Edited
on February 3rd, 2016 and December 9th, 2017
Table
of Contents
Foreword
by the Author
Part
One: Spirituality
Chapter
1: An Introduction to Jewish Eschatology
Chapter
2: The Legitimacy of Zionism in Question
Chapter
3: A Jewish and Democratic State
Chapter
4: The Fulfillment of the Prophecies
Part
Two: Transubstantiation
Chapter
1: A Time of War and Suffering
Chapter
2: The Destruction of Israel’s Enemies
Chapter
3: The Recognition of Wrongs
Chapter
4: The In-Gathering of the Exiles
Chapter
5: The Restoration of Jerusalem
Chapter
6: The Re-Planting of the Land
Chapter
7: The Rebuilding of the Holy Temple
Chapter
8: The Restoration of the Sanhedrin
Chapter
9: The Re-Imposition of Rabbinic Law
Chapter
10: The Ordination of the Rabbis
Chapter
11: The Reign of the Davidic Dynasty
Chapter
12: Jerusalem Becomes the Center of World Government
Chapter
13: The Elimination of Death and Suffering
Chapter
14: The Destruction of the Weapons of War
Chapter
15: The Spiritual Restoration of Humanity
Chapter
16: A House of Prayer for All Nations
Chapter
17: Conclusions on Prophetic Fulfillment
Part
Three: Materialism
Chapter
1: Mashiach: Individual or Collective?
Chapter
2: Samuel, Saul, and David
Chapter
3: Rabbi Kahane and Rebbe Teitelbaum
Chapter
4: Avigdor Grün and David Ben-Gurion
Chapter
5: Theodor Herzl and Political Zionism
Chapter
6: Marx, Trotsky, Stalin, and Lenin
Chapter
7: Secularism, Anarchy, and Economics
Chapter
8: Levi Baruch’s Letter: Exposition
Chapter
9: Levi Baruch’s Letter: Analysis
Chapter
10: “Workers of the World, Unite!”
Chapter
11: The Russian Revolution
Chapter
12: Nixon, Graham, and Kissinger
Chapter
13: Mashiach: Human or Divine?
Chapter
14: Tyranny or Peace?
Chapter
15: The Seventh Millennium (Conclusion)
Content
Foreword
by the Author
Written
on August 8th, 2011
The
following essay was composed between December 2010 and August 2011.
During
this time-frame occurred the Egyptian Revolution, the Tunisian
“Jasmine Revolution”, the resulting “Arab Spring”, the Libyan
Civil War, and numerous other civil conflicts throughout Northern
Africa, Arabia, elsewhere in the Middle East, and Central Asia.
Thus
far – in addition to conflicts in Egypt, Tunisia, and Libya – the
year 2011 has seen civil uprisings in Syria, Bahrain, and Yemen;
demonstrations and protests in Mauritania, Morocco, Western Sahara,
Algeria, Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait, Iraq,
Iran, Djibouti, and the Sudan; and the declaration of independence of
the Southern Sudan.
This
year (2011), the United States marked its eighth year of military
involvement in Iraq, with plans to keep an American presence in that
country past this December. The U.S. also marked its tenth year in
Afghanistan, with a possible withdrawal date of some time in 2014.
In
the spring of 2011, the U.S. and several Western European states
invaded Libya, and they subsequently handed over control of the
conflict to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (N.A.T.O.). In
early May, the U.S. claimed that a team of Navy S.E.A.L.s and C.I.A.
operatives killed Osama bin Laden in Northern Pakistan.
The
U.S. has also begun conducting drone strikes, targeting forces in
Yemen and Somalia, in addition to continuing drone strikes against
forces in Pakistan, which have occurred there since 2004, the
escalation of which having begun in 2008.
Nearly
two years ago, in 2009, U.S. President Barack Obama stated before the
United Nations General Assembly that “the time has come to
re-launch negotiations – without preconditions – that address the
permanent-status issues: security for Israelis and Palestinians,
borders, refugees, and Jerusalem”.
During
the same speech, Obama further stated that “the goal is clear: two
states living side by side in peace and security; a Jewish State of
Israel – with true security for all Israelis – and a viable,
independent Palestinian state with contiguous territory that ends the
occupation that began in 1967”.
On
May 15th of 2011, the day after the sixty-third
anniversary of the State of Israel’s declaration of independence,
thousands of protesters and demonstrators marched on that country’s
borders with Syria, Lebanon, and the Gaza Strip, sparking clashes
which left at least fifteen people dead.
Four
days later, Barack Obama called for the United States to support a
future sovereign Palestine, based on the borders that existed before
the Six-Day War of 1967. The same day, Israeli Prime Minister
Binyamin Netanyahu rejected this proposal, calling what would become
the State of Israel’s borders in such a situation “indefensible”.
In
the prevailing view of the Israeli government, and of the majority of
Israelis in general (and in the view of Netanyahu in particular), the
building of Jewish settlements in East Jerusalem is a result of
“natural growth”, and thus should not be ceased or curtailed. In
the same view, the city of Jerusalem, whole and undivided, is the
capital of the State of Israel. Additionally, in their view, there
should be no “right of return” extended to Palestinian refugees
(Netanyahu himself having briefly waffled on the “right of return”
in spring before resolving to oppose it); Israel has pulled out of
the Gaza Strip; and the State of Israel should not extend any
recognition of sovereignty to the representatives of the Palestinian
territories.
On
top of these U.S.-Israeli talks, the Palestinian National Authority
has stated an intention to seek full membership in the United
Nations, becoming its 194th member. In September
2011, it plans to ask the U.N. General Assembly to upgrade
Palestine’s status from that of an observer to that of a non-member
state, which would give it access to dozens of U.N. agencies, as well
as potentially allow it access to the International Criminal Court.
Lately,
there have been attempts to reconcile Hamas of Gaza with Mahmoud
Abbas’s Fatah administration in the West Bank. This reconciliation
is seen as vital for mobilizing popular support behind the goals
which Palestine will seek in September 2011, but Israel is wary about
the potential for protests.
All
the while, more and more countries around the world are recognizing
the sovereignty and independence of, as well as establishing
diplomatic relations with, Palestine. Currently, somewhere between
120 and 150 countries recognize Palestine, while 160 recognize the
State of Israel.
Given
these facts, it appears evident that now is a high-stakes time for
relations between the State of Israel and the nation of Palestine.
Amidst
the ongoing debates regarding the political solutions to the
Israeli-Arab conflict – such as 1) the one-state, Israel-only
solution; 2) the two-state solution; and 3) the three-state solution,
which would involve the cession of the Gaza Strip to Egypt, and the
cession of the West Bank to Jordan, while leaving Israel intact –
there seems to be no agreement that this conflict is strictly a
political problem.
Many
who are inclined to claim that the Israeli-Arab conflict is not
primarily a political, but a religious, one, would cite that the Land
of Palestine has been a site of consistent religious turmoil for
hundreds of years, if not thousands.
However,
Rabbi Yisroel Dovid Weiss of Neturei Karta has
repeatedly claimed that as recently as a hundred years ago, the Jews
and Muslims in the area lived as brothers, and that the militarism of
adherents to political Zionism is the primary cause of the up-tick in
violence that has been seen in the area within the last several
generations.
But
to assert that the Jews and Muslims in Israel-Palestine hold
diametrically-opposed goals which can only be achieved upon the
annihilation of either the State of Israel or a politicized nation of
Palestine – however valid such an assertion may be shown to be –
unfortunately only serves to obscure the true nature
of the conflict. This is to say that among each people,
religion and politics inform one another to varying degrees.
I
can only hope that this essay may serve to enlighten its readers on
the inextricability of religious-Zionist and political-Zionist ideas
from one another, as it pertains to the history and current events of
the State of Israel.
Part
One: Spirituality
Chapter
1: An Introduction to Jewish Eschatology
According
to the writings of the prophets Isaiah, Ezekiel, and
others, Mashiach (the Messiah, or
“anointed one” of the People of Israel) has several enumerated
characteristics and attributes, and is to perform several important
tasks and functions in the End of Days.
Following
a time of war and suffering, Mashiach is to destroy
the enemies of the People of Israel, and the nations of the Earth
will recognize the wrongs they did the People of Israel.
Then, Mashiachwill gather the exiled Jews whom are
dispersed among the many nations of the Earth, back to the Land of
Israel.
Next,
the city of Jerusalem is to be restored, along with the ruined cities
of Israel, and the Land of Israel will be re-planted and flourish.
Then, the zemach (meaning “branch”, an
expression ofMashiach) is to rebuild the Holy Temple in
Jerusalem as the Third Temple, under the guidance of, and with help
by, Mashiach.
Concurrent
with the re-building and re-dedication of the Temple is the
re-imposition of rabbinic law, including the sacrifices, as it was
during the time of the original Sanhedrin.
The Sanhedrin (the Great Assembly in Jerusalem,
which was a sort of “supreme court” of religious law, made up of
seventy-one rabbis) is to be restored, and the process of ordaining
rabbis is to be re-established and resumed.
Following
the completion of the ordination of the rabbis of the court of
the Sanhedrin, the prophet Elijah is to present himself
before the court, and announce the coming of, and identify, Mashiach.
Mashiach will then rule in justice over the Jews and the
nations of the Earth as representative of the L-rd. This will restore
the reign of the Jews to be again under the tribe of Judah, and the
patrilineage of King David (through Solomon), excluding branches of
their lineage which have been cursed; i.e., those of
Jehoiakim, Jeconiah, and Shealtiel.
Jerusalem
will become the center of all world government, ushering in an era of
spiritual fulfillment and world peace, in which the Jews will be
restored to the divine ideal. All of humanity will be converted to
Judaism, and the Temple will thereby become a place of worship for
people of all nations. Hunger, poverty, disease, and death will
cease; the dead will rise again; and the weapons of war will be
destroyed.
It
would appear as though some of these events have come to pass, either
partially or completely, while others have not. So how is it that
this is so, and what does it mean about whether Mashiach has
arrived or is yet to come?
Chapter
2: The Legitimacy of Zionism in Question
Recently,
at an event protesting Zionism, Rabbi Yisroel Dovid Weiss claimed
that the Old Testament says that the State of Israel is not to exist,
unless and until Mashiach establishes it, and that
until that happens, any form of sovereign government existing among
the Jewish People is always an impediment to peace.
A
woman who supported Zionism responded to the Rabbi that Mashiach had
already come. Unfortunately for us, the Rabbi did not ask the woman
to name, nor identify, this Mashiach, whom she believed
had already appeared, nor did he ask her whether Mashiach was
living or dead.
Precisely
what, or whom, grants Jews the right to have a sovereign state of
their own, is a matter of controversy. Certainly each nation of
people should be permitted to have its own land, because people have
to have a land off of which they can live, by raising crops and
livestock, in order to sustain their lives and their livelihoods.
But
what specifically entitles the Israelis, the citizens of
a self-described “Jewish state”, to govern the
people living in the Land of Israel (otherwise known as the Land of
Palestine) through the enforcement of laws made by man,
and not by G-d?
Are
we to accept, without question, that the permission of the United
Nations, and the consent of the international community, are enough
to merit granting the right to modern statist governance of a land
occupied, both previously and currently, by Arabs? And, at that, to a
people whom had been, by and large, absent from that land for nearly
a hundred generations, and moreover, to a people many of whom were
converts, or descendants of converts, to Judaism, and thus have
little direct national, and ethnic or racial, identification with the
land?
Chapter
3: A Jewish and Democratic State
The
State of Israel was established in May 1948 as a Jewish state. In the
mid-1980’s, the country’s Supreme Court confirmed Israel’s
status as a democratic state. The court decreed that
what constitutes “a Jewish and democratic state” is to be decided
by the citizens.
Today,
the State of Israel more closely resembles a secular state than a
theocracy (which focuses on enacting religious law). About half of
Israelis today describe themselves as secular. Much of Jewish culture
today is dominated by the Reform (or Progressive) Judaism and
Revisionist-Zionism strains of thought. It could easily be argued
that these ideologies place more focus on the importance
of cultural heritage as integral to the Jewish lifestyle,
than on religious heritage and fidelity to Jewish law.
I
will mention as a side-note (although my intention is not to focus on
the democratic nature of Israel as much as on its
status as a Jewish state) that today the State of Israel is,
obviously and demonstrably, a representative democracy,
rather than any type of participatory democracy, which
would be closer to the democratic ideal. However, its proportional
representation -style parliamentary body, the 120-seat Knesset,
is more permissive of the existence of minority parties than are most
other Western democracies, and is thus more participatory.
Chapter
4: The Fulfillment of the Prophecies
In
Part Two, I will examine each major attribute and event pertaining to
the role of Mashiach in Jewish eschatology, and I
will explain whether, and to what degree, these have been fulfilled
by the current generation of Jews, as well as by the most recent
several generations thereof. In so doing, I aim to uncover how likely
it is either that Mashiach exists in some form
today, or that the agents performing these actions become Mashiach in
such fulfillment.
Part
Two: Transubstantiation
Chapter
1: A Time of War and Suffering
…and
you will come up against My people Israel like a cloud to cover the
land. It shall come about in the last days that I will bring you
against My land, so that the nations may know Me when I am sanctified
through you before their eyes, O Gog.
-
Ezekiel 38:16
This
passage is taken to mean that, in the End of Days, Mashiach is
to come following a time of war and suffering. There have certainly
been numerous episodes of war and suffering which have occurred
throughout the twentieth century.
Examples
of war and suffering having taken place before the
establishment of the State of Israel include: 1) the First World War,
which saw nearly twenty million deaths; 2) the subsequent flu
pandemic which killed fifty million; 3) the Ukrainian Holodomor
famine of the early 1930s, during which as many as twelve million
died, over 60,000 of them Jews; 4) the conflict between Japan and
China before and during World War II, which saw the death of nearly
twenty million; and 5) European-theater World War II aggression which
killed nearly sixty million, five or six million of them Jews.
The
series of conflicts between Jews and Muslims in the Levant from 1947
to 1949 saw about 15,000 to 24,000 deaths, about a third of the
casualties having been sustained by Jews. It was during this time
that Israel declared its independence from Great Britain, and the
State of Israel was established.
Episodes
of war and suffering which followed the State of
Israel’s creation include: 1) the Suez Crisis of 1956, which saw
about 3,200 deaths, with an Egyptian-to-Jew death ratio of about
17-to-1; 2) the Six-Day War in 1967, which saw about 25,000 deaths,
with a Muslim-to-Jew death ratio of nearly 25-to-1; 3) the War of
Attrition of 1967, which saw between 5,000 and 13,000 deaths, with a
Muslim-to-Jew death ratio of somewhere between 3-to-1 and 15-to-1; 4)
the Yom Kippur War of 1973, which saw 10,000 to
22,000 deaths, with a death ratio of five Jews per Muslim; 5) the
Lebanon War of 1982, which saw 28,000 deaths, with a Muslim-to-Jew
death ratio of over 42-to-1; and 6) the Lebanon War of 2006, which
saw between 1,700 and 2,000 deaths, with a Muslim-to-Jew death ratio
of about 10-to-1.
These
facts show that there have been periods of war and suffering before,
as well as after, the establishment of the State of
Israel. This means that appearance by Mashiach –
either now, in the future, or at any time since the First World War –
would be explainable in the context of Jewish prophecy and
eschatology, because Mashiach’s appearance could be shown to
follow a time of war and suffering.
Chapter
2: The Destruction of Israel’s Enemies
I
shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there
shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of
Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the
children of Sheth.
-
Numbers 24:17
This
passage is taken to mean that, in the End of Days, G-d (acting
through Mashiach) is to smite and destroy the enemies of
the People of Israel.
As
I have shown, there have been episodes of war and suffering before,
during, and since the establishment of the State of Israel; episodes
which have involved at least partial destruction of the enemies of
the People of Israel.
An
obvious place to start is the defeat of Germany and the Central
Powers in the First World War, and the defeat of Germany and the Axis
Powers in the Second World War. Next, in the thirty years which
followed the end of World War II, we have the Israeli War of
Independence, the Suez Crisis, the Six-Day War, the War of Attrition,
and the Yom Kippur War.
In
the First Intifada (the Palestinian uprising against
Israel of the late 1980s and early 1990s), about 2,000 Palestinians
were killed, about half of them as accused Israeli collaborators. In
the Second Intifada of the first half-decade of the
twenty-first century, Israeli forces killed about 5,000 or 6,000
Palestinians. The Palestinian death toll from the second half
of that decade numbers about 1,700, and the Muslim-to-Jew death ratio
in the Gaza conflict of 2008 to 2009 was more than 100-to-1.
Combined,
these nine major post-WWII conflicts, including the Lebanon Wars of
1982 and 2006, total somewhere between 55,000 and 68,000 deaths of
combatants and civilians belonging to nations which were enemies of
Israel, including the Palestinian territories, Lebanon, Syria,
Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Egypt, the countries of North Africa, and
the Sudan. The Israeli death toll from all of these events combined
numbers a mere 17,000 to 32,000.
With
the exception of the 1973 Yom Kippur War, the only
major military event of the Arab-Israeli conflict which saw more
Israeli deaths than Muslim deaths, the total death ratio of the
conflict since Israeli independence comes out to more than five
Muslims per Israeli. Including the Yom
Kippur War, the death ratio is still more than 2
½Muslims per Israeli.
These
figures do not even include the numerous Muslim deaths which have
occurred between these major conflicts, nor do they
take into account the “casualties” which consist of the many
native inhabitants of the Palestinian territories who fled their
homes, or whom have been otherwise displaced (either by choice or by
force), nor their injuries.
The
figures also do not take into account the deaths in
the several wars in Iraq throughout the last several decades, which
could be argued to have been fought in part for the benefit and
defense of the State of Israel, and in order to supply it with Iraqi
oil.
It
may be that none of the so-called “enemies of Israel” which have
fought the state since its creation have been completely destroyed,
but Israel has been involved in a series of
conflicts with Muslims, and with nation-states that have Muslim
majorities, which combined have averaged a Muslim-to-Israeli death
toll of greater than 2-to-1.
The
State of Israel, with its approximately eight hundred undeclared
nuclear weapons, its refusal to sign the nuclear Non-Proliferation
Treaty, and its $1.5 billion in annual military aid from the United
States, appears, as always, ready and willing to continue to attempt
to defeat and destroy whatever it believes to be an enemy of the
People of Israel.
These
facts show that many “enemies of Israel” have been destroyed, at
least partially, and therefore the appearance of Mashiach
would make sense, provided that it occur within the same
time-frame.
Chapter
3: The Recognition of Wrongs
…so
shall he sprinkle many nations; kings shall shut their mouths because
of him; for that which has not been told them they see; and that
which they have not heard they understand.
-
Isaiah 52:15
This
passage is taken to mean that in the End of Days, due to the actions
of Mashiach, the nations of the Earth are to recognize
the wrongs they did the People of Israel.
In
1998, the Vatican issued a formal apology for failing to take more
decisive action in challenging the Nazi regime during the Second
World War in order to stop the extermination of Jews.
Since
the 1980s, various European countries have enacted laws which make it
a crime to deny, negate, diminish, minimize, excuse, sympathize with,
or justify either the Holocaust, other genocides, or crimes against
humanity. Such countries include Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and
Herzegovina, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary,
Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal,
Romania, Spain, and Switzerland.
In
2001, the European Union’s executive commission passed a law which
criminalized denial of the Holocaust. Due to efforts by the United
Kingdom and the Nordic countries, member states of the E.U. are free
to choose whether to impose a maximum three-year jail sentence on
individuals found guilty of Holocaust denial.
In
1986, Israel’s parliament passed a law which makes denying or
diminishing the Holocaust, or sympathizing or identifying with its
perpetrators, a crime punishable by five years of imprisonment.
The
significance of these facts is that, in the last thirty years, many
nations have symbolically recognized the wrongs which were done to
the People of Israel, including countries which were responsible for
those wrongs, as well as countries which turned blind eyes towards
the atrocities. This could mean that we are now in the “End of
Days” (Olam Ha-Ba; “the world to come”).
Chapter
4: The In-Gathering of the Exiles
And
it shall come to pass in that day, that the L-RD shall set His hand
again the second time to recover the remnant of His people, which
shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and
from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from
the islands of the sea. And He shall set up an ensign for the
nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather
together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.
-
Isaiah 11:12-13
But,
the L-RD liveth, which brought up and which led the seed of the house
of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries whither I
had driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land.
-
Jeremiah 23:8
“For,
lo, the days come, the days come”, saith the L-RD, “that I will
bring again the captivity of My people Israel and Judah”, saith the
L-RD: “and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to
their fathers, and they shall possess it.”
-
Jeremiah 30:3
For
the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and
without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and
without an ephod, and without teraphim:
Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the L-RD
their G-d, and David their king, and shall fear the L-RD and his
goodness in the latter days.
-
Hosea 3:4-5
These
passages are taken to mean that, in the End of Days, G-d (acting
through Mashiach) is to gather the Jews dispersed among
the nations of the Earth, back to the Land of Israel.
Events
from the eighth to the sixth centuries before the Common Era, as well
as conflicts between the Roman Empire and Judea, contributed to the
dispersal of the Jewish People to surrounding Arab-occupied areas,
and to other nations around the world. From 70 C.E. until the
establishment of the State of Israel, the Jews were widely considered
to be in exile.
Between
1882 and 1929, nearly 200,000 Jews immigrated to the land which later
became the State of Israel. A quarter-million more arrived in the
following decade, most of this immigration having been illegal. Legal
immigration sharply declined during the Second World War.
In
the three years following the establishment of the state, another
700,000 immigrants arrived. Between 1952 and 1990, a total of about
1.1 million Jewish immigrants arrived. The year 1991 saw
the aliyah (“ascent”; immigration into Israel) of
about 200,000, mostly due to mass emigration from countries affected
by the collapse of Communism. Another 800,000 or so have arrived in
Israel since the early 1990s.
In
order to complete the Gathering of the Exiles into the Land of
Israel, the remaining 7.2 to 9.2 million Jews living elsewhere in the
world must make aliyah to Israel. At current
immigration rates, this would take about four hundred years, even
assuming a population growth rate of zero (Note: such a rate is
highly improbable because it is a province of Orthodox Judaism to
desire significant increases in the birth rate).
Israel’s
annual economic growth rate remains strong at about eight percent,
and settlements are continuously being built, making room for natural
population growth and for more potential immigrants. Throughout the
last hundred years, it has been a constant task of Israelis to build
in preparation for the arrival of new immigrants.
Today,
there are somewhere between thirteen and fifteen million Jews in the
world. About 5.8 million of them live within the boundaries of the
State of Israel. This means that approximately 40% (two-fifths) of
the world’s Jewish population has been gathered into the State of
Israel.
From
these facts, it would be fair to conclude that the in-gathering of
the exiles has not yet been completed, and thus, G-d
(acting through Mashiach) has not yet fulfilled this
prophecy.
Chapter
5: The Restoration of Jerusalem
When
your sisters, Sodom and her daughters, shall return to their former
estate, and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former
estate, then you and your daughters shall return to your former
estate.
-
Ezekiel 16:55
Therefore
prophesy and say to them: “This is what the Sovereign L-RD says:
[‘]My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from
them; I will bring you back to the Land of Israel.[‘]”
-
Ezekiel 37:12
These
passages are taken to mean that, in the End of Days, G-d (acting
through Mashiach) is to restore the city of Jerusalem and
the ruined cities of Israel.
From
1844 to 1944, the population of Jerusalem grew by a factor of ten;
from 16,000 to 160,000. Jerusalem has gained an additional 600,000
residents since the end of the Second World War. In 1980, Israel
added to its Basic Law a declaration that Jerusalem, whole and
undivided, is the capital of the State of Israel. The U.S. and the
United Nations voiced opposition to that declaration.
When
the State of Israel was established, the Old City, and adjacent parts
of East Jerusalem and the West Bank, were not yet parts of Israel.
They and other territories were captured during the Six-Day War in
1967, and the city limits of Jerusalem were expanded.
Israeli
settlements in, and outside, greater Jerusalem (which, combined,
number about 200,000 in population) have, in recent years, been a
continuing source of conflict, as well as an impediment to
Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations.
The
significance of these facts is that the city of Jerusalem has been
restored. This is not to say, however, that
restoration of Jerusalem would solely entail a physical restoration
and growth of the city; to the contrary, it would mean a restoration
of the population of the city, which really means a
spiritual and cultural rebirth of the Jewish People in general. There
will be more on this spiritual rebirth later.
Chapter
6: The Re-Planting of the Land
For
the L-RD shall comfort Zion: He will comfort all her waste places;
and He will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the
garden of the L-RD; joy and gladness shall be found therein,
thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.
-
Isaiah 51:3
I
will also save you from all your uncleannesses: and I will call for
the corn, and will increase it, and lay no famine upon you. And I
will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field,
that ye shall receive no more reproach of famine among the heathen.
-
Ezekiel 36:29-30
“Behold,
the days come”, saith the L-RD, “that the plowman shall overtake
the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed: and the
mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt. And I
will bring again the captivity of My People of Israel, and they shall
build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant
vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens,
and eat the fruit of them. And I will plant them upon their land, and
they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given
them”, saith the L-RD thy G-d.
-
Amos 9:13-15
These
passages are taken to mean that in the End of Days, G-d (acting
through Mashiach) is to cause the Land of Israel to be
re-planted and to flourish, the barren land having been made abundant
and fruitful.
In
1901, the Jewish National Fund was founded at the Fifth Zionist
Congress in Basel, Switzerland, as a quasi-governmental, non-profit
organization. Its purpose was to purchase, lease, and serve as a
trustee of land in Ottoman Palestine – for, and on the behalf of,
the Jewish People – and to develop the land for settlement by Jews.
In
the first decade of the twentieth century, the Jewish National Fund
(J.N.F.) played a central role in the founding of Tel-Aviv, one of
Israel’s largest cities. It also established the Olive Tree Fund,
which has led to the planting of more than a quarter billion trees in
Israel.
The
J.N.F. has built over two hundred ten dams, reservoirs, and water
treatment plants; over a thousand parks; and hundreds of miles of
roads. It has developed 250,000 acres of land, reclaimed more than
50,000 acres of cropland, and provided infrastructure for more than a
thousand communities.
The
J.N.F. has funded research into the conservation of soil and water;
the rehabilitation of rivers; and development of sustainable
ecological practices, in order to improve the quality of life among
people living in arid regions in the face of water shortages and
drought. It has brought life, including forests, to the Negev Desert
in the south of Israel, and intends to eventually provide
infrastructure for a quarter-million new settlers there.
When
the State of Israel was founded, the Jewish National Fund owned more
than half of the land which was held by Jews in the region. By 2007,
it owned 13% of the total land in Israel.
Additionally,
the State of Israel is the site of three desalination plants, and the
future site of two planned desalination plants. The plants take salt
water from the sea, and employ a process of reverse osmosis, removing
salt and minerals in order to create fresh water.
Thus,
as prophesied, the Land of Israel has been re-planted, and
flourishes, the land having been made abundant and fruitful.
Chapter
7: The Rebuilding of the Holy Temple
…and
I will set My sanctuary in their midst forever and My tabernacle
shall be with them.
-
Ezekiel 37:26-27
The
text contained in the Book of Ezekiel, 40:5 through 42:20, is
described as G-d’s instructions on the construction of the Holy
Temple, as revealed to Ezekiel.
The
passages are taken to mean that Mashiach is to
rebuild the Holy Temple on Mount Moriah (also called Mount Zion) in
the Old City of Jerusalem.
The
First Temple, also known as Solomon’s Temple, existed from 954
B.C.E. until its destruction at the hands of the conquering
Babylonians in 587 B.C.E..
About
sixty years after its destruction, it was replaced by the Second
Temple, which became known as Herod’s Temple, when Herod renovated
it in 19 B.C.E.. The Second Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70
C.E.. In 363 C.E., there was a failed attempt to rebuild the Temple.
The
site of the Temple Mount is currently home to the Islamic places of
worship the Dome of the Rock (completed in 691 C.E.) and
al-Aqsa Mosque (completed in 705 C.E.).
The
Jewish Temple which is to be rebuilt would be the Third Temple, also
known as Ezekiel’s Temple. It would be used for sacrificial
worship, and its existence would provide for the performance of many
important mitzvot (meaning “obligations”,
“rituals”, or “commandments”) which cannot be exercised
without it.
Although
there is controversy over whether the Temple is to be rebuilt by
human or divine hands, those who participate in the rebuilding of the
Temple are considered to act as the zemach(“branch”;
an expression of Mashiach).
Twelfth-century
Spanish rabbi and philosopher Moses ben-Maimon (also known as
Maimonides, Moses Maimonides the Great, or simply “the Rambam”)
has been interpreted as having said that only Mashiach can
build the Temple. However, the same statement has
also been interpreted as meaning that any Jew who
participates in the rebuilding of the Temple is a
potential Mashiach.
There
are currently three organizations in Israel whose stated goals
include building the Third Jewish Temple on Mount Moriah. They are
the Temple Mount Faithful Movement, the Movement for the
Establishment of the Temple, and the Temple Institute.
The
Temple Mount and Eretz Yisrael Faithful Movement
(“Eretz Yisrael” meaning “the Land of Israel”) was
founded in 1967 by Gershon Salomon. In 1990, the group announced that
it was going to lay a cornerstone for the Temple on Mount Moriah.
Israel’s police and its High Court of Justice prevented this, but
not before several dozen Palestinians were killed by Israeli Border
Police in riots protesting the announcement.
The
influence of the Temple Mount Faithful Movement has declined since
1987, when the more religiously Orthodox elements within the group
split off, and formed the Movement for the Establishment of the
Temple. The Temple Mount Faithful Movement is routinely prevented by
Israeli authorities from accessing the Temple Mount. Recently, the
group has developed close ties (financial and otherwise) with
Christian fundamentalists.
The
Temple Institute (or Hachon HaMikdash) was founded in
1987 by Rabbi Yisrael Ariel, whom is also involved in an attempt to
restore the Sanhedrin (Note: there will be more
information on the Sanhedrin shortly). Other prominent
members of the Institute include Rabbi Chaim Richman and Rabbi Yehuda
Glick. Rabbi Glick believes that the either the Dome of the Rock
should have the Third Temple built over it, or else the mosque should
be integrated into the construction plans of the Temple.
The
Temple Institute has garnered and spent over $27 million for its
operations. It believes that the Rambam should be interpreted as
having urged Jews to rebuild the Temple, if and when they are able to
do so. The Temple Institute’s members visit the Temple Mount, at
times and locations which are in accordance with the requirements of
Halakhic law.
The
Temple Institute has made and procured several items which are to be
used in ritual services in the Temple. Such services would involve
the use of sacred vessels, a mock-up of the Ark of the Covenant, and
a red heifer bred to have attributes specifically outlined in the
Bible. This red heifer is to be sacrificed, becoming only the tenth
or eleventh in history, and its ashes are to be used in order to
purify the souls of those who have come into contact with the corpses
of the dead, or with their graves.
In
the last two decades, Christian cow farmer Clyde Lott of Nebraska has
assisted the Temple Institute to obtain hundreds of heifers from
which the sacrificial animal is to be bred. A candidate for slaughter
named Melody was even produced back in 1996, and another was born in
2002, but both were subsequently found to be unsuitable for
sacrifice. However, in March 2010, a representative of the Temple
Institute claimed that there was “definitely a kosher red heifer
here in Israel.”
Results
of a poll which was taken in 2002, and published by the Jerusalem
Post, revealed that 53% of Israeli Jews would like to see the Temple
rebuilt.
The
significance of these facts is that there have recently been, and
that there currently are, people and entities in the
State of Israel which are attempting to restore and rebuild the Third
Temple, and provide for the existence of the space and the items
which are required in order to carry out the ancient rituals. Hence,
the End of Days may be soon to come.
Chapter
8: The Restoration of the Sanhedrin
And
I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counselors as at
the beginning: afterward thou shalt be called the city of
righteousness; the faithful city.
-
Isaiah 1:26
This
passage is taken to mean that in the End of Days, G-d (acting
through Mashiach) is to re-impose rabbinic law as it was
during the time of the Sanhedrin, which is to be
accomplished through the restoration of the Sanhedrin itself.
The Sanhedrin was
a Great Assembly – a sort of “supreme court” – of rabbinic
law, made up of seventy-one rabbis. There have been numerous past
attempts to reinstate the Sanhedrin; they occurred in
1538, 1830, 1901, 1940, and 1949.
Since
2004, there has been an ongoing attempt to restore the Sanhedrin.
This would involve establishing the court as an upper house of the
Israeli national government, supplanting the Knesset (the
State of Israel’s parliament) which would continue to exist as a
lower house. A Basic Law would be passed, establishing a Constitution
subject to the laws of the Torah, and many democratic
mechanisms and civil laws within Israeli law would have to be revised
in order to become compliant with Jewish rabbinic law.
Were
the Sanhedrin to supplant the Knesset as
the supreme seat of legal authority in the State of Israel, it would
render the government a theocratic kritarchy (or critocracy; rule by
judges), meaning that it would operate under the rule of judges in
accordance with Jewish religious law, with representative democracy
as a secondary governmental paradigm.
The
lack of religious authority in the law of the State of Israel is a
constant source of controversy in modern Israeli society. Members of
the Orthodox community frequently protest violations of the Sabbath,
which include people driving and businesses staying open, and
sometimes they even throw stones in protest. The religious education
of Israeli children is also a matter of controversy.
Ultra-Orthodox
Jews may apply for deferment from the State of Israel’s draft in
order to study scripture, but they must perform national or army
service afterwards. In recent years, the number of people who may
apply for this deferment has been reduced. In 2006, the
developing Sanhedrin claimed that it is the only
entity which has authority to make policy relating to defense and the
military.
Despite
this push (by some) for more religious authority in Israeli law, the
government of the State of Israel still operates as a secular
institution.
The
significance of this is that restoration of rabbinic law has been
attempted numerous times, but has not yet been completely successful.
Chapter
9: The Re-Imposition of Rabbinic Law
To
re-impose rabbinic law as it was during the time of theSanhedrin,
would involve the restoration of the sacrifices which I explained
above, as well as other mitzvot. It would also involve
the restoration of the Laws of Jubilee, and the proper ordination of
rabbis for service on the rabbinic court of the Sanhedrin.
The
Laws of Jubilee (or Yobhel), also known as the Laws of
the Seventh Year, are laws which integrate the Hebrew calendar into
Jewish religious societal life. They dictate that the seventh day of
the week (the Sabbath, or Shabbat,
or Shabbos, meaning “cessation”) is to be observed as
a day of rest.
The
laws also dictate that every seventh year – the Sabbatical year
(also known as Shmita, or Shemitah) – the
land is to be given rest, in order to improve the yield of crops.
Additionally, produce from the fields are to become ownerless,
allowing virtually free and shared access by everyone.
On
the Jubilee – which occurs every forty-nine or fifty years, at the
completion of seven cycles of seven years – 1) indentured servants
are to be set free; 2) personal loans and debts between Jews (whether
in Israel or elsewhere) are to be cancelled; 3) property, fields, and
houses in the Land of Israel are to revert back to their original
owners or heirs; and 4) throughout this time period, the prices of
lands in the Land of Israel are to become progressively less
expensive.
The
Laws of Jubilee dictate that debts which are owed to courts – or
which are owed to or by non-Jews –
are not forgiven on the Sabbatical Year; and that
produce may be grown on land in Israel which is owned by non-Jews.
Rabbinic courts are to help moderate and supervise the sale and
tenancy of land for such arrangements, but this practice is
controversial among the ultra-Orthodox community.
The
main purposes of these laws are: 1) to provide a temporal structure
for Jewish society; 2) to guard against excesses and against the
accumulation of wealth and land in the hands of the few, and 3) to
promote social cohesiveness, as well as a sense of connectedness with
nature, and with the fulfillment of labors performed and enabled by
G-d.
As
punishment for the seventy years prior to the construction of the
Second Temple which the Jews had spent not observing the Laws of
Jubilee, they were exiled amongst the seventy nations of the world,
for an additional seventy years, so that the land could get its due
rest. The numbers seven and seventy are significant for Jews, and
appear many times throughout the Old Testament.
There
is controversy over whether the Laws of Jubilee are to be obeyed
amongst modern Jewry. While some say the laws are always
binding whenever there are Jews in the Land of
Israel, others say the Laws of Jubilee are purely voluntary. Still
others say that the Laws of the Seventh Year only apply when the
Jubilee Year is in effect – which occurs either when the majority
of the world’s Jews are living in the Land of Israel, or when there
are members of all twelve tribes of Israel living there – and that
the observance of the law is not a biblical obligation, but merely a
rabbinic one.
In
terms of the modern State of Israel, the government views the laws as
voluntary, and the civil courts do not enforce them. There is a need
in Israel to maintain modern agricultural and commercial systems, and
it is for this reason that rabbinic and civil courts show certain
flexibility towards one another.
However,
Israel’s Supreme Court intervened when, during the most recent
Sabbatical Year (2007-2008), the Chief Rabbinate of Israel tried to
avoid taking a position on conflict about the laws which arose
between religious communities. The Rabbinate had desired to support
local decision-making on the issue, but the state mandated
nation-wide standards.
Today,
the Jubilee Year (meaning the forty-ninth or fiftieth year) is not
observed, nor is it designated, because it is unknown on which
Sabbatical Year it would fall.
The
significance of these facts is that there is at least a partial
upholding of the Laws of Jubilee in modern Israeli society. Hence,
rabbinic law has not been fully re-imposed.
Chapter
10: The Ordination of the Rabbis
G-d,
acting through Mashiach, is to bring about the proper
ordination (Semicha) of rabbis, for service on the rabbinic
court of the Sanhedrin.
Maimonides
said that the coming of Mashiach is not a
prerequisite for the re-establishment of the Sanhedrin,
and that the people should feel free to re-establish it, when and if
they are able to do so.
In
the year 358, Roman Emperor Theodosius the First forbade the rabbinic
court of the Sanhedrin. He declared the ordination of
rabbis illegal, under punishment of death, and mandated the
destruction of the town where the ordination occurred.
The
following century, after the patriarch Rabbi Gamaliel the Sixth (a
member of the Davidic dynasty) died without a male heir, Emperor
Theodosius the Second abolished the position of Nasi(meaning
“prince”), the title of the chief rabbinic justice of the court
of the Sanhedrin.
According
to Maimonides, in order for the special ordination of rabbis to be
re-established and resumed, the rabbis of Israel must agree to grant
ordination to one person, whom may then ordain other rabbis. Three
attempts to re-establish ordination had their chains of ordination
broken; these attempts occurred in 1830, 1901, and 1949.
In
2004, Rabbi Moshe Teitelbaum was elected by consensus to
receive Semicha. However, Rabbi Teitelbaum passed away
only two years later. Later, Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz accepted the
position of Nasi, but resigned the position in 2008.
Rabbi Re’em Ha-Cohen may become Nasi of the
developing Sanhedrin.
The
significance of these facts is that the current developing
Sanhedrin may eventually bring about the resumption of
the ordination of rabbis.
Once
the Sanhedrin has been properly ordained, the
prophet Elijah will present himself before the court and proclaim the
coming of, and identify, Mashiach.
It
almost goes without saying that this event has not yet occurred,
although the woman who confronted Rabbi Weiss (whom I mentioned
towards the beginning of this piece), who told the rabbi “he
already came!”, may have some evidence refuting this claim.
Chapter
11: The Reign of the Davidic Dynasty
The
staff shall not depart from Judah, nor the scepter from between his
feet…
-
Genesis 49:10
And
when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I
will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy
bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for
My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
-
2 Samuel 7:12-13
He
[Solomon] shall build a house for My name, and he shall be My son,
and I will be his Father; and I will establish the throne of his
kingdom over Israel forever.
-
1 Chronicles 22:10
“Behold,
the days come”, saith the L-RD, “that I will raise unto David a
righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall
execute judgment and justice in the earth.”
-
Jeremiah 23:5
These
passages are taken to mean that once Mashiach appears,
the reign of the Jews will once again be under the lineage of
Solomon, the son of David. David and Solomon are both members of the
tribe of Judah.
This
lineage is known as the Davidic Dynasty, or the House of David, which
I mentioned earlier in discussing the Sanhedrin. In
fact, Mashiach is referred to as Mashiach ben
David, meaning “Messiah, son of David”.
As
a descendant of King David, Mashiach is also known
as Mashiach nagid, meaning “anointed prince”. Mashiach would
be at once a king, a priest, and a servant, restoring both the nation
and the priesthood, and ruling over an Israel that is both a royal
and priestly nation.
Being
that any and all members of the Davidic Dynasty are considered to
have the potentiality to become Mashiach, it is essential
to keep track of who these people are. This task is currently being
performed by the website davidicdynasty.org. Many
prominent rabbis around the world can rightfully claim membership in
the families which are listed on the site.
The
significance of these facts is that members of the lineage of Solomon
are living today, which means that – since all Davidic Dynasty
members can become Mashiach – it is still possible
for Mashiach to appear, and to reign over the Jews.
Chapter
12: Jerusalem Becomes the Center of World Government
And
many people shall go and say, “Come ye, and let us go up to the
mountain of the L-RD, to the house of the G-d of Jacob; and He will
teach us of his ways, and we will walk in His paths”: for out of
Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the L-RD from Jerusalem.
-
Isaiah 2:3
This
passage is taken to mean that once G-d (acting through Mashiach)
reigns over the Jews, the city of Jerusalem is to become the center
of all world government.
This
has not occurred. However, prior to the discovery of the New World by
the people of Africa and Eurasia, “T-and-O” maps commonly
depicted Jerusalem as the center of the known world.
Also,
the decision to prosecute the war crimes of the Nazis in Jerusalem –
which is typically not done, because crimes are traditionally
prosecuted where they occurred – arguably foreshadowed the modern
circumstances in which the whole collective body of the Jews, as a
recent victim of mass murder and destruction, is held to be, more or
less, a just arbiter of what is, and what is not, a crime against
humanity.
Additionally,
it would be easy to argue that concern for the safety of the Jewish
People and the Jewish State, has given rise to an American foreign
policy which aims to achieve “no daylight between the U.S. and our
ally Israel”, a relationship which many American leaders prize,
billing the State of Israel as “the only democracy in the Middle
East”, and “our only ally in the region”. This policy has
resulted in significant Jewish and Israeli influence over the foreign
policy of the United States, which is arguably an empire, having
troops stationed in four out of five of the world’s countries, and
being involved in some 130 conflicts around the world as of 2016.
The
significance of these facts is that – although Mashiach has
not yet returned to reign over the Jews – the city of Jerusalem,
and the State of Israel in general, hold significant military,
political, and juridical power; if not only in the region that is the
Middle East, then also in the world in general.
Chapter
13: The Elimination of Death and Suffering
But
with righteousness shall He… reprove with equity for the meek of
the earth.
-
Isaiah 11:4
He
will swallow up death in victory; and the L-RD G-d will wipe away
tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of His people shall He take
away from off all the earth: for the L-RD hath spoken it.
-
Isaiah 25:8
Thy
dead men shall live, together with My dead body shall they arise.
Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of
herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.
-
Isaiah 26:19
Therefore
the redeemed of the L-RD shall return, and come with singing unto
Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they shall obtain
gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away.
-
Isaiah 51:11
These
passages are taken to mean that, in the End of Days, G-d (acting
through Mashiach) will eliminate death and suffering, and
the dead will rise again.
Modern
times have seen an explosion in world population, a dramatic increase
in average life expectancy, and remarkable strides in the development
of medicine and in agricultural and commercial systems. Such systems
– in addition to charitable organizations (governmental, religious,
and otherwise) – have made significant progress toward the
alleviation of hunger, poverty, and disease, which are chief and
widespread factors contributing to the suffering and death of people
around the world.
One
needs only look as far as Dr. Jonas Salk, who developed the polio
vaccine, to see the role which Jews have played in the alleviation of
suffering in recent history.
The
significance of these facts is that at no other time in world history
have death and suffering been as rare as they are now, in proportion
to world population. However, death and suffering have not yet been
eliminated, nor have the dead risen.
Chapter
14: The Destruction of the Weapons of War
And
they that dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth, and shall set
on fire and burn the weapons, both the shields and the bucklers, the
bows and the arrows, and the handstaves, and the spears, and they
shall burn them with fire seven years.
-
Ezekiel 39:9
And
He shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and
they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into
pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither
shall they learn war any more.
-
Isaiah 2:4
These
passage are taken to mean that in the End of Days, G-d (acting
through Mashiach) will cause the weapons of war to be
destroyed.
According
to an estimate by Janes Weapons Quarterly, the State of
Israel currently possesses approximately eight hundred undeclared
nuclear weapons. It has refused to sign the nuclear Non-Proliferation
Treaty, and it receives $1.5 billion in annual military aid from the
United States.
One
needs only look as far as Albert Einstein and J. Robert Oppenheimer,
both of whom played significant roles in the development of the
nuclear bomb, to see the role which Jews have played in
the creation of weapons of war in recent history.
Thus,
it seems evident that the State of Israel, and Jews in general, are
doing little to bring about the destruction of
weapons of war.
However,
the world in general is currently witnessing some destruction
of weapons of war, as the United States and Russia are now in the
process of negotiating bilateral nuclear arms reduction, which would
see both countries cut their nuclear arsenals approximately in half.
The
gun control issue also plays into this question. Gun bans were
enacted in the Soviet Union and Fascist Italy in the
twentieth century. German Jews abode by Germany’s gun control laws,
which were strengthened by the Nazis, including an outright ban on
the issuing of firearms permits to Jews in 1935. Needless to say,
this obedience of the law contributed to the ease by which Jews were
slaughtered by the Nazis during World War II.
In
1986, Aaron Zelman, a Jewish-American former firearms dealer, founded
a group called Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership
(J.P.F.O.), which currently has more than 4,000 members.
The
J.P.F.O. has produced materials which call attention to the fact that
the Nazis enforced gun control laws, and it has accused American
politicians of using such laws as inspiration for the drafting
of American gun control legislation. The J.P.F.O.
has also produced pamphlets entitled “Why Does the A.D.L. Support
Nazi-Based Laws?” and “J.P.F.O. Facts Versus A.D.L. Lies”.
Abraham
Foxman, the National Director of the A.D.L. (the Anti-Defamation
League), whom is Jewish, commented, “the linkage to gun control is
a tactic by Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership to
manipulate the fear of anti-Semitism toward their own end.”
It
seems that lately, Jews have been on both sides of
the issue of the destruction of the weapons of war. But the
significance of these facts is that there has been at
least some destruction of the weapons of war which
has affected, been participated in, and abode by Jews.
Chapter
15: The Spiritual Restoration of Humanity
And
the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men
shall be made low: and the L-RD alone shall be exalted in that day.
-
Isaiah 2:17
They
shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain: for the earth
shall be full of the knowledge of the L-RD, as the waters cover the
sea.
-
Isaiah 11:9
“And
it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from
one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before Me”,
saith the L-RD.
-
Isaiah 66:23
“But
this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel;
After those days”, saith the L-RD, “I will put My law in their
inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their G-d,
and they shall be My people.”
-
Jeremiah 31:33
And
David My servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one
shepherd: they shall also walk in My judgments, and observe My
statutes, and do them.
-
Ezekiel 37:24
For
then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all
call upon the name of the L-RD, to serve Him with one consent.
-
Zephaniah 3:9
The
remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies; neither
shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth: for they shall feed
and lie down, and none shall make them afraid.
-
Zephaniah 3:13
Thus
saith the L-RD of hosts; “In those days it shall come to pass, that
ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even
shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, ‘We will
go with you: for we have heard that G-d is with you.’”
-
Zechariah 8:23
And
the L-RD shall be king over all the earth: in the day there shall be
one L-RD, and his name one.
-
Zechariah 14:9
These
passages are taken to mean that in the End of Days, all humanity will
be converted to Judaism, all people will know the Word of G-d by
heart, and the Jews will be restored to the divine ideal in an era of
spiritual fulfillment. This is the restoration of the people of
Jerusalem which I mentioned above.
Today,
about half of the citizens of the State of Israel describe themselves
as secular, but statistics show that the number of those who consider
themselves religiously observant is rising.
The
significance of these facts is that the Jews’ spiritual
fulfillment, and their restoration to the divine ideal, are being
affected to some degree.
Chapter
16: A House of Prayer for All Nations
And
in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an
ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest
shall be glorious.
-
Isaiah 11:10
Also
the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the L-RD, to serve
Him, and to love the name of the L-RD, to be His servants, every one
that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of My
covenant; Even them will I bring to My holy mountain, and make them
joyful in My house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their
sacrifices shall be accepted upon Mine altar; for Mine house shall be
called a house of prayer for all people.
-
Isaiah 56:6-7
These
passages are taken to mean that in the End of Days, due to the action
of G-d acting through Mashiach, people from all cultures
and nations will be attracted to, and included in, Jewish worship,
and that the Third Holy Temple is to become a place of worship, and a
house of prayer, for people of all nations.
In
the early 1500s, the Ottomans conquered Jerusalem, and Jews began to
gather at the Western Wall to pray. In the first half of the
20th Century, the importance of the Temple Mount and
the Western Wall to the Islamic religion grew. In 1929, Muslims
rioted against Jewish worshipers at the Western Wall because it was
perceived that Jewish prayer endangered Islamic mosques.
When
Jordan controlled the Temple Mount in the two decades following the
establishment of the State of Israel, the significance of Jerusalem
and the Temple Mount to Islam subsided. Jewish holy places were
desecrated and destroyed, and Jews were denied access to their holy
sites.
The
significance of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount to Islam began to grow
again when, during the Six-Day War in 1967, Israel gained control of
eastern Jerusalem and the Mount. Subsequently, the Israeli government
retained sovereignty and security control over the area, but it
turned administrative control over the Temple Mount to the Jordanian
Islamic Waqf (a religious endowment and trust) as a
gesture of peace, ordered an Israeli flag which had been raised over
the Mount during the conquest to be removed, and banned Jews from
holding prayer services there.
In
the mid-1990s, Yasir Arafat’s Palestinian Authority gained
administrative and religious control of the Waqf. Israel
granted the Palestinian Authority full sovereignty on the Mount in
2000, but the Jordanians began to re-assert their control in 2004.
Today,
Muslim citizens of the State of Israel are normally allowed to enter
and pray at al-Aqsa Mosque, but certain groups of
Muslims (depending on their age; where they are from; and the time
and day of the week, which has to do with customary times and dates
of prayer) have their prayer restricted by the Israeli government for
security reasons.
Since
1967, the Chief Rabbinate of Israel has ruled that Jews should not
walk on the Temple Mount, because they may step on the site of the
Holy of Holies, the Tabernacle where the Ark of the Covenant once
stood. Only the High Priest (the Nasi) may enter the
Tabernacle, and only on Yom Kippur.
Several
Jewish religious and political leaders have demanded that Jews be
permitted to pray at the site on Jewish holidays. The Israeli Supreme
Court has supported individual prayer there, but Israeli police
prohibit Jews from praying on the Temple Mount in any overt manner
(including spoken prayer). Overt prayer is strictly regulated, but
visiting rights as tourists are less strict.
Some
Jews and Christians in Israel interpret the prophecy that the Temple
will become a house of prayer for all nations, as urging that members
of any religion should attempt to pray on the Temple
Mount. For the Israeli authorities to enforce such practice, would
undermine the authority of the Waqf to permit and
deny the right to pray to certain individuals and groups at certain
dates and times.
Some
Jews believe that prayers on the Temple Mount by people of all
nations should only take place once the Third Holy Temple has been
built and Mashiach has arrived. This is because, in
their view, it is only after Mashiach arrives,
that all of humanity will be converted to Judaism, which means that
the people of all nations would then become Jewish, and all the
prayers they would make on the Temple Mount would share the same
significance.
The
significance of these facts is that the former site of the First and
Second Holy Temples has not yet become a house of
prayer for people of all nations. But as I explained, there are
elements in the State of Israel today which seek to use legal
remedies to change that.
Chapter
17: Conclusions on Prophetic Fulfillment
Now
I will, as concisely as possible, summarize the conclusions which I
have drawn, from my exposition of information pertaining to the
relevance of Jewish Old Testament prophecies about the actions
of Mashiach in the End of Days, to the history of
the State of Israel and the Jewish People in the last hundred years
or so.
There
have been numerous episodes of war and suffering which have occurred
throughout the twentieth century; before, during, and after the
establishment of the State of Israel. Many of these events have
involved Jews, both as victims and as perpetrators. Therefore, an
appearance by Mashiach following any of
these events, may be interpreted as fulfillment of the prophecy found
in Ezekiel 38:16; thatMashiach is to come after a time of
war and suffering.
The
defeat of Germany and its allies in both world wars, as well as the
repeated defeat of many Muslim-majority countries in the Middle East
and North Africa, may be interpreted as fulfillment of the prophecy
found in Numbers 24:17; that Mashiach is to destroy
the enemies of the People of Israel. However, it could also be argued
that this fulfillment was only partial, because some of the defeats
of those enemies were partial.
The
formal apology for inaction during the Holocaust which was made by
the Vatican in 1998, and the criminalization of denial of the
Holocaust which has occurred in many European countries in the last
thirty years, may be interpreted as fulfillment of the prophecy found
in Isaiah 52:15; that in the End of Days, nations are to recognize
the wrongs they did the People of Israel.
The
immigration of approximately two-fifths of the world’s Jewish
population into the State of Israel, the vast majority of which
having taken place within the last hundred and thirty years, may be
interpreted as fulfillment of the prophecies found in Isaiah
11:12-13, Jeremiah 23:8 and 30:3, and Hosea 3:4-5; that Mashiach is
to gather the exiled Jews dispersed among the nations of the Earth
back to the Land of Israel. However, this in-gathering is not yet
complete.
The
growth in the population of Jerusalem in recent years – as well the
modernization of the city, the capture of East Jerusalem and the
Temple Mount by the State of Israel during the Six-Day War in 1967,
and the building of settlements on the outskirts of the city – may
be interpreted as fulfillment of the prophecies found in Ezekiel
16:55 and 37:12; that Mashiach is to physically
restore the city of Jerusalem and the lost cities of Israel. However,
it can be disputed whether thespiritual restoration of
the Jews (as “the city of Jerusalem”) has been fulfilled.
The
efforts of the Jewish National Fund to plant forests; to build dams,
reservoirs, water treatment plants, parks, and roads; to conserve and
develop ecosystems and infrastructure in arid regions; and the
efforts of the State of Israel’s seawater desalination industry to
create fresh water in order to assist these processes; may be
interpreted as fulfillment of the prophecies found in Isaiah 51:3,
Ezekiel 36:29-30, and Amos 9:13-15; that in the End of Days, the Land
of Israel is to be re-planted and flourish.
Efforts
in recent years by the Temple Mount and Eretz YisraelFaithful
Movement, the Movement for the Establishment of the Temple, and
especially the Temple Institute, to bring about the construction of
the Third Holy Temple on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, and to obtain
the items necessary to bring about ritual ceremonies and sacrifices
there (following the actual completion of the project and the
implementation of such ceremonies) may be interpreted as
a step towards the fulfillment of the
prophecies found in Ezekiel 37:26-27 and 40:5 through 42:20;
that Mashiach is to rebuild the Holy Temple as
Ezekiel’s Temple in the End of Days.
The
efforts to reinstate the practice of these ceremonies, as well as
recent efforts to nominate a rabbi who would restore the chain of
proper and special rabbinical ordination – which would enable the
existence of the Sanhedrin court of rabbinic law,
which could potentially replace or supplant Israel’s parliament,
the Knesset, as the supreme court of legal authority in
the State of Israel – and at least a partial imposition of the Laws
of Jubilee (voluntary and unenforced though they may be) may be
interpreted as fulfillment of the prophecy found in Isaiah 1:26;
that Mashiach is to re-impose rabbinic law as it was
during ancient times. However, the Israeli government has yet to
fully and formally embrace the rule of rabbinic law.
Due
to the fact that the Sanhedrin has not yet been
fully re-established, it has not yet, and could not yet have, come to
pass, that the prophet Elijah has presented himself before the court
to proclaim the coming of Mashiach, so this prophecy is
unfulfilled.
Accordingly,
the prophecies found in Genesis 49:10, 2 Samuel 7:12-13, 1 Chronicles
22:10, and Jeremiah 23:5, regarding the reign of the Jews becoming
again under the lineage of King David (which would be fulfilled by
the return and rule of Mashiach), and the prophecy found
in Isaiah 2:3; that the city of Jerusalem will become the center of
all world government, have also not yet occurred.
The
progress which has been made by modern medicine, agriculture,
commerce, and charity in the last few centuries – which has served
to alleviate hunger, poverty, and disease – may be interpreted
as increasing the likelihood of fulfillment of the
prophecy found in Isaiah 11:4, 25:8, 26:19, and 51:11; that in the
End of Days, death and suffering will be eradicated.
The
provisions of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the ongoing
bilateral nuclear arms reduction negotiations between the United
States and Russia, and even the spread of gun control legislation,
may be interpreted as partial fulfillment of the
prophecy found in Ezekiel 39:9; that in the End of Days, the weapons
of war are to be destroyed.
The
increase in the number of Israeli citizens who describe themselves as
religiously observant – if the trend continues
among Jews as a whole worldwide – could be interpreted as
fulfillment of the prophecies found in Isaiah 2:4, 2:17, 11:9, and
66:23; Jeremiah 31:33; Ezekiel 37:24; Zephaniah 3:9 and 3:13; and
Zechariah 8:23 and 14:9; that in the End of Days, the People of
Israel are to be restored to the divine ideal, in an era of spiritual
fulfillment. However, this would not fulfill the
prophecies that all humanity would be converted to Judaism and all
people would know the Word of G-d by heart, without
reading.
Attempts
by the Jewish and Christian communities in Jerusalem to pray on the
Temple Mount, and demands that prayer by members of all religions be
permitted there, may (if successful) be interpreted as fulfillment of
the prophecies found in Isaiah 11:10 and 56:6-7; that people of all
cultures and nations will be attracted to, and included in, Jewish
worship, and that the Third Holy Temple is to become a place of
worship, and a house of prayer, for people of all nations. However –
although this is a matter of opinion and interpretation – it
appears evident that this is not to occur through
the assertion of legally protected rights to freedom
of religious expression, but only once people of all nations are
converted to Judaism, and become imbued with knowledge of the Word of
G-d, causing their prayers to share the same significance.
The
significance of these conclusions is that nearly all of the biblical
prophecies pertaining to Mashiach and the events of
the End of Days, may be interpreted as having been either completely
or partially fulfilled, being in the process of fulfillment, or
having the potential to be fulfilled, given the
occurrence of certain circumstances, and the fulfillment of certain
prophecies, which must happen in order to potentiate the fulfillment
of others.
Part
Three: Materialism
Chapter
1: Mashiach: Individual or Collective?
Not
a single one of the aforementioned eschatological prophecies, which
may be interpreted as having at least partially come to pass, were
performed by a single person. The interesting thing about this is
that some of these prophecies are supposed to be performed within the
course of a single human lifetime, and solely through actions
performed by G-d acting through Mashiach.
You
might have noticed that nowhere in this piece have I referred
to Mashiach as “him” nor “he”, nor as “she”
nor “her”. Nor have I addressed whether Mashiach is,
indeed, intended to be conceived of as an individual person.
Whether Mashiach is an individual person or a
collective entity is, in fact, a matter of dispute among Jewish
scholars.
In
addition to all the prophecies I have mentioned, Mashiachmust
bring the epithet “son of G-d”. The Prayer of Enosh refers
toMashiach as a “first-born son” begotten by G-d. In
the Book of Daniel,Mashiach is referred to as “Son of
Man”. Isaiah said Mashiach would be “a man of
this world; an observant Jew with ‘fear of G-d’”. This would
seem to indicate that Mashiach is an individual
person.
However,
in the Book of Exodus, the L-rd says, “Israel is My son; so, let My
son go, that he may serve Me”. By using the word Israel, the L-rd
seems to be clearly referring to the People of Israel, and not to any
particular individual person (however, Israel is an alternative name
for Jacob, but this does not seem to be relevant). Thus, it is
evident that the People of Israel bring the epithet
“son of G-d”.
Furthermore,
Isaiah identified the Suffering Servant as Israel, which several
Jewish scholars such as 11th-Century rabbi Shlomo Yitzhaki
(also known as Rashi) interpret as meaning that the Suffering
Servant, the People of Israel, and Mashiach are all
one and the same.
Since
it may be interpreted that Mashiach is a collective
entity, anyone who interprets those prophecies which have at least
partially been fulfilled, as having occurred through the action
of Mashiach, could reasonably conclude that the several
most recent generations of the People of Israel, acting as a
collective Mashiach, were responsible for such actions.
The
most perplexing thing about all of this, is that many of the events
which have contributed to the fulfillment of these prophecies, have
occurred since the establishment of the sovereign government of the
State of Israel.
This
is problematic because, according to 3rd-Century Talmudic
sage Rabbi Chanina bar Chama, “The son of David will not come until
even the most insignificant form of government no longer exists among
the Jewish People.”
In Sanhedrin 98a,
Rashi interpreted this as meaning that “absolutely no sovereign
governmental body of the Jewish People shall exist, even the most
minor or trivial type of regime”.
The
significance of these opinions is that any kind of regime or
government controlled by Jews in the time of the exile, necessarily
impedes, and prevents the arrival of, Mashiach. As such,
being that about two-fifths of the world’s Jews now reside in the
Land of Israel, it remains a matter of controversy whether the Jews
are still in exile. Some – including Rabbis Yisroel Dovid Weiss,
Yoel Teitelbaum, and Moshe Teitelbaum – have argued that the
Jews broke the exile mandated by G-d.
Chapter
2: Samuel, Saul, and David
Given
these Talmudic opinions, it would be helpful, for the purposes of
full disclosure, to note that not only the Talmudic sages, but the
Old Testament itself, outspokenly oppose reign over the People of
Israel by any entity other than G-d and members of the Davidic
Dynasty.
As
told in 1 Samuel, Chapter 8, Samuel made his corrupt sons judges over
Israel. This prompted the elders of Israel to tell Samuel to give to
the people a king, who would judge them like all the other nations.
Samuel prayed, and G-d told Samuel that the people had not rejected
Samuel, but G-d, as their ruler, but also that the
people had forsaken both of them.
G-d
told Samuel to give the people a king, but G-d also instructed Samuel
to tell the people what their king would do. Samuel explained to the
people the various ways the king would rule over the people’s sons,
daughters, and servants; how he would direct the people’s
agricultural and military affairs; and how he would confiscate a
tenth of some of their crops and livestock.
“And
ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have
chosen you; and the L-RD will not hear you in that day.”
Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they
said, “Nay; but we will have
a king over us; That we also
may
be like all the nations; and that our king may judge us, and go out
before us, and fight our battles.:
-
1 Samuel 8:18-20
The
Jews’ error in asking for a king was in trying to emulate the other
nations, while Israel is supposed to act as an example to the
nations of the world. The king whom Samuel chose was Saul, whom then
employed David as his harpist and as a soldier. Saul was king for
only two years, and died tragically after failing to carry out G-d’s
commandment that the People of Israel wipe out the nation of Amalek.
Chapter
3: Rabbi Kahane and Rebbe Teitelbaum
Late-20th-Century
American-Israeli Rabbi Meir Kahane – the founder of the Jewish
Defense League, and of Israel’s now banned Kach party – viewed
the State of Israel as an entity which possessed the capability of
bringing about Redemption. Rabbi Kahane felt that only the secular
elements within the Israeli government, and not the State itself as a
whole, had to disappear in order to permit the coming of Mashiach.
The
late Satmar Rebbe Yoel Teitelbaum, the father of the
lateNasi nominee Moshe Teitelbaum,
differed with Rabbi Kahane on this issue. Yoel Teitelbaum believed
that the entire governmental apparatus of the State
of Israel – not having been created and headed byMashiach following
the full ordination of the Sanhedrin, and the completion
of the construction of the Third Holy Temple – must disappear in
order to permit the coming of Mashiach. This disagreement
between Rabbis Kahane and Teitelbaum embodies the dispute between
religious Zionism and religious Anti-Zionism.
Those
who believe that the Israeli government is a transitory
phase which will eventually bring about the subversion of
the secular government to the religious court of the Sanhedrin,
view themselves and the People of Israel as playing an active role in
the immanentization of the eschaton, meaning the bringing-into-being
of the circumstances which would enable the events of the last days
to take place.
Those
who object to the legitimacy of the existence of
theentire governmental apparatus of the State of Israel
on religious grounds, on the other hand, believe that it is only
through the action of G-d and Mashiach in the End of
Days, that the final wars guaranteeing the sovereignty of Israel are
to be fought, and a sovereign government among the People of Israel
is to begin to exist.
They
believe that the current State of Israel is illegitimate
because Mashiach did not personally establish it,
and because the Era of Mashiach has not yet begun,
and also because that event and era may still be more than two
centuries away.
If
the late Rebbe Yoel Teitelbaum was correct, in his agreement with
Talmudic scholars Chanina bar Chama and Rashi, that the disappearance
of the entire sovereign government of the State of Israel (as well
as any and all additional sovereign government
existing under the control of Jews) is required for Mashiach to
appear, then why does such a large sector of the Jewish People
support the state government?
To
answer this question, it shall first be necessary to provide some
context regarding the relationship between Zionism (both secular and
religious) and collectivistic political, social, economic, and
religious thought; and to provide some background on the lives of
important philosophers of those subjects.
Chapter
4: Avigdor Grün and David Ben-Gurion
Avigdor
Grün was a lawyer, and a leader of the Hovevei Zion
movement, meaning “those who are lovers of Zion”. The
movement, which began in the 1880s, was established in order to
promote and advance Jewish settlement and agriculture in the Land of
Israel, which was then under the rule of Ottoman Syria. The movement
was considered apolitical, and its members were of various political
persuasions.
In
the 1890s, Hovevei Zion became a charity
organization, so that it could be recognized by the Russian
government. Then, it was known as the Society for the Support of
Jewish Farmers and Artisans in Syria and Palestine, and also known as
the Odessa Committee.
Before
the committee was closed in 1913, Hovevei Zion received
contributions by philanthropists such as French banker Baron Edmond
James de Rothschild, the father of James Armand Edmond de Rothschild.
James Armand Edmond de Rothschild later financed the construction of
the Knesset building (the parliamentary building of
the legislative branch of government of the State of Israel), and his
wife Dorothy donated the State of Israel’s Supreme Court building.
Avigdor
Grün’s son David Ben-Gurion was born in 1886. He grew up in
Poland, which was then part of the Russian Empire. While attending
the University of Warsaw in the first decade of the twentieth
century, Ben-Gurion joined Poalei Tziyon (meaning
“workers of Zion”), a movement of socialist Zionist Jewish
workers. Another leader of this movement was Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, the
second president of the State of Israel.
Ben-Gurion
identified with the more moderate, “rightist” social democratic
strain of the movement, which began to diverge from the more radical,
Orthodox Marxist Left in 1919.
In
the following few years, Poalei Tziyon’s left wing –
which had evolved into the Jewish Communist Party – split, forming
a pro-Zionist faction known as the Palestinian Communist Party, and
an anti-Zionist faction called the Communist Party of Palestine. The
two factions reunited in 1923.
Yet
another sector of the left wing aligned itself with Hashomer
Hatzair (meaning “Youth Guard”), eventually evolving
into Mapam (which stands for the United Workers Party), the second
most popular party at the time of the establishment of the State of
Israel.
In
1919, the right wing of Poalei Tziyon, under the
leadership of David Ben-Gurion, formed Ahdut HaAvoda (meaning
“Labor Unity”), which in 1930 merged with another party to
become Mapai(which stands for the Workers’ Party
of Eretz Israel) the most popular
party at the time of the establishment of the State of Israel.
In
mid-May 1948, Ben-Gurion became the First Prime Minister of Israel.
Several days earlier, Minhelet HaAm – the
thirteen-member People’s Administration – voted for the
declaration of independence of the State of Israel. Although only ten
of the thirteen members were present for the vote, the vote was
nevertheless carried out. The administration voted six-to-four in
favor of declaring independence. Ben-Gurion was one of two future
Israeli Prime Ministers to have voted in favor of independence.
In
1962, the year before he left his position as Prime Minister, David
Ben-Gurion said that within twenty-five years, “In Jerusalem, the
United Nations (a truly United Nations) will build a shrine of the
Prophets to serve the federated union of all continents; this will be
the scene of the Supreme Court of Mankind, to settle all
controversies among the federated continents, as prophesied by
Isaiah.” This seems to echo the prophecy that in the End of Days,
Jerusalem will become the center of world government.
Chapter
5: Theodor Herzl and Political Zionism
Theodor
Herzl was born in 1860. He was an Austro-Hungarian writer,
playwright, journalist, and political activist. He is known as the
father of modern political Zionism. Herzl was raised to speak German
in a Jewish household that was more secular than devout, and he saw
religion as uncivilized.
Towards
the end of the nineteenth century, Herzl began to believe that
persecution against Jews could not be defeated – and that, because
of anti-Semitism, Jews could not be assimilated into Christian
societies – and so it seemed appropriate to him that Jews should
attempt to avoid anti-Semitic sentiments and violence through the
establishment of a sovereign Jewish State. Herzl once wrote that he
considered the Jewish question not primarily a religious or a social
question, but a national question.
Herzl
envisioned a Jewish State which would combine a modern Jewish culture
with European cultural heritage. He did not imagine that citizens of
this State would be religious, nor even that they would mostly speak
Hebrew, and he desired that the Temple should be rebuilt on modern
principles. Herzl also did not imagine that there would be conflict
between Jews and Muslims.
In
his 1896 book Der Judenstaat (meaning “The Jewish
State”), Herzl expressed interest in creating a state in the Land
of Palestine, which he considered the historic homeland of the Jews,
although he had also considered Argentina as a potential location.
Herzl’s idea for this sovereign Jewish State in the Land of
Palestine was soon thereafter praised by Hovevei Zion,
the movement which I mentioned above as having had the father of
first Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion as a leader.
Jews
and non-Jews alike were attracted to Herzl’s ideas, and
representatives of the governments of Britain, Germany, Russia, and
the Ottoman Empire – which then ruled the Land of Palestine – met
with him. Herzl played a key role in the First Zionist Congress,
which was held in 1897 in Basel, Switzerland. The following year, the
Second Jewish Congress established the Jewish Colonial Trust. With
the backing of Germany, Herzl desired to implore the Sultan of the
Ottoman Empire to sell land to the trust, in exchange for a
consolidation of Ottoman debt.
Herzl
envisioned the Jewish State as one which would embrace the
politicoeconomic philosophy of Mutualism. He desired that there be a
developed welfare program, public ownership of natural resources such
as agriculture, and cooperative industry and trade. He favored what
he termed a gentle expropriation of private property in the land that
would become the state, as well as a discrete and circumspect
“removal of the poor”.
Chapter
6: Marx, Trotsky, Stalin, and Lenin
Heinrich
Karl Marx was born Moses Mordecai Marx in 1818 in the town of Trier,
when it was administered by the Kingdom of Prussia. Trier is now
located in Western Germany.
Karl
Marx inherited the name Moses from his paternal grandmother’s
father Moses ben Joshua Heschel Lwow, and the names Mordecai and Marx
from his paternal great-great-grandfather Mordechai Ha-Levi Marx.
Many of Marx’s ancestors on both sides of his family were rabbis.
Marx’s
father, Hirschel Ha-Levi, changed his name to Heinrich Marx in 1824,
upon being baptized as a Lutheran, in order to keep his job as a
lawyer. His brother Samuel succeeded their father Meir Levi Marx, who
later dropped “Levi” from his name, as chief rabbi of Trier.
Previously, Meir Levi Marx had succeeded Moses ben Joshua Heschel
Lwow, the father of his wife Eva, as the chief rabbi of Trier.
Marx’s
mother was named Henrietta Pressburg. Her father was Rabbi Isaak
Heyman Pressburg, the son of either Rabbi Michel Lazarus Pressburg,
or his brother Mayer. Her mother was Nanette Cohen of the
Barent-Cohen family, many of whom were rabbis.
Marx
perceived that persecution of the Jews in Europe was largely due to
their practice of usury, having said that extortion and bills of
exchange (i.e., money) are the Jews’ only real gods.
“Religion is the opiate of the masses” is one of Marx’s most
famous quotations.
Leon
Trotsky was born Lev Davidovich Bronshtein in the Ukraine in 1879.
Trotsky’s family, like the family of Theodor Herzl, was Jewish, but
not observantly so. Trotsky’s grandfather discouraged his family
members from associating with Orthodox rabbis, and instead encouraged
them to pray for the Tsar.
Unlike
Herzl, Trotsky believed that Jewish persecution wouldsubside,
due to assimilation of Jews into the cultures of their host nations.
Trotsky recognized that a nation cannot normally exist without
identification with a geographical territory, and he was very
interested in Jewish emigration to the Land of Palestine. While some
sources claim that Trotsky did not consider Zionism a solution to
Jewish persecution, other sources claim that
he enthusiastically desired that Jews leave Europe
and establish their own nation-state in Palestine.
Trotsky
did not believe that the Jewish question could be resolved within the
framework of capitalism. Trotsky was at various times a Bolshevik and
a Menshevik (respectively meaning “majority” and
“minority”) in the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party (the
R.S.D.L.P.). Trotsky attempted to mend rifts between various factions
in the R.S.D.L.P., describing himself as a “non-factional social
democrat” and opposing bureaucratization in the Soviet Union.
The
R.S.D.L.P. was co-founded by a secular Jewish socialist party of
highly questionable devotion to Zionism. That party was called the
Jewish Labor Bund (which means federation or union),
and was also known as the General Jewish Labor Bund of
Lithuania, Poland, and Russia. The Bund supported
the Bolshevik overthrow of the Russian government,
but within several years of the revolution, theBolsheviks suppressed
the teaching of Hebrew, closed down the Zionist parties
(including Poalei Tziyon) and arrested thousands of their
members.
Josef
Stalin, who eventually ordered Trotsky’s assassination, was born
Ioseb Valentinovich Dzhugashvili in Georgia in 1878. Although Stalin
married three Jewish women during his life, there is debate over
whether he had any Jewish ancestry by blood.
Stalin
resented Orthodox Judaism and desired to destroy Jewish culture. He
believed that every Jewish nationalist was an agent of American
intelligence, and that every Jew was a potential spy. Although he
publicly denounced anti-Semitism, he actively attempted, and
encouraged others to attempt, to incite it.
Stalin
viewed what he called “bourgeois Jewish nationalism” as a
potential threat to the Soviet Union. He desired to
offset the influence of the Zionist movements in Russia that were
intent on establishing a State in the Land of Palestine, by
establishing a Soviet “Zion” in eastern Siberia.
In 1934, the Jewish Autonomous Oblast came into
existence, embodying Yiddish cultural heritage in a proletarian
socialist framework. The Oblast (which is a
territorial administrative jurisdiction) still exists today, and is
the home of the world’s largest menorah.
In
the last several years of the 1940s, during which the State of Israel
was established, Stalin warmed up to Palestinian Zionism, viewing the
State of Israel as a potential proxy nation of the SovietUnion.
Vladimir
Lenin was born Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov in Russia in 1870. Lenin
supported an alliance between the working class and the liberal
bourgeoisie against the regime of Tsar Nicholas II, while Trotsky
believed the working class alone (the proletariat) should overthrow
the Tsar.
As
in the case of Stalin, it is debated whether Lenin actually had any
ethnic Jewish heritage. If Lenin did have any Jewish heritage, then
he was probably one-quarter Jewish. Expressing a similar view to that
of Stalin, Lenin wrote in 1913 that those who support Jewish
nationalism and Jewish national culture are bourgeois enemies of the
proletariat, and accomplices of the rabbis.
Lenin
and Trotsky were the leaders of the October Revolution, which
overthrew the Russian Provisional Government that succeeded the
Tsarist regime. This so-called “Russian Revolution” was not only
disproportionately non-Russian by ethnicity, but rather,
predominantly Ashkenazic Jewish.
The
government of the Union of Soviet Socialist
Republics became even more predominantly Jewish following purges, and
remained so until the 1930s, when Stalin purged ten million, half a
million of whom were Jews.
Chapter
7: Secularism, Anarchy, and Economics
Notwithstanding
the roles which Ze’ev Jabotinsky, Chaim Weizmann, and Menachem
Begin played in the development of theless collectivistic
wing of Zionism; I believe that the facts which I have laid out about
Avigdor Grün, his son David Ben-Gurion, Theodor Herzl, Karl Marx,
Leon Trotsky, Josef Stalin, Vladimir Lenin, and the various parties,
groups and movements which I mentioned; show that communism, labor
socialism, social democracy, and Mutualism have had profound
influence on the development and history of Zionism, and on the State
of Israel.
It
would be confusing to attempt to explain why prominent figures in the
history of socialism who may not have even had any Jewish ethnic
heritage (such as Lenin and Stalin) – as well as prominent figures
in socialism who were undoubtedly ethnically Jewish but nevertheless
retained a secular character (such as Marx and Herzl) – were so
interested in the question of Jewish persecution.
It
would also be perplexing to attempt to explain why
Leon Trotsky – if the rumors of his enthusiastic Zionism are true –
would ally himself, even temporarily, with Lenin and Stalin, who had
such open disdain for Orthodox Judaism, and for religion in general.
But
perhaps most difficult to attempt to explain would
be the following: When a person (such as Theodor Herzl, Vladimir
Lenin, or Josef Stalin) abhors and despises both Orthodox Judaism and
Jewish culture, considers himself secular and / or non-religious, and
subscribes to a collectivist politicoeconomic ideology which he
perceives as anarchistic and as non-statist, how can the same person
approve of the establishment of a government which, at its outset,
proclaimed to define and describe itself as a “Jewish State”?
Chapter
8: Levi Baruch’s Letter: Exposition
An
article entitled “The Secret Origins of Bolshevism: Henry Heine and
Karl Marx” appeared in the June 1st, 1928 issue of the
French magazine La Revue de Paris. The article featured
what was alleged to be a passage from a letter which had been
addressed to Karl Marx. It has been asserted that this letter was
published for the first time in 1888.
The
author of the letter was purported to have been a person named Levi
Baruch, whom has also been referred to as Baruch Levy. Information
about Levi Baruch is difficult to come by. He has been referred to as
one of Karl Marx’s guides, as well as Marx’s rabbi, and he has
been described as a member of Das Verein für Kultur und
Wissenschaft der Juden (the Society for the Culture and
Science of the Jews).
It
has also been claimed that the original correspondence was written in
either German or Yiddish. It could very well be that the original
letter was written in Yiddish, then translated to German, and then
translated to French, before finally being translated into English.
If this is true, then it would account for the numerous discrepancies
between the various translations which exist. The following quote is
an amalgamation and synthesis of three translations into English,
which I have written:
The
Jewish People, taken collectively as a whole, will be its own
Messiah. Its domination and rule over the world will be achieved
through the union of other human races; by the abolition of frontiers
and the annihilation of monarchy, which are bulwarks for
particularism, and hinder the establishment of a world republic, in
which the Jews will exercise the privilege of citizenship everywhere.
In
this new organization of mankind, the sons of Israel – who, at
present, are scattered all over the entire surface of the Earth –
will all be the same race and of the same traditional culture
(without, however, forming another nationality), and be, without
contradiction, the prominent and leading element everywhere, and in
all parts; particularly if it is successful in laying upon the masses
of workers a permanent leadership by some Jews.
The
governments of the different peoples forming the universal world
republic will pass – falling effortlessly, and without difficulty
or opposition – into the hands of the Israelites, in favor of the
victory of the proletariat. It will then be possible for the rulers
of the Jewish race to abolish and suppress the personal private
property of the rulers, and to everywhere administer and make use of
the resources and public funds of the state.
Thus
will the promise of the Talmud be fulfilled, in which it is said that
when the Messianic time is come, the Jews will have and hold the keys
to the goods and the property of all peoples of the whole world, in
their possession and in their hands.
Some
have claimed that this letter is a fabrication, and that Levi Baruch
is a fictional person who never existed. Some have backed this
assertion with the claim that the letter was published in an
anti-Semitic magazine. However, this possibility appears flimsy,
being La Revue de Paris, which published the letter in
1928, has been described as controlled by the Zionist de Rothschild
banking family of Europe.
But
let us put this issue aside, deal directly with the text at hand, and
examine and analyze its author’s understanding of the relationship
between socialism and Jewish eschatology.
Chapter
9: Levi Baruch’s Letter: Analysis
The
author asserts that “The Jewish People, taken collectively as a
whole, will be its own Messiah”. This view of collectivistic
Messianism is certainly reconcilable with interpretations
of Mashiach which may be argued to be found in the Book of
Exodus and the writing of Rashi.
The
author expresses interest in bringing about “the union of other
human races” and “the abolition of frontiers”. He says that
“the sons of Israel” … “will all be the same race and of the
same traditional culture” and that “Jews will have and hold the
keys to the goods and the property of all peoples of the whole world,
in their possession and in their hands.”
These
ideas are perfectly reconcilable with Old Testament prophecies that
in the End of Days, all the people of the world will know the word of
G-d by heart, and will be converted to Judaism. And certainly, if
everyone in the world becomes a Jew, then this would fulfill the
author of the letter’s desire that Jews “have and hold the keys
to the goods and the property of all peoples of the whole world, in
their possession and in their hands”.
The
author expresses interest in bringing about “the annihilation of
monarchy”. To end monarchy would clearly acknowledge G-d’s
disapproval of the Jews having any king, or any ruler which is not
either G-d himself or Mashiach.
However,
and unfortunately, this is as far as the author of the letter goes,
before straying into the realm of a distorted vision of Zionism,
which recognizes the legitimacy of a type of sovereignty – a type
which is not divinely mandated – affecting and being controlled by
the Jews, and into the realm of a distorted vision of Jewish
eschatology which seems to allow for the possibility that in the End
of Days, some people will still not be Jewish.
The
author expresses a desire that Jews “exercise the privilege of
citizenship everywhere” and that the Jews exercise “domination
and rule over the world”. He writes that Jews will be “the
prominent and leading element”, “particularly if” …
“successful in laying” … “a permanent leadership by some
Jews.”
The
author further writes, “The governments of the different peoples”
… “will pass” … “into the hands of the Israelites”, and
refers to “the rulers of the Jewish race”. He also expresses a
desire that the Jews “everywhere administer and make use of the
resources and public funds of the state.”
These
parts of the letter clearly indicate that the author believes that in
the End of Days, Jews will exercise citizenship, domination, rule,
leadership, and administration of public funds. Additionally, that
governments of the different peoples – not even hesitating to use
the phrase “the state”, no less – will still exist.
This
letter seems to suggest that in the End of Days, Jews will have
rulers, be rulers, and lead and
administer governments; and that some of the people they rule will
not be Jewish. The letter seems to suggest that “some Jews” will
dominate other Jews and non-Jews alike, apparently with little to no
room left-over for rule by G-d.
This
is especially troubling, given the reasons which the author of the
letter puts forth for bringing about this rule by Jews; which he
gives as the victory of the proletariat, the abolition and
suppression of the personal property rights of rulers, and the laying
of permanent leadership by some Jews upon the masses of workers.
Thus,
the author of the letter seems to be recommending that Jews take it
upon themselves to bring about not the abolition of
governments per se, but the subjugation of
the governments of the peoples of the world, to rule by Jews, for the
purposes of abolishing private property, leading the workers, and
gaining victory for the proletariat. That is, the author seems to be
recommending that Jews stage coups over the world’s governments, in
order to bring about a proletarian socialist worker society lacking
private property rights.
The
author of the letter apparently feels that, once the issue of
nationality has been dealt with (which is to be fulfilled through the
abolition of national borders), it will be easier to solve the
problem of class struggle, through proletarian leadership of the
workers against private property.
While
explicitly socialist, the sum of the ideas contained within the
letter is not statist-Zionist in a way that is absolutely certain.
However, the author’s use of the phrase “the rulers of the Jewish
race” neither confirms nor precludes that some Jews will be subject
to man-made law. However, the author’s statement that Jews will
exercise citizenship, appears to come down on the side of the
subjugation of some Jews to the laws of men.
Were
it not for the author’s single invocation of the Talmud, and his
two uses of the word “Messiah”, it could be said that the letter
could very well have been written by a secular person whom does not
even subscribe to the Jewish faith; a person who simply wishes to
subtly corrupt traditional Jewish eschatological Zionism, in order to
transfer power to those Jews most committed to the cause of
socialism.
Considering
that the legitimacy of this letter, and the existence of its author,
are under question, however, it would be intellectually irresponsible
to use this letter by Levi Baruch as the sole piece of evidence
supporting the proposition that secular Jews have corrupted
traditional Judaism for socialist purposes. Therefore, it shall be
necessary to delve into the thoughts and ideology of a person who
both influenced Karl Marx, and was, certainly and
verifiably, a real person who indeed lived.
Chapter
10: “Workers of the World, Unite!”
It
has been claimed that “Religion is the opiate of the masses” –
perhaps Marx’s most famous quotation – was likely first written
by Moses Hess, a proto-Zionist socialist philosopher from the city of
Bonn, who influenced, and collaborated with, both Marx and Friedrich
Engels.
At
one time, Hess advocated Jewish integration into the universalist
socialist movement, saying, “To this coming cult, Judaism alone
holds the key. This ‘religion of the future’ of which the
eighteenth century philosophers – as well as their recent followers
– dreamed… Each nation will have to create its own historical
cult; each people must become like the Jewish People, a people of
G-d.”
Aside
from Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, Moses Hess also influenced
Zionists Theodor Herzl and Ze’ev Jabotinsky. Jabotinsky, a founder
of Revisionist Zionism, honored Moses Hess (alongside Herzl, Baron
Edmond James de Rothschild, and Hovevei Zion leader
Leon Pinsker) as one of the people who made possible the Balfour
Declaration of 1917, in which British Foreign Secretary Arthur
Balfour promised to Lionel Walter de Rothschild, British support for
the establishment of a Jewish national homeland in the Land of
Palestine.
It
was that same Lionel Walter de Rothschild whom, upon his death in
1937, willed to the British Museum two checks for several thousand
pounds, which were given to Marx by Lionel Walter’s father, Lord
Nathan, in order to finance Marx’s socialist cause.
Being
that Marx died more than a decade before Theodor Herzl’s ideas
became popular and widespread, it can only be guessed from Marx’s
writings whether he would have supported modern statist Zionism.
Indeed, some claim that Leon Trotsky’s alleged interest in Zionism
required him, to some degree, distance himself from Marx’s
criticism of Judaism, and of religion in general.
But
back to the topic at hand; namely, Moses Hess. Hess viewed the
struggle of races and nationalities, rather than economic and class
struggle, as the prime factor of past history, having said, “race
struggle is primary, the class struggle secondary.”
This
idea would seem to be perfectly in line with the alleged Levi
Baruch’s viewpoint that, if the issue of race and ethnicity is
dealt with first, then it will be easier to solve the problem of
class struggle. But while the supposed Levi Baruch seemed to be
advocating thatsocialists adopt tenets of Judaism in
order to further their own purposes, Moses Hess seemed to believe
that it is Jews who need to adopt socialism
for their own purposes.
As
an attempt to analyze this apparent discrepancy may prove itself to
be without purpose (being that it could just as easily be concluded
that there is no discrepancy here, and that various philosophers
advocated the integration of Jewish and socialist thought into one
another, to serve the purposes of each to some degree), it may be
more productive to simply ask – rhetorical though the question may
be – Why do we see in such people as Moses Hess, once again, a
tendency to express both exaltation and disdain for
Judaism in various instances throughout their writing careers?
Perhaps
an answer to this question may be found in the fact that Karl Marx’s
father hated French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, whom is purported to
have said “religion is what keeps the poor from killing the rich.”
It seems likely that Karl Marx was well-aware that the morals imposed
by religion served as an impediment to workers’ revolution, and so,
it would make sense for socialists to desire to first annihilate
religion, in order to facilitate the union of the working class
across lines of religion, in addition to lines of race and ethnicity.
Chapter
11: The Russian Revolution
Not
to downplay the contributions of either democratic populist Nikolay
Chernyshevsky, nor other prominent revolutionary philosophers and
political economists, but the writing of Karl Marx played a part in
the development of the socialist ideology which led to the October
Revolution in Russia in 1917, which was led by Lenin and Trotsky.
In
an issue of The Barnes Review, Russian civil rights
lawyer Marina Marynova claimed that the July 1918 murders of the
Christian Tsar Nicholas II and his family, the Romanovs, were
deliberately ordered to be carried out by Jewish revolutionaries,
because the revolution’s leaders was believed that
the non-Jewish Russians participating in the
revolution would not have the heart to commit the murders.
Marynova
further claimed that there existed forensic evidence at the scene of
the crime that these murders took place as religious rituals, and
that coded signs and numbers which would indicate a connection
with Kabalistic Jewish mysticism were found there.
She claims that the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office denied this
possibility.
One
of the coded signs was allegedly decrypted by a Kabbalah
specialist as meaning “the head of religion, people, and the
state was killed here”. Furthermore, the repeated appearance of the
number eight in a series of numbers, which was alleged to have been
found at the scene of the murders, has been interpreted as meaning
that Tsar Nicholas was considered as a sacrifice compared in purity
to Christ.
If
Marynova’s assertions are true, might this mean – reminiscent of
the manner in which the supposed Levi Baruch characterized Jews as a
whole as their own Messiah – that a segment of the Jewish
population of Russia which participated in the revolution and
approved of the murder of the Romanovs believed itself to be acting,
on behalf of all Jews in general, as a collective embodiment
ofMashiach in its sacrifice of the Tsar and his family?
Furthermore,
what is the significance of the fact that the Soviet(meaning
“council”) Communist government, if not certainly one which
views itself as the embodiment of Mashiach, is obviously
a collectivism-oriented political body in the first place?
Such
a “political body” or “body politic” is perceived by its
members to be a corporate body – not in the business sense of the
word “corporate”, but in the sense of the root of the word
“corporate” being “corpus”, meaning “body” – in that
the corporate body serves as both a symbol and an expression of the
union (or unity, or oneness) of the members themselves.
When
referring to a church, temple, or religious organization, the “body
politic” is also termed the “corpus mysticum” (“mystical
body”). The mystical corporeity (bodily-ness) of such “bodies”
is best exemplified by the Catholic ritual of the Sacrament of Holy
Communion, the word “communion” itself being an amalgamation of
the concepts of commonality and oneness. In the Holy Communion,
Catholics partake in the transubstantiated eucharist; the eating of
wafers and the drinking of wine, symbolizing, respectively, the body
and blood of Jesus Christ, the Messiah of Christianity.
Thus,
it takes little stretch of the imagination to see how government and
religion are similar, in that their institutions often purport to
symbolize and express the oneness of their members.
But
I digress; now that we have fully explored both the idea of a
collective Messiah, in not only a religious, but also a historical
context, it becomes appropriate to ask, “Have any important Jewish
historical figures in modern times claimed to be an individual
Mashiach?”
Chapter
12: Nixon, Graham, and Kissinger
While
U.S. President Richard M. Nixon denied being anti-Semitic, hundreds
of hours of taped audio recordings of confidential conversations
which took place between Nixon and his closest advisers, which have
since been made public, revealed Nixon to have said many things which
may be regarded as anti-Semitic or Judeophobic.
About
the Jews, Nixon said, “The Jews are all over the government”,
Washington “is full of Jews”, “Most Jews are disloyal”,
“generally speaking, you can’t trust the bastards. They turn on
you”, and that Jews needed to be brought under control by putting
someone “in charge who is not Jewish” in key government agencies.
Southern
Baptist evangelist preacher Reverend Billy Graham once told Nixon
that Israelis were “the best kind of Jews”, and brought up to
Nixon the fact that according to Revelation 3:9, some who claim
to be Jews are liars who belong to a “synagogue of Satan”.
Graham
also expressed to Nixon his view that Jews are disproportionately
overrepresented in Hollywood, and among media powerbrokers, having
spoken of a Jewish “stranglehold” on the American media.
When
Reverend Graham was revealed to have made these statements to Nixon,
it prompted Abraham Foxman, the director of the Anti-Defamation
League (A.D.L.), to characterize Graham as a purveyor of “age-old
classical anti-Semitic canards”. Graham spokesman A. Larry Ross
responded by saying that Graham has never been an anti-Semite,
explaining that the Book of Revelation passage in question refers to
Jews whose “lives and work are not in keeping with traditional
Jewish values”.
Despite
the popular perception of Richard Nixon as anti-Semitic, and the
evidence supporting this perception, Nixon’s most influential
adviser, by his own admission, was Henry Kissinger, whom is Jewish.
Kissinger served as Nixon’s National Security Advisor, and later,
concurrently, as his Secretary of State.
In
late 1973, Egypt and Syria (while united into a single state, the
United Arab Republic) attacked the State of Israel in what became
known as the Yom Kippur War, the only major episode of hostility in
the conflict between Israel and its mostly Muslim neighbors in which
more Israelis were killed than Muslims. Henry Kissinger helped
negotiate the end of the Yom Kippur War.
Although
Kissinger initially opposed it, Nixon directed a
massive military airlift in order to aid Israel, six days after the
assault by Egypt and Syria began. In recognition of Kissinger’s
contribution to securing the State of Israel, a hill in Israel was
named “Kissinger Hill” in his honor. In regards to the United
States having aided the State of Israel to survive the Yom
Kippur War, Kissinger is alleged to have said “You foolish
Jews, can’t you see I am your Messiah!?”
Chapter
13: Mashiach: Human or Divine?
In
an exploration of the historical context for the perception
of Mashiach as individual and as collective, and of the
evidence for individual self-perception and for collective corporate
perception asMashiach, it is critically important to address
whether Mashiach is even traditionally considered to
be human, as opposed to divine, in the first place.
G-d
is not a man, that He should lie; neither the Son of Man, that He
should repent: hath He said, and shall He not do it? Or hath He
spoken, and shall He not make it good?
-
Numbers 23:19
Thus
saith the L-RD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the L-RD of
hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside Me there is no
G-d.
-
Isaiah 44:6
Son
of Man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, “Thus saith the L-RD G-d;
[‘]Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a
G-d, I sit in the seat of G-d, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art
a man, and not G-d, though thou set thine heart as the heart of
G-d[‘]”.
-
Ezekiel 28:2
I
will not execute the fierceness of Mine anger, I will not return to
destroy Ephraim; for I am G-d, and not man; the Holy One in the midst
of thee: and I will not enter into the city.
-
Hosea 11:9
The
purpose of these four passages – as evidenced by the phrases “G-d
is not a man”; “G-d is not” … “the Son of Man”; “beside
me there is no G-d”; “thou art a man, and not G-d”; and “for
I am G-d, and not man” – seem to be to differentiate G-d from
man. This would suggest, because there is no G-d but
G-d, Mashiach could not be divine, but rather, only
human; the Son of Man.
Being
that Isaiah called Mashiach “a man”
and “an observant Jew” (emphasis mine) – and that
Rashi interpreted the Suffering Servant, the collective whole of the
People of Israel, and Mashiach as one and the same –
these facts leave the door open for individual Jewish human beings,
and collective groups of Jewish human beings, to
become Mashiach.
Chapter
14: Tyranny or Peace?
Being
that Mashiach is certainly human, and
that Mashiachmay be either an individual person or a
collective (such as the Jewish People as a whole), that which remains
to be considered, is whether any or all of those figures who have
been alleged to have perceived themselves either as Mashiach, or as
individual agents belonging to and acting on the behalf of the larger
collective Mashiach – namely, the Jewish
participants in the Russian Revolution, and former Secretary of State
Henry Kissinger – meet additional requirements ofMashiach,
as outlined in the Book of Isaiah.
And
he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and
they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into
pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither
shall they learn war any more.
-
Isaiah 2:4 and Micah 4:3
And
the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men
shall be made low: and the L-RD alone shall be exalted in that day.
-
Isaiah 2:17
How
beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good
tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings, that
publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy G-d reigneth!
-
Isaiah 52:7
In
righteousness you will be established: Tyranny will be far from you;
you will have nothing to fear. Terror will be far removed; it will
not come near you.
-
Isaiah 54:14
Let
us address first the second passage; i.e., “the L-RD
alone shall be exalted”. Considering that the mystical political
body which is the state, causes the members to perceive that they
themselves have the capacity to judge (judgment, of course, being
something which can only be done by G-d through Mashiach),
it would seem that such mystical bodies – such as the political
institutions of the Soviet Union to which the Jewish
participants in the Russian Revolution had fidelity, those of the
United States of America to which Henry Kissinger has and has had
fidelity, and those of the State of Israel – are
exaltingthemselves in such a way that supplants the role
of G-d (and of G-d through Mashiach) as judge, and the
role of G-d as the only entity which shall be exalted.
However,
this is only a valid characterization of the situation, ifindeed
the political institutions of the Soviet Union, the
United States, and the State of Israel are not, in
fact, Mashiach. Of course, I can’t provide you with
incontrovertible evidence that they are not so, and your assessment
comes down to little other than faith, and whatever personal judgment
you care to pass (albeit judgment which may very well supplant the
exclusive roles of G-d and G-d through Mashiach as
judge).
In
regards to the first, third, and fourth passages which I have
provided, Mashiach is a messenger of good tidings,
salvation, and peace, and not of tyranny or terror. This begs several
questions: “How much salvation and peace has Henry Kissinger
brought to the world, as opposed to tyranny and terror?”, “How
much salvation and peace did the Jewish participants in the
Russian Revolution bring to the world, as opposed to tyranny
and terror?”, “How much salvation and peace have the Jewish
People – the collective on whose behalf such
revolutionaries may have claimed themselves to have been acting –
brought to the world, as opposed to tyranny and terror?”, and “How
much salvation and peace has the State of Israel brought
to the world, as opposed to tyranny and terror?”
And
what of those people and entities which participated in the
immanentization of the eschaton, but whom may not have
declared themselves to be Mashiach?
What
of the Jewish National Fund, which caused the Land of Israel to be
re-planted and to flourish? What of the Temple Mount andEretz
Yisrael Faithful Movement, the Movement for the
Establishment of the Temple, the Temple Institute, and the people who
have donated to these groups? What of all the doctors, researchers,
scientists, inventors, and agricultural and commercial industrialists
whom have made it possible to delay death, and to diminish suffering?
What
of the International Atomic Energy Agency (I.A.E.A.), which promotes
the destruction of the weapons of war? What of all those besides the
governments of the United States, Russia, and Israel, which have
fought Israel’s enemies; particularly the Allied nations of World
War II, which fought Hitler and the Nazis?
What
of proponents of gun control from around the world – whom, like the
I.A.E.A. – promote the destruction of the weapons of war? What of
all those who potentiated Jewish immigration to Palestine? What of
those who both supported gun control andpotentiated
Jewish immigration to Palestine; namely, Hitler and the Nazis?
How
much salvation and peace have they brought about, as
opposed to tyranny and terror? Might any of them be Mashiach?
Again, I can’t answer these questions for you.
Chapter
15: The Seventh Millennium (Conclusion)
In
the Gregorian year 2239 of the Common Era, the Hebrew Calendar will
enter its seventh millennium, which is referred to as “the great
and continual Shabbat”. This time period is also called
the Age or Era of Mashiach, the Messianic Age or Era,
and Olam Ha-Ba(meaning “the World to Come”).
According
to the late Chabad-Lubavitch Rebbe Menachem Mendel
Schneerson, Mashiach is to come either before or
at the onset of the sixth millennium of the Hebrew Calendar.
The
Talmudic scholar Rashi wrote, “absolutely no sovereign governmental
body of the Jewish People shall exist, even the most minor or trivial
type of regime”.
The
late Satmar Rebbe Yoel Teitelbaum agreed with Rashi, having believed
that the entire governmental apparatus of the State of Israel, in
addition to any and all sovereignty existing among the Jewish People,
must disappear in order to permit the coming of Mashiach.
No sovereign government; no matter how democratic, no matter how
tolerant of individual liberty; none (unless you count the Sanhedrin
rabbinic court).
Neturei
Karta spokesman
Rabbi Yisroel Dovid Weiss says, “seeing that any political entity
can fall within hours, even without any bloodshed”, one can still
expect Mashiach to
arrive at any time between now and the year 2239 of the Gregorian
Calendar.
To
quote Rabbi Weiss once more, “We pray for the speedy and peaceful
dismantlement of the State” of Israel.”
Shalom (peace).
