Last night, Arab terrorists attacked a vehicle belonging to Chabad emissaries on their way to a “Hanukkah Operation” in support of soldiers stationed along Route 60 in the Judea region south of Jerusalem.

Miraculously, neither the car’s owner, Rabbi Daniel Ariel of Beitar Illit, nor his four children who were also in the car during the attack, were injured. The car’s front window, however, was smashed, and the large menorah placed on top of the car damaged.

Rabbi Ariel, who carries out Hanukkah Operations every year in conjunction with the community of Efrat’s Chabad emissary, Rabbi Nissan Nachshon, explained, “Every year during Hanukkah, I go out with my children to bring happiness to soldiers at guard posts, to light Hanukkah candles with them and to distribute jelly doughnuts.”

“I asked Rabbi Nissan where we need to go, and he suggested we travel to IDF guard posts along Route 60. We stopped at two guard towers, after which we continued onward towards the community of Karmei Tzur. Suddenly, I heard a crash - a large stone had hit the windshield, smashing it and penetrating to the inside of the car.”

“I felt a blow to my shoulder, and the stone rolled down to my feet. Shards flew in all directions. I saw the terrorist, dressed in black, flee the scene,” the rabbi said, noting that “the scene of the attack is the same area where the battles between the Maccabees and the Greeks took place, very near Beit Tzur, where the Greeks suffered a final defeat. This year in exactly the same place - we experienced a true miracle.”

Following the attack, the vehicle continued to the military base near the community of Karmei Tzur, where the Chabad emissaries reported the incident, and the scope of the miracle was discovered: The inside of the vehicle was filled with thousands of tiny glass shards, but not one of the passengers had been scratched. The blow to Rabbi Ariel’s shoulder caused minimal harm. Only the windshield of the car was damaged, as was the base of the menorah on the top of the car.

“We thank G-d who saved us. It’s clear that this is in the merit of the Hanukkah candles. Our message: Don’t be afraid. On the contrary, now is the time to add light, not to give up. The Lubavitcher Rebbe asked that every Jew light Hanukkah candles, not to be upset by the darkness, but to add light. Specifically, when one adds light, darkness disappears.

“Pass the message to everyone you can - that when we pit our lit menorah against the stone which came to smash and murder in cold blood - our light will be victorious! And every one of us has a part to play in increasing this light, until the scales are tipped towards the true and complete redemption.”