I’m not much of a writer. Certainly not a writer of personal feelings.
Yes, I cried when each of my children was born and when they reached various milestones in their lives, but generally, my emotions are kept inside. Yet, three times in the past I felt the need to put my thoughts into words. The first was when a young mother, whom I had the pleasure of knowing (the sister of a good university friend), passed away at the age of 27 after a sudden illness, leaving behind a husband and three young children. The second time was about a year ago, following the murder of the three Day family daughters; a family that is very similar to my own.
And the third time was 10 days into the current war, which has now been going on for 7 months. I was then able to see that despite the terrible events we witnessed a week earlier, the hand of the Holy One, Blessed Be He, was clearly present, as our enemies had planned to kill far more than they succeeded.
I was asked to put some thoughts on paper ahead of the upcoming Independence Day next week.
This year we will mark 76 years of independence for the modern State of Israel, one day after Memorial Day, which will be particularly painful for the entire country this year.
I am taken back to the well-known piyyut of “Dayenu” that we read every year on Seder night. The song details various stages of the Exodus from Egypt, and after each stage we say “Dayenu” – “that alone would have been enough”. Commentators throughout the generations note that this cannot be taken literally: there would be no point in taking the People of Israel, for example, through the Red Sea, only to leave them in the desert. Rather, the concept of “Dayenu” is that for every small act of mercy shown to the People, even if the situation is not yet perfect and can improve later, there will be sufficient reason to thank the Holy One, Blessed Be He, for all the good given to us, until today.
The last seven months have been difficult, without a doubt. There are still hostages in captivity, many soldiers have sacrificed their lives, and many more have lost limbs or suffered other injuries – and that’s before considering the effects on families, businesses, and other aspects of life that have changed, and will continue to change, forever.
And yet, there is enough to thank the Holy One, Blessed Be He, for. Every now and then, we get a glimpse of what is being done Above.
The Gemara, in Tractate Bava Batra, discusses who authored each of the books of the Tanakh. We are told that Moses wrote “his book and the story of Bilaam,” referring to most of the story that appears in Parashat Balak. Each year, I usually point out to my children that when the Torah was given to the people while they were encamped near the Jordan River, before crossing into Canaan – they were reading the Torah, nodding along with most of the content – until suddenly they reached this story and thought to themselves: “Really, I knew nothing about this!” It’s amazing how the Holy One, Blessed Be He, saves us without us even knowing about the threat!”
We clearly saw the “hand” of the Holy One, Blessed Be He, on the night of the 6th of Nisan, when the Iranians sent deadly weapons our way, but which ultimately caused only one injury. While we want to thank Iron Dome and similar systems that helped protect us during the attack, as well as our allies from all over the world, there’s no denying the fact that virtually no damage was caused was clearly a Divine miracle.
Also, some of the stories told by soldiers who fought in Gaza were nothing short of miraculous. And for each and every one of these miracles, we must thank the Holy One, Blessed Be He. Needless to say, this is not just Divine intervention. Of course, it is our duty to do our best, each according to their strengths, and to pray that the Divine plan aligns with our own mortal plans.
As we enter the 77th year of the State of Israel (“Oz” in Gematria),
I think of two quotes that will help focus our gratitude and prayers on this Independence Day:
The first: Pirkei Avot (Ethics of our Fathers) 5:23
Yehuda ben Teima says:
