The 1947 film “Miracle on 34th Street” remains one of the top Christmas movies of all time. It follows Kris Kringle, hired as Macy’s Santa, who insists he is the real Saint Nicholas. A skeptical single mother and her young daughter come to believe in him as a court case tests whether he is truly Santa Claus, restoring faith in kindness and Christmas miracles.
This week, with the averting of a mass calamity involving an Islamist terrorist’s attempt to hijack a plane full of nearly 180 passengers, we are celebrating a series of miracles that are far more noteworthy and could be the theme of a film called “Miracles at 34,000 Feet.” Here are just some of the miracles:
The captain and the cockpit door
Attacked by his jihadi co-pilot, Captain Smit Machchhar was stabbed critically. Collapsing on the floor, Machchhar used the last moments of his energy to unlock the cockpit door. Without that, passengers could not have entered.
Nina
Sometimes the biggest miracles come in the smallest and least obvious of packages. Nina is a young girl whose quick thinking and courage helped save all the passengers’ lives during the frightening incident aboard a flight from Dubai to Israel. While Captain Machchhar was being attacked, Nina went to the bathroom and heard the captain’s cries for help. Without hesitation, she rushed to wake her mother and urged her to check the cockpit. Nina’s mother immediately ran toward the cockpit and shouted: “He’s getting stabbed!”
The plumber, banker, businessman and dentist
Israel passengers ran into action toward the cockpit instead of freezing. Four Israelis – plumber Yaniv Hayun, dentist Dr. Shota Musaev, businessman Assaf Rajuan and banker Tzvika Manes – forced their way in while the plane was diving and the terrorist co-pilot still on top of the captain. Each individually and collectively saved the plane and passengers from otherwise certain disaster. Thanks to unbelievable courage and quick thinking, ordinary men stepped up in extraordinary circumstances and a catastrophe was averted.
Innovation and bravery
The heroic passengers Rajuan and Manes used physical force to restrain the jihadi co-pilot with headphone or charging cords. They pulled him off the controls, put him in a hold and tied his hands and legs. Rajuan kept him neutralized for about 50 to 55 minutes until landing.
Late night TV
Hayun, the plumber, credits his quick thinking to watching the crash series “Mayday” (also known as “Air Crash Investigations”). With no pilot license or training, he took control and leveled the dive, using what he had learned from Mayday. The plane began to level and he handed control to one of the real pilots who happened to also be on board. Had he not done it gently, the plane could have fallen apart.
Spare pilots on board
Two off-duty pilots were already on the passenger list. After the Israelis’ initial intervention, they took the controls, stabilized the aircraft and made the emergency landing at Tabuk. The plane had been so badly damaged because of the rapid drop and high speed that only an experienced pilot could have landed the plane.
The airframe held
Tracking data and passenger accounts put the drop at about 17,000 feet in under two minutes (some reports say nearly 14,000 feet in under 30 seconds!), close enough to the speed of sound that most of the rudder had torn off. Aviation observers said that at such speed, they were surprised the jet did not break up.
The doctor on board
The only doctor aboard was Dr. Shota Musaev, an Israeli dentist. He sprinted forward within seconds, stopped the captain’s bleeding and stabilized his blood pressure. He said Machchhar was conscious and praying, and that he feared they would lose him. Musaev also helped re-tie the attacker. Had it not been for his quick thinking, Captain Machchhar would have likely bled out.
The Saudis stepped up
All reports are that Saudi officials stepped up, allowed the plane full of Israelis to land, treated the captain, restrained the jihadi co-pilot and provided food and a warm welcome to the Israeli passengers. This week marked the first direct commercial flight between Saudi Arabia and Israel, so maybe more miracles are in store.
Everyone walked away and got home safely
About 174 passengers – including 20 to 30 children – and crew survived. They took off from Dubai in the morning and were home in Israel by the end of the day, averting an unthinkable disaster. Rather than dozens of families mourning, this weekend as Israelis observe Shabbat and celebrate Simchat Torah, dozens of Israelis will thank God in Heaven for the Miracles at 34,000 feet.
Birkat HaGomel is a Jewish blessing of thanksgiving recited in a minyan – a public prayer gathering – after a person has been delivered from danger or experienced a significant rescue. It expresses gratitude to God for protection and safe passage. “Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, Who bestows kindness upon the undeserving, and Who has bestowed every goodness upon me.” The blessing does not say that the person who survived deserved to be saved. Instead, it acknowledges that God’s kindness extends even to those who feel unworthy, making the act of gratitude itself an expression of humility. The congregation responds, as should we, “May He who has bestowed every goodness upon you continue to bestow every goodness upon you forever.”
There’s a timeless Jewish joke about the theme of our holidays that also seems particularly relevant this week: “They tried to kill us. We won. Let’s eat.” A seudat hodaya (thanksgiving meal) is a festive meal Jews hold to thank God after being saved from danger, recovering from serious illness or experiencing a miracle. It is a display of public gratitude and faith, breaking bread together as a sign that life has been restored.
This Shabbat coincides with Simchat Torah, the festival of the completion of the reading of the Torah at the conclusion of Deuteronomy (Devarim) as an annual cycle, and starting over again with Genesis (Bereshit). Three years ago, when Simchat Torah also fell on a Shabbat, as the Jewish people celebrated, other Hamas jihadi terrorists perpetrated the greatest massacre of Jewish people since the Holocaust. Israelis are still traumatized by the 2023 attack and massacre. The miracles this week do not diminish the past, but do show that God still has our back.
The 1947 “Miracle on 34th Street” story of Kris Kringle is a feel-good fantasy. The “Miracles at 34,000 Feet” must cause us to be alert to, and resolve to combat, Islamist jihadi terror in all its forms. Whether you’re a plumber, pilot, businessman, banker, dentist, or a little girl, nobody can turn away from this clear and present danger. Buckle up. This is not a fantasy.
Continue reading...
[ H/T WorldNetDaily ]
