TERUMA 5785

The Biggest Miracle of Our Time

So much has happened while Cheryl and I were away that begs comment. Let me begin with last Wednesday when Israel was awash in orange. And it wasn’t only Israel. NY’s Empire State Building, London’s Battersea Power Station, Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate, Paris’ Eiffel Tower, and others all over the world lit up in orange. Why? To honor Shiri, Ariel and Kfir Bibas, the Israeli mother and sons cruelly murdered by Hamas in Gaza. Isn’t it amazing that while the world is awash in antisemitism, so many major cities all over the world chose to support this Jewish family, 3 out of 4 of whom were murdered because they were Jewish. Why orange? Because of Ariel and Kfir’s bright red/orange hair.

Sole survivor of the family, father Yarden Bibas—released after more than 500 days of captivity, gaunt and emaciated, wearing an orange kippah—delivered a tearful eulogy. “Mi amor,” he began, as he addressed his wife in the Spanish of their families’ home in Argentina, “I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you.” We long for a world where little redheaded boys can grow into adulthood with children of their own, and their parents can ease into grandparenthood together. That world is not this world. May it come soon.

Israelis wearing orange lined a 40-mile funeral procession to the cemetery near Kibbutz Nir Oz—from which the family was abducted when Hamas attacked on Oct. 7, 2023. There were women in long skirts and other women with short shorts; a man wearing tallis and tefillin, alongside a young secular woman in pants wrapped in an Israeli flag. They came from all over the country—families, young and old, religious and secular. Akiva Lamm wrote on Ynetnews.com: The pain is unbearable, and the loss is immense. But when the last hostage returns home, we will not return to the country that was here before October 7. We will be a different nation—a nation that understands the magnitude of the evil around it, but also the internal strength within it.

When the bodies of the Bibas family were returned the week before, the whole Jewish world was is such pain—crying for this beautiful family. How many of us cried out, “Gd, where are You? How could you let this happen?” And then something miraculous happened to give us true chizuk, as Israeli’s say—true strength to restore our faith.

Our Torah describes the building of the Mishkan—the portable Temple used by the Jewish people as they traveled to the Promised Land from the Exodus in Egypt. There were miracles in the Mishkan, like how 4 priests were able to carry the Holy Ark that weighed thousand of pounds. But this miracle 9 days ago was perhaps the biggest miracle. If you’ve been listening to me since Oct 7^th, you’ve heard me speak about the many miracles that have happened on Oct. 7 and since:  

-Like the religious Kibbutzim who—for some reason —were not attacked near Gaza on Oct. 7.

-Or like the more than 30,000 drones and missiles—many the size of school buses—launched at Israel. Yet, 99% of them failed to hit anything! They could have killed thousands of Israelis—they killed none. 99% accuracy is simply NOT humanly possible in defending such an attack, but it is Gdly possible.

-Or like Mossad’s single greatest operation of all time—“Grim Beeper.” It had to be the most hilarious, effective and targeted military operation in world history that exploded the beepers carried in the pockets of Hezbollah leaders. The fact that Mossad was able to pull this off was truly miraculous!

There are many hundreds of miracle stories from Oct 7^th and since that seem to be coincidence, but as Albert Einstein famously remarked: “Coincidence is Gd remaining anonymous!” However, what happened on February 20^th was the biggest miracle of all. Hillel Fuld—American/Israeli technology business advisor, blogger and incidentally a friend of my son Rabbi Joshua Kunis—writes: “It was a miracle the caliber of the splitting of the Red Sea. I am talking an open miracle that could and should have ended very differently.”  

In order to explain what happened, let me introduce you to a new Israeli hero—26-year-old Adi Jegna. [Show picture] You probably don’t know much about what happened because, since no one was killed, it was hardly mentioned on the news. Adi noticed a white bag on a seat at the back of a bus in Bat Yam on the way home from work. It didn’t feel right, so she reported it to the driver who pulled into a station, got everyone off the bus … and then the bus exploded. Miraculous that no one was hurt. Right? But that wasn’t the end of it—not even close.

Over the hours that followed, an additional 4 bombs were discovered on other busses—some exploded, others were disarmed, some malfunctioned. Fuld writes: According to my source … a whopping 15 busses were supposed to explode. According to reports, the terrorist mistakenly set the timer for 9pm instead of 9am! So, is that the worst of it? Not even close.

         In addition to the 15 busses, 5 suicide bombers were set to detonate bombs on the light-rail at the same time, all in the center of Israel. So, is that the worst? No, that’s the good part.

         Where did this attack originate? Gaza? Nope. Judea and Samaria. In other words, these terrorists came from within Israel. And here’s the kicker … All of the above was intended to be nothing more than a distraction—much like the incoming rockets on Oct 7. Just a distraction for the real invasion.

         My source says that as those busses and terrorists blew up, massive security and emergency forces were supposed to rush to the scene, at which point there would be a massive breach of the security fence and many terrorists from Judea and Samaria would invade Israel and carry out an Oct 7^th-type attack. Only this time it wouldn’t be from Gaza … it would be an invasion into basically every major city in Israel! 

For decades, there were no bus explosions in Israel. Israel does this ceasefire deal and releases hundreds of terrorists—some of whom were the architects behind the bus bombings during the intifada—and all of a sudden, we’re back to buses blowing up. It can’t be a coincidence. All of this might have caused thousands of Israeli deaths. 

The Bibas family ordeal was one of the hardest in Israel’s history. We all felt hopeless as we saw videos of Hamas delivering the coffins of the Bibas children. Had Gd turned His back on us? Just then a beautiful rainbow appeared in the Israeli skies—a sign from the Noah story that Gd won’t destroy the world or let it be destroyed. [Show pic] A rainbow—according to the Torah—is Gd’s way of telling us, “Don’t worry. I got your back.” And then—just as we were feeling so sad and upset—the news hit that a bus exploded. No injuries. “How does that happen?” I thought. Then another bus exploded. No injuries. And a 3^rd—also no injuries.

I immediately felt Gd’s presence again. And the news kept coming in. More bombs were discovered, more intel. This was supposed to be the biggest attack since Oct. 7—maybe even bigger. Totally thwarted! By whom? The IDF? No. Mossad? No. This massive attack was prevented by Gd Himself, aided by the very vigilant and beautiful Adi Jegna.

This event might NOT go down in history as one of the biggest miracles of the Jewish people because it was given so little attention. But Einstein also said: “There are only 2 ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is.” Some will explain how the Iron Dome works and therefore conclude it’s not a miracle. Some will explain how all those rockets and drones not intercepted by Israel fell in empty spaces. The beepers? Getting Nasrallah and Haniyeh? They’ll attribute all of that to Israel’s amazing intelligence network. But this? What happened with those buses defies explanation!

My friends, let’s recognize Hashem’s greatness and give thanks on behalf of the thousands of Israelis who should be dead right now. Repeat after me: Hodu LaHashem ki tov (Give thanks unto Hashem for He is good), ki l’olam chasdo (for his mercy endures forever). And now together the blessing for when we are saved from tragedy—and we all were saved: Baruch Ata Hashem Elokeynu Melech haOlam (Blessed are you, O Lrd, our Gd) … sheh-g’malani kol tov (Who bestows on me much good). These past couple of weeks the Jewish people was saved from horrible tragedy. Thank you, thank you Hashem. And to that let us all say a hearty, Amen!