Among the Children of Israel there is euphoria and there is fear.
Euphoria because people are convinced – for good reason – that they have seen the Hand of G-d. The Geulah seems close. At the very moment we read Parshas Zachor, the chief of Amalek was struck down. But there is also fear, because powerful bombs are falling across the Middle East, and, clearly, the enemy is not completely vanquished. The war is in fact spreading and it is not clear where or when it will stop.
In the interests of facing reality, I would like to state my ideas on how this may play out. The war may well spread to the four corners of the earth. If that happens, the face of the world may change radically. Empires may fall and mighty rulers may topple. Before it is over, it is possible that the Geulah Shelemah will have arrived.
The Chofetz Chaim is quoted as having said that there would be three wars before Moshiach: the First World War occurred during his lifetime. He then predicted that there would be a Second World War, which would make the first war look like “child’s play.” Then, after a time, there would be a Third War, which would make the Second World War look like “child’s play.” After that war, Moshiach will come.
I am going to quote from passages you have heard before. I apologize, but they are so relevant that I cannot ignore them. “In the year in which Moshiach will be revealed, all the nations of the world will be in conflict. The King of Persia will quarrel with the King of Arabia … and the King of Persia will destroy the entire world. The nations will be confused and agitated,” but Hashem will tell Am Yisroel, “Do not fear, for the time of your redemption has come.” (Yalkut Shimoni as seen in Book of Our Heritage)
This passage seems to be describing events occurring at this very moment.
A midrash says that Mordechai asked bochurim in Shushan ha Bira what passages they had studied in yeshiva that day, and they quoted the very passages many of us recite daily, in a tefilla called “Al tira,” which is found after Aleinu in the Siddur. It begins, “Do not fear the holocaust when it comes ….” And it ends, “I will be with you until your old age….” The Midrash applies these possukim to the wars of Amalek against the Jews. The last one could apply to contemporary events.
The Midrash says that Haman advances an argument to Achashverosh to insinuate that the Jews are “sleeping” and that our Covenant is no longer in effect, G-d forbid. But the possuk in “Al Tira” says, “Until your old age I am unchanged, and until your aged years I will carry you. I made you and I will bear you. I will carry you and I will rescue.” (Yeshiah 46:4) The Covenant will always be in effect. When Mordechai heard the bochurim recite these possukim, he was reassured that Haman’s plot would fail. (Book of Our Heritage, quoting Esther Rabbah)
The Malbim says that, when the Jews return to the Holy Land at the end of our Golus, the nations of the world, Bnai Yishmoel and Bnai Esav, will form a worldwide coalition against us. What will save us? The answer is that our primordial enemies, the Children of Esav and the Children of Yishmoel, will clash, and these two monumental supercultures will destroy each other! When that happens, Moshiach ben Dovid will be revealed. (Malbim on Yechezkel 32:17)
My friends, this scenario may be playing out right now, but we have to be ready. Are we prepared to live in a world which seems to be turning upside down, in which anything can happen at any moment? Are we sufficiently anchored in Hashem to keep sane in such a situation? Furthermore, assuming all this happens, are we prepared for a world ruled by Torah in which we will be the leaders of the world?
After Bnai Yisroel left Mitzraim, after we had thought that we were completely free of our former Egyptian slave masters, we were surrounded once again at the Yam Suf and believed that we would never escape. It took the courage of Nachshon ben Aminadav to walk into the sea with total trust in Hashem. This is what we need as the nations surround us today.
When Harry S. Truman suddenly became President upon the death of former President Franklin D. Roosevelt, he made an a deep and humbling statement: “I felt as if the sun, the moon, the stars and all the constellations had just fallen on my head.” Even more than this is what will be expected of us if and when the leadership of the world is suddenly thrust upon us.
However, we should be prepared, because it could happen and happen soon, and we will not be permitted to fail. May Hashem protect us and guide us and may we rise to the madreiga on which we can give nachas to the Ribono shel Olam.
“The sun, the moon and all the stars”
GLOSSARY
Amalek: the nation which hates us more than any other
Bnai Esav: the Western nations
Bnai Yishmael: the Moslem nations
Bochurim: yeshiva students
Geulah: Redemption
Geulah shelemah: Final Redemption
Mitzraim: Ancient Egypt
Parshas Zachor: Torah portion describing the defeat of our enemies
Possukim: sentences in the Torah
Ribono shel Olam: G-d, the Master of the Universe
Shushan ha Bira: Persian city where the action of Purim takes place
Siddur: prayer book
Yam Suf: The Sea of Reeds, where the Egyptians surrounded us before they drowned
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