An Open Letter to Laly Derai

Dear Laly

My heart aches for you. Your son Saadia was an exceptional young man, a Torah scholar, and a future Jewish leader whose life ended too soon.

You are sad and angry, and let your voice be heard, but Laly, please reconsider your message.

Do you think “sharing the burden” is the only path to victory? That a bunch of yeshiva bochurim and Arabs will vanquish our enemies?

Think again, Laly. Think harder.

Laly, you believe in the Torah. You even said that for you, Torah study is a Zionist value. Read the Torah. It doesn’t instruct us to form an army and include everyone in it–men, women, yeshiva students, and even Arabs. It says that when we, meaning all the Jews, walk in the ways of Hashem ie and follow the Torah and mitzvot, we will enjoy peace, and when we don’t, all hell breaks lose,

Our problem isn’t manpower. We are about to enter into a peace deal that will leave Hamas standing and a few dozen hostages still in captivity. Clearly ,the IDF isnt the solution. To survive here, we pull together, which means we need to promote unity not as an empty slogan but through deeper faith in Hashem and more loyalty to the Torah.

Laly, you can do that.

Use your voice to tell people to keep Shabbat.

The words of the Shabbat Zemer are literally true.–If I keep the Shabbat, the Shabbat will keep (i.e., protect) me.

The “every Jew a .22,” mentality first promulgated by the early Zionists and later by Meir Kahana hasn’t been our salvation. From the moment the pre-state militias began, we have lived in a steady state of conflict. That’s not the way things are meant to be.

A Jew’s real strength is not physical–the bible teaches us that that is Esau’s domain. Our power is in our mouths, opened in prayer. You know this, Laly. The only reason that we survive in this dangerous neighborhood is because we are protected by holy Jews. not the IDF, which was useless on Oct 7 and has been stymied in its attempt to achieve a decisive victory by our American patron. We need to stop believing that the army will save us.

It’s time we become more Jewish,  and Laly you can help.

Instead of mouthing words of dissension, deliver Jewish words, words of faith and unity and Shababt and love, and please, I beg you to stop trashing the Haredim,  the group most devoted to the Torah–willing to undertake a life of voluntary poverty dedicated to raising the next generation of Jews.

Laly you are a beautiful person. Take these words in. They are your path to greatness.