Israel is indeed a land of miracles. We have seen this repeatedly – when 39 SCUD missiles were launched against Israel from Iraq…and one man died as a result of a heart attack. We saw it last summer, when thousands of rockets fell on northern Israel and while many were killed and injured, almost daily there were reports of unbelievable near-misses and seconds or mere meters enabling a tragedy to have been averted.
Thus today, another story of what could have been a tragedy proving the miracle behind it. Last night, just after 2:00 a.m., two rockets were fired by terrorists in Gaza. They don’t care where the rockets land, only that they terrorize, murder and maim. That’s why we refer to them as terrorists – the target isn’t a military one – merely the hope that some Israeli somewhere will be injured, the more the better, the worse the better.
This time, the landing location wasn’t a school yard in Sderot, a sleeping family’s home, a hospital or factory. This time, the rockets landed on an army base, sending more than 60 soldiers to the hospital. But what could have been a tragedy proved to be a miracle – none of the soldiers were seriously injured, most treated for light wounds and shock.
But the miracle for one family was even greater. Segalit Ido, whose son Roi is stationed on the base, was called to the hospital because her son was among the injured. After the first rocket attack, Roi ran to help his friends and was injured by the second rocket.
Roi will celebrate his 20th birthday in just a few days. “His gift is that he is alive,” the soldier’s mother stated. It is the ultimate miracle and the ultimate gift – the gift of life.
The Palestinians are celebrating in Gaza for the “success” of the rocket attack, but we will celebrate the greater gift, the greater miracle – more than 60 families in Israel are celebrating that their sons are alive and well and what could have been a great tragedy, proved to be a great miracle instead.
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