Were We Saved from Destruction without Teshuva?
7 Torah Perspectives on God’s Intervention Post 10/7 & the Iran War
by, Rabbi Aaron Zimmer
(Originally published by the Jewish Press 7/2/25)
For decades, Iran and its proxies have worked tirelessly toward a singular goal: the destruction of Klal Yisrael in Eretz Yisrael. The threat of a multi-front war, and even the unthinkable possibility of nuclear devastation, loomed large. The existential threat was real.
Iran’s evil plan for our destruction was elaborate. Hamas would launch an attack from Gaza, Hezbollah in the north and Iranian-backed militias across the region were to join in. Thousands of ballistic missiles from Iran itself were to rain down on a shocked and vulnerable Israel before it could respond. And no doubt, if this failed, the final solution would involve a nuclear strike.
And yet, we were spared. The nightmare scenario did not materialize. Retrospectively, we can see that the Iranian threat reached its peak on October 7, but it did not bring about the full-scale destruction it was designed to unleash.
Since then, the IDF has severely degraded Hamas, devastated Hezbollah, and demolished Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs. Don’t get me wrong – hostages remain, the war in Gaza continues, and ten IDF soldiers have been killed since the ceasefire in Iran. But the decades-long plan for our annihilation did not succeed. We were saved from something unimaginably terrible.
There has been a profound shift in the external landscape, but has there been a corresponding internal transformation within Klal Yisrael?
Was there teshuvah?
After October 7, many of us expected a spiritual awakening – a national movement of teshuvah, heartfelt outcry to Hashem, and renewed unity among Klal Yisrael. As the Rambam writes at the beginning of Hilchos Ta’anis, the mitzvah of responding to communal tragedy with cries to Hashem is the path of teshuvah. To ignore such moments, he warns, is to invite a cruel indifference that leads to further suffering.
And yet, to many observers, that sweeping transformation never fully materialized. The powerful emotions that gripped us in the immediate aftermath did not lead to lasting structural change or enduring national unity. Instead of us returning to Hashem, internal conflict and social discord returned to us.
The Torah promises in Sefer Devarim (30:1-3) that teshuvah brings geulah. Nevertheless, here we are, having experienced a kind of yeshuah without a clear national return. How do we make sense of that?
It’s a complex question that rests on many unspoken assumptions. Below are seven Torah-based perspectives that can help us approach this question by examining the hidden premises. These aren’t just scattered reflections. I’ve tried to offer a comprehensive, non-redundant set of possibilities, each at least partially true. Afterward, I’ll try to integrate as many of them as possible to get a fuller picture of how we can understand Hashem’s hand in these historic times.
1. There Was Teshuva Even if We Didn’t Notice
Not all internal change is public or dramatic. Some individuals and communities did reflect, return, and grow. Many Jews in Eretz Yisrael and the Diaspora reconnected through tefillah, limud haTorah, or mitzvah observance. And the near-superhuman willingness of Israeli soldiers to risk their lives, flying back to Eretz Yisrael en masse beginning on October 8, is a zechus that cannot be overstated.
What may seem like a modest or uneven response now might, in time, reveal itself as the early stages of deeper national transformation.
2. Sometimes Teshuva Follows the Yeshuah
There are times in Jewish history when geulah precedes teshuvah. Yetzias Mitzrayim came before Ma’amad Har Sinai. The miracles of the Six-Day War came before a wave of spiritual renewal. Even the full kabbalas haTorah during the story of Purim – “kiymu v’kiblu” – occurred only after the yeshuah.
Sometimes Hashem redeems first, and that act itself becomes the catalyst for teshuvah. Perhaps we are witnessing the beginnings of such a process now.
3. There Could Have Been a Greater Yeshuah
Yes, we were saved. But what if something more was possible? What if there had been a true national unity fast day immediately after October 7, a collective outcry to Hashem, and real sacrifices made across ideological lines?
Perhaps we experienced a limited yeshuah and missed the opportunity for something deeper – or even for the ultimate geulah – by failing to fully respond to the moment. The Gemara (Sanhedrin 94a) teaches that if Chizkiyahu HaMelech had sung shirah after Hashem miraculously saved Yerushalayim from the armies of Sancherev, he could have been Moshiach. But he stayed silent, and the opportunity passed.
Sometimes redemption knocks. And sometimes we don’t answer.
4. Yeshuah Doesn’t Always Depend on Teshuva
Teshuva is powerful, but it’s not the only reason Hashem intervenes. The Torah and Nevi’im speak of many motivations for Divine salvation:
● Out of pure chesed (Eichah 3:22);
● To punish the wicked (Devarim 9:5);
● To fulfill His bris – covenant – with the Avos (also Devarim 9:5);
● To be mekadeish Shemo HaGadol – sanctify His great name – through a Jewish victory (Yechezkel 20:44);
● To prevent a chillul Hashem that would result from the destruction of His people (Bamidbar 14:15-16).
Teshuva still matters. But history may unfold even when our return is incomplete. That may mean the yeshuah is slower, or less complete, than it otherwise would have been – but it still comes.
5. We Were Left to Nature and Still Succeeded
A more radical possibility: Perhaps because we did not return, Hashem withheld overt hashgacha and left us to succeed or fail by nature – what the Torah calls hester panim (Devarim 32:20). Maybe it was human effort, intelligence, the IDF, and foreign military support – not revealed miracles – that carried us through.
After all, if we had truly merited complete hashgacha pratis, could even one Jew have fallen? Yehoshua bin Nun recognized that something was spiritually off after the battle of Ai, when just 36 soldiers died.
If that’s the case, then we must ask: How much more could have occurred if we had truly turned to Hashem and received His full assistance?
6. Maybe We Haven’t Been Fully Saved
The crisis is not over. Hostages remain in Gaza, and the hatred of our enemies still burns. Maybe the din is still unfolding. Maybe this is only a temporary reprieve.
The journey to Eretz Yisrael after Yetzias Mitzrayim was nearly derailed when the people failed to internalize the lessons of their geulah. After the cheit ha-meraglim, the nation’s future hung in the balance, and the completion of the redemption was delayed for an entire generation.
This sobering possibility warns us not to misread the moment. Worse could still come, chas v’shalom, unless we take this window as a final chance to return.
7. We Can’t Understand Hashem’s Ways
Finally, we must acknowledge our limitations. The fact that all six of the previous answers are plausible, yet distinct, reminds us that Hashem’s ways are beyond us. As the navi Yeshaya declares: “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways” (Yeshaya 55:8).
Confusion doesn’t always mean we’ve failed to understand something we were meant to grasp. It may mean we’re approaching something too lofty to fully comprehend. We can follow Hashem’s revealed will through the mitzvos and do teshuvah, but the deeper calculations of the hashgacha often remain hidden.
Let us make shalom among ourselves and return to Hashem.
There is no single, definitive answer to why we were saved despite the apparent absence of mass teshuvah. Instead, there are many partial answers – some comforting, others challenging, some hopeful, and some sobering. Each one reminds us that our story is not over, and that teshuvah still matters.
Perhaps the fullest picture of what is truly unfolding emerges only when we consider most, if not all, of these perspectives together.
Yes, Hashem’s chesed may carry us even when we falter. But that’s not a reason for complacency. Already, the great yeshuah we were anticipating seems to be on pause. The evil regime in Iran remains standing and bent on revenge, and the war in Gaza continues. If we return to machlokes and division, if we waste this moment, who knows whether, chas v’shalom, our salvation won’t slip into something tragic.
Let’s not let that happen. Let’s not waste this moment.
The seeds of teshuvah were planted after October 7. Our nation’s response opened the door for something deeper. Let’s build on the current moment’s emotion and sense of achdus to create real and lasting change – not a wave of inspiration that fades after a few weeks or months.
If we return to Hashem by making peace with one another and embracing the hard compromises needed for true national harmony, then perhaps the geulah we have long awaited is within reach.
Let us turn toward each other. Let us strive for unity. Let us raise our voices together in a song of praise and gratitude to Hashem. And through sincere teshuvah, may we yet be zocheh to something even greater: days of emes, shalom, and the final geulah.
Rabbi Aaron Zimmer is the cohost of the Physics to God podcast, which presents a rational, science-based case for the existence of God. He holds a degree in physics and received semicha from Rabbi Yisrael Chait.