Do Not Be Afraid of Any Man

Back in my Yeshiva days, we had various guest speakers to our class in Practical Rabbinics. One speaker was one of our Yeshiva’s most illustrious alumni, Rabbi Simon Dolgin. He told us that the one Pasuk that motivated him to achieve what he did, was לא תגורו מפני איש, “Do not be afraid of any man.”

He felt that he had a clear vision of what he needed to do, and nobody would stand in his way. He succeeded in bringing Yiddishkeit to Los Angeles, that had previously been, a מדבר, desert.

This Pasuk was really meant for judges, that they should not be intimidated by powerful and influential litigants. The only one to fear, was Hashem.

The events of the past week show how we must not be afraid of any man. All we need is Hashem’s protection. We must recognize that we just witnessed a נס גלוי, revealed miracle, as over a thousand rockets were fired at Israel, without any serious injury to our people.

This should give us strength and the resolve to put our faith completely in Hashem, and not be afraid of any man.