By Rabbi Nachman Seltzer
As many people know, on October 7th, the enemy was able to infiltrate almost every moshav and kibbutz that they tried to enter, only failing when they arrived at the settlements that kept Shabbos and whose gates were locked shut. Without question, more than we keep Shabbos — Shabbos keeps us. More than we protect Shabbos — Shabbos protects us. In one kibbutz, there was a family who had started keeping Shabbos. It was the mother who was mainly interested in becoming more religious, while the father was more or less going along with his wife. Since they lived in a kibbutz that was not religious at all, none of their neighbors kept Shabbos, which meant that the atmosphere on the kibbutz wasn’t very conducive to keeping Shabbos properly. For this reason, the family began leaving their home and spending Shabbos in other communities. Prior to Simchas Torah of 2023, the parents decided that they weren’t up to going away for Shabbos and Yom Tov that week, since the mother was expecting a baby soon. Instead of traveling to another community for Shabbos, they would host a religious family at their home instead.
Surrounded by a Special Protective Cloud Called “Shabbos”
On the morning of October 7th, they started hearing gunshots in the kibbutz and the sounds of people yelling at one another in Arabic. It was clear that something terrible was going on. Like most people who lived in that part of the country, they knew what they were supposed to do in the wake of an attack, and they quickly ran into their safe room, hoping and praying that they would make it through the day alive. As the hours passed and the sounds of shooting still had not abated, they kept expecting the enemy to come crashing through their door. But no one came. No one even tried to see if anyone was there. It was as if the terrorists couldn’t see their home, as if they were surrounded by a special protective cloud — a cloud called “Shabbos.”
Eventually, after many hours, IDF soldiers arrived and a fierce battle ensued. When it was over, the family was finally able to leave their home. They were incredulous when they grasped the full extent of the miracle they had experienced, when they realized how many people had been killed while they had been spared by the hand of Hashem. But even then, they still didn’t know the extent of the miracle. Over the next few days, maps and other intelligence were discovered on the bodies of the terrorists who had been dispatched from Gaza to kill as many people as they could. On one terrorist, a map was found that included every single house in that family’s community — along with information about the family who lived there, such as how many people lived in the house and other relevant information that the terrorist would need to know.
Shabbos Has Protect the Jewish People Since the Beginning of Time
The information came from Arabs who had been working on the kibbutz and had been spying on the residents so they could pass on the information to Hamas. Next to the line on the map that included information about this particular family it stated, “They are never home on Shabbos.” And so, even though they were home that Shabbos, Shabbos protected them, just as Shabbos has protected the Jewish people since the beginning of time.
Reprinted from the Parshas Vayakhel 5784 edition of At the ArtScroll Shabbos Table. Excerpted from the ArtScroll book – “Angels in Orange: Uplifting Stories of Courage, Faith and Miracles from the United Hatzalah Heroes of October 7th” by Rabbi Nachman Seltzer.
