Deliverance from the Persian (Iranian) Enemy

We were greeted at 7 a.m. today by a volley of 30 Iranian missiles which made direct hits in Beersheba, Tel Aviv, Ramat Gan, and nearby Holon.

In Beersheba, the facility which houses the surgical wards of Soroka Hospital took a direct hit. Luckily, the building was evacuated last evening and the patients moved to other area of the complex so, while the physical damage to the building was significant, there were only minor personnel injuries.

In the direct hits in the Tel Aviv area again no fatalities but injuries, a few of which were serious, to residents of those buildings. While every missile attack carries with it the danger of some getting through our defenses and causing death and destruction, this morning we were incredibly fortunate that the results were not as serious as they could have been.

While sitting in a safe room in our apartment or in a community bomb shelter here in Jerusalem, we are nowhere near as inconvenienced as our fellow citizens who live on the coastal plain.  Many of them, rather than be awakened multiple times each evening to enter the shelter, have chosen to sleep in one of the metro striations in Tel Aviv whose platforms are deep enough underground to afford protection from incoming rockets.  Videos of this cannot help but remind us of similar scenes we have seen recently of Kyiv’s metro during a Russian air raid.

Others there have chosen to spend the night on the floors of underground garages turned into makeshift community shelters. Who would have thought that 80 years after the end of World War II we would be experiencing the blitz of Israel by the Iranian mullahs similar to what the British experienced at the hands of the Nazis.

As this current war with Iran stretches into its sixth day, rumors out of Washington continue to confuse everyone regarding the direction the US will take in addressing the Iranian nuclear threat.  As of this afternoon in Israel it remains unclear what the US president will decide.

Clearly his MAGA base has been split over this issue with voices calling for Congress to stand strong on its being the only element of US government that has the right to declare war.  It will be interesting if it turns out that of all the constitutionally illegal actions the US president has taken since his inauguration, it might be this issue that will be the one that gets the congress to assert its constitutionally mandated authority.

Historically for Jews, today is an important date in the calendar marking an event that took place in ancient Persia which is, of course, the Iran of today.  Today is exactly the 23rd of the Hebrew month of Sivan.  This is the day, according to tradition, that Persia’s King Ahasuerus accepted the request of Esther, his Jewish queen, to save the Jews of Persia’s various provinces from the plot of their enemies to destroy them. That day marked the beginning of the miraculous turnaround celebrated by the holiday of Purim.

Let us hope that on this very same day, in our generation, we will once again see heaven turning in favor of Israel and assist in delivering us from the Iranian (nee Persian) enemy.