opinion
BY DAVID SUISSA
The Five Miracles of Israel
ne of the problems with the
need to always defend yourself
is that you can lose sight of the big
picture. In recent years, with the rise
of antisemitism and anti-Zionism,
the pro-Israel community has spent
much of its time on the defensive.

The haters attack, the community
fights back. Our energy is in the fight.

But on days like Yom Ha’atzmaut,
Israel’s Independence Day, when we
celebrate the very existence of the
Jewish state, we can take a timeout
from activism and marvel at the big
picture. I did that this month when I spoke
at a Yom Ha’atzmaut event at the
Saban Theater. I marveled at “the
five miracles of Israel,” miracles that
can get lost in the chaos of the daily
news cycle.

The first miracle is the idea of a
people who waited 1,900 years to
return home. After the Jews were
exiled from Jerusalem and saw their
Second Temple destroyed in the
year 70 CE, how did they stay so
patient for so long? How is it possi-
ble that over 19 centuries they never
gave up on their dream?
It helped, of course, that we were
reminded of our dream in daily
prayers and rituals like weddings, cir-
cumcisions and the Passover seder.

These rituals held the dream, day
after day, century after century. And
then, 74 years ago, our patience and
prayers finally paid off.

A few years after the darkest
moment in Jewish history, after centu-
ries in which we yearned and prayed
and hoped and dreamed, the Jews at
last returned home to Zion. That is the
most dramatic miracle of all.

But before we had a chance to cel-
ebrate, we needed a second miracle:
To fight off five Arab armies whose
sole mission was to drive us into the
sea. I had two uncles in that war. I’ve
read the incredible stories of bravery
and resourcefulness. How a ragtag
14 MAY 19, 2022 | JEWISHEXPONENT.COM
Inna Reznik / iStock / Getty Images Plus
O army fought off five much larger
enemies and saved the country at
its birth is one of the great, but often
overlooked Jewish miracles.

The third miracle was the survival
of the Jewish state for the past 74
years in the face of enemies sworn
to its destruction. Israel has prevailed
time and time again on the battlefield,
against suicide bombings and rockets
and tunnels and knives and drones
and almost any other lethal physical
threat. The fact that we continue to
prevail against relentless forces who
can’t accept Israel’s very existence is
the daily miracle of Israel.

A higher force sent us the fourth
miracle — the most powerful coun-
try in the history of humanity con-
tinues to have Israel’s back. The
United States of America, through
thick and thin, through policy dis-
agreements and even disputes, has
never abandoned the Jewish state.

We can never take this miracle
for granted.

The fifth miracle may be the most
poignant of the five. In such a hos-
tile neighborhood, Israel had every
justification to develop a defensive
crouch, a bunker mentality, a soci-
ety obsessed with protection and
survival at all costs. Instead, while it
defended itself, it found the chutz-
pah and imagination and drive to
create a vibrant and open society
that honors democracy and cele-
brates life.

It boggles the mind how a tiny
country in the middle of such a vio-
lent region has become the envy of
the world in so many areas. From
innovations in medical and digital
technology to agriculture to cyber-
security to design, music, culture
and entertainment, this little country
has never stopped punching above
its weight.

It’s easy to forget this fifth miracle in
the midst of BDS and United Nations’
condemnations and the growth of
antisemitism on social media that
hides behind anti-Zionism. But even
for Israel’s critics, the extraordinary
accomplishments of the Jewish state
are impossible to deny.

That is the fifth miracle of Israel:
It did not settle for mere survival. It
aimed a lot higher — to thrive.

As I concluded my remarks on
Yom Ha’atzmaut: The best way to
honor our ancestors who yearned
for centuries to come home, the 6
million we lost in the Holocaust and
the fallen soldiers who died to pro-
tect their homeland, is not to survive
but to thrive.

Am Israel chai, the Am Israel
thrives. JE
David Suissa is editor-in-chief and
publisher of Tribe Media Corp and
the Jewish Journal. This article was
originally published by the Jewish
Journal.