Parshat Shemos – THE PURPOSE OF THE U.N. IN HASHEM’S PLAN

THE PURPOSE OF THE U.N. IN HASHEM’S PLAN

By Roy S. Neuberger

This picture of the author with Rabbi Avrohom Pam zt”l

was taken about seventeen years ago. (Tsemach Glenn Photo)

“A new king arose over Egypt, who did not know of Yosef… and [the Egyptians] became disgusted because of the Children of Israel.” (Shemos 1:8-12)  

This is amazing. How could Yosef have been forgotten? He saved Egypt! 

The nations habitually forget us. Since the days of Avraham Avinu, we have been the conduit for the Heavenly blessings which sustain every person in this world. So how could they forget us?

A few weeks ago, the nations of the world, in their forum in New York, “decided” that Yerushalayim is not the capital of Israel. I thought all these countries believe in the “Bible!” Doesn’t it say there that Hashem gave Eretz Yisroel to us and designated Yerushalayim as the center of kedusha? “Burst out, sing glad song in unison, O ruins of Yerushalayim, for Hashem will have comforted His people; He will have redeemed Yerushalayim.” (Yeshiah 52:9)

My book, 2020 Vision, begins with the following quote from the Malbim: “In the End of Days, after the Children of Israel have returned to their land, the children of Ishmael and the children of Esau will unite to attack Yerushalayim. They will form a world coalition against the tiny nation of Israel. But something will go wrong with their plan.  The religious beliefs of the children of Ishmael and the children of Esau will clash, and the two nations will collide and destroy each other. This is what is referred to as the War of Gog and Magog. Following this cataclysmic conflict, the Final Redemption of the Jewish People will occur with the coming of Moshiach ben Dovid.” (Malbim on Yechezkel Hanovi 32:17)

Are we not seeing the fulfillment of prophesy! Are today’s headlines not exactly the scenario predicted by the Malbim! These nations – who hate us and desire to steal our Land, our Holy City, our unique relationship with the Ribono shel Olam, our very lives – these nations, like the people of Dor Haflaga, are attempting to battle the Sovereign of the Universe. 

This will not work; these nations are endangering their very existence. Please note the Malbim’s emphasis: Yerushalayim. The Children of Yishmael and the Children of Esau have entered the first phase of the Malbim’s prophetic scenario by uniting to attack – exactly – Yerushalayim!

What does the Malbim say next? “The religious beliefs of the children of Ishmael and the children of Esau will clash, and the two nations will collide and destroy each other.” Let us not minimize the implications of these words. “So shall be My word that emanates from My mouth. It shall not return to Me unfulfilled unless it will have accomplished what I desired and brought success where I sent it.” (Yeshiah 55:11) If the Novi states that “the two nations will collide and destroy each other,” then we must take that seriously.

About one year ago, Rabbi Yaakov Feitman Shlita”h wrote the following in the pages of Yated Ne’eman, referring to the “ancient question” of why Paro himself did not expel the Jews from Mitzraim. Why did he not simply let them go? “If the geulah from Mitzraim would have come about … with Paro playing the role of the ‘Great Emancipator’… this would have created a situation where the Jewish nation would be eternally indebted to Paro [and not Hashem] for granting them independence by permitting them to leave Mitzrayim.” (Rabbi Shlomo Kluger zt”l, Imrei Shefer, Shemos)

Rabbi Feitman then quotes Rav Avrohom Pam zt”l, who extrapolates on this theme in relation to the Geulah Shelemah. “This idea explains the purpose of the United Nations organization … in Hashem’s grand scheme to bring the world to its ultimate fulfillment. The U. N. accomplishes very little and is virtually powerless …. What is its purpose? Perhaps the answer is, as the Gemora says (Avoda Zara 2b), that when the End of Days will arrive … the nations will come before Hashem and demand reward for all the good they had done for the Jewish nation. Each will describe how it built projects to make life easier for Klal Yisroel, [but] Hashem will ‘seal their mouths’ and show them how everything they did was for their own benefit, to make money and to indulge in worldly pleasures, with the thought of helping the Jewish nation the farthest from their true intentions…. 

“The purpose of the United Nations in Hashem’s plan is to serve as a permanent unimpeachable record of the hatred of the nations for Am Yisroel. Every speech is recorded. The tallies of every anti-Israel vote and resolution are documented. All the fiery condemnations by the Arab, Soviet and Third World blocs and the deafening response of total silence by the others will serve as clear, indisputable evidence of the true feelings for the world toward Israel and the Jews. 

“What other purpose can there be for this do-nothing organization? …. This realization should be a source of great consolation to us in trying to understand the happenings of our troubled times.” (Shabbos with Rav Pam, Parshas Bo)

My friends, what is our role at this time in history? Our Holy Sages looked down the long road and saw the end of our current Golus: “From [the time] the Temple was destroyed, chaverim and high-born men have been ashamed … their heads have been covered and men of merit have been impoverished…. Strong-armed men and slanderers have triumphed, and there is none who seeks and none who searches and none who inquires. [In this terrible time,] upon whom can we lean? [Only] upon our Father in Heaven.” (Sotah 49a)

Chazal saw our danger and they saw our redemption. 

They taught us how to survive. 

If we follow their wisdom we may expect to see the Goail Tzedek soon in our days! 

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Roy Neuberger, author and public speaker, can be reached at roy@2020vision.co.il.

© Copyright 2018 by Roy S. Neuberger