An historic week of firsts
The first Day of Unleavened Bread opened with a striking juxtaposition. At 6:24 p.m. EDT on April 1, four astronauts aboard the Artemis II spacecraft thundered skyward on 400,000 pounds of thrust, accelerating past 500 MPH in under two seconds toward a rendezvous with the Moon. It was a breathtaking moment of human achievement.
At the same hour, 6,500 miles away, Iran and Hezbollah rained more than 140 missiles on innocent Israeli citizens celebrating their Passover Seder. Hezbollah then fired dozens more rockets through the night on both civilians and military. On the day after the first Holy Day, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz warned that Hezbollah Secretary General Naim Qassem would pay “a very heavy price” for the “intensified fire toward Israel civilians” as they celebrated Passover.
Back in the United States, as Artemis entered pre-lunar earth orbit, President Donald Trump delivered his first formal address to the American people on the Iranian War — one month into the conflict. The speech said little new but featured contrasting claims that the President never sought regime change, although his initial social media video announcing the war encouraged Iranian citizens to seek same.