On the eve of Yom Kippur, I sit and wonder what my dear friend, Rav Dov Fisher z”l, might be thinking.
He passed away last night, yet due to the sanctity of Yom Kippur and Shabbat, he will not be laid to rest next to his beloved Ellen in the Eretz HaChaim cemetery outside Bet Shemesh until Sunday. In this liminal space between worlds, his extraordinary soul hovers—neither fully of this world nor entirely of the next—as the world stands in judgment. From such a vantage point, Rav Dov may well be engaging his brilliant analytical mind, observing humanity with clarity and insight, as only he could.
What must feel most foreign to him now is the silence. As a new member of the “Yordei Dumah”(those who descend into silence, Tehillim 115:117) club, . he can no longer share his thoughts, write his essays, or articulate his views to the many who cherished his voice. That silence may be the hardest adjustment of all. [As an aside, given that no man is entirely without fault, may this enforced silence be the entirety of any Gehinom he might have to endure.]
So I imagine Rav Dov sitting there and observing the Jewish people as they approach the holy day of Yom Kippur.
He would first turn his gaze to his wife Denise, his children and his beloved congregants. Though I do not know them personally, I know this: he was deeply proud of them—especially the Ba’alei Teshuva, who joined his Orthodox shul as adults, demonstrating courage, intellectual honesty, and integrity in their pursuit of truth. He was also profoundly grateful to those who helped him establish the Young Israel of Irvine after he left a previous position under difficult and contentious circumstances. Their support gave him tremendous chizuk and nachas, allowing him to build a community he cherished.
From there, he will no doubt look toward Israel and reflect on the Jews approaching G-d. He surely will reflect on the unfortunate reality of the terrible disconnect between those in the Dati Leumi (DL) group and the Chareidi world.
He would see the DL community, still reeling from two terrible years of sacrifice—so many of our finest brave and dedicated young men giving their lives, so many young and brave women raising families alone while their husbands serve in the reserves, businesses and marriages strained to the breaking point. Yet they continue to serve with courage, strength, and deep Ahavat Torah and Yirat Shamayim. He would see their prayers for peace, for the return of hostages, and for the defeat of Hamas—so that their sacrifices will not have been in vain.
He would also turn his attention to the Chareidi world and reflect as he recently wrote.
I always have been very sympathetic to the idea of people being exempt from tzava (the IDF) because they are full-time learning. To me, that has been a defining character of a true Jewish country. There is that Yerushalmi Chagigah where the term “neturei karta” is introduced and explained (not referring to the contemporary wackos). I always have stood for that. I also consider that, even in secular America, they gave a 4D exemption for Divinity students. That is why there was a sudden surge, amid Vietnam, in Reform and Conservative rabbis for a generation and why their rabbinical student numbers are back so low, now that there is no more draft. So even certain non-Jews connect the most devout religious devotion to an exemption from military service.
But, as with a perilously ill person eating on Yom Kippur, or driving one’s wife to the hospital on Shabbat when she is in labor and there is no halakhic alternative, etc., we are in a Moment-In-Time. …
At this time, one feels in one’s kishkes that this is different, and it is impossible to justify sitting this one out, all the more so for someone who does not learn three sedarim daily. It is so wrong and so indefensible to sit it out, and so “tone deaf” to issue statements comparing the draft to shmad (forced religious rejection) and saying that everyone will flee the land rather than serve.
Yes, there is a valid hashkafic concern. Could someone emerge, as Modern Orthodox kids did from my college years, losing religion because of outside influences? Yes. It is a terrible risk. On the other hand, it also is very possible that hundreds, even many thousands, could come out of such a war as shomrei mitzvot from having fought alongside people who recited Sh’ma, wore tzitzit, davened daily throughout the war and fought bravely. Surely, we have seen that many Chilonim have asked for tefillin during this war. The IDF Rabbinate has raised funds for that exact purpose, to provide the many sets of requested tefillin.
I can see the Charedi point and the point of the Charedi Poskim, but how can I not understand, too, the perspective of a chiloni (not to mention a DL) who sacrifices everything and also pays taxes — very heavy taxes — from his income to provide benefits to those able-bodied who do not serve? And now they want money to fly to Uman for Rosh Hashanah, which I believe is a grave sin even in peace time, exiting Eretz Yisrael to visit a grave in Ukraine when, in Teveryah alone, there are Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai who saved Yavneh, Rabbi Akiva, his wife Rachel, maybe Rambam, Rabbi Meir, etc. Just in Teveryah alone ...
Rav Dov would surely be watching the Chareidi community praying for continued draft exemptions and increased funding for yeshivos and kollels, and he would wonder how Hashem weighs these prayers against the broader needs of Am Yisrael.
He would also be attuned to the political rifts in Israel—between the pro and anti Bibi forces, those desperate to bring the hostages home at any cost and those committed to the complete destruction of Hamas. As he recently wrote:
We all are ready to be Prime Minister of Israel if called, but the job and the strategic challenges are far more complex than can be understood on the surface. Bibi has sometimes been disappointing and may well be again, but he may also be the best leader the generation could have asked for.
…
So give this man his due: Because he is smarter than most who think they know better than he does, he understood for twenty years that we are a nation that stands alone. Perhaps he lacks the religious sensitivity to ascribe the reality to the Torah, Book of Bamidbar (Numbers) 23:9, but his secular strategic gifts taught him the same. Israel stands alone, now and always. He understood through 20 years that, if the day ever comes when Israel undertakes to finally crush Hamas, even if it takes flattening Gaza, all of Gog and Magog will turn on Israel.
We see that now. Canada, England, and France uniting as one to threaten the most dire of consequences if Israel now proceeds to win. He saw that inevitably coming, and that deterred him for twenty years. His insight and his vision were spot-on. But his execution failed. A Jew who truly knows his Jewish history has to account for the role of G-d. He did not.
G-d did not bring the Jews back to Palestine, a word that means Israel, after 2,000 years’ exile just to see it fall to Macron, Lammy, and America’s 51st state. They can withhold their trade deals, their arms, their vichyssoise and pate-de-foie-gras, their ice hockey and their fish and chips. They are nothing, and they will disappear in time. …If needed, there will always be some ally somewhere to protect Israel as G-d’s emissaries on earth. When Israel needed Stalin, there was Stalin. In the 1950’s, when America had Eisenhower, G-d sent de Gaulle and France. Always someone. His secret White House tapes revealed that Nixon hated Jews as an abstract entity, but he did his part in 1973 because he could not help himself; it was his fate and destiny to be The One. When Israel needed to build an Iron Dome, Obama was the messenger who helped finance it. That was his role: he denied Israel offensive weapons, so agreed to arm a more robust defense. That was what Israel needed then: the Iron Dome, David's Sling, and the Arrow II and III. Biden did his part, for all his efforts to obstruct. His pier killed American servicemen, and G-d blew Biden’s pier into pieces, twice. But Biden did his part on October 7…
Bibi finally is flattening Gaza, moving toward a more final phase. Nothing less is an option because, during the recent ceasefire and hostage releases, we saw that, despite the IDF reporting that Hamas was virtually crushed, they still are very much in charge. It now is clear: Nothing short of absolute razing will eradicate Hamas.
So Israel is doing exactly as she should: Moving Arabs out of the way, down to Rafah until they figure out they better emigrate as Trump wisely recommends. Blowing up and killing everyone in the way of finishing off Hamas. And planning to seize and occupy Gaza from then on.
What does Hashem have in store for us now? Rav Dov may now be privy to that information, and to see whether his analysis holds sway in the Heavenly Court.
Rav Dov will surely be observing the American political landscape as well—its turbulence, its moral challenges, and the fate of American Jewry, who face growing threats both physical and spiritual. Just days ago, we were planning the launch of our podcast, hoping to begin this very week. In our conversations, we spoke about the New York City mayoral race and its leading candidate. Rav Dov had recently written the following in a powerful, wide-ranging piece:
The city that was so Jewish that anti-Semites would call it “Jew York” just gave its Democrat primary choice to an outright Jew hater, overt, in your face. “Globalize the Intifada”. I don’t care that he is Muslim. I care that his heart is with the Islamists.
It is a different New York now. “The center of Jewish life”? Hubris. For that, as through three millennia, eyes must look to Zion. So many Orthodox Jews, in particular, have fled the five boroughs. To Long Island. To Lakewood. To Florida. To Texas. And, yes, to Israel. It is believed that the only reason Lee Zeldin only barely lost his New York State gubernatorial race to Kathy Hochul is that so many Jewish New York voters have made for the exits. It is not the New York of Rabbi Meir Kahane’s Jewish Defense League and Dov Hikind’s stomping grounds and Ed Koch asking subway riders “How’m I doing?” with Bess Myerson, the Jewish Miss America, at his arm for whispered reasons.
Now, Rav Dov already knows how that election will unfold, and what lies ahead for American Jews. But he will also be watching how we approach G-d this Yom Kippur—what we ask for, what we commit to, and whether we will rise to the moment with wisdom, courage, and renewed dedication to Hashem and His people.
Rav Dov had so much to say—about everything. His voice carried a rare blend of passion, wit, humor, Torah scholarship, and worldly insight. I was so looking forward to the conversations we would share on our podcast. We had so much planned. But alas, it was not to be.
For now, may he finally rest in peace beside his beloved Ellen, as he so longed to:
Ellen z”l lies buried in Eretz HaChaim, just outside Bet Shemesh. Because of my illness, I have not been able to visit her even once these past five years, not even at her l’vayah (funeral). A beautiful student of mine who made Aliyah as a Chayal Boded (Lone Soldier), delivered the hesped (eulogy) I wrote for her. Two of my dearest rabbinic colleagues visit her several times each year and send me the photos. My place awaits alongside her.
Farewell, my wonderful friend. Your long, painful struggle with illness is now complete, an may it be a kapparah. May you join the other great Dov in my life, Rav Berel Wein זצ"ל, in advocating for us in Heaven, where your voices will surely continue to be heard. And may we meet again soon, in the days of Mashiach.
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