The Syria Surprise

For 54 years, we tried to everything to eliminate the Assad regime in Syria: We prayed to Hashem for half a century. We pounced on them in the Yom Kippur War. We conquered Lebanon in 1982. We destroyed Syrian nuclear weapons plant in 2007. After all this plus 13 years of civil war, Assad was still in power. Backed by Iran, Russia, and over $5 billion in drug sales, they looked invincible. Then, in a matter of days, Hashem showed us Who rules over the kings of this world.

When the wicked flourish like grass, and all workers of violence blossom, only to be destroyed to eternity. For behold Your enemies, O Lord, for behold Your enemies will perish; all workers of violence will scatter. Psalms 92:8,10 

For the first two decades of the State of Israel, Syria rained down missiles on the north. The people living at the border never had a moment’s peace. Then we fought two wars with them. Even with the Golan Heights under Israeli control, Syria became a willing conduit of missiles from Iran to Hezbollah in Lebanon to terrorize over 60,000 Israelis into exile, and a nation into bomb shelters every day. 

We wanted to get rid of the Syrian threat from the first day of our existence. 

It never happened. 

For almost a century, we have been faithfully saying at least a dozen times each day in Shemona Esrei, Kaddish, and Birkat HaMazon, may He Who makes peace in His heights, may He make peace for us and for all Israel, Amen. 

God answers our prayers, but in such a way that we must put in the effort to see Him behind every miracle that is clouded behind the veneer of the physical world. 

Even after the destruction of Hamas, Hezbollah, and the decapitation of Iran’s air defenses, the Assad regime continued to laugh at us. It looked like it would never budge. 

Then, out of nowhere, in the blink of an eye, it was gone. 

The success of the rebels in Hama, Aleppo, and Damascus caused the soldiers in the defeated Syrian army to abandon their posts throughout Syria. There were no Syrian soldiers anywhere on their side of Mount Hermon and the Golan Heights. 

The IDF was able to conquer the entire Golan without facing a single soldier. 

We waited 54 years for Divine justice against people who murdered our women, children, grandparents, and babies. When His justice came, it came in such a way that you knew it was directly from God. A regime that could hold off its internal enemies in a civil war for 13 years fell in less than a week. 

Since then, we have been destroying the entire Syrian military without any opposition. Over 300 times, Israeli jets have pounded what used to be Assad’s chemical weapons, attack jets, naval boats, long range missiles, and other military hardware that threaten the Jewish State. There is no longer a Syrian army, navy, or air force. 

These 300 missions have all gone unanswered by Syrian defense or counterattack: Another Divine miracle! 

In the Blink of An Eye 

The Gemara teaches us that three things happen unexpectedly: Finding a wallet, encountering a scorpion, and the coming of Mashiach. 

As we work hard to learn Torah, daven (pray), and perform acts of kindness and charity, we reprogram our senses to fall madly in love with everything Godly. The coming of Mashiach will feel like finding a wallet. 

If we fall into the trap of obsessing over our job, our money, the people we keep company with, if the Yankees will take the Series, and the next installment of the Karate Kid . . . the surprise of Mashiach’s coming will feel like encountering a scorpion. 

We have been waiting for Mashiach for over 2,500 years. It feels like the way we felt about Syria a few days ago: It might never happen. As reality loosens our hope from us, we replace what we are waiting for with what we are waiting with: 

It’s easy to get excited about our next Facebook post, let alone this year’s roster of movie sequels. To keep our senses focused on the excitement over Mashiach, we have to work really hard, with focus, enthusiasm, and determination. 

Mashiach means the return of prophecy. The return of Jewish rule. The revival of the dead. The full break from Esau and Ishmael. A Torah nation whose only purpose is to know God. The Temple. Offerings. A King. A High Priest. The full Land of Israel in our sovereign hands. 

Salvation from our eternal Father and King. 

The Second Temple was a shadow of the first. There were no prophets. We were ruled by the Persians, Greeks, and Romans. The Kodesh HaKodeshim (Holy of Holies, the Sanctuary) was empty. Our short-lived home rule was dominated by Greek-thinking local rulers, many of whom were as confrontational with Jewish life as our enemies. 

Mashiach will be like the rule of King David and King Solomon. It will be their son who rules over us. No nation, inside or out, will hold any influence over our pursuit of God through His Torah. 

The resistance to the great change in Israel will fall as rapidly as the resistance to the great change in Syria. Forever, it felt like nothing would be different until we woke up one morning to see how Hashem made it happen in the blink of an eye. 

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David Ben Horin lives in Afula with his family, millions of sunflowers, and Matilda, our local camel. David‘s Israeli startup, 300 Marketing Solutions, is a lean marketing agency for startups and small businesses that creates and promotes SEO-optimized ROI-driven to the right audience on LinkedIn to make your business the star of the show.