Greatest Miracle in Our Lifetime

Shaarei Tzedek Medical Center is a hospital on a hill in the Bayit Vegan section of Jerusalem. It is known to be a world-class healthcare facility. What may not be so well known is that its maternity ward delivers over 22,000 babies annually. While there are no official stats, this is one of the highest numbers of babies delivered in one hospital in the world. To give some context, the number of babies delivered is far lower in Jacksonville, a city with a population comparable to Jerusalem. UF Health, which, according to my basic research, delivers the most babies locally, has 4,000 births in its facility. The number of babies delivered in Israel is, in fact, the highest among all nations in the developed world. The OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) is a unique forum where the governments of 37 democracies with market-based economies collaborate to develop policy standards to promote sustainable economic growth—released data showing that Israel has, on average, three children born to a woman. The study says that at least 2.1 children are needed to ensure a stable population. Most Western nations have a birth rate of 1.2- 1.8 per woman. The high birth rate in Israel is a primary factor in its population continuing to rise. It currently has a population of nearly 10 million people, a twelvefold increase in numbers since 1948, when it had a population of about 800,000. In addition to the birth rate far exceeding the death rate, Jews from all over the world have returned to their ancestral homeland. Today, there are more shuls and places of Torah study in the Land of Israel than in the last two thousand years. I think of my ancestors who lived in Eastern Europe and would gather around the Seder table and declare at its conclusion, “Next Year in Jerusalem.” For them, having a vibrant Jewish life in Israel was a fantasy. The reality of Jews returning and thriving in their ancestral homeland is a gift to our generation that I am not sure we fully appreciate. The prophet Zecharia declared two thousand years in the throes of the Jews being exiled from Israel the following words. כֹּה אָמַר ה' צְבָאוֹת עֹד יֵשְׁבוּ זְקֵנִים וּזְקֵנוֹת בִּרְחֹבוֹת יְרוּשָׁלָים וְאִישׁ מִשְׁעַנְתּוֹ בְּיָדוֹ מֵרֹב יָמִים: וּרְחֹבוֹת הָעִיר יִמָּלְאוּ יְלָדִים וִילָדוֹת מְשַׂחֲקִים בִּרְחֹבֹתֶיהָ: Translation Thus said G-d: There shall yet be elderly men and women in the squares of Jerusalem, each with staff in hand because of their great age. And the squares of the city shall be crowded with boys and girls playing in the squares. The last year and a half have been agonizing and excruciating with the war and the hostages that are still in captivity. At the same time, it is still worthy to remind ourselves about the story of Jewish life being rebuilt in our ancestral lifetime as perhaps the greatest miracle of our generation. Have a Peaceful Shabbos, Rabbi Yaakov Fisch