Today is the Birthday of the World

Okay, it was actually two days ago, but regardless: Happy New Year, everybody.

Oddly enough, today also happens to mark the anniversary of the death of Anwar Sadat in 1981. He signed a peace agreement with Israel and someone assassinated him, despite the fact that the agreement got the Sinai Peninsula back for Egypt. Evidently someone thought war was better than land.

What I didn't know before is that Sadat was killed while participating in celebration of an event from eight years before. In 1973, on this date, Egyptian forces crossed the Suez Canal and entered what was then Israeli territory, touching off the Yom Kippur War. It was actually a pretty good strategy; most Israelis are not terribly religious, but they still stay home for Yom Kippur, so the country was completely unprepared for an attack. God was certainly looking out for us then.


So Sadat, after completing peace negotiations that remain in place to this day, goes out to celebrate a war that he started and gets himself killed. Evidently, peace is better for your health.

Incidentally, did you notice that some people still rely on the same strategy of attacking people during a holy time?


Benshlomo says, May the peacemakers be written in the Book of Life.