Miraculous Plane Landing Offers Lessons in Gratitude
Translated & summarized from Arutz Sheva by baba
A passenger plane that plunged for a minute before landing safely with 174 people aboard is presented as a profound miracle. The incident is used to illustrate the importance of expressing gratitude, drawing a parallel to a story involving Rabbi Shlomo Riskin and a wealthy father.
The story in 5 lines · by baba
- A plane's minute-long dive ended miraculously with all 174 people saved.
- The event prompts reflection on gratitude for life-saving miracles.
- Rabbi Shlomo Riskin's parable highlights giving thanks for recovery.
- The survival is compared to the Entebbe hostage rescue.
- The article urges profound thanksgiving for the averted tragedy.
A passenger jet that plunged for a full minute, seemingly doomed, miraculously landed safely, saving all 174 people aboard. The incident prompts reflection not only on what might have been had it ended in tragedy, but on how to express gratitude when lives are spared.
Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, founder of the "Ohr Torah" educational network, once posed a thought-provoking question at a thanksgiving feast for the recovery of a wealthy man's daughter from a serious illness. He asked the father if he would have donated a significant sum to commemorate his daughter had she not survived. When the father agreed, Rabbi Riskin suggested that God should not lose out simply because the daughter was healed, and asked what the father would give to charity in honor of her recovery.
The article draws a parallel to the plane incident, noting that anyone witnessing a plane dive at 300 km/h for a minute would assume its end. It references a Jewish legal principle stating that one is exempt from payment for a broken object if it shattered mid-air, implying that a plane in such a dive could have been considered lost.
However, the author argues that while no human would be blamed for failing to intervene in the plane's descent, God deserves gratitude. The text compares the event to the daring Entebbe rescue operation, suggesting the plane's survival might be an even greater miracle, attributing the rescue to God and "brave and fearless individuals" aboard.
The article concludes by urging profound thanksgiving, contrasting the immense prayers that would have been offered had the plane crashed in Saudi Arabia with the need to express gratitude now that all lives were saved. It reiterates Rabbi Riskin's point that God should not be deprived of thanks for the miracle.