Doubt Equals Defeat
By Moshe Katz

July 15, 2013

No Doubt

Rabbinic tradition tells us that he children of Israel were attacked in Refidim. Refidim is the name of a place, a physical location, but the interpretation is also that it is derived from the word Rafeh, which means weak, or soft. Refidim is also a psychological place of being, a place of doubt and weakness. The idea is that when the Children of Israel were feeling weak, unsure of themselves, the enemy attacked.

The weakness invited the attack.

Every child learns that if you show a dog fear, that dog is more likely to attack; the best defense is to show no fear. The same is true in self - defense; the same is true in Counter - Terrorism.

As soon as you back down, as soon as you take a step back – you have already defeated yourself, you have already put yourself in a position of an extreme disadvantage. Now you must dig yourself out of a hole.

Similarly it is told that when Moshe sent the 12 spies to bring back a report on the Land of Cana'an, the Promised Land, they reported back, "and there we saw the descendants of the giant Anak and we were in our eyes as grasshoppers and so we were in their eyes." (BaMidbar, Chapter 13, Verse 33)

What we learn from this episode, is, "we were as grasshoppers in our eyes, and so they viewed us as grasshoppers." The spies of Israel saw the giants, they lost confidence, they doubted themselves, they doubted their ability to conquer the land as God and Moshe had promised them. This doubt affected them so badly that their opponents too saw them as grasshoppers. "And so we were in their eyes."

Think of yourself as a grasshopper and indeed you will be one. View yourself as a loser and indeed you are one, believe you will fail at whatever you try, and indeed you are correct, you will fail, as you yourself have already envisioned it.

This young Israeli woman projects total confidence. She exudes confidence.

Enter Krav Maga

Krav Maga teaches you physical skills for survival but those skills will be useless to you, unless you learn the mental skills that go along with it. I have heard stories of Karate and Taekwondo black belts, attacked, murdered. They had physical skills only; useless without the mental skills.

Israeli Krav Maga trains your mind along with your body. One of my KravLadies said it best, I think it was Faye, "We have to change our way of thinking from defense to attack." Yes, truth from the mouth of a beginner.

People say "Believe in Yourself" but this alone is haki fadi, as the Arabs say, "Empty Words". You cannot have the mental without the physical, you cannot have the physical without the mental.

You can have money in the bank, but you need a check or a withdrawal slip, or Paypal etc to draw out the money, otherwise it is frozen and useless.  But if all you have is a check but no money in the account; also..useless. Your check and credit card need to have the backing of cash in the bank. Your Krav Maga skills are the cash in your personal bank.

Krav Maga, the skills, the mindset, stand up for yourself, demand what you are worth, respect yourself and others will also respect you.

Do not let others tell you what you are worth, you show them what you are worth! 

Israel today is a miracle in so many ways. We have risen from the ashes of Auschwitz, dusted off 2,000 years of oppression and created a democracy in the Middle East, the only democracy in the Middle East.

There is an old "joke" told. Two Jews are about to be executed for the crime of being Jewish. "Any last requests?" they are asked before the shots will be fired. One says to the other "I would like to ask for blindfolds, so I don't have to see myself being killed." the other responds. "Quiet! You will only make things worse."

This "joke" is characteristic of the Jew of the Exile, but not of the Israeli Jew of today. The Israeli would turn around, storm the firing squad, grab the rifle and quickly put an end to those miserable creatures known euphemistically as "Anti Semites". (I prefer the clearer term of "Jew Haters").

Today we have confidence. Israel stands alone in this region but we have confidence. As Bob Dylan said, we are the "Neighborhood Bully", (of course he was mocking our enemies but the idea is we stand strong. We are not bullies, we are protectors.)

You cannot buy Confidence but you can acquire it; it will change your life, it will bring you untold riches.

Come to Israel!
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