Nissim Keinan, a reporter for Reshet Bet (Channel B) Radio, tells of miracles that he witnessed and also about a personal miracle he experienced. He is not ashamed to proclaim, “It’s a miracle!”
When you speak with Nissim Keinan (55) about nissim (miracles), the miracle takes on additional significance. Like his name, he is someone accustomed to miracles due to his position as a reporter for Kol Yisrael in the south. He has been exposed to miracles daily, hourly. When you hear about it from him, it’s hard not to get excited. The word “miracle,” which is constantly on his lips, has become a word used by all the broadcasters, and if you ask him, that’s a miracle itself.
“Today you can hear it on all the channels. Instead of saying ‘Luckily, nobody was hurt,’ they say, ‘Miraculously, nobody was hurt.’ That is a change in terminology that I’ve managed to inculcate into the language of the reporters. That is a spiritual miracle no less than the physical miracles. I hear anchors who say, ‘Thank G-d,’ and ‘miraculously.’ That is a serious change for the media which affects the listeners. It’s not ‘luckily’ or ‘it happened,’ it’s simply a miracle.”
As a reporter who lives in the area, we wanted to hear about miracles that he personally witnessed.
“Let’s start from the end. The numbers speak for themselves. 4600 rockets and mortars is hardly an everyday occurrence. I was a company commander in the army so I know what war is about. The small number of those injured testifies to a big miracle.
“Another thing – take the attack in Ashkelon, for example. Thursday morning, the last day of the war, a relatively new rocket (R60) landed on a house in Ashkelon without any warning siren. It was aimed at Haifa, but something went awry and it landed a lot closer than expected, on a house in Ashkelon.
“The father heard the whistling sound of the rocket when he got up for Shacharis. He immediately woke up his wife and ran with her to the children’s bedroom to take them to the fortified room. As they were on the stairs on their way to that room, the rocket exploded in their bedroom! That is a tremendous miracle considering that the damage from a rocket like that is enormous. There were 21 lightly injured people and surrounding damage for a radius of 500 meters in every direction. The rocket itself was a size the likes of which we had not seen until now, a circumference of 345 millimeters with a warhead that is stronger than the usual, nearly forty kilos of explosive material, and the parents and children were not at all injured; they got out without a scratch.
“I went to the house and it says on the aquarium: Ma Rabu Maasecha Hashem (how great are Your deeds, Hashem). Everything exploded except for the aquarium with that sign. That is one big, open miracle.”
WHEN THE CEMENT ABSORBED THE IMPACT
Keinan has worked at this job for close to thirty years. He lives in Beer Sheva and is the father of three. He follows all the events he reports from up close and has won awards for his work.
“I told about twenty-six houses in the south that sustained a direct hit. In all these cases, nobody was at home! The number 26 reminds me of the numerical value of G-d’s name. That’s my commentary but that’s the number and everyone can interpret it as he sees fit.”
Another story he chooses to share with us:
“There was a direct hit in one of the yishuvim in Tzohar, in a house where they had a shelter. The rocket fell into the shelter when the cement was still wet and the cement absorbed the force of the blow. As for the people, they were eating lunch in the house but nothing happened to them. It’s literally the hand of G-d.
“Another miracle occurred in Netivot. There is a private daycare in one of the houses consisting of five children. Despite the war, the parents continued to bring their children every day to the babysitter. One day, they didn’t come, without any particular reason. And that day, a rocket landed in the yard of the house which caused a lot of damage. It’s incredible. There is no explanation. Every day they came and one day, for no specific reason, they didn’t, and that’s the day it happened. Afterward, they made a big thanksgiving meal for the miracle.
“Another story that I got from a reliable source: Two big rockets of the Fajr type were shot in the direction of Tel Aviv. One rocket was shot down and the other they didn’t manage to intercept. Calculations show that it was intended to land in the area of the Azrieli towers. On the way, for some reason, it slowly veered toward the sea and in the end it landed north of Tel Aviv in a biking area.
“Furthermore, rockets landed in sensitive facilities which I cannot detail, but I know about instances in which they were meant to land in sensitive areas and could have caused great damage. Thank G-d, either they managed to intercept them or they fell but did not explode. These are not regular rockets but special advanced missiles imported from Iran. Miraculously, nothing happened.”
PERSONAL MIRACLE ON LIVE BROADCAST
Keinan’s stories pour forth readily, including miracles he personally experienced. During the last three operations and even before that, in Gush Katif, many mortars landed near him.
“I went through a lot. We try to publicize the miracles. I think it’s a big mitzva. It’s a minimum expression of gratitude.
“A miracle happened to me at the end of Operation Pillar of Cloud, and it happened on live broadcast. I was asked to comment on Hamas because of the impending ceasefire. I said I don’t believe in their ceasefires. As I spoke, they shot a volley of sixteen rockets toward Beer Sheva. I was on my way to the studio and saw an interception, another interception and another. I reported about them and suddenly I and Benny Teitelbaum, who was in the studio in Yerushalayim on live broadcast, heard a mighty boom. A rocket exploded twenty meters away from me. What stopped it was the neighbor’s shelter.
“You feel and live it constantly. You report to everyone and suddenly, it happens to you … The first thing I did, on live broadcast, was to run to the neighbors to save the woman and three children. I found them under the steps and Boruch Hashem, they were uninjured. Obviously, a broadcast like that made waves throughout the country. I remember the date; it was November 21, 2012.
“That’s not a miracle? What is a space of twenty meters?” concludes Keinan. Despite the danger in reporting from the field, his personal confidence is unshaken.
“Since Pillar of Cloud, I constantly say Chapter 91 of T’hillim, ‘He who dwells in the covert of the Most High will lodge in the shadow of the Almighty … A thousand will be stationed at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; but it will not approach you …’
“Interestingly, 91 – Tzaddik Alef – are the initials of Tzuk Eitan and also Tzeva Adom. When there is a Tzeva Adom (red alert), you should know, ‘It will not approach you.’”