Let Us Recognize the Miracles

I’m not sure about you, but I am seriously considering saying Hallel every year now on the 5th of Nisan and the 21st of Av. Throughout Jewish history, we often recite Hallel due to large-scale military victories that led to the survival of many Jews, and perhaps the Jewish nation as a whole.

On Pesach, we celebrate God’s victory over the Egyptians, and even though we limit our joy at the demise of their military, we still say Hallel in celebration of our survival. On Chanukah, we celebrate the military victory of the Hasmoneans over the Seleucid/Assyrian Greeks and the reconquering of Jerusalem. On Purim, we celebrate the defeat of Haman’s machinations and the victory of armed bands of Jews throughout the empire against those who hated them. On Yom Ha’atzmaut, we celebrate Israel’s victory over the seven Arab countries who, together with the local Arab population, sought to destroy us.

I am by no means a rabbinical figure, nor do I hold any decision-making power in this regard beyond my own personal prayers, but based on that logic, I think we should take a strong look at adding these two dates to the list of days on the Jewish calendar on which we say Hallel. These are the dates when we saw clear miracles take place in which God, via the Israeli air force and defense establishment, protected the Jewish people from harm and saved thousands, if not tens of thousands of lives.

I’m not the first to recognize the events of these days as miracles. Dr. Mordechai Abitbol, who holds a PhD in Physics and is an electrical engineer working for the defense establishment, wrote a letter to Rabbi Hananel Etrog, the Rosh Yeshiva of Shavei Hevron, claiming that what took place on the 5th of Nisan was a miracle that likely rivaled the splitting of the Red Sea. Dr. Abitbol claims that in the best-case scenario, and according to the estimates of both the manufacturers and the defense specialists in charge of the defense systems that were active that Motzei Shabbat, the systems should only have been 90 percent effective, and that anything beyond that was likely not possible. Dr. Abitbol said in his letter that for the 97 percent success rate that Israel saw that night, every single person involved had to coordinate as if they were one individual without making a single mistake, and that scientifically, such a thing is inexplicable.

Similarly, the world was in shock and awe as most Israelis woke up this past Sunday morning on the 21st of Av and were able to go about their day as usual, even though Hezbollah had armed and prepared nearly 6,000 rockets to be fired simultaneously at Israel. In the end, between 230-320 were launched (depending on whose claims you follow), and those only caused minor damage. Thanks to the exceptional work of the Israeli air force and the defense establishment, while the rockets did cause some havoc in northern Israel and one injury, with the fatality of an IDF soldier on board a naval boat caused by shrapnel from an interceptor missile, overall, a major tragedy that could have cost many lives in Israel was averted.

Iran targeted the Dimona Nuclear power plant with ballistic missiles. Had even one of the several hundred missiles fired by Iran hit the target of the Dimona nuclear power plant and caused a malfunction resulting in a meltdown, the entirety of Israel would have been included in that 500-kilometer radius. Israel is only 21,671 sq km and is only 420 km in length from top to bottom. The entire country would have been contaminated, as would areas as far-reaching as all of Lebanon, large parts of Syria, almost all of Jordan, the city of Tabuk in Saudi Arabia, most of Cyprus, and both Cairo and Alexandria in Egypt. All of these are within 500 km of Dimona as the crow flies. Within a 30 km non-habitable zone would be the cities of Beer Sheva, Yeruham, and Arad, as well as Sde Boker, and many other smaller towns.

This scenario isn’t even far-fetched. While there is shielding on the nuclear reactor to protect it from missile attacks, with several hundred missiles and explosive drones targeting it, without the incredible defensive apparatus that Israel has, and without the hand of God directing all of that apparatus to work as a single unified system with one mind and with no errors, such a scenario could have been very likely. Thus, Iran wasn’t simply sending missiles in the direction of Israel to settle a score; they were effectively trying to wipe out the country and its populace, and likely take a large part of the Middle East with it.

Here’s a second scenario. Israel doesn’t launch its preemptive attack against Hezbollah’s rocket arsenal on Saturday night, the 21st of Av. 6,000 rockets are launched at Israel on Sunday morning at 5:00 a.m. as planned. Israel’s Iron Dome, Arrow, and David’s Sling systems are successful at knocking down the expected 90 percent of them. 600 rockets land in the Tel Aviv Metropolitan area as the result of the air defense systems being overwhelmed. Let’s give a very small estimate that each rocket on average knocks down three residential buildings, with each one containing 12 families. If each family averages 5 people (remember that Bnei Brak, Israel’s most densely populated city, is in that metropolis), that would be approximately 108,000 people buried in rubble under the destructive force of those rockets.

Had either the missiles launched by Iran or the planned attack by Hezbollah had harsher effects, the entire region would have been engulfed in a major war. This could have snowballed even further, with Russia continuing to back and equip Iran and the US supporting its ally Israel. The regional conflict could have easily developed into a more massive global conflict with millions of lives at stake.

Yet none of that happened. Iran and its proxies tried to make it happen. They tried to inflict a wound on Israel so great that it would be forced into an all-out war which would have likely changed the status quo of the region, and most likely the globe, for all time. Yet God wouldn’t let it happen. We will never know the number of lives saved in Israel and around the world on those fateful Saturday nights, but what we can do is recognize that even though this elongated war in Gaza is difficult, likely Israel’s most difficult war on record, there are miracles happening all around us all the time.

It is our job to recognize these miracles and give thanks for them. Whether I say Hallel with or without a bracha next year on those dates, and whether the rest of Am Yisrael will join me, I do not know. But one thing I will most definitely say now with more kavana is the passage of Modim in the Shmona Esrei. The part wherein we give thanks to God every single day for the wonders that He does for us, which never cease, and which keep us here every day. So let us praise Hashem, and amid all the pain and tragedy that this war is causing, let us recognize also the miracles.