But There Is a G-d in Israel

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bGoliath strolled out to the ranks of Israel and mocked them: “I bhave humiliated the armies of Israel this day—give me a man bthat we may fight together.” No one moved. The giant was too bpowerful, and it was madness, suicide, to confront him. Instead, bthey sat in shame and fear, as every morning and every evening b—for forty days—the Philistine taunted and humiliated them.

bAnd then came young David; untrained in war, a shepherd, bcome to bring food to his brothers serving in the army. And as bhe stood there, Goliath emerged. David listened in fury. David bwaited eagerly—who would leap up to smash the Philistine? bDavid watched in disbelief as no one moved. All feared the bpower of the Gentile.

bDavid’s wrathful words sound across the ages, as an eternal bguidepost: “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should bhumiliate the armies of the living G-d?”

bDavid, instinctively, understood that the humiliation of Is- brael was, simultaneously, the humiliation of the G-d of Israel. He brealized that the brazen readiness to attack and mock the Jews bstemmed from a total lack of fear and awe of the G-d of Israel. bFor the Philistine there was no G-d of Israel; at best he was bimpotent; in truth He did not exist as a divine power.

bThis contempt for the G-d of Israel as manifested by the bhumiliation of the Jews is Hillul Hashem, the desecration of the name bof the L-rd. Rejection of Jewish rights and power, the con- btemptuous refusal to recognize Jewish sovereignty, threats bagainst the Jew and his land, all are signs of disregard and con- btempt for the G-d of the Jews. “The degradation of Israel is the bdesecration of the name of the L-rd” (Rashi, Ezekiel 39:7).

bAll this David understood, and he understood, too, that bHillul Hashem dare not be countenanced: it must be erased. bThere is no room for fear, because the entire reason for Jewish bbeing is Kiddush Hashem, to sanctify the name of the L-rd and thus bpersuade the world to follow Him.

bAnd so, young David went out to face the giant Philistine, bveteran warrior and professional soldier, “whose height was six bcubits and a span . . . a helmet of copper upon his bhead . . . armed with a coat of mail . . . and the staff of his spear bwas like a weaver’s beam, and his spear’s head weighed six hun- bdred shekels of iron. . . .” And David spoke to him before he bkilled him, saying: “Thou comest to me with a sword and a b