Rabbi Yosef Levi (pseudonym) was a yeshiva student with a blessed family, he tried for several years to live as a kollel student on a meager allowance in which he supported his family, but when the expenses of maintaining the house became woven around his neck, he began to engage in all kinds of side jobs. It was not long before he received a summons to the army, according to the criteria that were set and approved by the "Yeshiva Committee" it was determined that only those whose "Torah is his art" were deferred, However, one who has other occupations on the side is not included in this category. All the efforts he made through activists and energetic lobbyists were to no avail, he was found fit to start.
Rabbi Yosef returned home completely unscathed, he informed his family that from now on he had to report and serve in a military base, fortunately for him he was not far from home, which would not cause much shaking, but it was not the "walls of the beit midrash" that he knew ended with a heartbreaking sigh. He was not deceived by the place where he was staying, which was far from suitable for a gentle-minded yeshiva student like him, but what had been done could not be reversed. He completed the quota that had been set for him, praying that he would leave the place unharmed. After completing his military service, he was assigned reserve duty. For several years he was not called to the service to his great joy, he thought that he had forgotten about him, but suddenly he received a summons for reserve duty in the middle of the Ten Days of Repentance, when he tried to file an appeal until after the holidays, his request was rudely rejected, and so a few days before the Day of Judgment he was forced to be in a place where there was no memory of the holy days that were approaching.
Two days before the holy day began, he tried his luck to get released ahead of Yom Kippur, he approached the base commander and begged him to let him be among his family members, he tried to elaborate on his feelings and describe to him how important it was to him to pray in the synagogue near his home. But his request was arbitrarily rejected. "You can pray at the base, we have Machzor and all the religious products, you can pray as you like on the spot" "I also need a Jewish minyan, you can't pray alone" he asked with a trembling heart. "I don't see a single religious Jew here with whom I can organize public prayers, how can I spend the holy and terrible day at the base, when the whole environment creates a mundane atmosphere?" He tried to pluck the Jewish strings. But the commander was far from understanding his feelings, and his request seemed to him manifestly unreasonable. "I have no objection to you organizing a minyan, if you find religious soldiers like you, you can pray with them. There is no reason for us to release you in the middle of reserve duty," he concluded unequivocally.
The family, for its part, did not give up, it tried all the ways and possibilities it could to cancel the bad decree against the father of the family, but it turned out that there was no minimum understanding for such a simple request, all the applications were returned empty-handed. Dawn on the eve of Judgment Day broke out, the sun's rays began to illuminate the sky, Jerusalem Jews rushed to the synagogues scattered throughout Jerusalem to say the last Selichot, many of them dressed in holiday clothes, many of them were seen running with the atonement to the slaughterer. But in the Levi family's home, this day is Tisha B'Av, who will take the children to the synagogue, what will the meal look like when there is no head of the family? The mother wept a lot, her world was darkened for her, she was unable to fill his place.
One of the neighbors who saw the heartbreak decided to take action. Immediately after the prayers, he rushed to the residence of Maran HaRav Tzvi z"a, the father of Israel, to tell him about the great trouble that befell the family. There is no doubt that his compassionate heart will not allow him to endure the trouble, he will see to do everything possible to free the father of the family. When Maran HaRav Tzvi heard this, he was shocked. His pure heart could not contain the sorrow of the family, and an emissary on his behalf immediately arrived at the home of Rabbi David Moshe Tenenbaum zt"l, chairman of the Yeshiva Committee, with a firm demand to use all the means at his disposal to remove Rabbi Yosef from the base. Rabbi David Moshe is a dear Jew, a spirited Jew, an energetic activist for the sake of the yeshiva students, this is not the first operation he has undertaken to free those who have been in trouble. Ostensibly, he is the right address in this case as well. This time, however, it seems so that she will ascend to the heavens. Who does he have to turn to today? All the offices are now locked on the bolt, there is not a single medical officer with whom he can talk. If they had contacted him yesterday, the story would have been completely different, but now it is not the ninetieth minute, but afterwards. The gates have already been locked and there is no one to turn to. He conveyed these words to the rabbi of Brisk. It seems that he is right, the Rav will certainly agree that this time it is not feasible. However, the Rav of Brisk informs him emphatically: "Rabbi David Moshe, you have made a serious mistake, there is certainly more to be done, and this is what I ask you to do. You must turn to the appropriate entity and use all abilities to free the unfortunate from a place of obedience and obedience." How can this be done, all the offices are now closed with a lock and bolt, everyone is now at home, even if I try to talk to one of the people in his house, he will not be able to do anything. This order cannot be issued from a private home only from within the appropriate ministries, and it has to go through countless channels until ratification. All of this can be applied a few hours before the day is sanctified, all of this is beyond all the human attainments. I am not an angel and I do not have the tools to carry out the request to me," he concluded his words with determination.
But the Rav of Brisk was not impressed by this at all. He sent to inform him with the words, "Zag nisht az du kanast nisht, zag az du vilest nisht" [Don't say that you can't, please say that you don't want to]. Whoever really wants to can do it. And so I have to tell you that this is a mere evasion and a lack of desire to fulfill the human request. Whoever fights for his life does not think in such terms. He will do everything, including making irrational efforts, because it concerns himself. The lack of responsiveness stems from this lack of feeling, and stems from sheer laziness. He contacted one of the highest commanders in the army and asked him to release the ultra-Orthodox soldier from service. The aforementioned commander looked at Rabbi Tenenbaum in astonishment, I don't understand you, how can you think of such a request? After all, you know that this document must be signed by the highest military echelon, and today all the offices are closed, so there is no ability to issue this certificate. Rabbi Tenenbaum decided to follow in Maran's footsteps. He corrected his words and said. Do not say that you can't, please say that you don't want to. The officer was very hurt by his words, how do you talk to me like that? Was there one instance in which I refused you? You are right, you never refused me, but when I was given this role by the Rav of Brisk, I told him the same arguments, except that for some reason the Rav of Brisk does not accept what I say. He believes that he lacks willpower. Because if I wanted to, I would have achieved it for him. So I'll tell you in the same answer, you and I probably don't mobilize all our willpower, because if we did everything in our power, we would have achieved positive results. Rabbi Tenenbaum answered decisively.
When the officer saw the matter, he decided to throw all his weight, he began to run around among all the treating bodies, using all his influence, and indeed, in preparation for the holiday, the same soldier was released from the base, when Rabbi Tenenbaum told Maran Rabbi and showed him the document, his holy face lit up, and that I did not tell you, do not say that you cannot, but say that you do not want to, for you have now proved that when I wanted to, you could even though it seemed to you that this was not within the scope of ability. For the Rav of Brisk, it was simply that every person has enormous powers that can be used for many things beyond his own attainments. All that is required is real willpower, and when you have it, you can reach the farthest destinations.
