By Aliza Lipkin

We all have heard stories of divine providence that serve as moments of confirmation that G-d is indeed looking out for us.

9/11 was one of those moments for me. My husband was supposed to be passing through the World Trade Center at precisely the time the planes hit, but he got delayed. The night before he told me he would run some errands, but he didn’t. I got very angry and so he promised me he’d do them the next morning. I was still angry because I knew it would make him late for work and I didn’t want that either. But the errands were pressing and needed to be taken care of ASAP, so off he went.

That morning, I was home cleaning the house with the TV on in the background keeping me company. I stopped frozen in my tracks when the report came in of the first plane hitting the twin towers. My gut knew it was terrorism and I had a feeling it wasn’t over. I plopped down on the couch and glued myself to the TV watching in horror as the second plane hit. I was speechless. 

Then my husband walked in the door. I just stared at him in disbelief. G-d decided his time was not up yet and I felt the tears surface. Just an hour before I was burning with anger at something so trivial, but in the end it  saved his life.

Two years later we made Aliyah with three small children. It was always my dream and 9/11 seemed to be screaming, “what are you waiting for?” I can’t honestly say it was our reason for going but it certainly helped me when trying to explain the move to others.

I made aliyah at the height of the second Intifada and I can’t tell you how many people asked me if I was off my rocker. They did not understand how I could “risk my life” and leave America. After 9/11 they understood when I said that safety is an illusion and where one lives does not secure a future. Truth be told, for me, it didn’t even matter. I wanted to make aliyah long before anyone ever thought that Muslim terrorists could attack America in such a way. 

All I knew was that G-d gave us the land for a reason. If the Omniscient G-d thinks it is where His people belong and gave it to us as an act of love then that is where I needed to be. Living in Israel has it’s sacrifices and dangers as does any place, but I am home now and I am happy.

And it is here is where I see hashgacha pratit every single day. 

I live in a tiny country surrounded by huge countries bent on our destruction.

At times I pass people on the street or sit next to someone on the bus who wants to harm me in some way. In Israel, we must have security guards everywhere, schools, markets, banks, malls, EVERYWHERE because there exists a very real threat every second of every single day.

For this very reason, I appreciate the small things daily. Every smile, every kiss, every breath I take is an additional miracle. G-d is watching over this country and constantly shielding us from all sorts of harm.

So you know where I see the most hashgacha pratit? It isn’t in my husband’s escape from 9/11. It is in seeing him water the roses in my garden outside my home on a desert mountain in a miraculous country that by no logical reason should still be standing today.