Wings of the Dove Covered with Silver

A video our son Chaimi sent us from Israel left me deeply moved. Filmed by Iraqi citizens on rooftops, it showed Israeli Air Force jets soaring in formation, their thunderous roar clashing with the Arab background music—a surreal symphony of power and defiance.

I had just finished reading Chapter 68 in Tehilim (Psalms), which speaks of the wings of the dove covered with silver, and her pinions with the shimmer of gold.

Now, I can’t stop thinking of our fearless pilots, streaking across Iranian skies with unwavering precision, their missiles striking military targets with pinpoint accuracy. These gleaming jets hold special meaning for my family. Our grandson joined Chel Ha’Avir, the Israeli Air Force, in November 2023. After accelerated training, he was swiftly integrated into this extraordinary branch of the IDF.

Eli now oversees dozens of engineers, rigorously training and inspecting their work. These silver birds, flecked with unseen gold—not to the eye, but to the spirit—carry out miracles daily.

They remind me of the young State of Israel’s daring missions in the 1950s, when it rescued Yemenite and Iraqi Jews from oppression, transporting them to freedom in rather large planes.

Those liberated refugees called the planes Kanfei Yonah Nechbeset Ba-Kesef—The wings of a dove covered in silver—a direct verse from Psalms.

This is my favorite film—the flyby of our jets, radiant as the dove in David’s psalm, soaring with destiny on wings of silver and gold.