What Would Happen if No One Fought in the Wars?
This is a fair and serious question — often asked with genuine concern. And to answer it properly, we must distinguish between the ideal Torah perspective and the present-day reality that Hashem has brought about.
The Ideal: Hashem Fights Our Battles
The Torah teaches clearly that Klal Yisrael’s success in war is never dependent on the size of our army or the strength of our weapons. As the pasuk says:
"כִּי ה׳ אֱלֹקֵיכֶם הַהֹלֵךְ עִמָּכֶם לְהִלָּחֵם לָכֶם עִם אֹיְבֵיכֶם לְהוֹשִׁיעַ אֶתְכֶם" "For Hashem, your G-d, is the One who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies and to save you." (Devarim 20:4)
And the Ramban writes:
“When Yisrael fulfills the will of Hashem… they need no army at all, and no weapons, for Hashem fights their battles.” (Ramban on Vayikra 26:7)
This is the Torah’s ideal vision: A nation fully devoted to Hashem, led by Torah, protected by Divine promise.
But we are not yet living in that ideal.
The Reality: Hashem Has Arranged a Different Form of Hishtadlus
In today’s reality, the Jewish people are fragmented. Many of our brothers and sisters are not living lives guided by Torah — and the government and army are not under halachic or spiritual leadership. Still, there is a simple truth we must recognize: There is an army. There is a government. And Hashem is allowing this system to exist.
This doesn’t mean the system is ideal. It means Hashem is currently choosing to bring about protection through the hishtadlus of others.
As the Chazon Ish explains, we do not measure right and wrong based on who succeeds. Sometimes Hashem gives hatzlachah to a system despite its spiritual shortcomings, not because of them.
The fact that there are soldiers in tanks and pilots in the sky is not a proof that the army is the Torah path — it's a proof that Hashem is running the world in His own way.
The Charedi world believes deeply that the ultimate hishtadlus — the one that never fails — is Torah, tefillah, and tshuvah.
Rav Aharon Leib Shteinman zt”l said:
“The IDF is not the source of protection. If not for the Torah learners and mitzvah-doers, they would have no success. It is only the zechus of Torah that protects them — and us.”
So Why Don’t Charedim Serve if There’s Still Danger?
Because serving in the current military structure means entering a spiritual environment that is, for most bnei Torah, profoundly harmful. Even if someone cannot learn full-time, the alternative cannot be an institution where Torah values are compromised — especially not under leadership that publicly defies Hashem’s laws.
Instead, we strengthen our own hishtadlus: through increased Torah, mitzvos, chessed, and yes — tefillah for the soldiers who are risking their lives.
If No One Fought, Wouldn't We Be Destroyed?
Hashem would find another way to protect us.
He is not limited by tanks or generals. The Midrash (Shemos Rabbah 21:4) teaches:
“There is no difference to Hashem between saving with many or with few.”
This is not theoretical. The Six-Day War, Yom Kippur War, and even more recent battles are full of miracles that had nothing to do with military brilliance — and everything to do with Hashem's chesed.
And as Rav Shimshon Dovid Pincus zt”l used to say:
“The world sees warplanes. We see the Hand of Hashem. If Klal Yisrael were fully united in emunah and Torah, there would be no question of who fights our battles.”
Conclusion: The Dream is Not More Soldiers — It’s More Torah
We are grateful for the protection Hashem grants through the current system. But we do not take that as a sign of what should be.
We dream of the day when the only army we’ll need is an army of talmidei chachamim, baalei teshuvah, and bnos Yisrael lighting Shabbos candles — and Hashem Himself will once again be our Defender.
“עֵינֵינוּ אֶל ה׳ אֱלֹקֵינוּ” — “Our eyes are to Hashem our G-d.” (Tehillim 123:2)
Sources & Footnotes
- Devarim 20:4
- Ramban, Vayikra 26:7
- Chazon Ish, Emunah u’Bitachon, Ch. 2
- Midrash Shemos Rabbah 21:4
- Rav Aharon Leib Shteinman, cited in Aleinu L’Shabe’ach, Bamidbar
- Rav Shimshon Dovid Pincus, Nefesh Shimshon on Tefillah