Hand Of Hashem

By: Larry Gordon

It’s difficult to fathom that it was just three years ago that southern Israel was infiltrated by Hamas terrorists, turning it into a living hell. But Israel is resilient, and they have to be because Prime Minister Netanyahu said this week—Israel has no other choice.

When we consider the murderous intentions of the Flydubai co-pilot last week, we once again have no choice but to conjure up that resilience and grit and more than anything else, believe that Israel lives with miracles.

In fact, it was Israel’s first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, who said: “In Israel, in order to be a realist, you must believe in miracles.”

This week, The Jerusalem Post reported that two thirds of the terrorists who invaded Israel on October 7, 2023 have already been killed by the IDF. An estimated 6,000 Hamas terrorists crossed into Israel that day, and of that number, 4,000 have already been eliminated. The Prime Minister said this week that whoever was involved in the attack on Israel or held Israeli hostages is living on “borrowed time.”

It’s part of the remarkable Israeli intelligence apparatus that they are able to identify and target every invader by name and know exactly where they live and how to find them.

On a sidebar, it’s additionally remarkable how the Arab sector in Israel is integrated into society while the opposite is entirely non-existent. All the signage, whether on the roads or in the train stations, appears in Hebrew, English, and Arabic. You can rest assured that there are no signs in Hebrew in any Arab country.

This is a tribute to Israel, but at the same time, it offers false hope to the extremists who have been raised to believe that they have the ability to supplant the Jewish state with the facade of a “free Palestine.”

We have midterm elections coming up in a few weeks in the United States where one of the main slogans of the socialist/communist left is about a “free Palestine.” They are also campaigning on a promise of free Medicaid for all, which will cost the taxpayers about $40 trillion over the next few years along with other unrealistic expectations—like a “free Palestine.”

You see all the havoc and violence in the news that illegal immigrants caused in France this week: schools set ablaze, teachers and police attacked, and widespread rioting. Sadly, this is the direction the U.S. will be heading if the Democrats manage to eke out a majority in either the House or Senate.

Being in Israel at a time like this gives one a sense of contrasts. I walk by some of the bus stops and train stops and try to visually ingest the type of people who are waiting to make their way onto an already packed bus or light rail. Somehow, it looks like they’re not going to make it on but after a bit of pushing and shoving themselves into the crevices, if you wait a while, sure enough, a few seconds later and they’re on.

Israel is G-d’s promise to the Jewish people. As the Talmud says, Jerusalem is the light of the world and if that is so, then who is the light of Jerusalem? That is HaKadosh Baruch Hu, Hashem Himself.

I was walking along Jaffa Road the other day looking at the people gathered in one of those bus shelters. I noticed two elderly women waiting in the crowd and just by looking at them, I thought that it is precisely these women and men who are the foundation of the State of Israel.

Perhaps they made it through a circuitous route to reach the Land of Israel, but upon closer inspection, they are probably among the million or more Jews who lived quietly in Arab countries for hundreds of years before they were expelled in the wake of Israel’s declaration of independence in 1948.

For Israel and Jews around the world, retaking control of the Flydubai plane was a remarkable victory, but it’s one victory in a continuous battle for survival since 1948. There have been repeated wars and terror attacks culminating with the horror of October 7, 2023, which we observed and commemorated this week.

Time and time again, Israel’s offers of peace and co-existence are rejected out of hand. The Arab leaders for decades only lose, but in a way, they feel vindicated and justified so long as they can kill innocent people. They don’t have to win; even losing is good so long as they can murder men, women, and children, as evidenced by the atrocities of October 7 in southern Israel.

All the Gaza killers are being justifiably picked off one by one and the Prime Minister has stated clearly that in the end they will all be brought to justice.

None of these consistent defeats mean anything to a crazed jihadist like the co-pilot of the Flydubai airline last week. It’s not just that heroes were born on that innocuous flight filled with ordinary Israelis; it’s that each one in his own understated way became an extension of the Hand of Hashem.

It was with an odd sense of reality that an Israeli plumber—Yaniv Hayoun—a man who used to watch videos about how to fly and control planes, was able to reach the pilot’s seat and maneuver the plane upright, thus saving the lives of over 180 people, mostly Israelis. The miracle also includes the fact that there were two other pilots of British origin on the flight whom the other brave passengers were able to move into the cockpit to fly the plane to a safe landing in Saudi Arabia.

An additional oddity in these events was the Saudi refusal to allow the Israeli military or an El Al plane to pick up the Tel Aviv-bound passengers and bring them home to Israel.

Their reasoning was that there is an election here in Israel on October 27. The Saudis apparently feared that a video of an Israeli plane landing in Saudi Arabia would be used by the Likud in a campaign ad. Still, that’s progress when you consider that there was a time when the Saudis would not have allowed that flight to land at all.

Yom tov arrived and faded away with great celebrations, visitors from around the world, and even a clear and obvious miracle placed squarely in the middle of the chag. 

The Flydubai Airline flight number was 1073. Broken down, that translates to 10-7-3: October 7…third anniversary. 

Read more of Larry Gordon’s articles at 5TJT.com. Follow 5 Towns Jewish Times on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for updates and live videos. Comments, questions, and suggestions are welcome at 5TJT.com and on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.