Due to the caring and intervention of a Chabad shliach and siyata diShamaya, a frum family of 11 fled their home in Ukraine an hour before their building suffered a direct missile hit.
The family, who lived in Kramatorsk in eastern Ukraine, did not want to leave Ukraine but as the city became increasingly dangerous, they contacted Rav Mendy Cohen, a Chabad shliach in Mariupol who already fled and is now safely in Israel.
Rav Cohen begged them to flee and the family finally agreed on Sunday, They left their home and started driving to the border, with an escape route planned by Rav Cohen.
“An hour after they left, they sent me a photo of their home, which has been completely destroyed by a bomb,” Rav Cohen said. “It was a clear neis that they escaped just in time.”
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
Join the official YWN WhatsApp status
5 Responses
How about before we start labeling things a Neis we learn what a Neis really is. This is like saying it’s a Neis I took off my pants when I did because an hr later it ended up in the washing machine. This story while is very nice and inspiring doesn’t even get a birchas hagomel. A Neis is super natural
While I do agree that you have a point in people over-stating miracles, your fundamental understanding of what NEIS means is wrong.
The true meaning of a NEIS is a Flag. A flag is a sign of a country, a people, a message (e.g. surrender, reg flag etc) a NEIS that most people refer to as a miracle, is when God, metaphorically, raises the flag for us all to see, that HE is running the world.
I’m addition, benching Gomel is based on specific scenarios brought down in Halacha. So this can be a Miracle no less than traveling over a large body of water and/or traveling through a desert and coming out the other end (or in our eyes a lot bigger), some cases would require a Birchas HaGomel whilst others not. The reasoning behind it is not logic. It’s Halacha. Period.
If I may add, putting your pants in the washing machine without you inside may be unfortunate… minimizing anything that God does, is exactly what Amalek did after we came out of the ‘washing machine’.
To Anon21 –
we say 3x a day: וְעַל נִסֶּיךָ שֶׁבְּכָל יוֹם עִמָּנוּ, וְעַל נִפְלְאוֹתֶיךָ וְטוֹבוֹתֶיךָ שֶׁבְּכָל עֵת, which means, that we honestly proclaim to Hashem that EVERY single day He makes nissim for us, aside from the constant Niflaos and Tovos that He grants us AT ALL TIMES.
Based on your comment, this part of Shmoneh Esrei is a blatant sheker, chas v’sholom!
Does that mean we must give a birkas hagomel every day? No (because there are parameters to the type of Neis which requires a Birkas Hagomel), but that does not negate that EVERY day we experience Nissim.
You claim “A Neis is super natural”, which implies that you only consider Kritas Yam Suf=type of nissim as “true” nissim. That is simply not Jewish hashkofa.
You also claim that “This story… doesn’t even get a birchas hagomel”, which implies that birkas hagomel is said for nissim that are somewhat insignificant (-as this Neis does not “even” get a Birkas Hagomel). That minimizes the chashivus of Birkas Hagomel to the point of being mevazeh the bracha.
I suggest you do a bit less shokelling during Shemonei Esrei (while checking around who is still in middle of Amidah to know if you can say Oseh Sholom) and place a little more kavanah (or at least pirush hamilos – use an English translated siddur) on וְעַל נִסֶּיךָ שֶׁבְּכָל יוֹם עִמָּנוּ
The purpose of such an article is שיחו בכל נפלאותיו, to publicise the nisim and niflaos that HKBH does for us. We are required to talk about them, share them, tweet them and forward them on whatsapp.
ANON21, please keep your pants on! If the pants need washing, there is no reason to remove them an hour before they go into the washing machine.