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People who serve in the Israel Defense Forces are fulfilling two tremendous mitzvot, each of which is the equivalent of all the other mitzvot put together. The first mitzva is saving the Jews from their enemies. Since a person who saves one life is considered to have saved an entire world, imagine what an accomplishment it is to help save the entire Jewish people! The second mitzva is settling the Land. Without an army to defend the Land, it would be impossible to retain Jewish sovereignty. These two mitzvot are the values which motivated King David’s soldiers as they prepared for war: “Let us be strong and resolute for the sake of our people and the land of our God” (II Samuel 10:12).
One who serves in the Israeli army, is expressing the part of oneself which is holy by virtue of being part of a holy nation. Most of the time we fulfill mitzvot as individuals. However, an individual who serves in the army takes on the elevated status of the nation, in which the Divine Presence dwells. Soldiers are fulfilling their army mitzvot as soon as they are drafted and start training. This is because the fact that we have a well-trained army serves as a deterrent in itself. Our enemies are afraid of us because they know we have a strong army. Therefore, even a soldier killed during training exercises is considered to have fallen in the service of God, the nation, and the Land.
Relying on an army is not an indication of a lack of faith in God. On the contrary, it involves using human strength (the physical) in the service of revealing God’s word (the spiritual). This is what our great leaders did. Joshua and King David fought bravely to settle the Jews securely in their Land. In other words, it is ideal for the Jewish nation to fulfill the mitzva of settling God’s Land by using the human abilities God gave us as a gift. Then, if it is necessary to fight, we can vanquish our enemies without relying on a miracle.
This physical-spiritual combination enables the world to move in the right direction. Eventually, the non-Jews will recognize the Jews' rights to their Land. The nations will coexist, with each one being assigned its most appropriate location. The prophecy of Isaiah will be fulfilled:
In the days to come, the Mount of the Lord’s house shall stand firm above the mountains and tower above the hills; and all the nations shall gaze on it with joy. And the many peoples shall go and say: “Come, let us go up to the Mount of the Lord, to the House of the God of Jacob; that He may instruct us in His ways, and that we may walk in His paths.” For Torah shall come forth from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. Thus He will judge among the nations and arbitrate for the many peoples, and they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not take up sword against nation; they shall never again know war (Isaiah 2:2-4).
