Expressing Thanks for Everyday Miracles

If a person lived in the time of the Beit HaMikdash and survived a life-threatening danger, he would express his thanks to Hashem for saving him by bringing a Korban Todah. The Korban Todah consisted of an ox, sheep, or goat. It belongs to a category of Korbanot called “Shelamim”. Sacrifices in this category must be eaten within two days and one night. What sets the Korban Todah apart from the other Korbanot in its category is that the Korban Todah must be eaten within one day and one night. In addition, it must be eaten with 40 loaves of bread. That’s a lot of food to consume in a very short amount of time! No one can eat that much by himself. He will need to invite guests to join him in the feast. The guests will likely ask “What happened to you that you are bringing a Korban Todah?” The host will relate the incident of how his life was in danger and Hashem saved him. This will bring glory and honor to Hashem’s name. Unfortunately, today we do not have the Beit HaMikdash. Yet, fortunately, we do have Hashem saving us daily. A recent example would be when Iran’s drones and missiles were entirely intercepted from above the heads of our Israeli brothers and sisters. The following is an excerpt from an essay by M. Abitbol, an IDF physicist:

“I wanted to share something that is much more than a feeling. Something that comes from a real calculation: What happened in Israel on last Motzei Shabbat (April 13, 2024) was not less than the scale of the splitting of the Red Sea.

I am a professor of physics and I worked for several years in the defense industry in Israel, in projects that are still the cutting edge technologies of the defense of the State of Israel.

When I look at what happened on Motzei Shabbat, on a scientific level – it simply cannot happen!! Statistically, The likelihood that everything, but really *Everything* works out, does not exist in complex systems Like the defense systems that were used to defend Israel from the massive Iranian attack.

These systems have never, *but never*, not only in the State of Israel, been tried in real time!!

I took a pencil and dived into the calculations to check the statistical probability that such a result would materialize. The large number of events that had to be handled, when each missile or UAV is handled independently (that is, human error or some deviation of one operation, is not offset by other successful operations), compounds the chance of making a mistake. With all the high technologies, a breach was expected In the defense of the skies of the State of Israel. Even if we got 90% protection it would have been a miracle!!

What happened is that everyone, but everyone – the pilots, the systems operators, and the technology operators acted as one man, at one moment in total unity. If this is not an act of G-d, then I no longer know what a miracle is.

It is Greater than the victory of the Six-Day War or the War of Independence. Those wars can also be explained through natural events.

BUT

The rescue that took place for the people of Israel on Motzei Shabbat is simply impossible naturally. I believe that this miracle saved the lives of many people from Israel.

If the defense system had failed to intercept a number of cruise missiles, the result would have dragged us into a very complex war.

I wouldn’t bet that next time it will work like this without Divine supervision.

The simple proof of what I said is that the managers of the defense industries, who develop and manufacture these systems guarantee no more than 90% success!

And we all saw, with our own eyes 99.9% !!!

Hashem’s miracles surround us constantly. We can share the miracles large and small, bringing honor and glory to the name of Hashem which is our collective mission as a nation. May the Beit HaMikdash be rebuilt speedily in our days!