44 years ago, Israel destroyed Iraq’s nuclear reactor in a daring strike. That same day, the Rebbe urgently launched a global push to purchase letters in the Sefer Torah. Just hours later, Eretz Yisroel was safe. Now, as Israel strikes once again, that story is as relevant as ever.
By Esther Scharf – Chabad.org
Sunday, June 7 1981:
Six F-15 escorts and eight F-16 fighter bombers roared off the runway from Etzion Air Force Base in southern Israel. The air was thick and tense. Prior to take-off, Lt. General Rafael Eitan briefed the pilots. “The alternative is our destruction,” he said, displaying unusual emotion.
Israel’s intelligence had recently confirmed that Iraq had intentions of producing weapons in their Osirak nuclear facility. The atomic bombs which the Iraqi reactor would be capable of producing from enriched uranium or plutonium could be as fatal as the one that landed on Hiroshima. Realizing the mortal danger facing the people of Israel, the Israeli government decided to attack. At 3:55 p.m., while the country innocently bustled about its daily activities, the fighter jets secretly took off.
Every detail of the mission was planned meticulously. The target was distant: 1,100 kilometers from Israel. The courageous group of elite pilots included Ilan Ramon, may his memory be blessed, as well as others selected from the crème de la crème of the Israeli Air Force’s fighter corps.
After a tense but uneventful low-level navigational route, the fighter jets reached their target. At 5:35, they identified the reactor’s dome, gleaming in the late afternoon sunlight. The enemy defenses, caught by surprise, opened fire too late. One minute and twenty seconds later the reactor to lie in ruins. All six planes returned home safely.
Israel – and the entire world – was saved from mortal danger.
June 7 1981, Day before Shavuot
The grand gathering in honor of the completion of the third Children’s Torah Scroll at the Western Wall. The Torah was written specifically in the merit and for the unity of Jewish children worldwide.
An urgent directive from the Rebbe was dispatched from his headquarters in Brooklyn. The Rebbe instructed his emissaries around the globe to stop their usual pre-holiday activities and spend every spare moment “selling” letters in the Torah to Jewish children. The emissaries were then to send back a report on that same day exactly how much was accomplished.
Two months earlier, the Rebbe had explained the importance of writing Torah scrolls in which thousands of Jewish children will be partners through purchasing one letter for the minimal cost of one dollar. Through every child “owning” his own letter, hundreds of thousands of Jewish children around the globe would be united in one joint scroll.
In a public address, the Rebbe stated that “we now live in a world rent with confusion and turmoil . . . Nowadays, even a single deranged, demented, or frustrated individual who has access to a destructive button or trigger can upset an entire region or country. . . Such unprecedented chaos must be countered with unique measures.” The Rebbe continued that this new campaign for Jewish unity achieved through the communal children’s Torah – in addition to taking the natural steps necessary to achieve piece – would ensure peace in Israel and across the world.
The past two months had been full of activity, as thousands of children participated in this wide-spread campaign. But it was a mystery to all why on the day before Shavuot, amidst the many holiday activities, the Rebbe had suddenly deemed it crucial to obtain as many letters as possible. The emissaries followed his directives, while wondering about the sudden urgency.
At 5:36 that afternoon, the threat of horrific terror against Israel, and its repercussions around the world, was averted.
Could there be any connection between this dramatic miracle and the Rebbe’s urgent directive?
You can draw your own conclusion, but let me just add one detail:
The following year, on the holiday of Chanukah, the Rebbe announced that he had received a letter about a certain prophecy in Daniel which was connected to the “Letter-in-the-Torah-campaign.” The Rebbe was so enthusiastic about this find that he said it deserved an entire gathering just to share it.
The unique prophecy that so piqued the Rebbe’s excitement was a verse in Daniel (12:1), discussing the wars prior to Moshiach’s arrival: “Whoever is found in the Sefer [scroll] will be saved.”
The children’s Letter-in-the-Torah Campaign is still active, and has since been broadened by the Rebbe to include adults too.
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Rabbi Shmuel Greisman from the Ois B’Sefer Torah campaign adds:
“As Israel once again strikes the nuclear infrastructure and regime of those who seek to annihilate the Jewish people, it is a most fitting time to encourage as many Jews as possible to sign up for a letter in the Sefer Torah, and ‘Whoever is found in the Sefer [scroll] will be saved.’
“May we merit to witness the fulfillment of the prophecy in Daniel, with the coming of Moshiach and the salvation of the Jewish people.”
To buy a letter in the children’s Sefer Torah, click here.
Please be clear there is a kids Torah and sefer Torah Hklali. Sefer Torah Hklali every soldier should buy a letter. Sefertora.org.il