In Elul/September 1970, Islamic terrorists, jihadist fedayeen from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine went on a hijacking spree. Four international aircraft, including TWA Flight 741 originating in Tel Aviv, were diverted and forcibly landed in Zarka — a hot, sandy, out-of-use military airfield in the Jordanian desert. The demand of these resha’im was the release of thousands of terrorists held in Israel and Europe.

Among the passengers on the TWA airplane were Rebbetzin & Rav Yitzchak Hutner, famed author of Pachad Yitzchak, and rosh yeshiva of Rabbeinu Chaim Berlin, Rav Yonasan and his rebbetzin, Bruriah David. Also present were Rav Yaakov Drillman, the rosh yeshiva of Beis Yosef Novardok, Rav Meir Fund of Beis Medrash Sheves Achim, the “Flatbush Minyan,” and the Sephardic gedolim, Rav Yosef Harari-Raful and his brother Rav Avraham Harari-Raful, of Brooklyn.

The civilized world was in an uproar along with the global Jewish community. Every diplomatic channel was explored to save the hostages, leaving no stone left unturned  to bring this political and humanitarian crisis to an end.

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Rabbi Yisrael Abuchatzeira, zy’’a (may his merit shield us) known as Sidna Baba Sali, was one of the great holymen in modern Jewish history. The name of this beloved and revered Moroccan tzaddik, mekubal and miracle worker, means “Our Master, the Praying Father,” due to the extraordinary miracles that happened as a result of his prayers and blessings. Baba Sali truly operated from a supernal realm, and acted in mysterious, hidden holy ways.

Countless petitioners, Jews of all backgrounds and persuasions, made the pilgrimage to the southern town of Netivot where the holy Baba Sali shared Torah, dispensed advice, tikunim and berachos, to be embraced by the great love and faith of the tzaddik..

Shortly following the Black September hijackings, a delegation of community leaders from New York arrived in Netivot to beseech the Baba Sali to intercede on behalf of their manhigim, the shepherds of their flock, who were being held hostage. It was the second week of Elul and they had begun preparation for the new year with recitations of Selichot — but  they said, “How can we come to Yamim Noraim without our Rav? We depend on his guidance and leadership; please daven that he return home safely.” The soft-spoken octogenarian tzaddik, renown for his warm hachnasat orchim, welcoming visitors to join him in l’chaims and feasts, suddenly turned away from his guests and began to wave his hands at them, dismissing them in derision and frustration.

The visitors were in shock and crestfallen. They interpreted the Baba Sali’s response to be an ominous sign; they feared the worst and became despondent. They rushed to the tzaddik’s head shamash, Rav Mordechai Eliyahu, who would later become the Rishon l’Tziyon, Sephardic chief rabbi, seeking to make sense of the shocking interaction. In refusing the request to pray for the chatufim (kidnapped)_, did the Baba Sali imply that their fate was sealed? What caused the heartbreaking rejection? Was the tzaddik angry with them? How else could it be that he showed no interest in their request?

Now, Rav Eliyahu was aware of his rebbe’s holy ways and was privy to the extent that the Baba Sali had invested himself spiritually in the current crisis with fasting, tearful, heart-rending recitations of Tikun Chatzos, non-stop Tehillim, and a singular focus on the release of the hostages.

Rav Eliyahu went before the Baba Sali to clarify and perhaps to reconsider. The tzaddik frowned: “These men arrived and asked me to pray that rabbanim return home and be with them for the Yamim Noraim. That is not a request a Jew can make! What about the rest of the hostages? They specify only their leaders, the individuals whom they know; this is not a way a Jew davens, and not the way a yishuah will come. Anyway, tell them everyone will be home in time for Rosh Hashanah.”

Indeed, the gezeirah (decree) then began to unravel: Intoxicated by their sense of power, the PFLP terrorists went on to challenge King Hussein’s rule of Jordan, who confronted them with support from the U.S., while the U.K. released a few of the Arab jihadists. Finally, by the first night of Rosh Hashanah, after about a month of horror, fear, and desperate, tearful prayers around the world, all of the hostages were home…

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Upon facing the gezeirah of Haman, Esther sends an urgent message to Mordechai:

לֵךְ כְּנוֹס אֶת־כָּל־הַיְּהוּדִים הַנִּמְצְאִים בְּשׁוּשָׁן וְצוּמוּ עָלַי וְאַל־תֹּאכְלוּ וְאַל־תִּשְׁתּוּ שְׁלֹשֶׁת יָמִים

“Go, assemble all of the Jews who live in Shushan, and fast on my behalf; do not eat or drink for three days…”

Haman had intuitively sensed the chink in our armor, the achilles heel that makes us susceptible to attack, and had whined to King Achashverosh:

יֶשְׁנוֹ עַם־אֶחָד מְפֻזָּר וּמְפֹרָד…וְלַמֶּלֶךְ אֵין־שֹׁוֶה לְהַנִּיחָם׃

“There is one nation which is dispersed, scattered, and separate….

And it is not in Your Majesty’s interest to ‘tolerate’ them…” (3:8)

Consistent with most attempts to annihilate us, Haman’s motive is not a geographic or political claim. Rather, his genocidal plot, the unquestioning compliance of Achashverosh and the eager participation of the Persian population, are all predicated on the vulnerability of the Jews due to their splinteredness and alienation from one another. When the one nation is “dispersed, scattered and separate,” unfortunate global chaos can ensue.

However, regarding Haman’s “title”— צֹרֵר כָּל הַיְּהוּדִים— “tormentor of the Jews” (9:24), Gemara Megillah notes a startling chidush on the mechanics of the nahafoch-hu, the reversal of the negative decree. The word צֹרֵר— tormentor, derives from a word meaning “to bind together,” as in צרור החיים, “the bond of life.” Unknown to Haman and against his will, his threat causes the Jews to bond and unite in the single purpose of fasting and praying for salvation. Esther’s urgent response, gathering “all the Jews” together in Tefilla, ultimately reveals the essential oneness of our nation, the natural ahavas Yisrael — and the truth of our eternal bond with HaKadosh Baruch Hu, our King. And as a result,

«לַיְּהוּדִים הָיְתָה אוֹרָה וְשִׂמְחָה וְשָׂשֹׂן וִיקָר — כן תהיה לנו»

“For the Jews, there was light, joy, happiness and honor”— May it be for us!