Thai Rescue - A Geula Metaphor

Tehillim 30:4:

ד  יְהוָה--הֶעֱלִיתָ מִן-שְׁאוֹל נַפְשִׁי;    חִיִּיתַנִי, מיורדי- (מִיָּרְדִי-) בוֹר.

4 O LORD, Thou broughtest up my soul from the nether-world; Thou didst keep me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.

The incredible rescue operation this week of the 12 Thai soccer players and their coach from a flooded underground cave was a remarkable sight to see.  The fact that it took many days helped make it capture the world's attention, thereby making the rescue quite a compelling story.

Perhaps, we can say that this rescue operation is a microcosm of the Future Redemption.

The 12 boys symbolize the 12 tribes of Israel.  The coach symbolizes the Tribe of Levi, as it says regarding the Tribe of Levi:

י  יוֹרוּ מִשְׁפָּטֶיךָ לְיַעֲקֹב, וְתוֹרָתְךָ לְיִשְׂרָאֵל; יָשִׂימוּ קְטוֹרָה בְּאַפֶּךָ, וְכָלִיל עַל-מִזְבְּחֶךָ.

10 They shall teach Jacob Thine ordinances, and Israel Thy law; they shall put incense before Thee, and whole burnt-offering upon Thine altar.

showing that they are the teachers of the rest of the tribes.

Also, one rescuer died trying to rescue the boys.  This symbolizes MBY, who many say will die.

Furthermore, when planning for the rescue, the extraction choices were:

1. Teach the boys to swim to safety in extremely difficult conditions
2. Wait months until the water receded
3. Bring divers in and rescue them while they were sedated

These choices correspond to the ways the Geula can occur (see also here):

1. Ahishena - teaching the boys to swim symbolizes a national Teshuva movement.  This idea, while admirable, is difficult to achieve.
2. Be'itah - waiting it out symbolizes waiting until the last possible Ketz.  This causes further assimilation while in a longer exile.
3. Be'itah Ahishena - sedating the boys and putting them through a dangerous and harrowing rescue through very murky water symbolizes the idea of using the harshness of exile as merits to achieve a faster Redemption.

The choice that was eventually chosen for the boys was choice #3.  Time will tell if that will be the choice Hashem chooses as well.

The verse in Micha says:

ח  אַל תִּשְׂמְחִי אֹיַבְתִּי לִי, כִּי נָפַלְתִּי קָמְתִּי:  כִּי אֵשֵׁב בַּחֹשֶׁךְ, יְהוָה אוֹר לִי.  {פ}

8 Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy; though I am fallen, I shall arise; though I sit in darkness, the LORD is a light unto me. {P}

Just as the Thai boys were able to see the light of day, may the Jewish nation do so as well - speedily in our days, Amen.