Challenges Before Rosh HaShana: A Call For Prayer

The Islamic Regime in Iran launched the largest missile attack in history on Israel, right before Rosh HaShana, but why? Why is G-d putting these challenges on us right before the day of judgment, and the beginning of a new year?

I was sick all week, and thankfully, the day before Rosh HaShana, I started feeling better so I could help my mother make food for the holiday. I made a delicious dessert, and as I was preparing the batter, I checked my phone and read that Iran is expected to launch a large-scale attack against Israel within the next 12 hours. As Israelis, we are used to these threats, so I didn’t stress it and continued to do what I was doing. 

About an hour later, we got a siren and ran to the bomb shelter. While in the shelter, I heard non-stop booms from all directions. I was constantly checking my phone, and watching videos of the missiles being intercepted above my house. It was estimated that 181 missiles were launched at Israel by the Islamic Regime in Iran. Almost zero casualties were reported in Israel, except for one Palestinian man in the city of Jericho. 

It’s been a tough day in Israel. It’s been a tough year in Israel, but what always keeps me going, in any scary situation, is knowing that I am part of a nation that has gone through centuries of persecution and many genocide attempts, and we are still here, stronger than ever. My great-grandparents survived the holocaust without a Jewish state. I can survive anything that comes my way, as long as I have the Jewish state, Israel. As Elie Wiesel, someone I hold close to my heart once said: “As a Jew, I need Israel. More precisely: I can live as a Jew outside of Israel, but not without Israel.”

When we are scared, we tend to open a book of Tehillim (psalms) and start reciting a few chapters to calm down – that’s why G-d is putting these challenges on us. G-d loves us so much that he put this attack on us because he knows that when we are feared, we pray more and get closer to him, and that is exactly what we need for Rosh Hashana.

In April, when Iran attacked us, the most popular Google search that night in Israel was “Tehillim.” We are the people who believe in miracles. Our entire history is a miracle. As the first Prime Minister of Israel, David Ben-Gurion once said: “In Israel, in order to be a realist you must believe in miracles.”

As I was in the shelter with my parents, my father began telling my mother and me which chapters of Tehillim to recite. We were praying that G-d would keep us and the state of Israel safe. On October 7th, when people were cramped in a shelter, they were reciting Tehillim to feel safer while Hamas terrorists were killing everyone in sight. In the holocaust, while Jews were walking into the gas chambers, they would recite a prayer. All to get close to G-d, and feel his presence in a time of fear.

Yes, even though they prayed, 6 million were killed in the Holocaust. Even though they prayed, over 1,200 were killed on October 7th, but how are we going to continue to live if all we look at is the negative when the positive is so bright? The Nazis could’ve killed all Jews in Europe, which was 9 million at the time, but G-d stopped them. Hamas could’ve killed everyone in Israel, but G-d stopped them. The Jewish people have always based their lives on faith. We are experiencing miracles equivalent to the splitting of the sea.

I pray that we continue to see miracles, including the return of those still being held captive by Hamas in Gaza, and the safety of all IDF soldiers risking their lives for the protection of the state of Israel.