Thanking God for Miracles?

A rationalist Jewish perspective

At the end of last week, much of Israel was holding its breath. Not about another impending war with Iran, but about a four-year-old boy.

Little Yuval Kogan wandered off from his parents when they went to the beach in Ashkelon, just after noon on Thursday. If you’ve ever had your kid go missing (it’s happened to me twice), you know the icy fear that clutches your heart.

The search efforts were immense, by air, land and sea. Fire and Rescue Services were using ATVs, SUVs, and advanced scanning equipment. The police dispatched hundreds of officers along with helicopters, the Marine Unit, and divers to check the sea. The Shin Bet explored the possibility that he was kidnapped. Hundreds of drones were deployed. The Israel Dog Unit operated from a command center established by the Israel Police near the shoreline, where teams received updates and were assigned search sectors.

The afternoon came and went, then the night, then the morning. No results. At this point many people concluded that Yuval could not possibly be alive. The entire area had been searched with the utmost thoroughness. Even if he hadn’t disappeared into the ocean or been kidnapped, it had been 24 hours since he went missing, under brutally hot conditions.

And then, a man on a horse with a big knitted kippah and long peyos (the man, not the horse) got lost in the dunes and separated from the other riders in his volunteer group. And he came across a little boy sitting under a tree, weak and crying but very much alive! Yuval had wandered for miles, far beyond where the search was focused, going an entire day in the heat without food or water. Here is a heartwarming interview with the man who found him:

It was a miracle, and everyone celebrated. Yuval’s mother, a pediatrician, gave an emotional speech in which she profusely thanked everyone who had helped in the search for her son.

But some people had criticisms.