Rav Yitzchak Zilberstein’s sure-fire method of bringing salvation to the Jews of Eretz Yisrael

Photos: Mattis Goldberg

IN the aftermath of last week’s Hamas massacre, Jews across the world were consumed by shock, then horror, then grief — and then resolve. Resolve to exert every earthly effort to rid the world of the murderous terror group, along with the resolve to elevate ourselves so we can be worthy of the Divine aid that is so crucial to our safety and security amid so much hate.

Rav Yitzchak Zilberstein holds a seat of honor at the mizrach vant of Jewish leadership. A famed posek, son-in-law of Rav Elyashiv, rav of Bnei Brak’s Ramat Elchanan neighborhood and of the Mayanei Hayeshuah Medical Center, and confidant of some of the greatest gedolim of the era, he demands uncompromising fealty to Torah and halachah while managing to connect with Jews of every stripe and type.

In an effort to seek out practical ways to merit the Divine protection we so desperately need, we consulted with Rav Zilberstein. In response, he spoke of air raid sirens and salvation, queens and commanders, parenting and partnerships. Most of all, he sounded a clarion call: Safeguard the Shabbos and Hashem will keep you safe in return.

What kind of avodas Hashem should chareidi Jews in chutz l’Aretz focus on during these tense times?

I’ll tell you what I told the residents of Eretz Yisrael, something that’s also relevant to the residents of chutz l’Aretz. If they improve this one thing, it will bring brachah and shemirah to all the Jewish people in the entire world.

Mere weeks ago, on Yom Kippur, the holiest day for the Jewish people, we read (Yeshayahu 58:13,14): “Im tashiv miShabbas raglecha… az tisanag al Hashem v’hirkavticha al bamosei aretz….”

Do you hear, Rabbosai, what the message is? Shabbos! You want HaKadosh Baruch Hu to help you? You want to live? Do you want to have a happy life? Do you know what the segulah is? One thing: Shabbos!

The language of the pasuk describes a causative link between observing Shabbos and living in peace in Eretz Yisrael. The implication is that if you don’t keep Shabbos, things will not be good. Why is that the case? The Dubno Maggid explains with a parable.

There was a king who had a minister. Sometimes this minister obeyed the king, and other times, he didn’t obey him so well. But the minister retained the king’s favor because he had a very clever wife whose advice the king greatly valued.

Once, the woman came to the palace, and the king saw that she was beaten and bloody. The king asked what happened to her, and she refused to answer. Again and again he pressed her for an explanation, but she would not respond. “I’m guessing that you were beaten,” the king said. Silence.

“It’s clear to me,” the king said, “that you were beaten by your husband, and therefore he will be hanged at once. I should have killed him long ago — he has long lost my favor. I only kept him alive because of his wife. Now that he is mistreating his wife, then what use do I have for him?”

This parable of the Dubno Maggid explains how the existence of the Jewish people is intertwined with its observance of Shabbos. Shabbos sometimes cries, it pains me to say. Our Shabbos is the queen, Shabbos Malkesa, Lecha Dodi likras kallah. And the King — HaKadosh Baruch Hu — sees Shabbos crying and trampled, and therefore Am Yisrael loses whatever merit they have.