Question: Dear Rav Shvat, In the shiur that you gave on Sunday, I believe you mentioned that prior to the Geula, the whole world will be against us. For many long years, we have felt that the world is indeed against us. Finally, now, after the horrible atrocities of the Hamas, it seems that most of the world has woken up and begun to understand whom and what we are fighting against. This feels like a massage for the aching collective Jewish soul. Having said that, what does this mean regarding the prophecies of the geula?
Answer: Shalom! That’s not exactly what we said. In the wars which are part of the ge’ula process, the navi writes that some nations will gather together against us, but not necessarily all of the nations (Yechezkel 38-39, compare Zecharya 14 which apparently is referring to a different war). In general, the geula is not just for Am Yisrael but for all mankind, “for My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples (Yeshayau 56, 7).” “And many peoples shall go, and they shall say, “Come, let us go up to the Lord’s mount, to the house of the G-d of Jacob, and let Him teach us of His ways, and we will go in His paths,” for out of Zion shall the Torah come forth, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.”(ibid 2, 3) Accordingly, just as Cyrus, the Persian king, helped us return to build the 2nd Beit haMikdash, the Radak (Tehilim 146, 3) and Ramban (Shir HaShirim) and others point out that in the final ge’ula it will be that way, as well. In fact, the international support for the Balfour Declaration (1917/5677) and the U.N. Partition Plan (1947/5707) were seen by many great Rabbanim of the time (including the Or Same’ch-Meshech Chochma, Avnei Nezer, Rav Kook and others) as this type of international support and participation.
Also after the Shoah, the Church has repeatedly tried to reconcile with the Jews, which Prof. Shalom Rosenberg explains, because in WWII, the allies and the axis divided the world into 2, and the Jews obviously were victims, so the Popes want to side with the “good” and not the “bad”.
From our point of view, we hope this continues, and were very glad and thank the Presidents and PMs from the U.S., Germany, France and England for taking a stand with us, even though this angered some of their anti-Israel voters and press. Nevertheless, Rav Kook’s student, Rav YM Charlap writes (Mimaynei HaYeshua, p. 29) that as long as we aren’t at the aforementioned final stage of world unity, we shouldn’t be surprised if eventually they once again turn their backs on us- for big changes aren’t made overnight. Even then the process will undoubtedly continue, for our geula really comes from Hashem who arranges it all, “Fortunate are you, O Israel! Who is like you, O people whose salvation is through the Lord, the Shield Who helps you, your majestic Sword! Your enemies will deny you, but you will tread upon their heights (Dvarim 33, 29)”.
In addition, we also must be wary for such international support is often conditioned upon our compromising on important issues, which can be very problematic. We don’t rely on miracles and do want their aid- especially if they can help free hostages, but we cannot compromise on our independence to do what we deem necessary, especially regarding our security. This principle was instituted by David Ben-Gurion right after the Holocaust, where we clearly saw that if we don’t take care of ourselves, who will take care of us (see Avot 1, 14)? As Yoni Netanyahu HYD said on the way to Entebbe: “We’re going on a long and dangerous mission to save Jews, because they are Jews. And if we don’t save them, nobody will”. America has their own interests, and so do we. The two usually overlap, but not always. We cannot act like a “banana republic”, for otherwise we will be treated accordingly. We must pray that our leaders choose wisely, especially in this complicated case, to bezH also free the hostages, and also free Gaza from the Hamas, and firmly deter our other enemies from starting up with us, as well! It’s complex, but it’s good Hashem is on our side and only He can really do it all! With Love of Israel, Shabbat Shalom! Rav Ari Shvat (Chwat)
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