Israel's rebirth in their land, from start to finish, was foreseen by the prophets and sages of Israel. As the Prophet Ezekiel states, "I will take the children of Israel from among the nations? and bring them into their own land." (Ezekiel 37:21) We have indeed been privileged to see millions of Jews gathering together in their land.
Ezekiel also says, "And I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean?. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you." (Ezekiel 36:25-26) Thank G-d, we have merited to see a great movement of return to Jewish roots. The number of people studying Torah is rising into the tens of thousands, and there are many hundreds of Torah institutions and thousands of synagogues throughout the land. And we are only at the beginning of our path. As the process of rebirth continues, the unity of Israel will be more and more revealed: "I shall make them one nation in the Land." (Ezekiel 37:22)
Our sages also describe the end of the exile: "Rabbi Abba said: 'We have no more open sign of the end of days than this: "But you, O mountains of Israel, shall shoot forth your branches and yield your fruit to My people Israel, for they are at hand to come."'" (Ezekiel 36:8) (Sanhedrin 98a)
As Rashi there explains, when the Land bears its crops in abundance, the end of days will be near, and we have no more open sign of the end of days than that.
How fortunate we are that we have merited to see obvious signs of redemption, the ingathering of the exiles and the flourishing of our land!
Yet, immediately after this remarkable vision, Ezekiel mentions the War of Gog and Magog. At that time, the nations of the world will mass together with the purpose of conquering Jerusalem: "You shall say, 'I will go up against the land of unwalled villages?' to turn your hand against the waste places that are now inhabited, and against the people that are gathered out of the nations?. and you shall come up against My people Israel, as a cloud to cover the land." (Ezekiel 38:11,12,16)
The results of that war are well-known. Israel, with G-d's help, will win a resounding victory, and through such means, "I will be magnified and sanctified, and I will make Myself known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the L-rd." (verse 23)
It was based on this that the Jewish People developed the custom of beginning Kaddish with the words, "Magnified and sanctified be G-d's great name," thus expressing absolute faith in Israel's victory.
Today, we are seeing clearly the ingathering of millions of Jews, may their numbers increase. The Land is being transformed into a flourishing, developing garden. At the same time, we face pressures and threats from the nations, including the United States and Europe, a threat from the Arab nations, and a war of terror being waged by the Arabs in our own land. All of these serve as a reminder of the verse, "you shall come up against My people Israel, as a cloud to cover the land."
It is true that we believe fully that those threats will quickly dissipate like a cloud as well. At the same time, however, we must ourselves become stronger, and we must strengthen the nation's spirit, and the spirit of the Israeli government, so that they can confront our enemies and oppressors.
We have to learn and be aware of why we established the State of Israel. It is not just a haven and solution for the Jews' distress, but a means towards Israel's rebirth in its land. It is the source of all of mankind's hope for full redemption, for increasing the light of faith and love, joy and peace in the world. Every clod of earth, every grain of sand in Eretz Yisrael adds light to the world. Ours is a war between the children of light and the children of darkness.
The nations and the Arabs are waging a war against us that will fail. As it says in Psalms, "Why are the nations in an uproar? Why do the peoples mutter in vain? against the L-rd and against His anointed?" (Psalm 2:1) We will not succeed through "disengaging," giving up or surrendering. Quite the opposite, through attaching ourselves to our Torah, our land and our people, we will merit complete redemption speedily, in our day. Amen.
Ezekiel also says, "And I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean?. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you." (Ezekiel 36:25-26) Thank G-d, we have merited to see a great movement of return to Jewish roots. The number of people studying Torah is rising into the tens of thousands, and there are many hundreds of Torah institutions and thousands of synagogues throughout the land. And we are only at the beginning of our path. As the process of rebirth continues, the unity of Israel will be more and more revealed: "I shall make them one nation in the Land." (Ezekiel 37:22)
Our sages also describe the end of the exile: "Rabbi Abba said: 'We have no more open sign of the end of days than this: "But you, O mountains of Israel, shall shoot forth your branches and yield your fruit to My people Israel, for they are at hand to come."'" (Ezekiel 36:8) (Sanhedrin 98a)
As Rashi there explains, when the Land bears its crops in abundance, the end of days will be near, and we have no more open sign of the end of days than that.
How fortunate we are that we have merited to see obvious signs of redemption, the ingathering of the exiles and the flourishing of our land!
Yet, immediately after this remarkable vision, Ezekiel mentions the War of Gog and Magog. At that time, the nations of the world will mass together with the purpose of conquering Jerusalem: "You shall say, 'I will go up against the land of unwalled villages?' to turn your hand against the waste places that are now inhabited, and against the people that are gathered out of the nations?. and you shall come up against My people Israel, as a cloud to cover the land." (Ezekiel 38:11,12,16)
The results of that war are well-known. Israel, with G-d's help, will win a resounding victory, and through such means, "I will be magnified and sanctified, and I will make Myself known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the L-rd." (verse 23)
It was based on this that the Jewish People developed the custom of beginning Kaddish with the words, "Magnified and sanctified be G-d's great name," thus expressing absolute faith in Israel's victory.
Today, we are seeing clearly the ingathering of millions of Jews, may their numbers increase. The Land is being transformed into a flourishing, developing garden. At the same time, we face pressures and threats from the nations, including the United States and Europe, a threat from the Arab nations, and a war of terror being waged by the Arabs in our own land. All of these serve as a reminder of the verse, "you shall come up against My people Israel, as a cloud to cover the land."
It is true that we believe fully that those threats will quickly dissipate like a cloud as well. At the same time, however, we must ourselves become stronger, and we must strengthen the nation's spirit, and the spirit of the Israeli government, so that they can confront our enemies and oppressors.
We have to learn and be aware of why we established the State of Israel. It is not just a haven and solution for the Jews' distress, but a means towards Israel's rebirth in its land. It is the source of all of mankind's hope for full redemption, for increasing the light of faith and love, joy and peace in the world. Every clod of earth, every grain of sand in Eretz Yisrael adds light to the world. Ours is a war between the children of light and the children of darkness.
The nations and the Arabs are waging a war against us that will fail. As it says in Psalms, "Why are the nations in an uproar? Why do the peoples mutter in vain? against the L-rd and against His anointed?" (Psalm 2:1) We will not succeed through "disengaging," giving up or surrendering. Quite the opposite, through attaching ourselves to our Torah, our land and our people, we will merit complete redemption speedily, in our day. Amen.