PESACH 1st DAY 5784

Feeling Gd’s Miracles in Iran’s Missiles

Pesach, more than any other holiday, is a celebration of miracles. Yes, Chanukah is all about the miracle of the oil and the miracle of the greatly outnumbered Maccabees defeating the might Syrian armies. But Pesach has the 10 plagues, the Exodus, and the crossing of the Red Sea. And if the rabbis of the Haggadah are to be believed, each plague was 5 plagues in one, and so if the finger of Gd caused the 10 plagues in Egypt, as the Torah says, then there were really 50 plagues. The Torah continues that the hand of Gd parted the Red Sea and so there must have been 250 plagues there—leaving a Pesach total of 300 plagues—clearly a plethora of miracles! Clearly Pesach is the holiday of miracles.

How many times have I heard the question: “Rabbi, if all those miracles like the 10 Plagues and the Splitting of the Red Sea really happened in the Passover story, how come we don’t have such miracles in our time? The Hamas invasion and massacre of Jews on October 7^th shattered us because it brought back traumatic memories of defenseless Jews—and we cried out: “Here we go again. Where were those Passover miracles when we needed them?”

Well, no matter where you were on Saturday night a week ago, you were witness to a pre-Passover miracle. Iran attacked Israel that night with over 300 drones and missiles—many the size of school buses—yet 99% of them failed to hit anything! Those munitions could have killed thousands of Israelis—they killed none. We thank our allies who helped: the US, the UK, and shhhh … Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. My friends, 99% accuracy is simply not humanly possible in defending such an attack, but it is Gdly possible.

Also, Iran is now on the defensive and becoming isolated internationally—looking surprisingly weak. One way of looking at April 13^th is that the big bad Persian bear finally showed its teeth and was humiliated by the Zionist enemy. They couldn’t even kill one Jew! The obvious conclusion is that hand of Gd was with us that night as it was in Egypt. A true miracle!

Meira Shapiro, in her blog on “Jew in The City” writes: Sitting in my Jerusalem bomb shelter at 2am as the missiles exploded over my head, having spent the previous few hours incredibly worried, and realizing that Iran was not going to succeed in doing the damage that it had planned, massive relief washed over me. After understanding that everything was going to be okay, I began to realize that I was now part of the newest story of our nation in which we were saved from an existential threat by open miracles.

And then in the wee hours of last Friday morning, a military base near Isfahan in Iran was struck by Israel—but not the nearby nuclear site. There were no casualties or substantial damage. But why? Israeli could have easily hit the nuclear site. It appears that the attack was “carefully calibrated” to send a message to Iran’s Supreme leader Khamenei on his birthday: “We hit you. We are unnoticeable and unstoppable. We can hit you or your nuclear sites again anytime, anywhere. Happy Birthday!” Iran responded that they have no plans to respond, for now. Nisim v’niflaot (Wonders and miracles)! Thank you, Hashem.

A lot of good has come out of Iran’s attack on Israel. Naomi Ragen writes in her blog (4/16/24): I know what I’m about to write is going to astonish many of you, but it is the absolute truth. The all-out Iranian attack against us was actually the most wonderful thing that could have happened! It was just what we Israelis needed to experience after the horrors of October 7, a necessary correction – tikkun – to the fear and horror and helplessness of that terrible day … I can’t explain to you how it felt to know those rockets had been fired, and to say a few Psalms and then go to sleep Sunday night, waiting for them to arrive. I can’t explain the feeling of putting yourself completely into G-d’s hands.  The next day, watching those drones and missiles misfire, or land in the water, or destroy some houses in Iran, or land in Rewandez, Kurdistan, falling all over the place except where they were aimed, and watching the rest get shot out of the sky, was simply an exhilarating religious experience ...

         Their failure made the mullahs so desperate they resorted to airing old footage of fires in either Spain or Texas, claiming it was in Israel, a result of their rocket fire. Of course, they were outed immediately, making them a laughingstock all over the world.

 There is other good news from the Iranian attack. The Biden administration at long last has publicly put the blame for the failure of the hostage negotiations squarely on Hamas. They also recognized Israel is going into Rafah. And best of all perhaps, Saudi Arabia accused Iran of trying to destroy its developing relationship with Israel and of nurturing terrorists all over the world.

 Have you ever heard of Robert Ingersol—a militant atheist who lived at the close of the 19^th century. Ingersol once addressed a huge crowd at an outdoor rally saying: “Gd, if there is a Gd, I challenge you to prove it. If You exist, then I challenge you to send a stroke of lightning and hit this tree. If you can do that, then I will believe that you exist. And if not, then I ask all the people in this audience to join with me in believing that there is no Gd.”

         Sure enough, just as Ingersol finished speaking, a bolt of lightning came out of the sky and struck the tree. And what do you think Ingersol then said? “Wasn’t that a remarkable coincidence!”

The point is that if you’re certain there are no miracles, then it no matter what happens, you’ll explain it away. But with one miracle after another after another, as in the Passover story and in our time, how can you ignore what is in front of your eyes?

In a modern Midrash, Lawrence Kushner amplifies the story of the miraculous deliverance at the Red Sea we’ll read on the 7^th day of Pesach. He pictures 2 Israelites slugging their way through the mud of the sea—Reuven and Shimon: Reuven is ecstatic. His life has been saved from the pursuing Egyptians. Shimon complains all the way across. He mutters to himself as he trudges: Look at this mud! I’m wearing a brand-new pair of sandals I bought just before we left Egypt. And by the time we get to the other side, they’re going to be so full of mud that I will never get them clean again.

         Reuven was full of joy and gratitude because he saw the glory of Gd. Shimon only saw the mud that ruined sandals. Shimon was probably the great-great-great-great-great-grandfather of Robert Ingersol.

It’s like the Dayenu song that we sing at the Seder. Dayenu means “It would have been enough!” But we sing it after each stage of journey from Egypt to the Promised Land: “If Gd had taken us out of Egypt and not had us pass through the Red Sea it would have been enough.” But would it have been enough? “If Gd had brought us to Mt. Sinai and not given us the Torah it would have been enough.” But what good would the Jewish people be without the Torah?  

What this song really means is that even if you don’t get everything you want in this world—and no one ever does—you ought to sing Dayenu and appreciate the things you do get. For even partial favors are still favors. Even small miracles are still miracles. 

 My friends, today—on the 1^st day of Pesach—it’s a good time to ask ourselves: Which way will we go? Will we go the way of Robert Ingersol—explaining away every wonder in the universe? Or will we sing Dayenu—reveling and rejoicing in the good—even in the partial good—that we receive? We must not focus on the ongoing war and the rising tide of antisemitism, without giving room to appreciate the miracles in our lives.

We cannot expect or demand miracles, as if we are entitled to them. But we must notice them and be grateful when they come. May we appreciate and recognize the miracles that Gd does for us every day—like this that Saturday night last week. Passover is the story of the 1^st redemption of the Jewish people. May we merit to greet Gd’s final redemption—speedily in our day. Amen!