by Prof. Yoel Elitzur, Lecturer in Bible Studies and Semitic Languages, translated by Hillel Fendel.
Bemoaning the silence in face of the miracles, and calling for resolute action to answer the Divine historic charge.
The pain wakes me up at night – pain at the detachment, at the ungratefulness, at the missed opportunity.
I feel and know: There is a Living G-d in
our midst, Who speaks to us with a roar, Who struck us most painfully and
unnaturally on Simchat Torah (Oct. 7th, 2023), and Who immediately
afterwards sprouted within us might and heroism that we didn't even know we had.
These strengths have brought us wonders and miracles, taking place even during
these very days – miracles that have likely never been seen ever since our
Exodus from Egypt.
Every Passover, during the Seder, we sing the
Dayenu song recounting chronologically 15 historic miracles, beginning with the
Exodus and culminating with the construction of the First Holy Temple. It is my
personal custom each year to add to this list our own modern-day national miracles
that we have experienced over the past 200 years or so. Every year, the list grows
longer.
"How much more so, doubly and
multiplied, must we thank G-d,"
as the Passover Haggadah states, for having transformed us from a
scattered, divided, and fearful people during centuries of Exile, into a united
nation upon its land, speaking once again in the language of the Torah,
turning a desolate land into a paradise, developing into a strong military
force that soundly defeats its enemies. As the Prophet Michah foretold, we are "like
dew from the Lord, like showers upon the grass… like a lion among the beasts of
the forest, like a young lion among flocks of sheep, [from which] none can
rescue” (5,6-7).
Our #1 Job
In my view, the recognition of the above is our primary obligation, just as the Prophet exhorts us regarding how we are to view the salvation that is to befall us: "Behold, days are coming when they shall no longer [speak of G-d] 'Who brought up the children of Israel from the land of Egypt,' but rather, 'Who brought up the house of Israel from the northland and from all the lands where I have driven them' - and they shall dwell on their land" (Yirmiyahu 23,7-8).
Our Sages explained this to mean not
that the Exodus will be forgotten, but rather that it will be secondary to the
great miracles of our future liberation from the yoke of the nations.
Over the past two years, my Dayenu has
been exploding from the many salvations we have experienced one after the other
at a dizzying pace.
Every year, on the 7th day
of Passover, the general custom is to sing the Song of the Sea all together to
commemorate our national salvation that happened on that day at the Sea of
Reeds precisely 3,338 years ago. This year we merited in our community of Ofrah
[in southern Samaria, north of Jerusalem] to add to our song a series of
contemporary and personally-experienced thanks and praise to G-d for the
miracles of our recent wars with Hamas, Hizbullah and Iran, known here as the
"War of Revival," "A People Like a Lion” and “The Lion’s Roar.”
Our guest at the Seder table was a
senior Israeli Air Force pilot, who shared with us his amazing experiences of
being part of Israel's repeated escape from existential dangers, wherein little
Israel smote the 80-times-larger, nearly-nuclear Iran with thousands of sorties
and attacks without even one casualty or technical or operational failure. This
was based on precise intelligence information stemming from the Mossad, whose
members also did not suffer a single casualty, and in total sync and
cooperation with the greatest superpower in the world.
How can we not remember these words
from the Torah's song of Haazinu (Deut. 32,39-43):
"See now
that I am the One, and there is no god with Me! I cause death and grant life, I
strike but I heal, and no one can rescue from My Hand!" …
"Sing out praise, O nations, for His people!
For He will avenge the blood of His servants, inflict revenge upon His
adversaries, and appease His land [and] His people."
The
soldiers in the field feel G-d's hand; they wear tzitzit, sound shofars, and
proclaim G-d's name as they set out for battle. This spiritual awakening,
echoed in many parts of the country, is itself a wonder that we must appreciate
and give thanks for – but where is the corresponding recognition of all these
miracles from the heads of our country? We do hear some "with G-d's
help"s once in a while from them (though not from the Chief of Staff,
unfortunately), but the main tune seems to be much more "by our own
strength and force of our hand."
Even some
of our official leading rabbis are silent, although Chief Rabbinate Council
member Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu strives to make up for their silence. In this
context, G-d is placing a mirror before us, in the form of Donald Trump and
many of his close Administration officials, who prolifically and full-throatedly
mention G-d. Chief among them is the U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee,
who famously told hostile interviewer Tucker Carlson, "I'm not worried
about Israel, G-d is with them… Their beeper operation is beyond all
imagination; if it would have been presented as a script for Hollywood, it
would have been rejected out of hand for being too kitchy and unbelievable. And
every new guy who's appointed to lead Iran gets killed by the Israelis within
24 hours…"
But perhaps
the main problem in not recognizing G-d's hand in directing the events is that
we then don't ask what He expects of us. And then we flub up the historic
opportunity of freeing ourselves from the strange "commandment" of Thou
shalt not conquer! This is a commandment that was dreamed up by our
brothers the left-wingers, and limits us to artificial borders that have
nothing to do with what the Torah says about it.
As of now,
large swathes of the Holy Land have been falling into our hands, such as in
Syria and Lebanon, and the wicked enemies run in fear of us – and yet, so
sadly, there is no real arousal even amongst our own camp to break out of the
fences, to return to Gush Katif, to settle the Gaza region or the northern
Galilee and Lebanon. We see no interest in breaking through to the winding
borders that were set by the French and English conquerors when they divvied up
the area over a century ago. And we certainly see no anticipation of reaching
the Bashan (where Jordan meets Syria), which awaits us empty of inhabitants.
We must not let all the tremendous events we have gone through become just
another “round.” We may not leave G-d's works on our behalf meaningless. It is
incumbent upon us to act vigorously, as we knew how to do after the War of
Independence wherever we were privileged to conquer; and as we did in the Golan
Heights and in much of Judea and Samaria after the 1967 Six Day War; and as
today's pioneers of the hilltops and farms know how to do with great
dedication.
Yisrael Eldad said that the main lesson of the Exodus is that in matters of
redemption, one must never delay; we must do everything possible to fully
realize it. History is calling to us and pleading with us to recognize the acts
of G-d and thank Him openly, to strengthen our faith, and to run and settle the
expanses of our land.