Dear Friends:
In the Jewish calendar, today is Rosh Chodesh Kislev; in the secular calendar it is Veterans Day, the eighty-ninth anniversary of the Armistice that ended the First World War. "The war to end all wars" did not end all wars; in fact it led only a generation later to a much more deadly and barbarous conflict.
Our Torah sages had predicted this. The Chofetz Chaim, who died in 1933, is reported to have said that these wars were two of the three great conflicts that would precede the coming of Moshiach. [1]
The Chofetz Chaim said something startling: there would be a major difference between the first two wars and the third war. In the third war, directly before the coming of Moshiach, the Angel of Death would not have power to harm people who are close to G-d. We know that, during the First and Second World Wars, millions of holy Jews lost their lives. But in the Third War, said the Chofetz Chaim, those who would cling to the Torah with all their strength, rejecting the culture of the other nations among whom we dwell, would survive the war and go on to live in the Days of Moshiach, may they come soon.
My dear friends, we are entering the month of Chanukah, the holiday in which light illuminates the dark winter of our Exile. But where, in this world which seems to be stumbling ever closer to the precipice, do we see light? How can we realistically believe there is reason for hope in this dark world?
My new book, "2020 VISION," opens with a commentary by the Malbim [2] , as follows: in the days following the return of the Children of Israel to the Land of Israel, the Western nations and the Arab nations will form a worldwide coalition to attack us and drive us out of Israel, G-d Forbid! How will we survive this terrible threat? Something unexpected will occur, says the Malbim, and the two great enemies will begin to fight each other. Their battle will consume them until they destroy each other, and at that moment Moshiach ben Dovid will appear and the Final Redemption of the Children of Israel will occur.
Not only that, but it is clearly predicted in the words of our sages that the last power that would dominate the world before the coming of Moshiach would be the Moslems. [3]
My friends, if we look around at this very moment with clear vision, we can see clearly that THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT IS HAPPENING IN THE WORLD TODAY! Prophesy is coming to pass before our very eyes. If the Arab nations and the Western nations, both of whom are trying to evict us from our Holy Land, are in fact also fighting each other on a worldwide scale, is this not fulfillment of prophesy? Are not the events of 9/11, the war in Iraq, the belligerency of Iran, the ferment in Pakistan and Afghanistan, the infusion of Moslems into almost every country, the worldwide conflict between the West and Islam all aspects of this prophesy? If this is coming to pass, must it not follow that the advent of Moshiach must also be close at hand?
This scenario is reminiscent of the famous Talmud passage in which Rabbi Akiva and his colleagues are walking on the ruins of the Holy Temple. Rabbi Akiva's colleagues are weeping over the devastation, but Rabbi Akiva is smiling.
"For what reason are you smiling?" they say to Rabbi Akiva.
"Uriah ha Kohain prophesied that Zion would be plowed like a field.... Zecharia prophesied [the rebuilding of Yerushalayim].... Now that the prophesy of Uriah has been fulfilled, it is obvious that the prophecy of Zecharia will be fulfilled." [4]
In our own days, we witness what appears to be a depressing and devastating scene, a world in chaos, a world arrayed against us. But that scene has been described by our prophets and interpreted by our sages as the prelude to the Final Redemption and the coming of Moshiach! Is this not cause for hope? Is this not a signal to cling to our Torah with even greater intensity?
As the Chofetz Chaim said, the way to survive the Final War before the coming of Moshiach would be to cling wholeheartedly to the Torah and to recognize the emptiness of the culture of the nations among whom we dwell. This is no easy task. After some two thousand years of Exile, we are all so submerged in the surrounding culture that we hardly recognize it is alien to us. We are submerged just as our ancestors were submerged in the Egyptian Culture just prior to their redemption. We don't even realize how much our values and outlook are affected by their values.
I know that these are difficult words, but we should recognize that the surrounding cultures are in their dying days. If we cling to their values, we will go their way, G-d forbid. But we are an Eternal Nation, bound to G-d by the Eternal Torah. This is our cause for hope, our Tower of Salvation [5] , and the reason that our lights can burn brightly in the midst of darkness, in the midst of our bitter Exile.
May we see the day soon when the entire world will be bathed in pure light and we will be free to live in sanctity and peace in Eretz Yisroel in the presence of the Holy Temple and Moshiach ben Dovid, may we greet him soon in our days!
A lichtige Chanukah to Klal Yisroel!
Roy S. Neuberger
[1] The Chofetz Chaim predicted the Second World War and the Holocaust, reportedly saying that, compared to the Second World War, the First World War would be considered "child's play."
[2] Rabbi Moshe Leib ben Yechiel Michel (approx. 1808-1879). This commentary, referring to a passage in Yechezkel (Ezekial) 32:17, was pointed out to me by my friend, Rabbi Amos Bunim.
[3] There are references to this idea many places, for example in the Zohar and the writings of Rabbi Chaim Vital, based upon sources including Daniel 7:7 and Psalm 124. These subjects are extensively treated in books like "Redemption Unfolding" (Mandelbaum, Feldheim Publishers, 2005) and "The Ishmaelite Exile" (Weitzman, Jerusalem Publications, 2006).
[4] Tractate Makkos 24b
[5] II Samuel 22:51
This will be posted on http://www.shemittahrediscovered.blogspot.com
