August 11, 2024|ז' אב ה' אלפים תשפ"ד Fear of the Impending Iranian Attack: Should we embrace or fight the fear?
Print ArticleI know that there are many dog owners in the community. I will tell you that Yael is probably not afraid of most of your dogs. But she is afraid of large dogs that she does not know. We were in Argentina for a little more than a week and one of our activities was going to an estancia. An estancia is a South American ranch or farm. We planned to go horseback-riding and have a traditional South American barbecue on the farm. Of course, we brought our own food, double-wrapped so that we can heat it up on the barbecue. But when we arrived at the estancia, there were three or four dogs roaming around the estancia. Yael was in panic mode. She asked the owner if the dogs can be put on leashes and the owner said, “Of course not. In the estancia, all the dogs are free and they run wild.” Now this generated a major panic attack on Yael’s part and I, the non-psychologist amongst us, had to calm her down and counsel her that maybe this trip was an opportunity for her to overcome her fear of scary, large South American dogs through exposure therapy. It was a trying moment for our marriage, because Yael wanted to leave the estancia immediately but I had already paid for the entire estancia experience, but we weathered through this crisis of fear and, Baruch Hashem, we had a wonderful time that day.
Yael’s acute fear of large, scary looking-dogs that day was overshadowed by our constant fear and anxiety throughout the trip about the situation in Israel, a fear that is felt most profoundly by those living in Israel but also by many of us who deeply care about Israel and our brothers and sisters living there. My youngest son, Daniel, is currently in Israel participating in a summer program. But our fear and anxiety are not confined to his safety alone. We are deeply concerned for the well-being of our extended family and, indeed, for everyone living in Israel as we anxiously wait to see what Iran has in store for Israel, how Israel will respond, and what the ramifications of these impending attacks will be.
One of my rabbinic colleagues, who is living in Israel, captured his current experience with a passage from Eicha Rabba (Petichta 33), reflecting on the fear and uncertainty that surrounds him and other Israelis every night as they wonder if this night will be the one when Iran will attack. The midrash describes what Bnei Yisrael would do every Tisha B’Av in the desert since the decree that they would all perish there:
א"ר לוי: כל ערב תשעה באב היה משה מוציא כרוז בכל המחנה ואומר: צאו לחפור, והיו יוצאין וחופרין קברות וישנין בהן.
Rabbi Levi said: Every eve of the Ninth of Av, Moshe would announce throughout the camp, saying: "Go out and dig," and they would go out, dig graves, and sleep in them.
Every night, Israelis go to sleep wondering if tonight will be the night of the attack and what that attack will look like. As the days pass without incident, with God’s help, they hope and pray that perhaps the Iranian threat will pass.
But the question I’d like to address is: how do we deal with this fear—or fear in general? Fear from Hezbollah, fear from Hamas, fear from Yemen, fear from Iran, fear of the unknown. How should we confront this fear?
Perhaps the answer is simple: don’t fear. Don’t be afraid. After all, that is what we are told at the end of this week’s parsha. Moshe recalls what he told Yehoshua after defeating Sichon and Og: לֹ֖א תִּֽירָא֑וּם כִּ֚י יְקֹוָ֣ק אֱ–לֹֽהֵיכֶ֔ם ה֖וּא הַנִּלְחָ֥ם לָכֶֽם—“Do not fear them, for the Lord your God, He is the one who fights for you.” There you have it: God is on our side. We will defeat our enemies because God is with us. The good guys win at the end of the movie. There will be drama, some character development, moments when all seems lost, but in the end, we will prevail. There is nothing to fear.
The problem, of course, is that maybe this was true in Biblical times when the good guys always won, but it doesn’t seem to hold true nowadays. Didn’t we just experience October 7th? The good guys didn’t win. How can we be so sure that we will win, even though we are the good guys? Is Moshe’s message to Yehoshua at the end of this week’s parsha relevant to us in 2024 when the good guys don’t always win? Maybe it wasn’t okay to fear in Biblical times, but is it okay to fear in 2024?
I read a story about the time Rabbi Avi Weiss invited Ariel Sharon to speak in his shul. At the time, Sharon was not yet the prime minister of Israel, but he was already a storied military leader. Rabbi Weiss introduced him as “The Fearless General.” When Sharon came up to the bimah, the first thing he said was, “K’vod ha-Rav, do you think that when I was on the front in the Six Day War, the Yom Kippur War and the Suez Canal, that I wasn’t afraid? Only a fool wouldn’t be afraid!”
Maybe that’s the approach we should take: be the fearless general but still be afraid. What does that mean? The Midrash Hagadol explains that the Torah’s prohibition of being afraid is a warning שלא יירא ויפחד מלהלחם בכנענים—we should not be afraid of fighting the Canaanites. This means that we must fight, that we must do what is necessary. Yes, Ariel Sharon was afraid, but that didn’t prevent him from doing what he had to do to defeat the enemy. Fear is only a problem if it paralyzes us from doing what needs to be done. Fear must not force us to flee from conflict when it is necessary to defend ourselves. We cannot live our lives like Bnei Yisrael did on Tisha B’Av every year in the desert, lying in their graves waiting to die.
We must accept our fears, identify them, and then confront them in a productive manner.
But the truth is that Rav Kook inspires us to go even further. Rav Kook wrote something called מידות הראי׳׳ה, a guide on various character traits for those who want to grow spiritually. In it, he writes about פחדנות, or fear. How should we approach the מדה of fear? Rav Kook minces no words. He writes: הפחדים הם פתיות גמורה, אין לאדם לפחוד כלל כי-אם להזהר—Fears are complete foolishness. A person should not fear at all, only be cautious. יותר שהוא פוחד הוא נופל, וכשהוא מתפחד, מעצם הפחד בא לו המכשול—The more he fears, the more he falls, and when he becomes frightened, the obstacle comes to him from the fear itself. I don’t know if President Roosevelt studied Rav Kook’s writings in preparation for his inaugural address in 1933 during the Great Depression, but he essentially said the same thing when he declared, “There is nothing to fear but fear itself.” Fear has the potential to paralyze or overwhelm us. We don’t need to fear, but we need to be cautious.
Fear often leads to panic or irrational decisions, which can be counterproductive. Instead of letting fear dominate, we should remain calm, assess the situation logically, and act with caution. In fact, the only type of fear that Chazal recommend is the fear of not acting ethically, responsibly, and halachically during times of crisis. The Midrash in Bamidbar Rabbah (19:32) states that פחד, or fear, is, indeed, a character trait of the righteous. After all, the pasuk in Mishlei states, אשרי אדם מפחד תמיד—Happy is the person who is constantly afraid. But this type of fear is like Yaakov’s fear before his encounter with Esav, that perhaps he acted unethically in the house of Lavan, or Moshe’s fear before his battle with Og, that perhaps Bnei Yisrael sinned. Any fear we have should be limited to an analysis of our own behavior, ensuring that we are vigilant in ensuring that we are always acting appropriately.
I can understand why Ariel Sharon, the Fearless General, was someone who was afraid but didn’t allow that fear to prevent him from doing what was necessary. But I can also understand that Rav Kook is speaking to men and women of faith, and men and women of faith need not fear. They only need to be cautious. Rav Kook writes: כל ציורי הפחד הנם רק צבעים פזורים מציור גדול שצריכים להשלימו וכשממלאים אותו הם מצטרפים לכולו להמשיך בטחון גדול ועצום מאד—All the images of fear are merely scattered colors of a great picture that needs to be completed, and when it is completed, they join together to create a great and immense sense of security that fills the entire soul with strength and courage. Men and women of faith understand that there is a reason for everything and that there is a bigger picture. We may not understand the bigger picture, but there is one, and everything in the world has its place. By broadening our perspective, we gain the optimism and confidence we need to overcome any crisis and avoid the pitfalls of fear. Rav Kook concludes his piece with the words וחדות ד' מעוזכם—“And the joy of God is your strength.” What leads men and women of faith through turbulent times is more than just managing fear; it’s the realization that the last words of the parsha ring true even today: לֹ֖א תִּֽירָא֑וּם כִּ֚י יְקֹוָ֣ק אֱ–לֹֽהֵיכֶ֔ם ה֖וּא הַנִּלְחָ֥ם לָכֶֽם—“Do not fear, for God is fighting for you.” God is with us through it all. We may not understand the big picture, and we may need to take precautions, but the anxiety should begin to wither away with the knowledge that God is with us every step of the way in our journey of life, whether we are facing an impending attack from Iran or undergoing a struggle in our personal lives. Rav Kook may be charging us with a very challenging task, but we can look to thousands of individuals since October 7th who have exemplified this midah. We need not fear anything at all.