They Are A Package! | Rabbi Haggai Lundin | Beit Midrash

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In some places, shooting down the Iranian missiles has sparked the same debates as in the 19th century – is success due to science or to God? On the one hand, there are those who say that "the democratic, secular and liberal forces saved the country" (as if there were no religious people in the defense industries); on the other hand, there are those who tried to downplay the value of technological achievement and attribute the success to a supernatural miracle (as if scientists and security personnel were not in the picture).

During the coronavirus pandemic, there were those who related to the vaccines and medical guidelines as a form of heresy against God, while there were those who disrespected prayers. October 7th led some people to the fantasy that there is no need for security forces, while on the other hand, there were those who conclude that there is no need for Sabbath observance; and, of course, the claim of a specific sector that Torah study makes the army unnecessary, while another sector claims that the army makes Torah study redundant.

The root of this unnecessary debate lies in the worldview (Christian and humanistic – each from its own direction) that the spiritual world and the material world are contradictory worlds. As it were, only when a supernatural phenomenon occurs does it indicate that there is a spiritual dimension here, and when things proceed naturally, this is the territory of the secular world.

Judaism advocates that these things come together! Of course, the world advances out of "natural" human effort, but it is supposed to express and raise up values and the moral dimension. The people of Israel succeed militarily and economically (in the long run) because they are a people that historically embodies eternal values. These sides complement each other: Torah study gives the spirit to military service, and military service allows the Torah to be embodied in life. When the Weizmann Institute or the Air Force develop technology, we add the words "with God's help"; our intent is not to cancel human effort, but to say that this technology serves the good (God), and the better it does so, the more successful it is (see the achievement beyond statistics in intercepting missiles from Iran).

The Torah sums it up in these words: "And you will say in your heart that my power and the might of my hand made me these riches, and you shall remember the Lord your God because it is He Who gives you power to generate riches" (Deuteronomy 8, 17).

With God's help, together we will win!

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