Beit Midrash
- Sections
- Chemdat Yamim
- Parashat Hashavua
- Torah Portion and Tanach
- Bamidbar
- Shlach Lecha
David carried this out in practice. He created a united Jewish state, liberated Jerusalem, and protected its borders. Shlomo worked on the next step – world peace, with the morality of all peoples. He invited the nations to take part in service and prayer in the Holy Temple he built. The prophecy of joint world service of Hashem that appears in Yeshayahu and Micha was to have taken place already in Shlomo’s time, but he was unsuccessful, and the dream was delayed.
The sectarianism of the First Temple period and the internal hatred of the Second Temple period delayed the coming of the End of Days. However, this period began when the students of the Vilna Gaon started moving to Eretz Yisrael over 200 years ago. The Gaon taught that human efforts were needed to merit divine assistance in this direction, which would occur a little at a time, on the long road to building the Land. This includes building a Torah center in Yerushalayim, and then a Jewish state with an army, etc. This would provide the basis for Hashem’s blessing to take effect. At first, the Jewish army is tasked with fighting Israel’s enemies, as David’s troops did. The second stage is to fulfill Tzefania’s prophecy (3:9) that all the nations will adopt clear speech to "call out in Hashem’s Name and serve Him with one shoulder."
The Rambam focuses on the prophecy of Bilam that Hashem will subdue certain nations and continues "It is a nation ‘like a lion shall rise up," describing the ferociousness of the lion in battle. This prophecy ends with "your [Israel’s] blessers shall be blessed (Bamidbar 23:9)." This is part of the idea of the nations joining the axis of "charity and justice," as opposed to the pasuk’s other axis – "those who curse you shall be cursed" – in line with the same promise made to Avraham (Bereishit 12:3).
The State of Israel specifically and the whole world generally are in the midst of a very special time period. The Middle East is changing; one evil regime after another is falling or being weakened one. The "ring of fire" intended to burn the Jewish state is burning itself. Hamas is and will continue to be hit until they release the hostages and accept assured dismantlement from all weaponry. It must stop its evil dominion over the people of Gaza, where it does not follow the most basic rules of humanity. All the Arab nations should install judicial systems that are fair to the whole populace. Women should no longer be servants to those who "win them" for their atrocities.
Lebanon is becoming a country with one army, as Hezbollah is forced to give up its arms and its evil plans against its neighbors and non-Shiite Lebanese. Syria will join the Abraham Accords. Iran will be freed from its monstrous regime, which afflicts its citizens and from its nuclear and ballistic programs. This will enable the Iranian people to profit from the plenty that will flow into the region because of the Abraham Accords.
All of this will allow the State of Israel to move to the final stage of our nationhood – the days of Hashem’s liberation, in which we serve Him at the head of all the nations. Even as we experience difficult days and nights, we can be strengthened by our belief that if we unite and pitch in together, Hashem will bring will soon come to the whole world in our merit and with the help of our partners, those who bless us.
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