G-d Is My Co-Pilot

I just finished working on this issue of Voices. Yay. In fact, this issue will be on the stands today. I hope you enjoy it. (You can hopefully read it on-line tomorrow, IY"H - http://www.voices-magazine.com/ .)

Now I have a full day of errands and work to do in the next few hours. So, instead of running around and beginning the tedious difficult stuff, I decided to start my day in an exciting way, and try a little research for one of the dance numbers we're going to be doing next year, IY"H, in DAMES of the DANCE 4 - The Jewish People in Its Land.

The number I was working on is a big Busby Berkley-type army dance number. You're gonna love it. (No, you can't buy tickets already. :) )

Anyway, while searching for other soldier dances and marches, I came upon the following clip. It is a clip of a Hizbullah march/parade in Lebanon. These guys are good. They've got the rhythm. They've got the moves and they've got the drive. At one point, you can hear them screaming about "Al Quds", i.e Jerusalem. So, they're obviously not preparing for battle against Turkey or Scandinavia.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYI0HBrEVN4&feature=related

G-d Is My Co-Pilot

This would all scare me very much for many reasons that I won't enumerate. Then suddenly I remembered one thing, "G-d is my co-pilot." (Actually, he's the co-pilot of our Air Force aces.) G-d is also in our tanks. He is in our submarines and "walking" beside our infantrymen.

He was with us when Joshua fit the battle of Jericho. He was with us when David trounced the Philistines. He was inspired the Maccabees to battle the Syrian-Greeks and ultimately liberate Jerusalem. And He was there in 1948 when Holocaust refugees fought against the Arab nations in the Middle East. He never gave up on the Jewish people. He guided our way in the Six Day War 1967 and the Yom Kippur War of 1973. He even protected our soldiers in Gaza in Operation Cast Lead.

One military website - http://www.globalfirepower.com/ - rates the Israeli Army as about the 11th most powerful Army in the world. [1 U.S.A., 2 China, 3 Russia, 4 India, 5 U.K., 6 France, 7 Germany, 8 Brazil, 9 Japan, 10 Turkey, 11 Israel...] We're rated ahead of Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia, etc.

The countries are rated by the number of their soldiers, their fire power, their equipment, their budgets. Their motivation isn't a factor. Their devotion to their people and their heritage doesn't come into play in the ratings. Their love of country and love of G-d isn't listed.

If some of these factors were added in, I am sure the Israeli Army would rank even higher.

"Eleh BaRechev, V'Eileh BaSusim, Va'Anachnu B'Shem Hashem Elokeinu Nazkir" (Tehillim 20:7-10). ....
"Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the L-rd our G-d. They are brought down and fallen: but we are risen, and stand upright. Save, L-rd:
let the King hear us when we call."

My prayers, like yours, are for peace for the Jewish people, the Land of Israel and the World.