1. Three years after that fateful Simchat Torah, one can state with profound relief that the State of Israel has broken free from the perilous misconception that brought about October 7 and so many other disasters: the dogma of “my power and the might of my hand.” That haughty, detached secular doctrine which declared: only by sword, only by force, and never by the Spirit of the Lord.
3+Following that catastrophic day, scarcely anyone places their exclusive trust in force alone. Almost everyone is lifting their eyes toward Heaven. And how deeply moving it is to witness how this spiritual awakening is transforming reality—how many overt miracles we have witnessed since that profound concealment of the Divine face on Simchat Torah.
2. Yet this past week, a new milestone was reached—a peak of miracles, matched by a peak of public thanksgiving to God. Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel—a man who for decades was among the foremost champions of self-reliance and military prowess—openly acknowledged the Almighty for these miracles. He has not ceased offering thanks.
3+It began with video footage showing him raising his hands and singing together with the survivors of the recent aviation incident and their children: “The Holy One, Blessed be He, always loves me.” He then added with visible gratitude: “What can I tell you? This is what people mean by a ‘miracle from Heaven.’ It is truly a miracle from Heaven.” Next came a singular post: “Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the Universe, Who performed a miracle for us in this place.”
The following day brought additional documentation from his office during an intimate meeting with the unassuming heroes of that flight. Gripping each person’s hand, Netanyahu told them, “Through prayer, faith, resourcefulness, and courage, you saved so many lives.”
3+The crescendo arrived inside the Knesset sukkah on the eve of Hoshana Rabbah. Wearing a kippah, an emotional Netanyahu read aloud the biblical verse from the Book of Samuel: “And the Lord saved Israel that day.” He addressed the gathering: “What we witnessed, the miracle that occurred yesterday… was a chain of miracles that constituted both heavenly assistance and divine intervention. That is precisely what occurred. We must understand: we could have been sitting here in national mourning, facing a crushing blow to Israel, yet instead we witnessed a magnificent salvation.”
3. Before going further, one must address the thought crossing the minds of many: Is Netanyahu’s talk of faith genuine, or is it merely theatrical staging for approaching elections?
First and foremost: yes, I believe him. Netanyahu is not claiming he has adopted the strictest halakhic stringencies on the Sabbath. Rather, he has simply begun to mention—far more frequently—the Creator of the Universe. In truth, he has simply begun thinking about Him far more. Why assume that the contemporary Jewish awakening, which touches even the most estranged Jews across the globe, somehow bypassed the one individual most acutely immersed in the existential crucible of our nation?
What are the skeptics truly arguing? That assimilated students on U.S. college campuses can suddenly discover their Jewish roots, but the prime minister of the Jewish state—the one human being exposed more than anyone alive to mortal peril, threats, and overt miracles—must remain the exact same cynical, secular elitist from Rehavia? Is there truly no ceiling to the cynicism directed at this man?
4. Yet even if the cynics were correct—even if all of Netanyahu’s faithful rhetoric were purely designed to drive masses of voters to the ballot box—it would be even more extraordinary.
3+Because that would mean we are not merely witnessing the personal spiritual strengthening of a single prominent Jew, but an authentic spiritual awakening of millions of Jews. An awakening so profound that the sharpest political mind and greatest campaign strategist of our era, who has spent decades mastering how to communicate with the Israeli public, understands that the national language itself has transformed. That he must speak entirely differently.
How fortunate is the nation for whom this is reality; how fortunate is the nation whose political campaigns look like this.