HaRav Shmuel Eliahu is Chief Rabbi of Tzfat
With the return of the body of Ran Gvili, may Hashem avenge his blood, we give thanks to the Holy One, blessed be He, for his return and for the return of all the hostages. We offer thousands of thanks to Hashem, who granted us the great victory of freeing the captives while preserving the lives of the citizens of the State of Israel and crushing Hamas.
We thank, from the depths of our hearts, all the soldiers who fought for the sake of Hashem - soldiers who fought for two years and more to free their brothers, and to destroy, kill, and annihilate all who rise up against us. And of course, we thank all the heroic women who stood behind the soldiers at home.
Special thanks are due to the Prime Minister and to all the government ministers who stood with courage against immense pressure from within and from without to make a deal for the release of the hostages at the price of allowing Hamas murderers to return and once again stand at Israel’s borders near the Jewish communities in rifle range of Gaza.
Left-wing organizations pressured the ministers and the Prime Minister, investing hundreds of millions of shekels in publicity campaigns to coerce the government into relinquishing the security of the State in exchange for the hostages. In the name of all the citizens of the state, we express our gratitude to the government leaders who withstood this heavy pressure with dignity and did not surrender the lives of civilians.
Self-Sacrifice and Prophecy
Scripture states: “And you may say in your heart: ‘My strength and the might of my hand have made me this wealth.’ But you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you the strength to achieve success, in order to uphold His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as on this day" (Deuteronomy 8).
In this long war, we saw that the soldiers and the government possess great strength. Yet we must always remember that it is the Lord your God who gives you the power to fight for hundreds of days with self-sacrifice. He also granted a spirit of self-sacrifice to their wives. He granted the government the strength to make correct decisions. He granted the citizens the resilience to stand firm.
This self-sacrifice is “the beginning of the levels of prophecy," as the Rambam writes in The Guide for the Perplexed.
Thus We Departed from Egypt
So too did Moshe our teacher risk his life when he struck the Egyptian who was beating a Hebrew man, one of his brethren. As a result of this act, Pharaoh sought to kill him, and Moshe fled to Midian. Through this course of events, Moshe met his wife Zipporah, who saved his life. Through this path, he came to the burning bush on Mount Sinai, where the Holy One, blessed be He, appointed him as His emissary to redeem the People of Israel and to lead them to the Promised Land.
His self-sacrifice was a continuation of the self-sacrifice of Jochebed and Miriam, his mother and sister, the midwives, who risked their lives for the Children of Israel. This familial self-sacrifice marks the beginning of the story of the Redemption from Egypt.
No Compromise Until Evil Is Crushed
The drowning of the Egyptians in the Red Sea also began with the self-sacrifice of Israel, who entered the waters when no salvation was in sight. The Divine Manifestation at the sea was intended to completely crush Egyptian wickedness - not to leave it alive to grow and become a monster that would threaten the peace of humanity.
As King David declared: “I will pursue my enemies and overtake them, and I will not return until they are destroyed."
So too we endeavor to continue this heroic example, not leaving remnants of the Gazan enemy which could return and attempt to destroy us. This was Esther’s request - to strike the enemies for one more day in Shushan, in order to complete the destruction of evil. Not to settle for half measures.
Likewise, must we complete in Iran (Persia) what we began in the war in Gaza, to cast down this kingdom of wickedness to the dust. About this triumph of goodness we read in the Book of Daniel, which describes all of human history, and the Four Kingdoms beginning with the Babylonian Empire that ruled the entire world:
“The head of the statue was of fine gold; its chest and arms of silver; its belly and thighs of bronze; its legs of iron, and its feet partly of iron and partly of clay" (Daniel 2).
The golden head alludes to Babylon; the silver chest and arms to Persia; the bronze belly and thighs to Greece; and the iron legs to Edom (Rome). The clay mixed with them alludes to the rule of Ishmael, interwoven with the kingdoms of Europe.
The Fall of the Kingdom of Persia - the Foundation of the Great Redemption.
Regarding the wickedness of the kingdom of Edom, Daniel states: “Terrifying, fearsome, and exceedingly powerful; it had great iron teeth; it devoured and crushed, and trampled the remainder with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that preceded it, and it had ten horns" (Daniel 7).
According to the Malbim, the clay alongside it refers to the Ishmaelites, who rule the world in parallel with the kingdom of Edom.
Daniel continues:
“I watched until a stone was cut out, not by human hands, and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and crushed them. Then the iron, clay, bronze, silver, and gold were crushed all at once… and the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the entire earth."
The stone struck the statue at its feet - Edom and Ishmael - and at that moment all the other kingdoms collapsed as well: gold, silver, and bronze.
The Growth of the Kingdom of Israel Will Illuminate the World.
That stone became a great mountain filling the entire earth. It alludes to the Kingdom of Hashem in the world, revealed through the People of Israel:
“In the days of those kings, the God of Heaven will establish a kingdom that will never be destroyed… It will crush and bring to an end all those kingdoms, and it shall stand forever" (Daniel 2).
The Malbim notes that the order of the metals changes at the end of days: iron and bronze together first, followed by clay, silver, and gold together. This hints that Edom (iron) and Greece (bronze), both part of Christianity, would fall first. Afterwards, Babylon and Persia, gold and silver,would be subdued under the rule of Ishmael, namely Islam.
Daniel’s Words Are Being Fulfilled
In our time, we see how precisely Daniel foresaw events. Babylon, once a vast empire that reshaped humanity, became absorbed into the Islamic world. Persia, too, once a global empire, became part of the Islamic world. Both kingdoms of gold and silver were absorbed under the clay.
Concretely, we saw eighty years ago the collapse of the kingdom of Edom - Europe - in the Second World War, including Germany, which was called the “Holy Roman Empire," as well as Italy and Greece. Thirty-five years ago, the kingdom of Babylon - Iraq - collapsed. This year, the kingdom of Iran - Persia - collapses. All exactly as described in the Book of Daniel.
The Stone Becomes a Great Mountain
According to Daniel’s prophecy, the next stage is the stone that shatters the four kingdoms becoming a great mountain that fills the entire earth:
“The stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the entire earth."
This stone, which alludes to the Kingdom of Israel, will grow from a small stone into a great mountain whose light will illuminate all humanity and bring blessing to all.
And in Daniel 7:
“The kingdom, dominion, and greatness of all kingdoms under heaven shall be given to the people of the holy ones of the Most High; and their kingdom shall be an everlasting kingdom, and all rulers shall serve and obey them."
The Kingdom of Hashem Revealed in the World
All this will occur because the Kingdom of Israel will be an expression of the Kingdom of Hashem in the world:
“I watched until thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days sat… thousands upon thousands served Him, and myriads upon myriads stood before Him; the court was seated, and the books were opened" (Daniel 7).
In his vision, Daniel saw the panorama of history until the throne of Hashem was established and the Lord was revealed upon it, with all the heavenly hosts serving Him. This is what is destined to occur after the fall of the final kingdom of wickedness in the world.
May it be soon.