KeLavi Yakum: Rising in Defense, Rising in Prayer

In the dead of night, as most of the world slept, the State of Israel rose like a lion.

Operation Am KeLavi — “Like a lion does it rise” — is already the largest Israeli military strike ever carried out against Iran. It is bold, unprecedented, and carries the weight of generations on its wings. Over 200 fighter jets launched more than 330 munitions against nuclear facilities, air defense systems, and senior military leaders deep in Iranian territory. The mission, according to Israeli officials, was designed not merely as a show of force, but as a necessary response to an existential threat — Iran’s accelerating nuclear ambitions, vast ballistic arsenal, and coordinated regional war plans through its proxies.

And yet, for those who listen closely, the power of this moment isn’t just in the jets or the missiles. It’s in the name.

Am KeLavi is not a term coined by strategists or speechwriters. It is taken straight from the Torah — from Bilam’s prophecy about the Jewish People: “הן עם כלביא יקום וכארי יתנשא” “Behold, a people that rises like a lion, that lifts itself up like a king of beasts” (Bamidbar 23:24).

The Gemara in Berachos (12b) teaches that Chazal originally considered incorporating the entire Parshas Balak into Krias Shema — specifically because of the words: “הן עם כלביא יקום וכארי יתנשא”. That single pasuk so deeply captured the essence of the Jewish people — a nation that rises with purpose and strength — that it nearly earned the entire parshah a place in the most central section of Jewish prayer. Ultimately, it was left out, not because it was unworthy, but because of tircha detzibbura — concern for burdening the congregation with additional length..

Still, the fact that this pasuk was even considered for such an exalted place in our tefillah is no small thing. It suggests that to rise like a lion — spiritually, morally, even physically — is central to our identity and part of our destiny.

Rav Soloveitchik z”l, in his 1956 landmark address Kol Dodi Dofek, reflected on the founding of the State of Israel as a moment of Divine opportunity — a knock from above that demands a response from below. In what he calls the second knock, he describes the miraculous survival and military success of the fledgling Jewish state:

“The tiny defense forces of Israel defeated the mighty Arab armies. The miracle of ‘the many delivered into the hands of the few’ materialized before our eyes.”

And in the fifth knock, Rav Soloveitchik speaks more directly to the meaning of Jewish sovereignty and military capability:

“Divine Providence has amazed our enemies with the astounding discovery that Jewish blood is not cheap! If the anti‑Semites describe this phenomenon as being ‘an eye for an eye,’ we will agree with them.”

These words echo loudly in our own time. The very name Am KeLavi announces to the world that Jewish dignity is defended. That the resolve of our nation is real. That our people will never again stand silently in the face of those who seek our annihilation.

Operation Am KeLavi is not just military. It is moral. It is the fulfillment of our nation’s duty to protect life, to stand guard against those who scheme destruction. It is also, in a way, a form of tefillah — not a whispered petition, but a thunderous declaration that Jewish destiny will not be undone.

We are taught to approach each day with the heart of a lion — להתעורר כארי לעבודת הבורא — to awaken like a lion to serve our Creator. And while that often means spiritual resolve, it sometimes means the unflinching readiness to act with ferocity when life itself is at stake.

Let us not be naïve. The coming days may be difficult. Drones are still flying. Sirens are still sounding. Families are stocking up on food and sheltering in place. But now is not a time for fear.

Now is a time for resolve.

As missiles fall, emunah must rise. As the world debates, we must anchor ourselves in clarity. And as our soldiers fly into enemy skies, we must lift our voices in tefillah — not as bystanders, but as a nation that rises, heart and soul, like a lion.

If ever there was a time to daven — truly daven — that time is now.

Rashi, commenting on “עם כלביא יקום”, teaches that Bnei Yisrael rise in the morning like lions — not to fight, but to seize mitzvos: to wrap themselves in a tallis, to recite Shema, and to wear tefillin. That’s how we rise. That’s how we push back. That’s how we bring strength into the world — through kavannah, consistency, and connection.

The battlefield may be thousands of miles away, but the front lines run through every shul, every home, every heart that clings to the truth that our tefillos matter.

Let us rise early. Let us rise with intention.
Let us rise keLavi — with urgency, with dignity, and with unwavering faith.
Like a lion.