How Soldiers Can Recover Spiritually After Months of War

Since the war began, soldiers have repeatedly asked how to cope with spiritual exhaustion and a growing sense of distance from God, writes the chairman of the Tzala’sh organization. The question comes up in private conversations, visits to bases, Torah classes, and late-night talks. It comes from active-duty troops, career soldiers, and reservists who feel devoted to Israel but spiritually worn down by months without a minyan, hurried prayers, Sabbaths spent on patrol with radios and operational phones, and no regular time for Torah study.

The article says this struggle has always existed in the army, but the prolonged operational tempo has turned it into a burden affecting thousands. Soldiers describe feeling that they are doing the right thing while internally feeling far from God. When they finally return home, many do not feel relief, but disappointment, guilt, and an inability to resume prayer and study as before.

The author argues that closeness to God never left the field. It was present in every patrol, ambush, guard duty, and night of protecting the public. Military service in regular, career, or reserve duty for the sake of the Jewish people is itself described as a major form of divine service. The mistake, he says, is trying to restore everything at once, because returning after months of strain requires small, measured steps, not an immediate return to long prayers and intensive study.

The guidance is to begin with a few minutes of learning, avoid comparing oneself with others, and remember that different people serve God in different ways, whether in a study hall or in action. Tzala’sh field coordinators accompany soldiers personally and reinforce the idea that service to God exists in all areas of life. The writer concludes that this generation carries a heavy security burden and should not fear temporary distance, because months of struggle do not erase years of faith and upbringing.