Donald Trump, the most unlikely person to ever be the President of the United States, was elected president. He decided to move the American embassy to Jerusalem, recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital. Not only that, he also cancelled the very problematic nuclear deal with Iran - who would have believed that, who could have imagined that? Iran is now attacking the north of Israel, and the whole world seems to be bubbling and boiling over different things - but it seems like everyone's eyes are focused on this little country, on this little nation that is just 0.2% of the world's population. How can it be? There is only one answer, and everyone who is honest enough with himself can easily know the answer.
I want to share with you an amazing prophecy from an ancient Jewish source, Yalkut Shimoni (about Isaiah 60) - written 800 years ago by an unknown Jewish sage. When you read it, you can't help shivering. Some of it is already happening now, in front of our eyes. Here is the translation. When you read it, think of the recently tense relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran, think of how Europe is involved in all of this, etc.:
“Rabbi Yizchak said: ‘The year that Melech HaMoshiach [Messiah the King] will be revealed, all the nations of the world will be provoking each other. The King of Persia (Iran) will provoke the King of Arabia (Saudia), and the King of Arabia will go to Edom (Europe and the West) to take counsel..."
The text goes on to talk about what will happen in the world - scary things. I truly believe that those of the nations of the world who love G-d and support Israel will be redeemed too. This is not something that is reserved just for us, but for all those who love G-d and help His people. If you want to read more about it, click this link: https://www.breakingisraelnews.com/58217/800-year-old-prophecy-declares-when-king-persia-will-provoke-king-arabia-redemption-around-corner-middle-east/
The Hebrew original is here:
This week's Torah Portion, BeHukotai (Leviticus 26:3-27:4) is the last one in the Book of Leviticus. In it, there are blessings promised to the people of Israel by G-d if we follow him, keep Shabbat and do everything we are commanded to do, and there are also curses that we are threatened with if we don't do that (curses that unfortunately came true during our long, bitter exile). Just a few quotes, and when you read them, see if you can recognize the time in history in which they happened:
"And I will scatter you among the nations, and I will draw out the sword after you, and your land shall be a desolation, and your cities shall be waste" (Lev. 26:33). Is it familiar? Something that happened for such a long long period of time in our history!
Mark Twain wrote in his travelogue ("The Innocents Abroad"), when he visited here in the middle of the 19th century, that the Holy Land "sits in sackcloth and ashes. Over it broods the spell of a curse that has withered its fields and fettered its energies". He continues and says that "There was hardly a tree or a shrub anywhere. Even the olive and the cactus... had almost deserted the country... a desolation is here that not even imagination can grace with the pomp of life and action".
In the Torah, G-d says to us about the time that the curse will happen: "Then shall the land be paid her Shabbats, as long as it lies desolate, and you are in your enemies' land. Even then shall the land rest and repay her Shabbats... the rest which it didn't have in your Shabbats, when you lived in it". The commandments we are given - to rest from work on Shabbat (and let the land rest on every Seventh Year!) - are so important, that because we violated them, we were thrown out of the land.
The Torah continues: "And you shall perish among the nations, and the land of your enemies shall eat you up". Familiar? Hasn't it happened for such a long bloody exile? I've just finished reading the excellent book "German Requiem" - a history book that describes such a sad attempt by Jews to forsake their Jewishness and become more Germans than the Germans, without any success. We all know how it ended. The lesson of it all is that we cannot ever forsake the special covenant that G-d sealed with us. Even if we want to, we can't, it is bigger and stronger than us. If we try to get rid of our Jewish identity, G-d uses the nations around us as rods in His hand, reminding us in a very painful way that we are Jews, whether we like it or not.
But G-d also promises that He will not forsake us completely, which He really hasn't: "And yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly and to break My covenant with them; for I am the L-rd their G-d."
And what happens now, when more and more of us observe Shabbat, and try to cling to G-d and His commandments with all our might? G-d promised us, and He fulfills this promise nowadays, since the establishment of the State of Israel, which is the beginning of our redemption:
"And five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall chase ten thousand, and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword" (Leviticus 26:8). Sounds familiar? Isn't it what happened in all the miraculous wars of the modern State of Israel? Just think of 1967, when the whole world thought it was going to be the end of Israel, but Israel won over mighty armies, far greater in numbers and equipment, in just six days! And the 1973 Yom Kippur war? We should have been wiped out, according to logic. And our mere survival here, surrounded by a sea of hostile Arab countries? This in itself is incredible. It is all unbelievable, and it is all promised here, in this Portion.
G-d concludes: "And I will walk among you, and will be your G-d, and you shall be My People"... It is so visible nowadays! Not only do we survive, we also prosper! People come here from all over the world to witness this miracle with their own eyes, to try to fathom what is our secret. Yes, reality is not yet perfect, BUT it is getting there - so many miracles, so many things that are so incredible, so improbable, so wonderful happen here! The final redemption is near, for us and for those of the nations of the world who truly love the ONE G-d and worship Him (for more about the commandments given specifically to the nations of the world, you can read here: https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/62221/jewish/The-7-Noahide-Laws-Universal-Morality.htm).
This week one of my students told me about this song, Cry No More, Yerushalayim - a song that talks about our consolation and the big miracles that G-d does for us. I like the song, and the video clip shows footage of Jerusalem, so those of you who love my city are welcome to watch this short video clip and enjoy the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7ruAmWfb4A
This coming Sunday is Yom Yerushalayim, "Jerusalem Day". It is so beautiful that one day later, on Monday, the US embassy is scheduled to move from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. I'll write about it next week, G-d willing.
Shabbat shalom!
No comments:
Post a Comment