Back in 1938, actor/producer Orson Welles produced a live radio program called The War of the Worlds. In it, Welles – in a very convincing manner – reports on aliens from Mars invading Earth as they land in Grovers Mill, New Jersey. Although not intended, people listening to the program thought it was real, and that Martians were actually invading our country. A major panic ensued, for which Welles was later forced to apologize to the public.
Well, now this is being played back in New Jersey and elsewhere, except this time it’s not fiction. Dozens and dozens of drones have been reported by civilians, police, and politicians.
The government has been hounded with demands to explain these sightings, but so far, the best they can say is that they have no idea but there is nothing to worry about.
That’s great. They cannot explain what the drones are, but they can assure us that they are not coming from a sinister source. It reminds me of the days after the collapse of the World Trade Center when the government assured us that the air was safe to breathe. How many lives did that cost?
It is easy to blame the hapless Biden administration for this cluelessness. No doubt there is a lot of truth to that. But I think something deeper is going on.
The Torah in the beginning of Parshas Bo starts by saying that Hashem told Moshe to approach Pharaoh because He intends on continuing the plagues in order that “your sons and sons’ sons will relate the mockery I made of Egypt.” The Chasam Sofer explains that Egypt was the most prominent and proudest country in the world then. Hashem wanted to show that, at the end of the day, they are living at Hashem’s mercy, and He could toy with them as He pleases. This was designed to give Pharaoh pause and soften his stand with the Jews.
In this great country, we have often tended to toss Hashem out the window. We Americans are the most advanced economically and technologically. We have complete confidence in our government. Surely, we are in control of the skies above us. Occasionally, we need a little reminder that we are not as omnipotent as we may think. We can’t even figure out what is flying over our roofs.
Look what has happened in the Mid-East. Hezbollah has been reduced to rubble. Hamas is breathing its last. The brutal dictator Bashar al-Assad, who together with his father have ruled Syria for over 50 years, has collapsed in 11 days, leaving its kingmaker Iran totally defanged. I hate to bask in that glory, because it cost Jewish lives. But was this not a perfect example of Hashem showing the world that He can move the chess pieces as He wishes?
We have seen what has become of some G-dless people in society. A crazed kid kills an innocent father of two and a self-made success because he doesn’t like the insurance business he represents.
The reaction of some people such as Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and AOC in condemning the atrocity is a big fat “Yes, but…,” i.e., of course you can’t justify murder, but the assassin had a point: Insurance companies are too greedy.
And then there are online funding sites that are raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for the murderer. It is no coincidence that this is coming from the same people who support the pro-Hamas terror group and the taking of innocent babies from their mothers’ wombs. They have a totally corrupt moral compass.
The drones should leave us with an important message: Hashem is taking note. This country needs to have a total overhaul in its priorities. Hopefully this will come about in the coming secular year. We don’t want to continue the mockery we are experiencing.
Rabbi Yoel Schonfeld is the Rabbi Emeritus of the Young Israel of Kew Gardens Hills, President of the Coalition for Jewish Values, former President of the Vaad Harabonim of Queens, and the Rabbinic Consultant for the Queens Jewish Link.
