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KORACH 5785
Israel’s 12-Day War & Pre-Messianic Times
When you woke up on Friday June 13th and found out Israel and Iran were at war, how did you feel? I, for one, was extremely anxious. Yes, it was Friday the 13th. But seriously, I thought, what if the intelligence was a bit off and Iran already had already made a nuclear bomb? Even if they didn’t, could Israel hold her own against a country 8 times its size and population?
My heart was soon put at ease. In a moment of extraordinary Divine grace, Israel’s Operation Rising Lion, an all-out surprise attack on Iran——a surprise possibly bigger than the 6-Day War—was going amazingly well. Baruch Hashem!
Yes, there were tragedies—28 people were killed, over 3,000 wounded, a hospital demolished, and 55 homes destroyed from Iran’s ballistic missiles. Understand that when one comes back to a home destroyed by such missiles, there’s nothing left—your life, your memories are erased. You’re now a refugee and must begin life again—almost from scratch.
The other side of this war is that there were so many extraordinary miracles. 1st the obvious, because of the size and power of Iran, Israel assumed there would be crazy amounts of casualties—tens of thousands of Israelis. But she had no choice. If the intelligence was correct, in a few weeks Iran would be able to explode a nuclear bomb. And now miracle of miracles, Israel’s casualties were so few—just 28!
Think about the miracle of the ballistic missiles. Just one ballistic missile can kill many thousands—thousands! When Iranian missiles hit buildings in Israeli neighborhoods, it also knocked out the glass in windows all over the neighborhood. That’s how far its reach is. Iran fired 550 missiles at Israel, and if not for the warning sirens to get to the bomb shelters, can you imagine the pain and devastation?
Consider the miracle of the Mossad. Mossad infiltrated into Iran 10 years ago and set up pseudo army bases. It used them to launch drones that paralyzed the Iranian air-force, and to kill their top nuclear scientists and military leaders. Incredibly, it all went off just as planned!
Iran is far from Israel—1,000 to 1700 miles depending upon where in Israel you start and where in Iran you end. This tells us how strong Iran’s hatred for Israel is. Iran is so far away from Israel that there are no real disputes between them. They’re not fighting over water, or oil, or territory. It’s just pure hatred! Iran had so many weapons that it was supplying weapons to Russia in its war with the Ukraine—and yet little Israel was amazingly able to dominate its skies!
This 12-Day War was so different than Oct. 7th. On Oct. 7th, Hamas came in their jeeps and on their bikes over the boarder of Gaza and committed the most unbelievable atrocities. Israel was paralyzed. Perhaps, one of the differences with October 7th was the arrogance of many Israeli leaders—arrogance that had them believe that they had peace all figured out; that they were in control, the most powerful.
The best example of this is the Tatzpitaniyot (spotters)—a special group of women in the IDF, stationed at the Gaza border who carefully watched live surveillance cameras 24/7. They notified their superiors again and again that they had seen Hamas militants training for a mass mobilization. No one took them seriously—no one. Why? It was the arrogance of Israeli leaders that what happened on Oct. 7th could never happen on their watch. These spotters were the 1st to be attacked on Oct. 7th. 15 were killed and 7 taken hostage.
After Oct. 7th, Israelis leaders were deeply humbled—even the secular PM Bibi Netanyahu. A perfect example was Netanyahu going to the Kotel/Western Wall last week to offer prayers of thanksgiving following America’s dropping bombs on Iran’s 3 top nuclear sites. He thanked Hashem for the all the miracles and wonders He reigned upon Israel during the war and said, “Without Gd’s help this could not have happened!” This thanking of Gd by a secular PM shows a special humility.
Even Trump, in a surprising show of humility said, “Gd, I want to just say, we love you Gd.” He was expressing a simple childlike connection to Gd in a good way. Trump and Netanyahu were emulating the prophet Zecharia (4:6) who, in the Haftorah of the week when the war began, spoke about how to restore Israel to its land: Lo v’chayil, v’lo v’cho-ac, ki im b’ruchi (Not through armies and not through might, but through My spirit). But aren’t wars fought with armies and might? Yes, but in the end, it only happens, as Gd says, ki im b’ruchi (through My spirit)—when the army and its soldiers become conduits of Gd’s spirit.
This is what Rabbi JJ Schacter calls a mi yodeya (who knows) moment. Mordecai told Queen Esther to go before King Achashverosh to plead with him to nullify Haman’s decree to kill all the Jews. Where was this? Persia/Iran of course! Mordecai told her (Esther 4:14): “Mi yodeya (who knows) whether it was for such a time that you attained this royal position?” She went to the king and changed history! And Mi yodeya (who knows) now—no matter what you think of Netanyahu or Trump—whether it was for such a time that both of them attained their positions? Who else could have accomplished this?
My friends, there are moments in our lives when we ask ourselves, “Mi yodeya, who knows if this is why I am where I am, and that everything that’s happened to me in my life till now is for this moment. It just seems that Trump and Netanyahu had such a moment because no one expected such success. When you have such a grand war against a Hitler, it usually comes with many failures and setbacks. And without this victory, possibly 7 million Jews would have been exterminated by an Iranian nuclear bomb! In such a moment one leaves the ego aside and becomes open to Gd’s plan. Then miracles can and do happen.
Friday, June 20th—the day that began the Shabbos when America bombed Iran—coincided with the beginning of the learning of a new tractate of Talmud in the Daf Yomi program of learning a page of Talmud every day. The new tractate is Avoda Zara, dealing with idolatry. The 1st page tells us that the empires of Rome (the Western world) and Persia (Iran)—will continue till the Messiah comes. Tosfot, the medieval commentary asks: “But our Sages teach us that Persia/Iran will be defeated by Rome/the West, so how can the Talmud say Persia/Iran will continue till the Messiah? The answer is that it will be defeated, but just before the Messiah comes!”
My friends, perhaps we are now living in “just before the Messiah comes” pre-messianic times—where things are coming together. We see from this war is how the world is more and more in awe of the Jewish people. Pre-messianic times, our Sages taught, is like erev Shabbos. What’s erev Shabbos like in homes that observe Shabbos? What’s it like 2 or 3 hours before Shabbos? Chaos! It doesn’t matter if Shabbos comes in at 8:30pm or 5:15pm, erev Shabbos is chaos!
So, although the world is in awe of the Jewish people, there’s also at the same time, increasing antisemitism. Yes, there is chaos, but I want you also to try to smell the kugel, to know that the Shabbos time of the Mahiach is near and that Hashem is watching over us as He has in Iran.
One more proof. When the war 1st broke out, El Al’s website couldn’t handle the flood of over 100,000 Israelis stranded in America, Europe, Africa, the far East who immediately booked tickets back home! Despite the fact that some Iranian missiles were getting past Israel’s defenses, 100,000 Israelis did everything in their power to return to their people at war. Flights were quicky organized from Athens, Rome and New York. Israelis were not fleeing danger; they were racing toward it. In what world do people flee the safety of America and Europe to return to a war zone?
To understand this, we need to examine the sin of the spies we read about in the Torah last week. The Israelites stood on the edge of the Land of Israel, and 12 spies were sent to scout it. 10 returned with fear in their eyes and said (Num. 13:31): “We’re not able to attack those people, for they are stronger than we.” The Sages explain that their sin was not so much cowardice, but that they slandered the Land itself, exaggerating dangers and demoralizing the nation. Only Joshua and Caleb, the 2 dissenting spies, merited entry into the Land.
The Sages teach that the story doesn’t end there. The children of that faithless generation would not simply enter the Land, they had to rectify the sin, and they tried by conquering the land. Rabbi Eyal Vered points to those 100,000 Israelis doing everything in their power to get back into Israel during the war as the completion of that rectification. Only a people with such faith in Gd and confidence that He will redeem His people would try so hard to come home—even under fire!
My friends, We, the Jews are unique. We are:
· A people the Pharaohs tried to erase 3,000 years ago… and failed.
· A people the Babylonians tried to assimilate 2,500 years ago… and failed.
· A people the Romans tried to wipe out 2,000 years ago… and failed.
· A people the Nazis tried to exterminate 80 years ago… and failed.
· A people the Arabs fought in 5 wars to wipe off the face of the earth … and failed.
Hashem oz l’amo yiteyn, “May Hashem give strength to His people—strength enough to meet every challenge. Hashem y’vareych et amo vashalom, “May Hashem bless His people with peace”—and may Mashiach (the Messiah) come soon, speedily in our day. Amen!
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