah than to go out and save lives.
Now that doesn’t mean you’re allowed to choose learning if you’re the only one available to save the life, but still you have to know that actually it is a greater thing. And that is a limud, a lesson, forever.
Now in every specific case what is your responsibility I can’t tell you now – it depends on you and the situation and many factors — but we follow the psak that we pray to Hakodosh Boruch Hu, ‘Ribbono Shel Olam don’t give us opportunities to save anybody’s life. Give us opportunities to pursue our studies to become closer to You and love You more and understand You more. If chas v’shalom something comes up and we have to close our gemara and go out and do battle to save Jewish lives, we will have to do it. Maybe it will be our salvation that way but we prefer the other way because גדולה תלמוד תורה יותר מהצלת נפשות – studying Torah is the biggest way you can achieve perfection for yourself.”
And by the way it is the biggest way you can save the Jewish people. תלמידי חכמים מרבים שלום בעולם. The talmidei chachomim, they are the armies of Hashem.
Rebbe Chiyeh sent his sons around in the cities of Eretz Yisroel – it was after the war of Beitar when the cities had been demolished; in many places there was no Hebrew school for children so he sent his sons to inquire what could be done for Torah education.
And they came into a town and they said, “Who are the neturei karta? Who are the guardians who guard this town?”
So the elders of the town summoned the guardians; there came two men on horses with big clubs, big burly men, and they said, “These are the guardians, the watchmen who guard our town.”
So the Rebbe Chiya’s son said, “They’re not the neturei karta. They’re not the ones who guard the town. They are charuvei karta. These two people, these fellows, are ruining the town.” They were rough fellows, these two. After all, you don’t take guardians from the spiritual aristocracy. You take them out some place from a saloon, from a wine café. “These fellows are ruining the town,” he said, “they’re not guarding the town’.
So the people said, ‘So who is guarding the town?’
So he said, ‘A Hebrew teacher. Get a melamed to teach your children Torah. He is going to guard the town’.
Now, does that mean if you have a melamed who teaches the children Torah you don’t have to have locks on the doors? Does it mean you don’t have to have a guard who will guard you? Of course not. You need everything; but the guard will be effective only when the melamed is sitting teaching Torah because Hakodosh Boruch Hu is the One who will make the guard effective.
What will it help you if you have a self-defense corp, if you have weapons and you have military precision and you are perfect in self-defense, if Hakodosh Boruch Hu is not pleased with you?
So the very first thing is we have to win Hashem on our side and then we have to take all necessary precautions too. But the ones who guard the city are the ones who teach Torah to the Jewish people.
I know it is a difficult thing to hear. Years ago I said this in public – I said that the yeshivos, that’s our army, that’s our artillery, that’s our navy, that’s our tanks – and Jews were incensed. It was many years ago and they were incensed when they heard that. But you can’t go away from the experience of generations.
Look, we didn’t have any army in the Middle Ages. There was no Hitler who destroyed us. They tried again and again but we survived.
When did Hitler come? When the Jews were at their best. We had Jewish scientists. We had Jewish generals too. We had everything. Colleges were crammed with Jews. And still nothing helped when the time came because Hakodosh Boruch Hu was no longer on our side.
So the number one requirement is to win the victory with Hakodosh Boruch Hu and then, of course, we take all proper precautions, all necessary measures, and Hashem will give them success.
TAPE # 423 (August 1982)
