Our sages, in setting out to describe the Redemption process, as it will be just before the Messiah?s arrival, say, ?In the sixth year there will be noises. In the seventh, there will be wars. In the year following, the Son of David will arrive.? (Sanhedrin 97a)
Rashi comments that the ?noises? allude to the ingathering of the exiles, as in our daily prayers: ?Sound the great Shofar for our freedom; lift up the banner to bring our exiles together.? (from the Shemoneh Esreh prayer) As for the wars, they will be between the nations of the world and Israel. Indeed, the wars are part of the Redemption process and amongst the signs of redemption. As Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Kook wrote: ?When there is a great war on earth, the power of the Messiah is aroused.... The larger the war, the greater our anticipation of the Messiah?s arrival.? (Orot 13)
In our era, we bear witness to the ingathering of the exiles, and it is a time of wars, as well. The First and Second World Wars served as preparation for the State of Israel?s establishment. Since gaining our political independence, the Arabs and their supporters have never ceased fighting against us. The War of Independence, the Sinai Campaign, the Six Day War, the War of Attrition, the Yom Kippur War, Peace for Galilee, the Gulf War, the present-day war against terror, and now, the war against Iraq - all of them are part of a great, ongoing war, foreseen by our prophets and sages, at the end of which we will achieve decisive victory over all our enemies.
As King David, sweet singer of Israel, said: ?Why are the nations in an uproar? Why do the peoples mutter in vain? The kings of the earth stand up, the rulers take counsel together against the L-rd, and against His anointed.... He who sits in heaven laughs, the Lord holds them in derision?. You shall break them with a rod of iron. You shall dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.? (Psalms 2:1-2,4,9)
Through us shall be fulfilled the words of the Shira, the Song at the Sea of Reeds: ?With love, You led the people You redeemed; with might, You led them to Your holy shrine. Nations heard and shuddered; Terror gripped those who dwell in Philistia?. Fear and dread fell upon them?. Until Your people crossed, O L-rd, until the people You delivered crossed over. O bring them and plant them on the mountain You possess?.? (Exodus 15:13-14;16-17)
?The Master of Wars sows salvation.? (from the blessings before the Shema Yisrael prayer)
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Rabbi Dov Begon is founder and head of Machon Meir institutions.
Machon Meir is an Israeli educational institution and Hesder yeshiva dedicated to Jewish learning BeAhava UbeEmunah (with Love and in Faith), in the spirit of Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak HaCohen Kook, the late Chief Rabbi of the Land of Israel. Students at Machon Meir, Israelis and new immigrants, come from religious and non-religious backgrounds, and learn in Hebrew, English or Russian. The Machon can be contacted through its website, http://www.machonmeir.org.il/.
Rashi comments that the ?noises? allude to the ingathering of the exiles, as in our daily prayers: ?Sound the great Shofar for our freedom; lift up the banner to bring our exiles together.? (from the Shemoneh Esreh prayer) As for the wars, they will be between the nations of the world and Israel. Indeed, the wars are part of the Redemption process and amongst the signs of redemption. As Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Kook wrote: ?When there is a great war on earth, the power of the Messiah is aroused.... The larger the war, the greater our anticipation of the Messiah?s arrival.? (Orot 13)
In our era, we bear witness to the ingathering of the exiles, and it is a time of wars, as well. The First and Second World Wars served as preparation for the State of Israel?s establishment. Since gaining our political independence, the Arabs and their supporters have never ceased fighting against us. The War of Independence, the Sinai Campaign, the Six Day War, the War of Attrition, the Yom Kippur War, Peace for Galilee, the Gulf War, the present-day war against terror, and now, the war against Iraq - all of them are part of a great, ongoing war, foreseen by our prophets and sages, at the end of which we will achieve decisive victory over all our enemies.
As King David, sweet singer of Israel, said: ?Why are the nations in an uproar? Why do the peoples mutter in vain? The kings of the earth stand up, the rulers take counsel together against the L-rd, and against His anointed.... He who sits in heaven laughs, the Lord holds them in derision?. You shall break them with a rod of iron. You shall dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.? (Psalms 2:1-2,4,9)
Through us shall be fulfilled the words of the Shira, the Song at the Sea of Reeds: ?With love, You led the people You redeemed; with might, You led them to Your holy shrine. Nations heard and shuddered; Terror gripped those who dwell in Philistia?. Fear and dread fell upon them?. Until Your people crossed, O L-rd, until the people You delivered crossed over. O bring them and plant them on the mountain You possess?.? (Exodus 15:13-14;16-17)
?The Master of Wars sows salvation.? (from the blessings before the Shema Yisrael prayer)
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Rabbi Dov Begon is founder and head of Machon Meir institutions.
Machon Meir is an Israeli educational institution and Hesder yeshiva dedicated to Jewish learning BeAhava UbeEmunah (with Love and in Faith), in the spirit of Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak HaCohen Kook, the late Chief Rabbi of the Land of Israel. Students at Machon Meir, Israelis and new immigrants, come from religious and non-religious backgrounds, and learn in Hebrew, English or Russian. The Machon can be contacted through its website, http://www.machonmeir.org.il/.