We killed Sinwar on Sukkot. The 15th of Tishrey. Why is this significant?
Sukkot is a seven-day holiday, and right after it there’s an additional holiday on the eighth day, called Shmini Atzeret, as defined by Leviticus 23:34-36. The holiday is also mentioned in Nehemia 8 and in John 7. In John 7:37 Jesus talks on the “last and greatest day of the festival.”
Last year Sinwar orchestrated the worst massacre against Jews since the holocaust on that specific “last and greatest day of the festival,” Shmini Atzeret. For the past year I have been wondering – is this holiday ruined forever? Will we ever be able to celebrate it properly again? Or is it forever stained by this attack?
And today we got the answer. Future generations who celebrate Sukkot will remember this war backwards. They will first celebrate the first day of Sukkot and remember the victory achieved against our enemies, and how anyone who tries to harm the Jewish people will end up. And then, only later, on the 8th day, they will also take some time to remember the victims of the devastating attack on Shmini Atzeret.
The IDF just saved Sukkot for all future generations. I know it wasn’t necessarily on purpose, but I don’t believe in coincidences. God knows what he is doing. And he is always in control.
Tuvia Pollack - writer 