Miracle in War: God is ONE!

Miracle in War: God is ONE!

Rabbi Aryeh Weingarten recently released a Hebrew-language video in which he related the story of a miracle that happened during the war in Gaza.

“There are so many miracles that have been happening to the Jews and the Nation of Israel in this time of war, but I would like to tell one that has to do with the recitation of the Shema,” Rabbi Weingarten said. 

The Shema is a declaration Jews say twice a day that affirms God’s singularity and kingship. It is considered by some the most essential prayer in all of Judaism. The first verse of the Shema is considered the most essential declaration of the Jewish faith.

There is a Hasidic Jew who lives in Tzur Haddasa and learns in a special weekly lesson with Rabbi Dov Spitzer. There is an officer who is currently fighting in the war in Gaza who told this story to Rabbi Spitzer. The religious officer has a non-religious officer friend who just joined the battle. The non-religious officer was nervous about going to war and his religious friend told him, “Any time you are in trouble or something happens, just repeat the one line ‘Shema Yisrael, Hashem Elohenu, Hashem Echad’ (Hear O Israel, Hashem is our God, Hashem alone). If you do this, God will hear you and save you.”

The non-religious officer was unsure about this method of coping with stress and fear and noted that he had never learned the prayer. His religious friend wrote the declaration of faith on a piece of paper so that he could practice memorizing the Biblical phrase.

The religious officer was then granted one week’s leave from the battle and after a few days, learned that his non-religious friend had been wounded. He went to visit him in the hospital and was relieved to see that his friend had been lightly wounded and was recovering nicely in the hospital. But his friend had an amazing story to tell.

“We were advancing inside a city when we encountered a group of terrorists at close quarters. They threw a grenade at us,” the non-religious officer related, “It was very close to me and I knew that I had less than three seconds until it exploded. I immediately fell to the ground and began to roll away. Instinctively, I began to recite the Shema with all my heart. The grenade somehow got entangled in my rifle’s strap and got thrown through the air, back to the terrorists. I saw it and it made no sense but that is what happened.”

“We were very close to them so we were injured but the terrorists were killed,” the non religious officer told his friend.

Rabbi Weingarten emphasized that the story was verified by Rabbi Spitzer.

“My dear brothers and sisters, God is calling us,” Rabbi Weingarten said. “There are so many stories of miracles that it is clear that God is reaching out to us, asking us to do Mitzvot, recite the Shema, keep Shabbat, pray to him and ask him for salvation in our hour of need. Even in this difficult time, God is telling us that he loves us.”

“These are the birth pangs of the Final Redemption. We are almost there. 

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