Dear Klal Yisroel

Most of us have already heard from different sources that Iran is at the verge of attacking Eretz Yisroel r”l. They are saying that they will give us what to weep about r”l. They are saying that the attack is imminent and some sources say that it will be this Shabbos or even earlier r”l.

[Why are they even announcing it? Wouldn’t it be more pragmatic for them to go ahead R”l without telling the whole world beforehand? There can be various silly answers, but the true reason is because Hashem wants us to hear.]

Now before we suggest some practical ideas how to respond to the message that Hashem is sending us, let me first discuss what we shouldn’t be thinking or saying at this time.

Firstly, we should not shrug it off and say “everything will be fine”. Hashem Yazor”. Bitachon is when it comes to your personal Tzara, but not when millions of your brothers in Eretz Yisroel are in a tremendous sakana על פי דרך הטבע. To say such a thing is just אכזריות, and it’s impossible to speak or even to think like that.

Some people will say that this already happened last time and nothing happened, so we can assume that it will be the same now. This is ignorance for anyone that has some שכל. Just because Hashem preformed miracles last time why does that mean that it will happen again now?

America promised that they will stand by and “protect Eretz Yisroel”. We should know that if one puts his trust in America then this is pure כפירה because the only One that can help us is אבינו שבשמים, and we need His special protection more than ever now.

What we can do at this time is to be mechazek ourselves with the concept of אין עוד מלבדו that there is no other power other than Hashem. Moreover, we need to be infuse ourselves with the Emuna that אין לנו להשען אלא על אבינו שבשמים.

With these thoughts in mind we are now ready to pour out our hearts to אבינו שבשמים. We need to storm Shomayim to protect our brothers and sisters in Eretz Yisroel that no one should get hurt chas v’shalom.

Even more important is that we are standing in middle of the three weeks and also at the threshold of the nine days. At this time Klal Yisroel’s hearts and mind are focused on Yerushalayim and the Bais Hamikdash that it should be rebuilt. Therefore at this time we need to storm Shomayim to bring the Geula which we are anxiously waiting for.

The truth is that there is a hotline in Eretz Yisroel that is saying over from Tzaddikim that this Shabbos we will be zoche to open miracles. Some people are saying over from Rav Moshe Shterbuch.

So some people will react to such a statement that perhaps it’s not accurate. Others might say that if that’s the case so we are off the hook from davening and doing anything about it. All this is obviously coming from an unhealthy source. Yes, we need to grab a hold of the chizzuk, but at the same time we cannot sit back idly. That’s not what hashem wants and we know that.

So in addition to our Tefillos for the protection of Klal Yisroel and for the geula shelaima I would like to suggest the following. [obviously, everyone should do what his heart desires to benefit our brothers in Eretz Yisroel].

We say in the Zemiros כי אשמרה שבת קל ישמרני. If we keep the Shabbos then Shabbos will protect us. Perhaps if we work on keeping this Shabbos to the utmost then this can be a strong שמירה for Klal Yisroel. The truth is that we are all in danger at this time and we can all use the שמירה עליונה [the special protection that Shabbos offers].

Let us give one suggestion which has an amazing track record, and that is accepting the Shabbos earlier than usual. If someone is anyways making Shabbos early he should have in mind that it should be a zechus for a שמירה for Eretz Yisroel and for all of Klal Yisroel and for the Geula Shelaima.

If one is making Shabbos at the regular time then he should be Mekabel Shabbos earlier [and if he didn’t daven Mincha he can still stop doing melacha earlier than usual].

It’s pretty known that many years ago there was one Shabbos that the entire Lakewood was mekabeil Shabbos earlier do to a crisis that they were going through. Hatzalah reported that on that Shabbos they did not have one emergency call, and that had never ever happened prior to that special Shabbos. כי אשמרה שבת קל ישמרני.

Another suggestion is that we should try to keep the Halachos of Shabbos as much as we can. Everyone knows where they can improve – let’s make it happen this Shabbos. Let me give one example which is relatively simple. There is a big dispute in the Poskim in regards to opening containers, boxes and bottles on Shabbos. Harav Shmuel Felder recommends that all should be opened before Shabbos. Let us try to do that this Shabbos, or any other hiddur in Shabbos.

However, we need to add this disclaimer. If one is not well versed in Hilchos Shabbos than even if he wants to raise the bar of his Shabbos it won’t get him too far. That’s because there are certain areas that if you didn’t go through it he will for sure stumble r”l, as the Mishna Brura famously writes.

So the suggestion for such a person is that he should be makabeil to start learning Hilchos shabbos on a daily basis. It can be a few minutes a day, but at least he is heading in the right direction. There are many seforim and books in different languages with pictures as well. Let’s get moving before it’s too late.

One last thing is that we should uphold the Keddusha of Shabbos as well. This includes not treating Shabbos like a regular day. Our seudos should be full of love and positivity as well. Anger is a contradiction to Keddushas Shabbos. In fact the concept of anger is found in the Parsha of Shabbos as it says לא תבערו אש בכל מושבותיכם ביום השבת and Chazal say that this referring to anger.

We should not chas veshalom talk about politics and the likes and especially by the holy Seuda which we are spending with Hashem and our family. Reading material should be appropriate for Shabbos as well as brought down in Shulchan Aruch.

Let me conclude that in addition to the שמירה עליונה that Shabbos offers for those that keep the Shabbos, Shabbos offers much more than that. Chazal tell us that if Klal Yisroel keeps the Shabbos then מיד הם נגאלים. Now that’s a profound statement, but if Chazal say this then this is how it is.

In the Zechus that we are נושא בעול with our brothers in Eretz Yisroel and we are mechazeik our Shabbos Hashem should give us the chizzuk that we need and as we cry out be the last Seuda of Shabbos אנא קל נא רפא נא לה בהראות לה נועם זיוך אז תתחזק ותתרפא והיתה לה שמחת עולם.