By D Chaim
A deafening noise broke the silence. Mendy who had been sleeping peacefully in his bed opened his eyes in a fright. Without thinking twice he put his hands together and mumbled, “Modeh Ani.”
“What could that noise be?” he wondered anxiously.
“Oy vei, it must be a missile from Iran. I must get to the sealed room immediately. It can be very dangerous!”
He glanced at his brother Yossi who was fast asleep and realized that he would not be getting up before the clock showed 6:45.
“What should I do? Everyone is asleep. It seems as though nobody else heard the siren. I must save them. Our lives might be in danger!”
Mendy bent over and washed his hands and then got out of bed. Without realizing it, his right foot caught on the edge of the basin of water and before he could blink, the basin had turned over and the floor was full of water.
“Oy, of all times for this to happen! There is no time for this. Any minute now a missile can land!”
He put on his slippers and then, still half asleep, he went to look for the sealed room. He spent several minutes wandering around the rooms of the house and finally remembered that they did not have a sealed room. For some reason, he did not remember that there was a bomb shelter under the building that all the neighbors shared.
Mendy thought, “What will happen if a missile lands near our building?” Frightening thoughts began running through his mind. He closed his eyes in an attempt to stop the tears that threatened to burst forth, but he finally couldn’t help himself. He felt first one drop squeeze out and trickle down his cheek and that was followed by another teardrop and another.
Mendy opened his eyes and what he saw woke him up completely. He saw Yossi holding the cup he had gotten at the Camp Shabbos and slowly sprinkling drops of water on him. “Mendy, you’re not waking up today! It’s late and I figured this is the only way I can get you up.”
“What? It was only a dream?”
Mendy looked around and the remaining water on the floor after he had dried it early in the morning reminded him of when he had spilled his negel vasser. “Then it really did happen! I guess that at some point, after I did not find the sealed room, I fell back asleep.”
After he quickly got ready, Mendy rushed to school. At the ten o’clock recess, he asked his good friend Moishy whether he heard a siren in the middle of the night. “No, I didn’t,” said Moishy.
In the evening, when he returned home, his mother welcomed him with a smile and after he put his briefcase away, he told her what had happened at night. “I guess the siren I heard in my dream was so realistic that when I woke up I was sure we had to go to the sealed room and I did not notice that the siren had stopped.”
“Mendy, I think you heard about an Iranian nuclear reactor and you’re a little worried and maybe a bit frightened, and that is why you had a dream about a siren.”
“Yes! How did you know?” wondered Mendy. “I heard that in Iran they built a place from where they can send dangerous missiles toward us in Eretz Yisroel. Isn’t that scary?”
“I want to tell you about something that happened about twenty years ago,” said his mother. “Then you decide if it is something to be afraid of.
“Back then, the leader of Iraq was a wicked man by the name of Saddam Hussein. A neighboring country to Iraq, called Kuwait, had vast natural resources of oil which is why it is a wealthy country. Saddam, who wanted that oil, invaded Kuwait with his army and conquered it. When the nations of the world, led by America, threatened that if he doesn’t leave Kuwait they would attack him, he threatened them back and said he would send missiles at Eretz Yisroel.”
“Really? Weren’t you terrified?” trembled Mendy.
“The entire world was in an uproar,” continued his mother, “because Saddam was crazy and cruel and could have irresponsibly used dangerous weapons that could have destroyed the world. We here in Eretz Yisroel were very frightened and considered leaving. Then came the Rebbe’s announcement that there is nothing to be scared of and that miracles and wonders would take place.
“The Rebbe also publicized the Midrash from Yalkut Shimoni which I will read to you. ‘The year that Melech HaMoshiach is revealed, the nations of the world will antagonize each other. The king of Persia antagonizes the King of Arabia with war. The King of Arabia goes to Edom for advice… And all the nations of the world begin to panic and are afraid, and Israel too is afraid … and Hashem then says to them “Do not fear, for everything that I have done is for your benefit… Your time of redemption is now.”’
“In the next paragraph in the Midrash it says, ‘The Sages learned, when Melech HaMoshiach comes he stands on the roof of the Beis HaMikdash and announces to Yisroel and says, humbles ones, the time for your redemption has arrived.’ Yes, the Midrash that was written many years ago already described in detail what happened twenty years ago, events that are indications of the Geula. And at that time, the Rebbe wanted everyone to know that the time for Geula had come.
“So we were not at all afraid when the Gulf War began and although 39 missiles landed in Eretz Yisroel, nobody was killed and we knew that these events herald the imminent Geula.”
“Thank you Mommy,” said Mendy. “That’s it; I’m not going to be afraid anymore. Now I know that even if I hear an actual siren it will only remind me to be joyfully ready to welcome Moshiach.”