Even Major Miracles come at a Cost

In memory of מלכיה בן דב גרוס (Malkia ben Dov Gross) hy"d

Last night I received the terrible announcement that Malkia Gross, a friend from my yeshiva, was killed in Gaza on Shabbat. Malkia is one of the few people I know who I would describe as being "sharp" and "bright". B"H I know many smart and intelligent people, but there are a certain few people whose brains fall into the category of "sharp", and he was one of them. This sharpness passed into his incredible sense of wit and humor. He recently started teaching math as part of his teacher's certification.

Before I went to sleep last night, I asked myself - or Hashem, I'm not entirely sure - why Chizkiyahu merited to have a massive miracle that obliterated the Assyrian army during Sanchariv (Sennacherib)'s siege on Yerushalayim. For a moment I was angry. Here we were fighting for our lives thousands of years later, and while there may have been pocket-sized miracles, we don't get a big save without death.

When I woke up today, I realized that that was nonsense. The Kingdom of Yehuda suffered many losses during Sanchariv's conquest of the land which led up to the aforementioned siege. We have a lot of info regarding the prior siege of Lachish. There were deaths there. There's also Micha's prophetic lament regarding the fall of the Shephelah (Micha 1:8-16):

"Because of this I will lament and wail; I will go stripped and naked! I will lament as sadly as the jackals, as mournfully as the ostriches. For the nation’s wound is incurable, it has reached Judah, it has spread to the gate of my people, to Jerusalem. Tell it not in Gath, refrain from weeping; in Beth-leaphrah, strew dust over your [head]. Pass on, inhabitants of Shaphir! Did not the inhabitants of Zaanan have to go forth naked in shame? There is lamentation in Beth-ezel—It will withdraw its support from you. Though the inhabitants of Maroth hoped for good, yet disaster from GOD descended upon the gate of Jerusalem. Hitch the steeds to the chariot, inhabitant of Lachish! It is the beginning of Fair Zion’s guilt; Israel’s transgressions can be traced to you! Truly, you must give a farewell gift to Moresheth-gath. The houses of Achzib are to the kings of Israel like a spring that fails. A dispossessor will I bring to you who dwell in Mareshah; at Adullam the glory of Israel shall set. Shear off your hair and make yourself bald for the children you once delighted in; make yourself as bald as a vulture, for they have been banished from you."

 Does this explain why we didn't get a major miracle? Well, in a way we did get one. Because our heroes stopped the murderous invasion at the Shephalah's southern gates in early October. The bloodbath could have certainly been worse. But that doesn't make anyone feel any better, and I suppose that back in Chizkiyahu's time, people may have felt similarly. Perhaps that was why Chizkiyahu did not sing in praise after that miracle (Sanhedrin 94a). The kingdom was still reeling from the bloody failed rebellion. That was not Kriat Yam Suf v.2.0.

That said, what's going on today is not the Assyrian invasion v.2.0. We're in a better position and IY"H no foreign government or terrorist organization will take control of Israel at the end. And pocket miracles - or major miracles that aren't evident at first glance - are nothing to sneeze about.

May we hear better news speedily and may this war end victoriously soon.

תנצב"ה