On January 23, a little noticed article regarding Ilan Ramon appeared in the papers, but it was an article that should have given each and every one of us pause, for it spoke volumes. Amazingly, pages from Ilan Ramon’s diary, written on the ill-fated Columbia Space Shuttle, were discovered. The fact that such a document was found is, in and of itself, miraculous. One cannot help but wonder how paper could have survived the shuttle’s plunge in 1800 degree heat. The diary was given to Ilan’s wife, Rona. She immediately identified her husband’s handwriting and asked the Israeli Police department to reconstruct the pages, and with the help of museum experts who decipher ancient manuscripts, they succeeded.

Ilan wrote of his total awe at the space flight and his deep love for his family - which is touching and beautiful, but not remarkable. Hopefully, that is what any loving husband and father would write. But what was most unusual was a Sabbath prayer that Ilan wrote and planned to recite in space in honor of the holy day. Such a prayer was not characteristic of him - he was a secular Jew, a product of the Israeli Air Force, who successfully bombed the Iraqi nuclear reactor at Osirick and fought valiantly in Israel’s wars. In every sense of the word, Ilan Ramon was a hero of Israel and that is all the more reason that this Sabbath prayer was so very meaningful. Last year, at the time of the crash, as the story of Ilan Ramon caught the attention of the world, it became apparent that he understood that as the first Israeli in space, the eyes of all mankind would be upon him, and therefore, he had a responsibility to make a statement that would convey the essence of being a Jew.

Already two years before the launching of the Columbia, Ilan gave voice to this awareness. At that time, he visited with his friend and professor, seventy year old Joachim Joseph, an atmospheric physicist at Tel Aviv University and a survivor of the Bergen Belsen concentration camp who was overseeing Israel’s experiments aboard the space shuttle. When Joachim reached the age of thirteen in Bergen Belsen, Rabbi Dasberg, a fellow inmate, secretly bar-mitzvahed him in the prisoner’s barracks and gave him a little Torah that he had smuggled into the camp. The Rabbi made Joachim promise that if he got out, he would tell the story, for he knew that he himself would never make it.

When Ilan visited Professor Joseph at his home and saw that little Torah. He was deeply moved and felt a need to take it into space. So it was that when Ramon orbited over Yerushalayim, he proclaimed “Shema Yisrael” and pointed to the little Torah. He told Prime Minister Sharon, all of Israel, and the world that, “More than anything, this (Torah) represents the ability of the Jewish people to survive – from horrible periods and black days, to periods of hope and belief in the future.” What an incredible message for Israel and the world to have heard from a secular Jew.
Ilan also pledged to eat only kosher and to observe the Sabbath on the flight, and to that end, he took a kiddush cup with him. Once again, amazing declarations and commitment from a secular Israeli! But Ilan’s story does not end there. There is yet another message that he sent which most people never quite got, although a Reuters report conveyed it. Ilan Ramon stated that he deeply regretted that he had become so busy with all of the scientific experiments on board the spacecraft that he somehow missed Shabbos.

Isn’t that the story of our generation? In one way or another, we can all echo those painful words of Ilan Ramon. We become so involved with all our experiments that we forget our tachlis, our mission, our purpose in life. So now, a year later, Ilan Ramon sends us one more message from space, a Shabbos Prayer.

Our Torah teaches that Shabbos is not just a day of rest. Rather, it is a signbetween us and the Almighty G-d (Exodus, 31:17). Shabbos is the sign -wedding ring on our finger.... the marriage band that testifies that we belong to G-d. Husband and wife may have altercations, but as long as the ring remains on the finger, they remain married. If however, the wife removes the ring, then you know that the marriage is over. Similarly, ours is a generation in which we have become estranged from our Torah, but through our Shabbos, we remain connected. If however, that Shabbos ring is removed, then we cut our ties and our relationship is severed. Nevertheless, our G-d is a Loving Father and He never gives up on us. He keeps calling, “Come back, place that Shabbos ring on your finger again.”

Nothing happens by coincidence. There is no such thing as happenstance. As a matter of fact, the Hebrew word for “happening” - “mikreh” is an acronym for “koro meh Hashem” - It happened from G-d.

Those of you who have been following my column will recall that, at the time of the shuttle tragedy, I published a letter commenting on the remarkable recurrence of the number seven in the shuttle disaster. For those of you who have forgotten, allow me to highlight just a few: There were seven astronauts in the Challenger. The shuttle was launched on January 16 (one plus six equals seven). It was in flight for sixteen days (one plus six equals seven). It was sixteen minutes to landing when it crashed (one plus six equals seven). The crash took place on the seventh day - the Sabbath. The debris fell over seven counties in Texas and the crash itself occurred over Palestine, Texas - a reminder of our promised land that has yet to be redeemed through the Sabbath.

Now please - let no one misunderstand. I’m not suggesting for even a moment that that is why the shuttle crashed. These things are beyond our comprehension, but it cannot be mere coincidence that everything connected to the space shuttle was the number seven. And now incredibly, a year later, the Shabbos prayer from Ramon’s diary has been found, Shabbos once again calls out, “Jewish people, put that Shabbos ring on your fingers!”

We are living today in one of the most difficult periods in history. Global terrorism, escalating anti-Semitism (which manifests itself in anti-Israel sentiments), natural disasters - earthquakes, fire and all kinds of bizarre disease, freak accidents - a tree falling on a woman walking innocently on the street, a wild bear snatching a baby from her carriage... Add to that, personal tragedies - illness, young parents dying, children having to make shiva calls to their peers. In every community, in every family, people are carrying heavy burdens...so much pain, so much suffering. How do we understand it all?
It’s Chevlei Moshiach - We are experiencing the birthpangs of the messianic period, and as the contractions intensify, so does the pain. How can we protect ourselves?

Our sages teach that one way, is to be scrupulously observant in regard to Shabbos.
It is written that in the merit of Shabbos we will be redeemed, for the observance of Shabbos equals all of the mitzvos. That number seven that kept recurring during Ilan Ramon’s space flight calls out “Shabbos!” But just in case we missed the message, a miracle occurred and a page from the disintegrating shuttle traveling though space at 13,200 miles per hour - about eighteen times the speed of sound, survived and called out “Shabbos!”