At dawn last Friday, the people of Israel awoke to a historic day.
It was the rising of a nation that, since October 7, has been fighting for its very survival – slandered, vilified, and attacked by countless nations. This past Friday, Am Yisrael [the nation of Israel] entered a battle not only for existence but for renewal – a battle we might call: “A nation which rises like a lion.”
This name is drawn from the weekly Torah portion of Balak and the blessing of the prophet Balaam: “Behold, a people rises like a lioness, and lifts itself up like a lion” (Numbers 23:24).
What does this blessing truly mean?
Rashi, drawing from the midrash, explains:
“When they rise from their sleep in the morning, they strengthen themselves like a lion and a lioness to seize the commandments to wear the tallit [prayer shawl], to recite the Shema [a prayer of God’s unity], and to don tefillin [phylacteries].”
On the surface, this interpretation emphasizes the spiritual and religious vigor of the Jewish people. Yet I would like to propose a different reading, one that speaks directly to the reality we are experiencing now.
The “sleep” is the slumber of a people – an unwillingness to awaken in the face of danger, a retreat from responsibility, both to themselves and to humanity. It echoes the moment in Shir HaShirim (Song of Songs) when the beloved knocks on the door, but the nation refuses to answer: “I have taken off my robe, how can I put it on again? I have washed my feet, how can I soil them?”
But when Am Yisrael chooses to rise, to shake off the dust of despair and wear garments of splendor, then they “seize the commandments.”
More than performing rituals
This phrase means more than performing rituals; it reflects the deep realization that we must take responsibility for our survival, for our independence, and for our national rebirth.
The tallit, with its tehelet threads [of blue], turns our gaze upward. It reminds us of the heavens, of the power of vision and faith, like Abraham, who “lifted his eyes and saw.” His vision was not just physical but spiritual: the ability to perceive both the tangible and the transcendent, not as an illusion, but as attainable truth.
The recitation of Shema proclaims God’s oneness and kingship and affirms our mission to be His witnesses in the world.
The tefillin represent our intimate bond with the Divine. The Babylonian Talmud (Berachot 6a) teaches that written in God’s own “tefillin” are the words: “Who is like Your people Israel?”
This past Friday, the lion of Israel awoke, no longer paralyzed by fear, but infused with creativity and conviction in the justice of our path.
We have understood anew: “If I am not for myself, who will be for me?” and we have internalized the truth that God walks among our camp.
We have begun to see through the present, not surrender to it. We refuse to bow before the rising tide of antisemitism, to the waves of hatred, or to the despairing refrain of the biblical spies: “We cannot prevail.” Instead, we declare: “We can surely prevail.”
The spies, in this week’s Torah portion, could not lift their eyes, and as they themselves said: “And we were in our own eyes like grasshoppers, and so we were in their eyes.” We declare that we are not grasshoppers but lions who can lift our eyes to heaven and see what is behind the clouds.
It does not mean to live in fantasy but it does mean refusing to live only in the shadow of today. It means daring to look toward tomorrow. This is not merely a war of the moment; it is a battle for the future, one that must secure a safer, better world for our children and for the children of all nations.
We must embrace the spirit of Caleb, of whom it was said: “He had a different spirit with him.”
We, too, need a different spirit, one of resilience, generosity, dedication, and mutual responsibility.
We stand at a historic crossroads. We have the chance to show ourselves and the world that power can be transformed into moral influence, into the construction of a society rooted in human dignity, Torah values, and faith in God.
That divine spirit calls upon us to be people of a different spirit, one that dares to dream even in the darkest night, one that envisions a future shaped by peace, justice, and unshakable moral clarity. It is a spirit that refuses to accept the triumph of evil, that stands firm in the belief that righteousness will yet rise and light will dispel all shadows.
With the help of God, who neither slumbers nor sleeps, with the courage of our heroes and the unwavering devotion of our soldiers, with the resilience of our people and the eternal flame of faith that burns in our hearts, we will prevail. No more grasshoppers, instead lions. “Behold, a people rises like a lion cub and lifts itself up like a lion.”
The writer is the rabbi of Kehilat Nitzanim synagogue in Jerusalem.