The State of Israel instituted today as the day in which we remember Israel's fallen soldiers who gave their lives in order to defend us.   What is our avoda as bnei Torah and yirei Shamayim?  I believe that we must focus on two middot, two character traits which I believe exemplify the birth and continued existence of Am Yisrael.  The first one is hakarat hatov - gratitude.  The Ramban writes that the entire Torah and mitzvoth are zecher liyetziat Mitzrayim - so that we should remember the exodus from Egypt.  The purpose of yetziat Mitzrayim and the entire creation for that matter is for man to realize that Hashem created him and to thank Him for that.

A Jew begins his day with the word modeh, I thank, even before he says the word ani referring to himself.  In addition, the word yehudim is from the word todah, we are a thanking nation.  Today we must show our hakarat hatov to the many soldiers who gave up their lives so that Klal Yisrael may continue to exist.

In addition to the midda of hakarat hatov, we must work on being what the Mishna describes as one of the 48 ways in which Torah is acquired - nosei beol im chavero - sharing in the burden of our fellow Jews.  In this aspect I am not referring to the soldiers but to their loved ones who today are visiting the many cemeteries throughout Eretz Yisrael.   This midda was instrumental in our development as a nation, for the Torah describes Moshe Rabenu as having gone out to see the pain his people were suffering, rather than remain in the comfort of the king's palace where he was raised.  It is our obligation to share in the pain of the families who have lost their precious sons, the pain felt by one who has lost a dear one at such a young age with his entire future ahead of him is something we cannot even begin to imagine.

Although today is Yom HaZikaron I would like to discuss this entire period we find ourselves in, Yom HaShoah, Yom HaZikaron, Yom HaAtzmaut, and Yom Yerushalayim - what many have referred to as the Israeli calendar.  Several years ago my rebbi, HaRav Yaakov Katz Shlit"a, pointed out that all these commemorations take place during Sefirat HaOmer.  Many years have passed and I do not remember his insight into the matter but I would like to suggest that this is no mere coincidence - what are the chances that four dates on the Israeli calendar all fall during Sefirat HaOmer?

I would like to suggest two levels of understanding.  What is Sefirat HaOmer?  Sefirat HaOmer is the process which connects Yetziat Mitzrayim and Matan Torah - two primary stages in the existence of the Jewish nation.  Yetziat Mitzrayim was when we saw Hashem's Omnipresence while Matan Torah is when we heard Him speak to us.   Seeing leaves an impression but hearing causes things to penetrate deeper.   When we first meet a person, let us even say our prospective spouse, what we see gives us our first impression, but to really get to know them we must hear and listen to them.  We are comprised of body and soul - seeing connects us to body while hearing connects us to the soul which is the essence of the person.  We connected to Hashem on one level when we left Egypt and the sea was split for us, we connected on another level when Hashem spoke to us and said "I am the G-d Who took you out from Egypt".  In a few weeks, as every year, we will be receiving the Torah anew - on the condition that, as we said in the Haggadah: "in every generation a person must view himself as if he has left Egypt."  If you are unable to feel Hashem having taken you out from Egypt then you are not ready for Matan Torah.  How can we feel that Hashem took us out from Egypt?  By feeling another passage from the Haggadah: "in every generation they are trying to destroy us and HaKadosh Baruch Hu saves us from their hands". 

If you do not understand that Hashem is the One turning the wheels of history then you cannot get to Matan Torah - if you do not view Me as the "asher hotzeiticha me-Eretz Mitzrayim", then you do not truly know Me as "anochi Hashem Elokecha".  Why is it so vital that we know Hashem as the G-d Who runs history before we approach Matan Torah?  Because otherwise you are not connecting the blueprint for the world, the Torah, with events of history.  A prerequisite for receiving the Torah is to realize that in every generation they try to destroy us and HaKadosh Baruch Hu comes to save us.  

Many students and alumni have approached me over the years disillusioned that their friends who either attended Yeshivot where they wore black kippot or colorful knitted kippot have a clear direction, while those of us in Netiv Aryeh remain confused - there are so many Rebbein with different ideas and approaches.  They do not know what to think and where they belong.  My response to that is that they perhaps missed the point of what we are trying to teach at Netiv Aryeh, a message which I would like to clarify today.

I have many close friends here on the staff with whom I do not agree on every point - that is the beauty of our Yeshiva.  I would like to begin to clarify matters by first adding to the confusion - is this not how we learn Gemara, we delve deeper and get more and more confused until we reach some sort of clarity? 

A gadol of a previous generation, HaRav Yaakov Emden zt"l, writes that even had he witnessed the splitting of the sea he would not be as impressed as he is with the continued existence of the Jewish nation - despite all attempts to destroy us we are still around.  Rav Yaakov Emden did not merit seeing what we see today - the rebuilding of Yerushalayim, the agriculture, Nefesh B'Nefesh bringing thousands of North American immigrants annually, old and young in the streets of Yerushalayim as prophesied by the prophet Zechariah.  Rav Yaakov Emden did not merit seeing Jews praying at the Kotel HaMaaravi - the symbol of hope from the beginning of the Babylonian exile until Auschwitz and Treblinka.

Before the Six Day War thousands of graves were prepared, people thought this was the end.  In one week it all turned around, not only did we survive but we added the Golan Heights and other areas on the other side of the Yarden.  Suddenly people felt the Moshiach's arrival was imminent, until 973 when everything began to collapse.  What happened to our fearless army?  Suddenly there were existential threats caused by two Lebanon Wars and two Intifadas, the expulsion from Gush Katif - what happened to the days of Moshiach of the Six Day War?

Unfortunately it is not only our security which is deteriorating, but the morals of secular Israeli society are sinking deeper and deeper.   Just go to Tel Aviv you will see an entirely different world than what we see in isolated Yerushalayim.  We have an entire society which has one goal - to copy America and the other nations, the kibbutz which was once the symbol of secular ideology has become a business.  Secular Zionism has been replaced by cynicism - they are not interested in Jewish identity, perhaps they want an Israeli identity.  One of the gedolim once referred to America as Am Reika - the empty nation.  What content can you have in your life when all you care about is mimicking an empty nation?

I recently was in a store in Givat Shaul, in front of me stood a secular Israeli clearly unaware of his Jewish neshama.  It was Erev Shabbat and the cashier thanked him for his payment and wished him a Shabbat Shalom.  He responded: bye bye.  To me that says it all - you would rather say bye bye than Shabbat Shalom.  Think of how many ways there are to analyze the deep meaning behind Shabbat Shalom - each word individually then the combination.  I never heard "bye bye" as a child growing up in Israel, but this is how they speak today, why?  Because that is what Americans do.  This is not purely semantics, Israeli society is becoming devoid of any meaning, and violence is more prevalent - are these the days of Moshiach?  Perhaps those against the State have a point.  What about the innocent Yemenite Jews who steadfastly held to their tradition in Yemen and upon arrival had their peyot cut off, whisked away from Torah and mitzvoth and told that they were in Eretz Yisrael, there is no longer a need for Torah and mitzvoth.

My point is that if we feel a sense of confusion it is not because there are different approaches, but the reality is a confusing one.  Chazal teach us that Hashem created this world for His honor - our task is to add to the glory of Hashem in this world.  At the same time, elsewhere in Chazal we find that this world is one of sheker.  How can these two statements coexist?  How does sheker add to Hashem's glory in this world?  There are so many evil people, there is such pritzut on the street, what glory of Hashem is produced by Beitar Yerushalayim and a baseball game?  What kevod Shamayim comes from a woman to whom modesty is the furthest thing from her mind and she boasts about learning Kabbalah?  What do Chazal mean that the world was created for Hashem's honor?

 I believe the answer is found in Mizmor Shir LeYom HaShaabat: "ma rabu maasecha Hashem meod amku machshevotecha" "how vast are Your acts Hashem, Your thoughts are deep", "ish baar lo yeda" "a fool will not know".   Whoever asks such a question is a fool.  "Bifroach reshim kmo esev vayatzitzu kol poalei aven" "the evil people are flourishing in this world", why?  "Lehishamdam adei ad" "so that they can be destroyed for eternity".  The pasuk is teaching us that they flourish in this world in order to be destroyed.  The collapse of the Soviet Union marked one of the greatest events of Kvod Hashem.   One of the most evil people in history, Stalin, claimed to try to bring unity to the world and his empire's demise revealed the hypocrisy and sheker in it all.  There can be no unity to speak of unless it surrounds serving Hashem - Hashem Echad UShmo Echad.  Any unity based on anything else is doomed to failure.  A Jewish marriage must be based on the Shchina dwelling in their midst.   When the Soviet Union collapsed it screamed out - I am one big sheker, I have shown Communism in its true light.  Such was the way of Hashem throughout the ages - in Egypt, Bavel, Edom, and Christianity - powers rise make a lot of noise and Hashem laughs.  The more noise they make the better it will be when they collapse. 

Klal Yisrael was ready to return to its homeland, Hashem sent secular Zionism as His agent and they did a beautiful job -we have a land, we have a thriving economy.  But now what, where do we take it from here?   We have accomplished our goal, what is next?  Secular Zionism gets a thank you from Hashem and reward but its next task is to collapse and prove to the world that secular Zionism is an oxymoron.  They had two tasks - to develop the land and then collapse to show the world that they are empty. Eretz Yisrael is meaningless without sanctity.

I would like to summarize what we have said thus far by stating that the idea of the State of Israel is neither all good nor all bad.  Our return to Eretz Yisrael does not signify the end of the exile, Hashem says that He will collect us from among the nations and purify our hearts of stone, I will remove the sheker from within your midst.  Many need to experience the emptiness of life in secular Israeli society, so they can be fed up with it and scream "give me meaning".  There is a tshuva revolution taking place within our midst.  Tshuva cannot be forced upon them, there is too much antagonism within the society.

I would like to now analyze another aspect of Sefirat HaOmer which I believe is relevant to our discussion.  In addition to being the preparatory stages for Matan Torah, it is also the days in which we mourn the deaths of the students of R' Akiva who died because they did not accord each other with mutual respect.  How could they do that - was the world not created the world to add respect, honor, and glory!  I believe it is not a coincidence that during the days in which we mourn R' Akiva's students not according each other with mutual respect arguments surface with regards to the State of Israel - is it good for the Jews or not, I say Hallel and whoever doesn't is a rasha, I don't say Hallel and whoever does is an apikores, I serve in the army and whoever doesn't is a terrible person, I don't serve and whoever does is foolish.  Each group wanders through Eretz Yisrael convinced that the Moshiach will arrive when all think like them. 

I do not know whether Hashem is laughing or crying.  Is it so hard to apply the Gemara in Eruvin regarding the disputes between Beit Hillel and Beit Shammai - "elu vaelu divrei Elokim chaim" "this and that are both words of a living G-d"?  Is it so hard to acknowledge that things are very complex and there is good and bad happening, which is necessary in order to arrive with a clear picture of truth at the End of Days?  As we grow older not only does our hair turn gray but our outlook on life does as well - things are not so black and white, they are not as simple and straightforward as we thought.

Is it so hard for proponents of army service to acknowledge the spiritual dangers and that so many precious souls have thrown off their kippa in the army?  I served in the army, I can testify to it.  Is it so hard for the other side to acknowledge the Kiddush Hashem that the religious bring to the army, how so many people became baalei tshuva in the army due to their first exposure to a G-d-fearing Jew?  I used to spend hours schmoozing with secular Jews.  It is true the halacha follows Beit Hillel, we need a psak, but remember that the other side is valid as well.  You need direction?  Speak to your rav or any gadol, he will help you decide which path to choose.  You may ask what relevance elu vaelu divrei Elokim chaim has if in the end I choose a path?  The answer is that if I keep that in mind when I serve I will not hate the one who doesn't, and if I keep that in mind when I choose not to serve but to learn Torah instead then I will not hate the one who does serve.

It makes all the difference in the world!  Hashem is saying to us: I brought you back to Eretz Yisrael from the corners of the earth - from Poland, America, Yemen, Britian, Hungary, and many other places - I have squeezed you together into a small area, let us see if you can learn to live together despite your differences?  No one ever said you must agree on everything, but you must love and respect each other.  Even a married couple is not required to agree on everything - a man will never think like a woman and a woman will never think like a man - but they must respect each other. 

Your friends from other Yeshivot may claim they have a clear direction, I disagree with this claim.  I believe that when you see different perspectives then you will be able to choose the proper direction.  Netiv Aryeh has no problem with whatever path you choose, so long as it is not based on sheker.  The Sefer Haredim, one of my favorite seforim, writes that there is no greater avoda zara than machloket and hatred.  Why?  We say weekly in Shabbat Mincha: "Ata Echad veShimcha Echad umi ke-amcha Yisrael goi echad baaretz" - "You are One and Your Name is One; and who is like Your people Israel, one nation on earth".  When we are unified below then Hashem is unifed above, when machloket exists then there is no unity above.

Machloket is an avoda zara - we can only receive the Torah when we are keish echad belev echad - as one person with one heart.  Chazal teach us that even one who spent his life in Torah and mitzvoth if he did not work towards bringing peace then it is as if he has done nothing.

I believe there are two reasons why Netiv Aryeh is the closest Yeshiva to the site of the Beit HaMikdash - firstly it is the mesirut nefesh of our Rosh Yeshiva for his yeshiva and klal Yisrael.  Secondly it is because there is love and respect for each other, I am not expecting everyone to agree with all that I have just said, but we will continue working together to create an atmosphere of unity among Ashkenazim, Sephardim, Americans, Israeils, black kippot, and colorful kippot.  This is a Yeshiva which deserves to be adjacent to the Beit HaMikdash.