When the recent rebellion broke out in Egypt it made me think of the Yom Kippur War which took us by surprise and caught us unprepared.
I remember that Yom Kippur afternoon vividly. I left shul in the middle of Musaf for an entirely personal reason — my wife was deep in labor and I had to take her to the hospital. On the way of course I saw the action in the street men being drafted left and right for immediate mobilization to war. Many were wearing talleisim as they were rushed off in any available vehicle including private cars to their various military units (a young chassidic man from our shtiebel went straight out to the battlefield and never returned Hy”d). And then as the siren sounded letting us know that Egyptian fighter planes were on their way to Tel Aviv I rushed home for dear life to protect the three little children I’d left there….
Why did I suddenly recall that day? Because of what happened soon afterward. I too was drafted and together with my regiment I was brought to the front along the Sinai shore facing Egypt. Some days later as the fighting progressed and we sensed an interlude of relative quiet I became the “hero” of my unit. Since I was the only Torah-observant soldier in the battery I was appointed by my comrades to be the direct representative of HaKadosh Baruch Hu. What was going on here in the higher spheres they wanted to know? And it was my job to explain. Why did this war break out almost bringing the State of Israel to destruction? And mainly why were we so totally taken by surprise?
The explanation I gave them on the Sinai sand dunes is just as relevant now when surprises are popping up on all sides.
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