Here’s an inspiring story that comes from a Rabbi stranded at the Tel Aviv airport when a Hezbollah rocket struck the airport grounds on Wednesday.

He was set to fly to Russia as sirens went off. Everyone rushed to shelters (they have these at the Tel Aviv airport!), and thankfully, no one was hurt. Their incoming flight from Russia was diverted to Turkey, where Turkey refused to refuel it due to its destination in Israel. This forced the flight to return, leaving them stranded.

While dealing with the situation, the rabbi noticed a passenger who it turns out lives in Pyatigorsk.
The week before, friends asked the rabbi for help securing an earlier appointment with an oncologist, but they had been unsuccessful. They’re in Pyatigorsk, too. And this traveler’s best friend is the very oncologist they were trying to contact.

They arranged an appointment for the next day, turning the inconvenience of a cancelled flight into a “divine providence” moment.

Our flight is cancelled, we’re stuck in Israel, and I’ve got a crazy story to share with you. We came to the airport today, we had a flight at 12 o’clock, flying from here to Russia. What happened was at 11 o’clock there were sirens, very scary. We went running into the bomb shelters, 11 unshot rockets towards the airport.

Thank God no one was hurt. But one landed in the airport, but what happened was our plane was coming from Russia, and when it was right about to land, that’s when the rockets were launched, they had to redirect, divert to Turkey. Now what happened was they needed to refuel so they could come back to Israel.

Turkey refused to refuel the plane if it’s flying to Israel, and they were forced to go back by plane. The flight was cancelled and we’re stuck in Israel. I’m thinking, why did I come to the airport? I had seven suitcases that I packed in, food we were supposed to bring back, a big schlepper waiting here for the suitcases to come back in.

Why did this happen? I looked around me and I saw a Jew with a yarmulke that was supposed to be on my plane. I asked him, where are you flying to? He says, I live in Pyatigorsk. And that’s when I realized, that’s Why I came to the airport today. A week ago, friends of ours told us that they have a close relative in this city that desperately needs to see an oncologist.

And the earliest he was able to get an appointment was for December. They asked me if I could help them find some connection to get earlier to this oncologist. And I tried as hard as I could. I couldn’t find any connections to him. I told them sorry. This Jew, I asked him, do you by any chance have any connections to any oncologists in Pythagoras that could help us get this Jew to see this doctor?

And he said, no. This oncologist is my best friend. You called him in front of me. The guy picks up and he says, I need an appointment by you tomorrow. He says, what time? He said, four o’clock. He said, you got it. I called this person and I said, you have an appointment tomorrow at the oncologist 4 p. m. This is called my friend, divine Providence.

Sometimes things happen. Something that we didn’t plan. We thought we’re flying somewhere, we’re going somewhere, we found ourselves, but we’re really here for a different reason. The Rebbe taught us that when two Jews meet, when two people meet, they have to benefit a third person. Third Jew, a third person.

That’s what happened here today. I wish you all a wonderful day. Let’s hope and pray that we keep on being in safety. We keep on living in safety. Everything should be well. And we should always pay attention to the divine providence, the way God runs this world. It’s absolutely incredible.

Stranded in Tel Aviv airport for 8 hours… but it wasn’t about the flight – it was about a destined encounter. An incredible story of divine providence! pic.twitter.com/VNuUkqz4gL

— Chaim Danzinger | Rostov Rabbi (@RostovRabbi) November 6, 2024

It’s not clear which airline they were traveling on, though it’s clearly a connecting flight, likely from a city closer to Istanbul than Tel Aviv is.

Ultimately, though, a Hezbollah rocket connected a cancer patient with the treatment that they needed, because two passengers struck up a conversation during the ensuing delay. Any meeting may somehow yield a benefit through serendipity.