Dovid HaMelech davened (Tehilim 140:8) 'ה ֶׁקנָש בְּיוֹם לְרֹאשִׁי ס ַכֹּתָה יְשׁוּעָתִי עֹז י-א ֲדֹנ, "Hashem, the might of my salvation; You shall protect my head on the day of battle." Rav Shach zt'l asks why Dovid HaMelech prayed that his head be protected in war? His entire body, all 248 limbs, needs Hashem's protection! Rav Shach answers that when there is a war, people tend to panic and lose their clarity of thinking. Dovid was requesting that his mind should remain calm and tranquil, and constantly with emunah.
We will now tell the obvious, but it must be proclaimed in a loud voice: A person should be cautious, not to listen to the news, or any other form of news broadcasts. He should tell his children, too, that they shouldn't listen to the news. The benefits from listening to these broadcasts are minimal, if anything at all, and the damage is significant, because they speak without emunah.
When missiles are flying above Eretz Yisrael, a siren is heard, and people run off to a "safe room" for protection. This is the proper course of action, but the problem is that another siren is needed, and it is lacking. The siren we hear arouses us to run and save our lives. Another siren should go off to warn people to run and save their neshamos. This happens when they avoid listening to or reading "the news", which casts fear onto people, or, in contrast, causes people to believe in the "strength of my arm". It doesn't repeat the news through the lens of emunah and bitachon. Every person has to be cautious on his own to avoid these broadcasts, and to tell his children to be careful, as well.
In parashas Yisro, it states that Yisro heard about the miracles that Hashem performed, as it states (Shemos 18:1) כֹהֵן יִת ְרוֹ וַיִּשְׁמַע עַמּוֹ וּלְיִשְׂרָאֵל ֶׁהלְמֹש א ֱלֹק ִים עָשָׂה ֶׁראֲש כָּל אֵת ֶׁהמֹש חֹתֵן מ ִדְיָן ...מִמ ִּצְר ָיִם יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶת 'ה הוֹצִיא כִּי, "Moshe's father-in-law, Yisro... heard all that Hashem had done for Moshe and for Yisrael His people that Hashem had taken Yisrael out of Mitzrayim..." Yisro knew everything. He heard what had occurred, while still in Midyan.
Nevertheless, when he came to Moshe, Moshe told him about the miracles once again, as it states (ibid. 18:8) כָּל אֵת לְחֹת ְנוֹ ֶׁהמֹש וַיְסַפ ֵּר הַתְּלָאָה כָּל אֵת יִשְׂרָאֵל אוֹדֹת עַל וּלְמ ִצְר ַיִם לְפ ַרְעֹה 'ה עָשָׂה ֶׁראֲש 'ה וַיַּצִּלֵם בַּדֶּרֶ ךְ מְצָאָתַם ֶׁראֲש, "Moshe told his father-in-law about all that Hashem had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians on account of Yisrael, and about all the hardships that had befallen them on the way, and that Hashem had saved them." The question is why did Moshe have to tell Yisro, if he heard about this on his own?
Reb Shimshon Pinkus zt'l answers that Yisro heard it from the "news broadcasters" of his day. He also heard all their explanations, editorials, predictions, and opinions. Moshe repeated the same story, but with emunah. Therefore, it states (ibid. 18:עַתָּה ...יִת ְרוֹ וַיֹּאמֶר (11-01 הָא ֱלֹקים מ ִכָּל 'ה גָדוֹל כִּי יָדַעְתִּי, "Yisro said... 'Now I know that Hashem is greater than all the Elokim...'" Rashi writes, ועכשיו ,לשעבר הייתי מכירו ביותר, "I knew Hashem before, and now I know more." Yisro had heard the story of yetzias Mitzrayim before, but now that he heard it from Moshe, through the prism of emunah, he was overwhelmed with Hashem's greatness. This is what occurs when one hears the news from a kosher source, from people who can repeat it in the spirit of emunah and bitachon.
The truth is that these days are mesugal for coming close to Hashem. People are worried for themselves, for their families, or for others, and they devote more time to Torah, tefillah, and Tehillim, thereby coming close to Hashem.
Tehillim chapter (20) begins with בְּיוֹם 'ה ָיַע ַנְך צָרָה, "May Hashem answer you on a day of tzarah..." and it concludes with the words 'ה ק ָרְא ֵנוּ בְיוֹם יַע ֲנֵנוּ הַמֶּלֶ ךְ הוֹשִׁיעָה, "Hashem, save me, the King Who saves on the day we call." The word בְּיוֹם is used twice in these pesukim, beginning with צָרָה בְּיוֹם and concluding with ק ָרְא ֵנוּ בְיוֹם. I heard from a person who had to be in the hospital an entire day, that when he first arrived, he felt that it would be a יוֹם צָרָה, a difficult, painful day, but it turned out being ק ָרְא ֵנוּ יוֹם, a day filled with tefillos to Hashem. At the end of the day, he saw the good he experienced, because he had a day filled with deep tefillos to Hashem. Similarly, we can say about any difficult time we go through that it appears to be a צָרָה יוֹם, a difficult, painful day, but if we take advantage of the challenge, it can turn out to become ק ָרְא ֵנוּ יוֹם, a day filled with tefillos to Hashem.
