FlyDubai: God’s Miracle or Man’s Heroism?

The elation over the safe return of the 180 Israeli passengers aboard the Flydubai flight was still “in the air” when the backlash began. People were offended that so many were calling it a miracle.

During a live interview on Fox News, a former Prime Minister of Israel said that the safe outcome of the threatened Flydubai flight was “not a miracle, it was an act of heroism by the passengers and of the Emirati crew.”

On social media, people echoed the same sentiment. How, they asked, could anyone call this a miracle when so many courageous human beings had worked so hard to prevent a tragedy?

And they had.

The heroes of that flight were extraordinary:

• The captain’s resilience: Despite being severely stabbed and bleeding heavily, Captain Machchhar summoned the strength to unlock the cockpit door.
• Immediate passenger intervention: Passengers, including Yaniv Hayoun, an Israeli plumber who put the attacker in a chokehold, and an Israeli plumber, physically breached the cockpit, fought off the attacker and dragged him out.
• Medical intervention: An onboard dentist, Dr. Shota Musayev, worked to stem the captain’s arterial bleeding and helped keep him alive.
• Trained backup: Off-duty Flydubai crew members who happened to be traveling as passengers stepped in to stabilize the aircraft and make an emergency landing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.
• The aircraft itself: Aviation experts noted how extraordinary it was that the plane survived its severe plunge without catastrophic structural failure.

Critics argue that calling this a miracle diminishes the literal blood, courage, skill and resourcefulness of the people who saved the flight.

Nothing could be farther from the truth.

What Exactly Is a Miracle?

We all know the story of the splitting of the sea. But do we remember that the sea did not split immediately?

According to the Midrash, Nachshon ben Aminadav walked into the water, continuing forward until the water reached his neck. Only then did the sea split.

He risked his life, trusting that God would intervene.

But is that allowed?

Can I blindfold myself, walk across a freeway and say, “I’m counting on God to perform a miracle”?

Of course not.

So why is Nachshon praised?

Because he wasn't counting on a miracle for himself. He was willing to risk himself for the sake of the entire Jewish people.

He did everything a human being could do. And then God did the rest.

When We Take the Credit

We just went through Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. In our prayers, we repeatedly recall the miracles of God taking us out of Egypt.

Every Friday night, in Kiddush over wine, we do the same.

Hey — it’s not Passover. Why do we keep talking about the Exodus?

Because human beings have a remarkable tendency: When something goes wrong, we blame God. When something goes right, we take the credit.

The Torah warned us about this thousands of years ago. Moses tells the Jewish people that after they enter the Land, build homes, prosper and accumulate wealth, they may become tempted to say: “My strength and the might of my hand have made me this wealth.”

And immediately comes the correction: “But you shall remember the Lord your God, for He is the One who gives you the strength to make wealth.”

The Torah isn't denying our strength. It’s reminding us where our strength comes from.

“I Prayed and Touched God”

Interviews with some of the passengers on the Flydubai flight are filled with accounts of prayer.

People recited the Shema — the declaration of faith that traditionally accompanies us at the moment of death.

One young passenger said, “I prayed and touched God.”

The heroes of Flydubai Flight 1073 are real. Their bravery was beyond, beyond. They ran into the proverbial sea.

They fought, they bled, they used their training and their ingenuity, and they saved lives.

And with all of the other factors that came together — factors we could chalk up to “coincidence,” “luck,” “nature,” or simply our own “strength and might” — we were granted a miracle.

But What About the Wind?

Just before the sea split, the Torah tells us that there was a great wind. What is this — the Weather Channel?

When I was a young girl in Hebrew school, I was taught the “real” explanations for the miracles in the Torah.

The Plague of Darkness? Perhaps a total eclipse. The splitting of the sea? Maybe it was a low tide. We can always find another explanation.

And that is part of having free will. We are free to say: It wasn't Divine. It was nature, science, coincidence.

It was us.

Human beings indeed acted heroically. But acknowledging their heroism does not require us to exclude God. Both are true.

We Have to Do Our Part

After all the inner spiritual work of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, we immediately begin building the sukkah.

The walls of the sukkah remind us of the Clouds of Glory that protected the Jewish people in the desert. We were protected — but we also had to do our part. We had to build, act, and move forward.

We need the humility to understand that our strength, courage, intelligence and ability are themselves gifts.

The passengers on that flight were heroes. Their actions should be celebrated; their courage should be honored.

And perhaps we can honor them even more deeply by recognizing that their extraordinary human strength does not make a miracle unnecessary. It may be exactly what a miracle looks like.

May we continue to rise here, each and every day, doing everything within our power — and merit the miracles from Above.