Welcome to the Daily Bitachon. Today, we begin a special mini-series called Rising Lion, named for the current war initiative in Eretz Yisrael against Iran, presumably coined by our Prime Minister Netanyahu. Interestingly there's a picture circulating in the media (see above ),showing Netanyahu standing by the Kotel, with a closeup of the note he placed the Kotel , dated ט׳ז סיון תשפ׳ה , the Thursday before the war started. In the corner, it says, " BeSiyata DiShmaya, " and he wrote the following five words, quoted from Bamidbar 23,24 עָם כְּלָבִיא יָקוּם וְכַאֲרִי יִתְנַשָּׂא / Am k'lavi yakum u'k'ari yitnasa which means A nation that gets up like a lioness and rises like a lion So the Prime Minister sent a letter to Hashem, evoking this pasuk . And while we don't know what he was actually thinking, we can study this pasuk. Firstly, the Gemara in Berachot 12b tells us that the Rabbis wanted to include the parashah of Bilam's curses, which turned into blessings in Kriyat Shema, but didn't because it was too long- it would be a torach tzibur—a burden on the congregation. But what is it about Parasha of Bilam that they wanted to include? One possibility is that it contains the phrase: "El motzia miMitzrayim/ God took us out of Egypt . Let's explain for a moment. There are three parshiyot in Kriyat Shema . The first two make sense to say every morning and night because they literally say, " b'shochb'cha uv'kumecha" — when you lie down and when you rise up. The third parashah, of Tzitzit —doesn't clearly say that it needs to be said every day. But because it mentions Yetziat Mitzrayim , we say it daily as a reminder. . We could have used another passage, such as this one, but it was too long. Still, we can ask, what was its unique value? The Maharsha citing the Gemara tells us that the power of this section lies in our pasuk: Hein am k'lavi yakum u'k'ari yitnasa/the Jewish people rise like a lion. This is a very important pasuk and that's why it could have been included in the daily Shema. On a simple level the Seforno says the nation is like a lion. What does a lion do? " להלחם עם מי שלא נלחם בם כלל /it fights even those who haven't attacked it yet. Fascinating. We attacked Iran before Iran attacked us. That's the rising lion —one that doesn't wait to be attacked. Next, an interesting point is brought by the Or HaChaim HaKadosh: A lion, even as it ages, gains strength. No matter how many battles it fights, it doesn't grow weaker—it grows stronger. B'ezrat Hashem, that will be fulfilled for us as well, even though we are engaged in many wars. Additionally, he says: לא ישכב / He doesn't go to sleep. What does that mean? " שאין הלילה מפלט לנוס מפניו, /you can't escape from the rising lion, even at night. Light and darkness are the same to him. Yehoshua stopped the sun—we don't care about day or night. Even when everyone else is sleeping, the lion is attacking. Night attacks! And finally, the Meshech Chochmah says: What makes the Jewish people a rising lion? When a lion is lying down, it looks like nothing. When you drive by on safari—he's just lying there, chilling out, yawning. He doesn't seem like anything. But when he gets up, you see his power. Similarly, the Jewish people came out of Mitzrayim as slaves, untrained. But suddenly, he says, they became a great power. The Jewish people, like the lion, rise without any help from others. [ שאין העזר מהשתתפות ממלכות אחרים רק מעצמו, /there's no alliance or outside support. He rises on his own, like a lion that doesn't call out to others. He says, that's why the pasuk right before the rising Lion says: כי לא נחש ביעקב ולא קסם כו', שאין בהפלאים של ישראל שום נחש או קסם, רק השי"ת. / there's no witchcraft in Israel. "Ka'et ye'amer l'Yaakov u'l'Yisrael mah pa'al El" — it becomes obvious what God has done. When the Jewish people go to war, it's clear they're not winning by natural means. " כי אין זה סדור טבעי this isn't normally natural. . It's Hashgacha pratit/ Divine Providenc e from the all powerful God. It's not the result of witchcraft or sorcery. " שאין בהפלאים של ישראל שום נחש או קסם /The successes and wonders of Israel are not due to magic. It all comes from Hashem Yitbarach. So what do we learn from the pasuk that Prime Minister Netanyahu chose of the rising lion? 1. The lion attacks before being attacked. 2. The lion grows stronger with age. 3. The lion attacks at night. 4. The lion needs no help from anyone else. Why? Because its power comes entirely from Hashem.