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"Fire When Ready?"

02/11/2021 04:16:09 PM

Feb11

Rabbi Reuben Israel Abraham, CDR, CHC, USN (ret)

In this week’s parashah, Parashat Mishpatim, we read the following: “And Moshe came and he related to the people all the words of Hashem and all of the laws…And Moshe wrote all the words of HaShem,…And he took the Book of the Covenant, and he read it before the people, and they said: ‘All that Hashem has spoken, we will do and we will listen.’” (Shemot 24:3a, 4a, & 7) Many people, both Jew and non-Jew alike, read these words and come to the incorrect conclusion that the B’nei Yisrael were literally “out of their minds” to “blindly observe” HaShem’s mitzvot (commandments).  However, to the Jew who is faithful to our People and Tradition, there is no such thing as “blind observance.”  In order to counter the onslaught against Judaism and the Jewish People, first, we must do what the Torah tells us to do, and only afterwards do we ask questions.  Perhaps the following Chasidic parable will help us to understand this concept:

Fiodor was a young professor of philosophy at the revered University of Moscow.  He believed in nothing but the power of his own intellect.  Even when someone told him that there is oxygen in the air, he would not accept such a notion until he thought long and hard about the logic of such a statement.  When war broke out between Napoleon Bonaparte and the Czar, everyone was drafted including Fiodor.  In basic training, he drove his commanders insane. When he was told to take his musket apart and clean it, he sat there and pondered how much soot one gunshot would impart to the barrel.  He came to the conclusion that it was illogical to clean one’s musket after shooting it, for soon the weapon would once again become soiled anyway.  Used in this manner, Fiodor’s professorial logic was nothing else but ignorance, for an unclean weapon can jam and fail to function.  In the heat of battle, this could cause him to lose his life because of the weapon’s malfunction at the most critical time.

As an infantryman, Fiodor was slow and dreamy and ineffective.  So, his commanders decided to transfer him to the artillery.  There, he could use his academic prowess to calculate the range and trajectory of the cannon fire.  Fiodor passed his classroom studies with flying colors, and then, on the cannon range, directed the cannon fire superbly.  He was now finally ready to go to the front lines where the Russian army was hard-pressed to repel Napoleon’s attack.  As the battle ensued, a sentry spotted the first French troops approaching from a distance.  He raced over to Captain Borisov, the artillery battery commander.  The Captain looked into the distance and saw that the French regiment was fast approaching Smolensk.  He estimated that they were only 2500 meters away at the compass bearing of 270 degrees (due West).  “Corporal Fiodor,” he ordered, “make an immediate trajectory calculation for 2500 meters and prepare to fire!”

“Excuse me, Sir,” replied Fiodor scratching his chin, “but are you sure those are French troops?”  “Don’t be daft, Corporal!  There are no Russian forces to the west of us!  Calculate the trajectory and prepare to fire immediately!”  “But, Sir,      “argued Fiodor, “who says the French army is coming here to fight?”  “Idiot!” screamed Captain Borisov. “They have marched their way through all of Europe!  They are not on their way here to attend a tea party!  They want to defeat the Czar’s army and conquer Russia!  Now, fire!”  Fiodor stood his ground and continued: “I respectfully submit, Sir, that since today is a cloudy day, and since we cannot verify where the sun is, perhaps the direction from which these troops are approaching is not West at all.  Perhaps it is East, and those troops are really Russian troops…”

Before Fiodor had a chance to complete his sentence, a volley of French cannonballs exploded right in the midst of the Russian artillery battery, killing most of the troops.  Corporal Fiodor’s slow and resolute philosophizing became the nail on the coffins for many Russian soldiers that day.

During war, during an attack by the enemy, there may be no time for explanations and philosophy.  That is why training for combat is so very important.  A well-disciplined army can best execute its duties by following the Torah tried-and-true of “na’ase v’nishma” (“We will do and then we will listen.”).  In other words, first the army must fulfill its duty, and then it can ask questions evaluating how well it performed in the heat of the battle.  In this age of wanton disregard for all that is sacred, at this time when the People Israel faces the onslaught of rampant assimilation, perhaps we need to heed the teaching of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov who says that we must have “virtuous boldness” in our war against evil, that evil being those Jews and non-Jews who act as enemies of both Judaism and the Jewish People.

“Kavei el HaShem, chazak ve’ya’ameitz libecha, v’kavei el HaShem!” --- “Hope to Hashem; be strong and take courage and hope to Hashem!” (Tehillim 27:14)

 

Fri, March 29 2024 19 Adar II 5784