From Ashes to Glory: Israel’s Enduring Flame

The flames erupted on Yom HaZikaron (Day of Remembrance), as if the land itself mourned our fallen heroes. My family’s beloved tradition of distributing cupcakes to soldiers at Latrun, The Armoured Corps Memorial Site and Museum, was abruptly canceled as the memorial site itself was engulfed in fire. A few days later, driving to work past the scorched earth, the hiking trails, the wild flowers, I witnessed the aftermath – nearly 2,000 hectares of blackened land, the air still thick with ash. The acrid smell of burning lingered as I passed areas where, just days before on the Tel Aviv-Jerusalem Highway, drivers had abandoned their vehicles, walking through hellish heat to safety.

Yet amidst this destruction, I noticed something unexpected. Israeli flags, those blue and white symbols of our nationhood, still waved defiantly against the blackened landscape. They hadn’t burned to a crisp. They remained.

What message does HaShem (God) send when fires rage across the Holy Land on the eve of Yom Ha’atzmaut (Independence Day), just as we finish remembering those who gave their lives for our homeland?

The Torah speaks directly to this juxtaposition of destruction and endurance. When Moses encountered the burning bush in the wilderness, he witnessed something that defied natural law:

The s’neh (bush) burned yet was not destroyed. This miracle became the foundation for Moses’ understanding that God would deliver Israel from Egypt’s oppression. The bush symbolized Israel itself—a nation that would endure despite the flames of persecution and hatred that would engulf it throughout history.

Taking this one step further, the burning bush represents Israel’s eternal mission—to be a light unto nations while existing in seemingly impossible conditions. The fire does not represent destruction alone, but rather the Divine presence that sustains rather than consumes.

Israel’s modern history embodies this paradox. Our tiny nation has faced existential threats since its rebirth in 1948. From the War of Independence to the current threats from Iran, Hamas, and Hezbollah, Israel has been surrounded by those who wish to see it destroyed. Like the burning bush, logic would suggest Israel should have been consumed long ago.

Yet here we stand.

This Yom HaZikaron, as actual fires raged through our land, I couldn’t help but see the metaphor. The fires tested us, but they did not—could not—consume us. Our hope remains od lo avdah tikvateinu (our hope is not yet lost), as our national anthem HaTikvah declares.

In the book of Isaiah, HaShem promises:

This is no mere poetic flourish. It is the lived reality of Israel. We have walked through actual fire—and metaphorical fire—yet we remain unburned in our essential character and purpose.

The Talmud teaches us that Torah scholars are compared to fire because, like fire, Torah transforms everything it touches. Fire changes the nature of what it encounters. Israel’s fires—both literal and figurative—transform us too. They refine us. They strengthen our resolve. They remind us that our existence defies natural law.

Standing just ten minutes from where the flames raged, watching the smoke billow into the sky, I was struck by this truth: Israel’s existence is not natural; it is supernatural. No other ancient people has returned to their homeland after 2,000 years of exile to revive their language, rebuild their country, and restore their sovereignty against all odds—against Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah, and a world increasingly hostile to biblical truth.

The fires may burn, but Israel endures. Our enemies may rage, but God’s promises stand firm. We are the s’neh that burns without being consumed.

A beloved Israeli song captures this truth with piercing clarity: “Ein li eretz acheret, gam im admati bo’eret” — “I have no other country, even if my land is aflame.” The lyrics continue, “Beguf ko’ev, belev ra’ev, kan hu beiti” — “With a painful body, with a hungry heart, here is my home.” This isn’t merely patriotism; it’s biblical destiny expressed through modern Hebrew poetry.

We were told this would happen. And we were told how to survive it — by seeing the light in the darkness. By training our eyes to recognize that this pain, this confusion, this apparent chaos is not the end. It’s the prelude to redemption.

As we transition from the solemnity of Yom HaZikaron to the celebration of Yom Ha’atzmaut – and look ahead to the future, we must become the fire that burns for good. The same fire that threatens to destroy reveals our indestructible nature. Our flags still wave. Our people still stand. And unlike the physical fires that consumed our land, our hope remains eternally flammable.

This is our moment to be a light for Israel — not just with words, but with lives rooted in biblical truth.

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