Emergency Landing
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Chazal tell us, "כל המקיים נפש אחת מישראל, כאילו קיים עולם מלא"", saving one Jewish life is like saving the entire world. They are not only talking about a physical life. "נפש אחת", "one life," refers also to the spiritual life of one Jewish soul. To bring one Jew back to Hashem is tantamount to bringing generations of Jews back to Him. No one wants to bring a Jew back to religion more than Hashem. It is amazing to see the lengths that Hashem will go to awaken one Jewish soul.
A man by the name of Daniel Assor, from Israel, tells the following story about himself. After finishing his service in the IDF, he, along with some friends, moved to New York with the dream of becoming wealthy. They started a business distributing fashion accessories, and before long, they were making a lot of money. Daniel got a pilot's license and bought his own plane.
During his time in New York, Daniel veered off the path of Judaism, got mixed up with the wrong people and married a Dutch Catholic. Daniel always had a yearning for spirituality, as did his wife. They investigated all types of religions. Eventually, they met some nice Christians and joined their Bible study group, deciding to practice Christianity. They became very involved with the church, and Daniel even became a Catholic missionary. Nevertheless, in the recesses of his mind, he was never quite settled with his path.
Daniel's dream was to become a flight instructor. He and his wife moved to Florida, where he pursued a degree in professional aviation. At college, there was a class on theology, given by a priest who had studied at the Vatican for ten years. The class was supposed to explore all the different religions. It was very appealing to Daniel. When it came time to discuss Judaism, the priest said that there was once a man named Abraham who worshiped the god of the mountain whose name was Shin Dalet Yud. Daniel raised his hand and said, "I know Judaism. That's a mistake. Shin Dalet Yud is the name of Hashem, not a mountain god. It's on the outside of every mezuzah."
Another student got up and angrily told Daniel to keep his comments to himself. There was a lot of tension in the room, and the teacher called a short break. A student came over to Daniel and said, "We're here to get good grades; don't start controversy now." Daniel replied, "I'm here to find the truth."
When they went back to class, the teacher was waiting by the door. He told Daniel, "You got your hundred in this class. You don't need to come anymore. Go to the library, and I'll send you people who need help." Daniel knew that this priest didn't want him in the class because he would challenge him. He felt something was not right and became confused. There were some other stories that he told where he felt that Hashem was talking to him and telling him to come back to Judaism.
One night, he was driving home, feeling very emotional. He passed by a church and felt the need to pray. He went in. It was dark and basically empty. He looked around at the high ceilings and the pictures on the wall, and he started talking to G-d. He said, "I'm 33 years old, married and successful, but I'm confused. Something is telling me to go back to Israel, but I don't know where I belong. G-d, I am searching for You. I'm interested in the truth. Please give me a sign." He stayed there for a while, crying, and then he went home.
Meanwhile, Daniel's sister married a former priest who had converted to Judaism. That man contacted Daniel and told him what he was doing was wrong. He wanted to meet to discuss theology. When the priests in Florida heard about this, they saw it as an opportunity to win him back to Christianity. They set Daniel up with a private training program, showing him all the possible arguments and counter arguments. A few months later, he met his brother-in-law for a debate. They argued for days and then continued for months of correspondence back and forth. After a year, Daniel concluded that Christianity was false and stopped going to church. His wife was so upset with him that she gave him an ultimatum: If he can't see eye to eye with her on religion, they would have to separate.
As difficult as it was for him, Daniel decided to leave. However, he didn't come back to Judaism yet. He wanted to get involved again in his old business. He called his friends and said that he wanted to take merchandise and fly it to the Florida Keys himself. He made one delivery to Key West and landed the plane at 1:00 in the morning. He was on his way back to Miami in the middle of the night, when he heard the weather report. It sounded very bad. He was supposed to refuel in Key Largo, but air traffic control said that weather was too bad to land there. Then, suddenly, his left engine went out. He contacted Miami, and they asked how much fuel he had. He told them and they said, "You're going to need an emergency landing. There's an emergency Air Force landing strip in the middle of the ocean. You'll have to find it and land there." At that moment, his second engine quit. He was 7000 feet in the air now and gliding. He said that it was too dark to find that emergency landing strip.
Uncharacteristically, ground control then asked him, "Where are you from?" "Israel," he replied. They said, "Does that mean you're a Jew?" "Why?" he asked. They responded, "Because you'd better start praying. You're in big trouble."
They told him to jump out of the plane when it got close to the water. However, he was too afraid to plunge into the dark, shark infested waters. He was losing altitude fast, and the situation was becoming desperate. He felt that he was about to lose his life. He screamed from the depths of his heart, "Shema Yisrael," with all of his might.
Suddenly, he felt the wheels hitting the ground and he slammed on the brakes. It was pitch black and pouring rain. When the plane came to a screeching halt, he opened the door. He saw water to the left. He opened the other door and saw water to the right. He got out of his plane and discovered that he had miraculously hit the emergency landing strip, and his plane had stopped just five feet before the water began again. He just sat there shaking until a rescue crew came.
When he was taken back to safety, all he could think about was that "Shema Yisrael" and that Hashem had saved his life. He started going to shul and learning with a Rabbi Biton, who eventually advised him to move back to Israel. There, he got married to a baalat teshuva and had seven children. He went on to study Torah for many years in the kollel at Yehave Da'at.
Today, Rabbi Daniel Assor is involved in bringing Jews back to Hashem. In an amazing string of events orchestrated by Hashem, a Jew who was so far away came back. Hashem wants everybody, no matter how far they have strayed.
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