Have you ever felt fueled by faith for an important mission? How did it feel? What catalyzed your faith?
Over the past week, I sought to weave a connection between the Pogrom against Jews in Amsterdam, the boycott of foreign airlines flying to Israel, the rescue mission of El Al Airlines, and the torah portion of Lech Lecha.
On November 7th, Jews and Israelis were targeted in a pogrom attack at a football (soccer) match between Maccabi Tel Aviv and the Dutch team Ajax in Amsterdam. Immediately following the game, a premeditated assault on Israeli and Jewish fans ensued with sadly ineffective local police protection. You can read more about this horrific attack here and here.
Israeli and Jewish fans were assaulted on the streets. They fled to safety in their hotel rooms and were instructed not to leave for fear of further targeted attacks. Ironically the Amsterdam Football Pogrom was two days after, November 9th, was the 86th anniversary of the Kristallnacht attack on Jews.
Given the extraordinary physical threat to nearly the 3,000 Israeli and Jewish fans trapped in Amsterdam, El Al Airlines organized an incredible rescue operation. The background of this rescue mission merits unpacking to explore the meaning of faith fueling flights.
This week, I also attended the Calcanist conference in Miami which was a gathering of leading Israeli and Jewish technology entrepreneurs and investors. Dina Ben Tal Ganancia the CEO of El Al spoke on one of the panels.
She discussed the unprecedented rescue operation, saying that “In the morning, we are an airline and sometimes at night we an army.” She explained the extraordinary circumstances of the Amsterdam rescue mission which required the special permission of the Chief Rabbi to fly on Shabbat. You can read more about it here.
The concept of faith playing such a central role in El Al Airways connected me with this week’s parsha of Lech-Lecha. Abraham is the first patriarch of the Children of Israel. What was extraordinary about Abraham was not what accomplished, but what he believed. Abraham was the first to find faith in a monotheistic god. Abraham left his former family and community that worshiped multiple deities.
When I thought of the El Al mission to fly with faith and rescue Israelis and Jews, I was saddened by many global airlines’ boycott of Israel which meant that El Al was the last resort to get from Europe to Israel.
Abraham was the father to Ishmael which led to Islam, Isaac to Judaism, and later Jesus the father of Christianity.
When I reflected on the Abraham Peace Accords which honored Abraham and the connections of Judaism and Islam, I was heartened to read that UAE continues to fly to Israel and help connect Israel to the rest of the world. You can read about these continued flights here.
The UAE is determined to maintain the spiritual bond and commercial promise of the Abraham Accords to bring peace, prosperity, and spiritual access to the UAE, Israel, and the rest of the world.
I believe that these flights flying to and from Israel on El Al and UAE carriers (Fly Dubai and Etihad) have been fueled by faith and the pursuit of peaceful possibilities.
Further Reading
- You can read more about the rescue flights out of Amsterdam here.
- You can learn about the history of Anne Frank and here history in Amsterdam here.
- You can learn more about the horrific Kristallnacht attacks here.
- You can read more about the first flight between Dubai and Israel here.
- You can read more about the historic Abraham Peace Accords, here, here, and here.
