The Blogs: Thankful for a Year of Miracles

On this 451^st day of war in Israel, we are also on the cusp of 2025, about to light the 6^th candle of Chanukah and begin the new Hebrew month of Tevet. As we end 2024, it is difficult not to realize what an amazing turn of events we have witnessed from where we were just one year ago.

Trigger warning: From experience I know some people who read my blogs do not believe in the existence of God and are even sometimes offended by my occasional references to a higher power. If you are in that category, I suggest you don’t read any further as what I am going to discuss will definitely offend your values and sensitivities.

Looking back to December, 2023, our situation was bleak. What started as a war against Hamas in response to the massacre they carried outt against us on October 7^th, ended up in a multi-front war seemingly on every border and from every direction.

Even before we began to respond to Hamas, Hezbollah in Lebanon began daily barrages of rockets directed to Israel’s north which forced the evacuation of 80,000 Israeli citizens from the towns, moshavim and kibbutzim located near the Lebanese border.

Of course, given the devastation in the south near the Gaza border, tens of thousands of Israelis were relocated to other areas in Israel as well, as their homes were either destroyed during the Hamas massacre or simply in areas too dangerous to inhabit.

Soon thereafter the Houthis in Yemen joined the battle in solidarity with the inhabitants of Gaza and began firing missiles at commercial vessels in the Red Sea. It did not take very long for them to lob missiles and drones at Israel as well, as we saw a few times last week.

Behind all of this, of course, was the Iranian leadership who were supplying funds and weapons to all of their proxies in the region including elements in Iraq sympathetic to the Hamas cause. While we were not fighting Syria directly, Syria was the active conduit for weapons and monetary support emanating from Iran to support their proxies on our borders.

Today, one year later, every one of those enemies of Israel have been, in one way or the other, disemboweled with their military capabilities dramatically diminished.

Gaza has, more or less, been levelled and the key Hamas leadership killed. To be sure, as recently as this past weekend, they were still able to fire off a handful of rockets into Israel. However, for all practical purposes their capability to mount military operations of any significance has been reduced to single digit percentages.

In the north, the entire command and control structure of Hezbollah has been destroyed, the leadership has been killed, and with Israel’s technology that caused hundreds of pagers and walkie-talkies to explode simultaneously, serious injury was inflicted on a large number of Hezbollah operatives as well.

In Yemen, the IDF has destroyed much of the shipping capability of the Houthis, made the airport in Sanaa non-functional, and destroyed significant portions of their energy infrastructure as well. There Israel was joined with the US, UK and others in a coordinated effort to eliminate the Houthi’s attacks on international trade.

As for Iran, Israel was able to assassinate one of the top leaders of Hamas as he was ensconced inside a residence operated by Iran’s elite IRGC security apparatus. In addition, after repelling two direct missile and drone attacks by Iran, the IDF was able to cripple the country’s air defense capabilities as well as a good part of their weapons manufacturing infrastructure.

Finally, the fall of the Assad regime in Syria earlier this month closed down the supply lines that Iran had been using to replenish the supplies of its proxies in the region leaving them and those proxies defenseless and vulnerable.

It is, of course, virtually impossible not to acknowledge that this transformation was a miracle of the first order and that the hand of God was actively present during this period to assist in our success. How else to explain how a small country of 11 million people surrounded on all sides by well-funded armies supplied non-stop by the world’s largest exporter of international terrorism could have prevailed?

Tonight, as we light the sixth candle of Chanukah, we will recite two blessings, as we have every night. The blessings state:

Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who has sanctified us with His commandments, and commanded us to kindle the Chanukah light.
Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who performed miracles for our forefathers in those days, at this time.

The last portion of the second blessing refers to miracles performed “in those days” presumably referring to the time of the Maccabean revolt against the Hellenists. But what about “at this time?” Does it mean at this time of the year? Or is it a message to all of us, that even today, at this time, God continues to perform miracles for us and that what we have seen this year is an example of exactly that.

Conjecture, of course. No way to prove either answer. But, the incredible change in geo-politics that we have seen over the past year could not have been predicted based on logic or reason. Logic and reason would have led to a very different conclusion. So all that remains for us, at least those of us who believe, is that we witnessed, once again, God’s miracles on behalf of his people Israel.

May 2025 continue to be a year of miracles for all of us and may we be privileged to witness a Middle East of peace in our lifetimes. Am Yisrael Chai….the People of Israel, Live!