I Believe in Miracles

Today is the 23rd of Sivan in the Hebrew calendar. As told in the Book of Esther, this was the day that Mordechai, with the full authority of King Ahasuerus, issued a new decree: the Jewish people, scattered across all 127 provinces of the vast Persian Empire, were no longer to be lambs led to the slaughter. They were given the right by royal mandate to rise up, to stand together, and to defend their homes, their families, and their Jewish future.

This was more than an act of self-defense.
It was a bold declaration that Jewish blood would no longer be shed without consequence.
It was a vinahafoch hu, a complete reversal against the regime that had just sought to annihilate them.

And today, in 2025, the Jewish people and the State of Israel are living in the echo chamber of that very moment.

Once again, the children of Israel are forced to defend themselves, not against an ancient enemy, but against modern-day Persia: the Islamic Republic of Iran. The players may have changed, but the venomous and vile game remains the same. Just as Haman sought to destroy the Jewish people with royal  support, Iran funds terror tunnels, kidnappings, rockets, and incites global antisemitism, openly declaring its goal to wipe Israel off the map.

But we are not the Jews of exile.

We are the generation of return.
We are the people of rebirth.
We have our own sovereign land, our majestic and powerful army, and a pulsing Jewish heart that beats in Jerusalem, our eternal capital.

Like our ancestors on the 23rd of Sivan, we rise up like lions to protect our cubs.
We defend.
We fight.
We survive.

And through it all, we witness the miracles of Hashem:

The miracle of our Iron Dome.

The miracle of real-time early warning alerts that give us time to secure shelter.

The miracle of our fierce Air Force.

The miracle of divine timing.

The miracle that we are still buying milk and eggs in our makolet, even during war.

And the greater miracles:
Out of over 430 missiles sent to destroy us,  about 27 made direct impact.
A hospital  that was hit but had evacuated that exact floor just hours before.

This doesn’t minimize our pain or our losses, but it highlights the sheer scale of what could have been, and the incredible protection that envelops us.

Miracle after miracle after miracle.

The miracles we read about on Chanukah and Passover,
they are happening again, right now, in our lifetime.

“נס גדול היה פה.”
ופה.
ופה.
“A great miracle happened here.”
And here.
And here.

“בְּכָל־דּוֹר וָדוֹר עוֹמְדִים עָלֵינוּ לְכַלּוֹתֵנוּ, וְהַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא מַצִּילֵנוּ מִיָּדָם.”
“In every generation, they rise up to destroy us, but Hashem saves us from their hands.”

When we shout “Am Yisrael Chai” the nation of Israel lives, we are shouting:

No decree,
ancient or modern,
will ever threaten our existence again.

Esther 9:1
וּבִשְׁנֵים עָשָׂר חֹדֶשׁ, הוּא־חֹדֶשׁ אֲדָר, בִּשְׁלוֹשָׁה עָשָׂר יוֹם בּוֹ, אֲשֶׁר הִגִּיעַ דְּבַר־הַמֶּלֶךְ וְדָתוֹ לְהֵעָשׂוֹת, בַּיּוֹם אֲשֶׁר שִׂבְּרוּ אֹיְבֵי הַיְּהוּדִים לִשְׁלוֹט בָּהֶם, וְנַהֲפוֹךְ הוּא, אֲשֶׁר יִשְׁלְטוּ הַיְּהוּדִים הֵמָּה בְּשֹׂנְאֵיהֶם׃

“…On the very day when the enemies of the Jews hoped to overpower them, the opposite happened the Jews overpowered those who hated them.” (Esther 9:1)

Because of this vinahafoch hu, this complete reversal of fate, the Lubavitcher Rebbe taught that the 23rd of Sivan is a super-powerful day of prayer, a day to beseech the Holy One Above to continue showering us with His miracles and blessings.

We are living through historical times of incredible magnitude, and of biblical significance. The fact that we are once again fighting the same enemy, Persia/Iran thousands of years later, is mind-blowing. That these dates align, though centuries apart, is nothing short of holy.

May God continue to bless the people of Israel, the land of Israel, all of our bravest soldiers, and the future of our entire nation.