Israel's attempt to land the spacecraft Bereshit (Genesis) on the moon cannot be defined as a "mission accomplished" but it was nevertheless a noble attempt.
It serves as an important lesson about learning from failure. We have to tell our kids about it and next time, God willing, everything will go as planned.
We are a people of pioneers who have inspired the world. The greatest discoveries in human history happened after such failures, which often saw many casualties.
We made it all the way to the moon but couldn't quite land the way we had hoped. But the mere fact that we got there underscores the extent of our audacity, our courage and our scientific know-how. How dare such a small country think so big.
America used massive missiles to send its manned missions to the moon at a high cost. But the Israeli project managed to minimize the financial burden by using elliptical orbits that increased the spacecraft's speed until it entered the moon's orbit.
This is a good metaphor for the Israeli spirit, which time and again overcomes obstacles by thinking outside the box, not just through brute force.
The moon is a gateway to space and humanity is destined to expand beyond our small planet into the vast expanse of the universe.
Even our small country has contributed immensely to this human conquest and the great excitement we felt on Thursday when the spacecraft took a selfie showing Israel's flag just above the moon's surface would pay off.
This excitement will ultimately propel Israel back to the moon; next time we will make it all the way.
We should commend all those involved in Beresheet. Let's hope we get to see them next year celebrating a moon landing.
