Loyal to the General | Rabbi Yisroel Besser

We're living through difficult times, through trying times, and everybody wants to contribute, everybody wants to do something, not just for themselves and their families, but for all of Klal Yisroel. What is it that we can give? What is it that we can do? I recently read an article, an interview with one of the leading commanders in Eretz Yisroel, in the war effort. And they asked him what does he consider to be the most important characteristic in a soldier? What is it that he's looking for, above all? Is it courage? Is it physical strength? Is it speed? Is it toughness? Is it a mental toughness? So he said the most important feature that he considers that makes a good soldier is loyalty. He said: Because we’re the generals and we know exactly what we want to accomplish, but we're a group and there's a lot of moving parts. We need someone who knows how to follow orders, who doesn't overthink it, who doesn't think he knows better, who doesn't, on the fly, say: But what if...? But maybe...? Who just listens. Loyalty, above all. One of the most hapless, unfortunate characters in the Torah was Haran, the brother of Avraham Avinu. He wasn't sure who would come out on top, Avraham or Nimrod. Nimrod threw Avraham in the fire, and he said: Okay, whoever wins, that's what team I’m on. If Avraham wins, then I’m with Avraham. If Nimrod wins, then I'm with Nimrod. What ended up happening to Haran is he went into the fire, thinking he'd get saved like Avraham, but he wasn't. He was wishy-washy. He was a flip-flopper. He had no real essence. He didn't stand for anything. The Maharal says that the letters of his name, Haran, indicate that. They're all middle-of-the-road letters. ה”א is the midpoint from אל”ף to יו”ד, רי”ש is the midpoint of the Alef-Beis, and נו”ן is the midpoint of 1 to 100. He didn't have an identity. He never developed any kind of ideology of his own. And he ended up losing his life. He wasn't a person. Loyalty defines a person. A little child goes in the street and they look here, you can easily distract them. When you want a child's attention, you know, a photographer, he starts to shake something and the child looks right there. As you become mature, as you become an adult, as you become a person, you learn that you're in control. I'm loyal to the general. I know how to follow orders. I don't just look every which way. You can't just pull me and get me to look there. The Lubavitcher Rebbe, one year, before תקיעת שופר, started to look around and he was looking for certain people, R’ Mendel Futerfas, R’ Asher Sassonkin. These were the Chasidim who had been in Russia, who had been imprisoned in Siberia for many years, for the crime of being Yidden, of having Emunah, of believing in the Boreh Olam, and they had just come out. And he wanted them standing around by תקיעת שופר. Now, were there bigger Talmidei Chachamim in Crown Heights at the time? Probably. Were there bigger Ba’alei Tzedaka, Ba’alei Chesed? Likely. But the loyalty, the fierceness, the strength, the stamina, the resilience of these people who had come out of Russia and emerged intact, the Rebbe wanted them by תקיעת שופר, because תקיעת שופר is a time when we’re trying to earn the Ribono shel Olam’s loyalty to us, we’re reminding him of what he has in us, so we show him our strength. The battleground of life, the streets of life cost a lot of loyalty. You want to look here, you want to look there. Everything is alluring and everything is enticing. Loyalty breeds the Ribono shel Olam’s loyalty. To do something for Klal Yisroel means to be strong, and not only to remember who we are, but to remember whose we are.