Surprise!
Surprise! It’s me again, after such a long time since I last wrote. Please
forgive me, as a lot has been going on in my personal and working life, making
it hard for me to find time for in-depth comment on the on-going situation
around us.
In any
case, for the most part little new has been going on in recent months that has
seemed worthy of urgent comment. The Israeli election campaign was as
predictably boring and ugly as the actual results have been disappointing.
Little has changed in the Israeli government except for its outer face. The
hoped-for swing towards a more Jewish Zionist nationalist direction in the
government has not occurred. Only two days ago Prime Minister Netanyahu
publicly admitted that he has no plans to expand Judea and Samaria, and stated explicitly that he
does not intend to keep his pre-election promise to build 300 homes in the Ulpana neighborhood of the town of Beit El.
Netanyahu has a history of posing as a staunch nationalist in his apparent
stances while showing little muscle in his actions (who can forget that he
signed away Hebron to the terrorists in 1998?)
What
else could one comment on? How many times can one condemn the horrifying serial
atrocities of Da’esh (“ISIS”) and others in the name of Islam? How many times
can one note the pusillanimous response of the U.S. government to the
destruction of the Iraq for which they fought such a bloody war to reinvent,
and their failure to act meaningfully in Syria? As for the unremitting war on
all levels against Israel, there is nothing new in the escalating BDS (Boycott,
Divestment and Sanctions) campaign against us in many parts of the world,
notably on campuses and in major churches, and often led by outspoken “Jewish”
liberals in America and left-wing Israeli academics. What is new in the
incessant anti-Semitic assaults on Jews in the center of Paris and across
Europe? In civilized London a pack of neo-Nazis wanted to publicly burn the
Talmud on Shabbat in the Golders Green orthodox Jewish neighborhood of the
city.
Surprise! Surprise!
The
occasion for today’s letter is actually something that is totally unsurprising.
40 years ago when I was a junior current affairs commentator in the BBC World
Service, it was an office joke that if you needed an opening line for your
comment on some totally predictable news item, you could always go for the
favorite cliché: “It comes as no surprise that…”
This
is certainly the case with the much heralded “historical” nuclear agreement
announced this week in Vienna following years of negotiations between Iran, US,
UK, France, Germany, Russia and China. It really does come as absolutely no
surprise at all, since it was always perfectly obvious that it was going to
happen, and now it finally has.
The
carefully choreographed timing of the announcement after so many delays could
not have been more significant from the Jewish point of view, given that it
fell on July 14 / 27 Tammuz, bang in the middle of the “Three Weeks” period
from the Fast of 17 Tammuz (4 July) until the Fast of Tisha B’Av (26 July),
when we soul-searchingly contemplate our collective past, our present and our
future destiny.
For
Jews and lovers of Israel across the world, the new agreement is prima facie
very bad news, since it effectively gives a Gushpanka (Aramaic: “royal
seal of approval”) to Iran to continue covertly doing whatever it wants to make
nuclear weapons under the guise of peaceful development, while being readmitted
to the International diplomatic and financial community, which will generate
huge revenues for it to distribute to its terror proxies in Syria, Gaza,
Lebanon and in target countries across the world. Not for nothing are many
comparing the Western capitulation to Iran, with all of the accompanying
photo-ops for the world “leaders”, to British Prime Minister Neville
Chamberlain’s capitulation to Hitler in Munich in 1938 which opened the doors
to German expansionism and all the horrors of World War II.
This
was obviously a very happy day for the leaders of Iran, for Syria’s embattled
tyrant Assad, for Hezbollah and Hamas as well as for the third member of what
President George Bush termed “the Axis of Evil”, North Korea.
It has
of course been a supremely happy day for Nobel Peace Prize laureate U.S.
President Barack Obama, who can look forward to a triumphant conclusion to his
second term as the one who is bringing Peace in Our Time through integrating
all of the world players into one big family with the only remaining black
sheep, as it were, being little Israel.
It
will also have been an exceptionally gratifying achievement for the unseen
powers that pull Obama’s strings and tell his speech-writers and spokespersons
what to say. Years ago I read a source suggesting that Jimmy “Peanut” Carter’s
National Security Advisor, Zbigniew Brzezinski, had a strategy aimed to foment
havoc in the Middle East. This has long been evident in all ensuing U.S. Middle
East actions on the ground, systematically thwarting Israel while empowering
the P.L.O. and Hamas, undermining Egypt, leaving Iraq and Syria to their fate,
abandoning Saudi Arabia and other allies, allowing if not actually fostering
the growth of Da’esh under everyone’s noses, destabilizing Libya, etc. etc.
The
rise of Iran has in fact had covert U.S. support and encouragement since 1979,
when the resolution of the “U.S. hostage crisis” in Tehran greatly empowered
Ayatollah Khomeini, as well as sky-rocketing the then little known Palestinian
Liberation Front onto the center of the world stage when the U.S. had to beg them to
negotiate the release of the hostages. The role of the P.L.O. back then is testimony to the
long standing alliance of the “Palestinians” with the Iranian regime until
today. The covert U.S. role in Iran’s ascent continued, of course, under
President Reagan of “Irangate” fame, when top administration officials secretly
facilitated the sale of arms to Iran which was then subject of an arms embargo.
Today
the U.S. government’s role is no longer covert at all but is being held up as
deserving international adulation.
It may
be added that another facet in the long-term strategy of the international
clique that controls the U.S. government would seem to be that country’s
demotion from being the world’s only remaining superpower, policeman and
supposed champion of freedom to becoming but one among several powers that make
up the core of an emergent world government under the U.N. Good luck with that
one?
Amid
all the cries of “Peace in Our Time”, the nuclear agreement with Iran is
unquestionably a very happy day for arms manufacturers, developers and salesmen
on all levels, because the coming nuclear arms race and increased
militarization in the Middle East and across the world will generate billions
in revenues on the backs of the tax-payers and at the cost of untold
casualties. Do we really need yet another lesson in the great folly of war?
Besides
the joy in Iran and its protégées in Syria, Lebanon and Gaza, the agreement
will have brought great satisfaction to Russian President Vladimir Putin, a
long-term steadfast ally of Iran. Indeed strategically on the international
scene, it is Putin who has been calling the shots, as in Ukraine, where classic
Russian expansionism has set all Europe on edge. The crafty Putin has taken
full advantage of the U.S. administration’s asinine weakness and the disarray
in the European Union.
There
is indeed a very natural emergent geopolitical axis consisting of Russia,
Turkey and Iran that has de facto been operating quietly with great effect and
is likely to increase in strength and influence as US influence wanes across
the world with her systematic betrayal of her supposed closest allies and her
own principals.
While
the nuclear agreement with Iran has brought great foreboding among Jews and
lovers of Israel, it is important to keep ourselves focused amidst these
seismic changes in the world upon the Hand of HaShem, who with consummate
subtlety is crafting and orchestrating every detail out of hidden and revealed
love for His people Israel and His desire for our speedy Redemption, and to
vindicate the words of His prophets and sages.
We
learn in Ezekiel Chapter 38 on the line-up of nations against Israel in the end
of time War of Gog and Magog, that it is Gog, King of Magog that leads. I know
that in the last two decades since the beginning of the Oslo “Peace Process”
nightmare, some postulated that GeOrGe Bush or arch-terrorist Yassir Arafat
were playing this role. The latter in particular would seem to have been some
level of incarnation of Gog, as were figures like Hitler and Stalin in their
time.
But if
the seemingly emergent Russia-Turkey-Iran axis turns out to become a reality,
it would seem quite likely that the next and possibly final incarnation of Gog
will come out of Russia. This would fit perfectly with the Hebrew text in
Ezekiel 38:2, where he is described as the “Prince, head of MeSheKh and Tuval.
MeSheKh is identified by the rabbinical Talmudic commentators as Moscow, while
Tuval is Tbilisi, capital of Georgia. Just think about what’s been going on in
and around Georgia in recent years.
It is
highly notable that among the most prominent of the nations that join with Gog
are Paras (=Persia, Iran, verse 5) and the “House of Togarma” (verse 6),
identified with Turkey or, according to other opinions, Germany!
The
primary role taken by Persia/Iran in the end of days war against Israel that
leads to the confutation of all the seventy nations is predicted in key
rabbinical sources as well as being rooted in the words of the prophets.
Key
Rabbinical and Biblical Sources
Since
the days of the late Lubavitcher Rebbe, who frequently quoted this Midrash,
many have known of the passage in Midrash Yalkut Shimoni on Isaiah chapter 60
(#499): “Rabbi Yitzchak said: In the year when King Mashiach is revealed, all
the kings of the earth will be at strife with one another, the king of Persia
provokes the king of Arabia and the king of Arabia goes to take counsel with
Aram (Rome, America?). Then the king of Persia goes on to destroy the entire
world. All the nations of the world are quaking in horror and fall on their
faces gripped by pangs like the pangs of a woman giving birth. Israel will be
quaking in horror, saying “Where should we come and go? Where should we come
and go?” And He says to them: My children, do not be afraid. All that I have
done, I have done only for your sakes. What are you afraid of? Do not fear. The
time of your Redemption has come, and not like the first redemption will be the
final redemption. For the first redemption was followed by pain and subjugation
to the nations. But after the final redemption, there will be no further pain
or subjugation.”
The
leading role of Persia/Iran on the world stage at the end of days is also
attested by the graphic haggadic allegory in the opening pages of Talmud Bavli,
Tractate Avodah Zara evoking the end of time Yom Eidam, “Day of
Disaster” of the nations (see Avodah Zarah 2b ff).
The
Holy Zohar (Bamidbar, Shlach Lecha 166a, Matok Midvash vol. 13 p. 122) explains
that the words of the “writing on the wall” which appeared in Belshazzar’s palace
and could be deciphered only by Daniel (Daniel chapter 5 verses 26-28), not
only carry Daniel’s explicit interpretation given in the text of how Babylon’s
power would pass to Persia, but also contain an allusion to how the power of
Edom-Rome will at the end of days be destroyed and the dominion will pass to
Persia, who will conquer many kingdoms and rule over the Holy Land for twelve
months and will massacre many people and kill Mashiach ben Yosef. After that,
the king of Persia will collapse and his kingdom will fall apart, and then
Mashiach ben David with the Children of Israel – the supremely holy ones – will
receive the kingship.
The
scriptural source for the ultimate fall of Edom at the hands of Persia is
contained in Jeremiah’s prophesy in chapter 49 verse 20, describing how “the
young of the flock” will drag Edom over the dust. Rashi on this verse states
that the “young of the flock” are “the most despicable of the nations, and our
rabbis taught that this is Persia (=Tiras), who is the youngest of the sons of
Japheth (see Genesis 9:27 and Rashi there). Talk about dragging! The talks
dragged on and on, and we have watched how Iran systematically dragged the U.S.
and European negotiators over all their original “red lines” until they got
everything they wanted.
The
very monster that the U.S., Britain, France and Germany have created and
empowered will be their nemesis. Before too long we might well see the conquest
of Europe and America by Islam and Iranian missiles. It seems significant that
Jeremiah’s prophecy of the fall of Edom includes the destruction of “Dodan”
(Jer. 49:8), which is bang in the middle of Saudi Arabia. Jeremiah’s words
against Edom (verses 15ff), which are reminiscent of those of Obadiah, allude
to Rome-America, whose national symbol is the eagle (vv. 16 &22).
There
is a high contemporary relevance in words in Jeremiah 49 verse 18, comparing
Edom’s fall to that of Sodom and Gomorrah, and the concluding words of the
prophecy against Edom (verse 22): “…and the heart of the mighty men of Edom on
that day shall be like the heart of a woman in pain”.
The
emasculation of America has been proceeding apace for decades with the fruition
of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender strategy to normalize and
aggressively promote “alternate lifestyle” to the point where the U.S. army is
now giving free license to transgender personnel. That the next President of
the United States is most likely to be a woman shows how far America has come
on the roadmap to self-destruction. Hilary can absolutely be depended upon to
continue the current policy of demotion of the U.S. from the status of a world
power and champion of freedom to the epitome of post-modern decadence and
godless paganism.
The
recent U.S. Supreme Court 5-4 majority decision to require all the states of
the Union to recognize male-male and female-female marriages is the formal
codification of this latter day Sodom. (The 5-4 ratio of the judges for and
against reflects how tragically divided is America today, with people of faith
who espouse the original vision of America now being a minority.)
Our
rabbis state that when male-male and female-female couples write marriage
documents, this brings androlomousia into the world, that is, social
breakdown and chaos that kills good and bad people indiscriminately (Bereishit
Rabbah 26:12 etc.). It would appear that one of the very strengths of Russia
and a factor in its likely ascent is that its leaders refuse to succumb to this
western madness.
Rejoice
with trembling
As we
watch all this unfold before our very eyes, the only possible conclusion is
that just as the words of God’s true prophets and sages are being actualized in
our time, so we may depend upon His loving protection and favor if we will turn
to Him with all our hearts, with all our soul and all our might.
We may
feel shaken by the rapid onward surge of events, but we need not and must not
fear. For though we may tremble, we must rejoice that our finest hour has come,
for now is our time to Witness to HaShem, each one according to his or her best
abilities. Giloo B’Re’adah, Rejoice with trembling! (Psalms 2:11).
With
Rosh Chodesh Menachem Av on Thursday night-Friday July 16-7, may you have a
Blessed New Month and Shabbat Shalom!
Shalom from the Holy City of Yerushalayim!
Avraham ben Yaakov
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