Cheesecake and Soda: Embracing the Soldiers in the Capsule

I also struggled to believe the rumors. I didn’t believe it until I saw it with my own eyes. After Tisha B'Av, they suddenly appeared—familiar faces of yeshiva boys. "Oh, hello there! Long time no see." "Yes, I was in a capsule." "For how long?" "A month and a half," "Two months," "Two and a half months," and even more! I couldn't believe it, and I must admit: I still find it hard to grasp.

Each boy who returned after two whole months in the yeshiva without leaving, I call him aside: "No, no. I can’t believe it. Explain to me... Explain to me exactly what happened. You mean to tell me you entered the yeshiva on the eve of Rosh Chodesh Sivan and... that’s it? You stayed there until the 7th of Av? How? How did you do it? I don’t understand how! I really don’t get it."

But the pure eyes reveal the truth. The radiant and determined faces verify the fact. Yes, there are tens of thousands of yeshiva students. I admit, it's beyond me! I must bow my head and confess: if I were a yeshiva student in this period, I wouldn’t have managed. If they had demanded I stay in yeshiva for two months, I would feel like "a deer that entered a house." At some point, I would have simply rappelled out of the dormitory window and escaped. But here we are! Thousands of yeshiva students dedicated themselves to their studies for two whole months and more. All we can do is salute them.

Even the elders among us who remember a time when we stayed in yeshiva all summer without leaving even once, but no! You can't compare. After all, we're talking about boys of our generation, with all that implies, and there’s no need to elaborate on the vast difference.

In short: I wouldn’t have believed it! No! I wouldn’t have believed a yeshiva student in our generation could be secluded in the beit midrash for two whole months. I think I am not the only one surprised. There is someone else, so to speak, who is surprised. The Creator of the Universe Himself! Father in Heaven, to whom nothing in the world is surprising—there is nothing new under the sun. But above the sun, there is something new! A yeshiva student who is capable of overcoming his so normal nature and can bury himself in the tent of Torah under such hard conditions—he is the only one who can surprise Hashem Himself. "And even Hashem was amazed with them."

This surprise I encountered for the first time between terms! Because during the summer term, actually, I mainly encountered the lost boys, those who for various reasons spilled out of the capsules, and those forced to search outside the capsule, and they faced their own difficulties, some feeling lost. These were mostly the ones I met during the term.

But when the interim period began, I realized I stumbled upon the laws of lost and found! Indeed, Rambam has laws of loss and found! The lost and the found go together.

Until two weeks ago, I mostly met the lost ones. But now I discovered the reality! There are boys whose hearts Hashem found faithful to Him during this challenging time. There are boys for whom this period of trial became a banner, and they discovered and found within themselves sublime strengths they weren't aware of until today. Yes, it’s important to know. Corona didn’t just bring losses—it brought us findings!

Embracing the Soldiers

Here, it’s important to note that quietly, where no one sees, situations exist that no one knows about. There are boys who precisely spilled out of the capsule and wandered lost. But precisely in the most challenging moments of being alone, he suddenly demonstrated loyalty to Hashem. This is also a loss that when Hashem found it, it turned into a tremendous find! It's a find only Hashem knows about. It was a loss with no identifying marks. For this, Hashem has His sharp eye and the personal wink that only you and the Creator understand. I'm sorry I can't pat you on the back.

The holy and pure yeshiva students are going through tough times, and *b'ezrat Hashem* they are succeeding greatly. And... it seems like in a week and a half they will enter those capsules again, and once more, just thinking about it gives me butterflies in my stomach. (Apparently, I have a thing with closed spaces...)

All that’s left for us is to ponder ways to ease it as much as possible and at least make their stay more pleasant. Yes... during operations in Gaza or war in Lebanon—we all know the familiar pictures and sayings of "embracing the soldiers" and pampering them, taking care of them, etc.

(Photo: Wisam Hashlamoun / Flash90)

I must say, and let this remain between us, being a yeshiva boy and sitting and studying Torah without medals of excellence and without holding artillery weapons, sitting before a Gemara and understanding that our weapon is in our mouth, understanding this and living it for two months—it’s "no less" difficult! Let it stay between us.

It’s not popular to say this, but this is why we have baalei teshuva who were tough as cedars in the army. And when they reached a page of Gemara, required to refine themselves like a worm before a Talmudic issue in all its subtilities, they testified that this struggle was bloody, not less (to put it mildly) than any other battle. Yes. "And He exalts the horn of His people, praise for all His devout ones, the children of Israel, His close people," says the Zohar. Do not read close but battle! Someday it will be revealed that those close ones who sat and studied Torah in the beit midrash—they were actually the most combat-ready soldiers Hashem ever had.

All that remains is to embrace these combat-ready soldiers and think deeply about how. How to make it easier for them, how to make the month of Elul more pleasant under the capsule outline. There’s no choice. Effort must be made. Thoughts need to be thought out. Creativity needs to be employed. Don't wait for those with interests who might conclude that a campaign can be made out of it. Don’t wait for them. Because yeshiva students will always remain at the bottom of the list in these matters.

Support and encouragement in Torah will always remain the least popular area, where those "making for themselves" won’t invest. We have no choice—the individuals. Each of us must employ personal thought, approach the local yeshiva union privately, extend a hand, and do what we can to further endear the Torah already beloved by its students.

A cheesecake on Friday is always welcome; soda on Shabbat is never redundant. I am talking even about these little things. To you, it’s trivial, but to him it's significant! The attention here is the point, much beyond what you give. Be strong and courageous, mighty heroes! Hashem is with you!