All this happens within 24 hours that President Donald Trump declared the nullity of the pact of the USA with Iran. This has been seen in Israel as an unprecedented act of friendship and loyalty on the part of the U.S. towards its ally: Israel. Trumps courageous decision to sop the Iran deal means for Israel, I believe, even more than his extraordinary decision to move the American embassy to Jerusalem. And although it is well known that “whatever is good for Israel is also good for America”, I feel that we should be very grateful to president Trump for his remarkable continuos support for Israel.
PRAYING TO ASK OR PRAYING TO THANK?
Although it is extraordinary that also Russia, Iran’s main ally, is seemingly in such good terms with Israel, I know that we cannot be overly optimistic. Today, the mood in Israel is tense. Very tense. No one knows how or when Iran will react. The citizens of northern Israel were called to prepare their miqlatim, the shelters, and the army reserves were called. At this moment, instinctively, the first thing that comes to our mind is to pray to HaShem and ask Him to protect us and help us in our struggle against those who seek our destruction. But there is something we must not forget: This morning, when in the Amidah (individual prayer that is said standing and silent) I read the text of Shomea’ Tefilá, where we introduce our “special requests to God” I could not help but think that we should also, or first, thank HaShem for inspiring the hearts of the leaders of the world, and opening their eyes. We Jews believe this is one of the ways that HaShem performs His miracles to us, like Shelomo haMelekh said: לב מלך ביד ה’ על כל אשר יחפץ יטנו (The heart of the Kings is in the hands of HaShem, and He moves their heart at His will). This happened with King Cyrus (Koresh) of Persia 2,500 years ago. The prophet Yirmiyahu had assured that HaShem would make us return to Israel after the destruction of the Bet haMiqdash. And HaShem did it, by inspiring the spirit of King Cyrus. As the last words of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) say, indicating one of the greatest (and best documented) miracles of our incredible story:
“In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and also to put it in writing: This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: ‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a House for Him at Jerusalem in Judah. Any of his people among you may go up, and may the Lord their God be with them.’ ”
May HaShem inspire the hearts of men and women of good faith
and open their eyes to see the just cause of our people
*CORRECTION: Not all Jews who perished in WWII were civilians. About 1.5 million Jews fought in Allied armies, including 500,000 in the Red Army, 550,000 in the American army, 100,000 in the Polish army and 30,000 in the British army, according to Israel’s Holocaust museum Yad Vashem.
Approximately 500,000 Jews fought in the Red Army against the Germans and many were killed and wounded. The State of Israel recognized these Russian Jewish heros and a museum about them is planned in the near future. (thanks to Jordan B. Cherrick from St. Louis, MO for helping me to correct my involuntary mistake).
