Tag Archives: October 7

Ovadiah’s Vision of October 7

The Haftarah for this week’s parasha, Vayishlach, is the entire book of Ovadiah. This is the shortest book in Tanakh, just one chapter of 21 verses. The entire text is a prophecy regarding what will happen to Edom. The Zohar (I, 171a) explains that Ovadiah alone was able to foresee what exactly will happen to Edom in the distance future because he was himself a convert from Edom! There is a bit of a debate whether this Ovadiah is the same as the Ovadiah that assisted Eliyahu in I Kings 18. Recall that the latter Ovadiah was a servant in the palace of the wicked King Ahab and his evil wife Jezebel: “When Jezebel was killing off the prophets of God, Ovadiah had taken a hundred prophets and hidden them, fifty to a cave, and provided them with food and drink.” (I Kings 18:4) The Talmud teaches us that for this incredible act of kindness and bravery, Ovadiah was himself blessed with the gift of prophecy (Sanhedrin 39b). That said, it is possible the two Ovadiahs were distinct individuals (or reincarnations of the same soul, in two different bodies). In fact, there are at least a dozen people across the Tanakh named “Ovadiah”!

Petra, in today’s Jordan

Ovadiah’s prophecy to Edom begins by promising its destruction: “I will make you least among nations, you shall be most despised.” (1:2) What did the Edomites do to deserve this? “Your arrogant heart has seduced you, you who dwell in clefts of the rock, in your lofty abode. You think in your heart: ‘Who can pull me down to earth?’” (1:3) The main Edomite stronghold in ancient times is what is today called Petra, the famous rock outcropping on the east side of the Jordan River. The Edomites believed themselves to be safe in their Petra fortress, and they grew arrogant, and then joined the Babylonians in attacking Jerusalem:

For the outrage against your brother Jacob, disgrace shall engulf you, and you shall perish forever. On that day when you stood aloof, when aliens carried off his goods, when foreigners entered his gates and cast lots for Jerusalem, you were as one of them. How could you gaze with glee on your brother that day, on his day of calamity! How could you gloat over the people of Judah on that day of ruin! How could you loudly jeer on a day of anguish! (1:10-12)

This is echoed in Psalm 137:7, which describes the tragic destruction of Jerusalem at the hands of the Babylonians, and says: “Remember, Hashem, against the Edomites the day of Jerusalem’s fall; how they cried ‘Strip her, strip her to her very foundations!’” The Edomite cruelly went along with the Babylonian catastrophe, the destruction of the Holy Temple, and the exile of the Judeans. And for that, God promised that they should “perish forever”. When did this happen?

The Hasmoneans, of Maccabee fame, conquered Edom (by then called Idumea) during the reign of King Yochanan Hyrcanus (r. 134-104 BCE, probably the same person called Yochanan Kohen Gadol in the Talmud—more in his identity here). The Romans later absorbed Idumea into their own empire, and in 6 CE incorporated it into the province of Judea. It was then that Edom completely ceased to exist as its own entity—Ovadiah’s prophecy was finally fulfilled. Henceforth, in rabbinic texts, “Edom” was instead used as a code word for the Roman Empire (to understand why, see the second part of the recent ‘Understanding Edom’ series, and ‘How Esau Became Rome’ in Volume Two of Garments of Light).

That said, we know that the Tanakh often presents us with “double-level” prophecies, to be fulfilled in those contemporary days of the past, as well as in the far future. After all, at its core the Tanakh is not a historical text, but a prophetic one. It has relevance not just to the past, but for the present and future, too. We study Tanakh to better understand ourselves and our souls, and to understand the world around us. The Torah is a living text, and we view the world through the lens of Torah. Thus, Ovadiah’s prophecy was not just for the past, fulfilled two millennia ago, but also for the far future, for the End of Days, and we can use it to better understand our current reality.

The Evolution of Edom & Rome

The key to understanding Ovadiah’s End Times vision is recognizing the identity of Edom. In Jewish texts, Edom is always used in reference to the Roman Empire. The original Roman Empire collapsed in 476 CE with the sack of Rome by the Germanic king Odoacer. However, the Roman Empire had previously been split into Western and Eastern halves. The West half was centered in Rome, while the Eastern half was centered in Constantinople. The Eastern half was not overrun by barbarians, and continued to exist—referred to today as the “Byzantine Empire”. Henceforth, its illustrious capital Constantinople was seen as the new, “second” Rome.

Division of the Roman Empire in 395 CE

In 1453 CE, the Ottomans conquered Constantinople, turning it into Istanbul. As the city became Islamified, the Orthodox Christian establishment fled—many of them to Moscow. They designated Moscow as the new, and “third” Rome. Henceforth, the leader of Russia was no longer called a “duke”, but rather czar, literally “caesar”. Russia adopted the Roman eagle as its symbol, and the red Edomite colours. This continued all the way through to the Red Army of the USSR, with its red flag and its epicentre at Red Square in Moscow. And so, although “Edom” certainly refers to the entire Western and Christian world, the leading oppressor of Edom is referred to more specifically as the “Third Rome”.

Indeed, we find that Russia and the USSR have been the longest and most consistent oppressor of Israel for centuries. Whether it’s the Pale of Settlement, the Cantonist Laws (that forcibly conscripted Jewish children to the Russian Army for decades of service), the pogroms, or the gulags; the USSR’s role in creating the “Palestinian” movement and training the PLO, or the KGB’s infiltration of the Israeli Knesset (discussed in this class), or Russia today supporting Hamas and Hezbollah (neither of which is designated a terrorist organization by Russia, unlike by nearly all Western countries). It was also in Russia that the infamous Protocols of the Elders of Zion was produced, inspiring generation after generation of antisemites and Jew-murderers.

So, while there may still be some debate in Jewish circles regarding who exactly is the “Third Rome” of the world today, it actually seems quite clear that all signs point to Moscow. Amazingly, the Talmud (Sanhedrin 98a) predicted that there would be three Romes, but not a fourth, and that Mashiach would come after the fall of the Third Rome. As explored in the past (in an essay here, and in the three-part video series on “Third Rome”), the fall of the Soviet Union in 1989 (or 5750) corresponded perfectly to the final possible starting point of the Ikvot haMashiach, the “End of Days” era leading up to the Messianic Age. With this in mind, we can understand Ovadiah’s prophecy and how it relates to today’s events.

Hamas, Hezbollah, Houthis

Ovadiah 1:3 accuses Edom of becoming arrogant, and feeling safe in their “lofty abode”. This could certainly apply to Russia, which has in recent years been arrogantly trying to conquer (or reconquer) neighbouring lands in Georgia, Crimea, and Ukraine. Perhaps the Russian regime feels safe in their vast and cold northern abode, knowing full well that no one has been able to defeat them in the past, not even the massive, powerful armies of Napoleon or Hitler. So, Russia arrogantly went to war with Ukraine, and thought it would be a quick “special operation”. Instead, it has turned into a full-blown proxy war against NATO, and Russia has suffered horrendous losses. They are now relying partly on cheaply-made Iranian drones and missiles, and on thousands of North Korean mercenaries who have not been able to help very much either. At the same time, support from allies like China and Belarus has been underwhelming. Ovadiah describes this all very well:

How thoroughly rifled is Esau, how ransacked his hoards! All your allies turned you back at the frontier; your own confederates have duped and overcome you; [those who ate] your bread have planted snares under you. He is bereft of understanding. (v. 6-7)

One of the Edomite allies that Ovadiah refers to are the “warriors of Teiman”, and Ovadiah says they will “lose heart” and faulter: v’hatu giborekha teiman! (v. 9) It is interesting to point out that one of the so-called 3 H’s that Russia supports is the Houthis of Yemen, ie. Teiman (the other two are Hamas and Hezbollah). Ovadiah even gives a cryptic allusion to this in saying those murderers in Teiman will be hatu—Houthis! More incredibly, the very next verse mentions Hamas: “For the violence against your brother Jacob, disgrace shall engulf you, and you shall perish forever.” (v. 10) The word for “violence” here, of course, is hamas. Ovadiah goes on to accuse Edom of supporting those who came against Israel:

On that day when you stood aloof, when aliens carried off his goods, when foreigners entered his gates and cast lots for Jerusalem, you were as one of them. How could you gaze with glee on your brother that day, on his day of calamity! How could you gloat over the people of Judah on that day of ruin! How could you loudly jeer on a day of anguish! How could you enter the gate of My people on its day of disaster, gaze in glee with the others on its misfortune on its day of disaster, and lay hands on its wealth on its day of disaster! (v. 12-14)

Edom stood by while Israel was being slaughtered. The terrorists came to “cast lots for Jerusalem”. Recall that the name Hamas chose for their day of terror on October 7 was “Al-Aqsa Flood”—they believed they were coming to “liberate” Al-Aqsa, ie. Jerusalem. Ovadiah says Edom played a role in this because they were concerned for their own wealth. Indeed, many have pointed out that Russia had the most to gain from October 7: In the days leading up to it, all the talk in the media was about Israel’s impending peace deal with Saudi Arabia—which would include oil and gas pipelines through Israel to Europe that would undermine Russia’s own supply to Europe (Russia’s main source of wealth). Russia had to stop the deal to protect its oil and gas riches. It worked, as October 7 quashed the Israel-Saudi deal.

At the same time, Russia wanted to get the world off its back for Ukraine, and this too happened post-October 7, with the world quickly forgetting about Ukraine and turning all of its attention to Gaza. Funding and donations for Ukraine subsequently dropped in dramatic fashion, the world’s money now channeled to Gaza instead. (Ukrainian officials complained greatly about this, to deaf ears!) For Russia, October 7 was a win-win. And it also just happened to be Putin’s birthday!

Ovadiah concludes his prophecy by relaying God’s promise that the wicked Edomite regime would be destroyed, and would never again bother Israel. The flame of Israel will be rekindled, “the House of Jacob shall be fire, and the House of Joseph flame, and the House of Esau shall be straw…” (v. 18) and we will see the eventual positive outcome of this tragic war, with Israel reclaiming “the Negev and Mount Esau as well, the Shephelah and Philistia. They shall possess the Ephraimite country and the district of Samaria, and Benjamin along with Gilead.” Remember that Philistia is Gaza, and the Ephraimite country, Samaria, and Benjamin makes up most of the “West Bank”, while Gilead refers to the general area around the Golan Heights. We are seeing this happening right before our eyes now.

Finally, “the exile of the Children of Israel, that have gone to be kna’anim as far as Tzarfat, and the Jerusalemite exile as far as Sepharad, shall possess the towns of the Negev.” (v. 20) In the times of Ovadiah, Tzarfat and Sepharad referred to places north of Israel, in what is today Lebanon and Turkey. Over time, just as Edom became the Roman Empire, Tzarfat became France and Sephard became Spain. Interestingly, when looking back at Jewish texts from around 1000 years ago, we find that there is mention of Jewish communities distinct from Ashkenazi and Sephardi, called Tzarfati Jews and Kna’ani Jews. The Tzarfati Jews are a bit better known because of great figures like Rashi, but we hear very little of the Kna’ani Jews. Who were they?

“Kna’ani” was the label for those Jews living in Eastern Europe, among Slavic peoples. Intriguingly, they were called Kna’ani because in Biblical parlance “Canaanite” was synonymous with being a “slave” (since Canaan was cursed with slavery). The Slavic peoples of Eastern Europe were a major source of slaves in Roman and Medieval times; in fact, the root of the word “slave” is slav! This is why Jews living among the Slavs were nicknamed “Kna’ani”. Over time, the Kna’ani Jewish community fused together with the Ashkenazi community originally rooted in Germany, and most of the Tzarfati community in France (while many in southern France fused with their nearby Sephardis). Meanwhile, following the Spanish Expulsion the Sephardi community fused together with North African and Mizrachi communities. Thus, in effect, when Ovadiah speaks of Kna’ani, Tzarfati, and Sephardi Judeans in exile, he is really referring to all the major groups of Jews today.

Very soon, all Jews still in exile will return to a stronger and larger and more prosperous Israel, “For liberators shall march up on Mount Zion to wreak judgment on Mount Esau; and dominion shall be God’s.” (v. 21) May it come speedily and in our days.

Shabbat Shalom!

Bringing Mashiach Today

What will it take to bring Mashiach today?

See here for the video on the Star of Jacob prophecy and ‘Will Mashiach Come This Year?’
See here for the series on ‘Third Rome’.
More information on Kapparot here, and on Portraits of Rabbis here.
Garments of Light, Volume Three, available here.

Netanyahu and Yirmiyahu

This week’s parasha, Bechukotai, contains an infamous list of curses that could befall the Jewish people, has v’shalom, if they stray from God’s ways. Jewish history shows that we have indeed experienced such tragic curses over the millennia every so often, and not just in the distant past but recently on October 7. As difficult and inexplicable such events may be, we have to keep in mind that while they come at the hands of various political entities and ethnoreligious groups, ultimately the source of the pain is God Himself. As the parasha tells us, the tragedies are both an unfortunate retribution for our transgressions, and a wake-up call to be better.

‘Destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem’ by Francesco Hayez (1867)

One of the first such unspeakable catastrophes took place roughly twenty-five centuries ago, at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians. They massacred tens of thousands of Jews, enslaved and exiled many more, destroyed Jerusalem, and burned down the Holy Temple. Yet, the prophet Jeremiah quotes Hashem saying Nebuchadnezzar is His “servant” (Jeremiah 43:10), His instrument in bringing about punishment. The sad reality is that history’s wicked tormentors were tools of God. They would not arise had we not deserved it. We read in Isaiah 45:7 that “I am God, and there is no other; I form light and create darkness; I make peace and create evil, I am Hashem, doing all of these things.” If it is God’s Will to do such things, what does that make of the free will of the human tormentors?

Our Sages teach that when a person ascends to a high political position, and holds the lives of many in their hands, God limits that person’s free will. God will occasionally “harden their hearts” (as He did with Pharaoh) and steer their choices if necessary. This was described long ago by King Solomon when he said “Like channeled water is the heart of a king in God’s Hand; He directs it wherever He wishes.” (Proverbs 21:1) The Talmud cites this verse in saying that each person should pray “for a good king”, meaning we should pray that God direct political leaders to act justly and kindly with the populace (Berakhot 55a). God can cause a political leader to do more good, or to bring about punishment. And this takes us right back to October 7:

Everyone is puzzled by the fact that the Israeli government missed all the warning signs, was paralyzed by inaction on the morning of, and seemingly allowed the October 7 massacre to happen. It appears to be totally inexplicable and, not surprisingly, has given rise to multiple conspiracy theories. Did the government deliberately allow the massacre to happen? Did they want a serious external conflict to end the civil unrest that was taking place in the months prior to October 7? Did they have a hand in planning the attack? Did they purposely keep the border unguarded, or move military units away from the border, or give an abnormally large number of soldiers holiday vacations, or jam communication channels, or change permits to move the Nova festival from its original location right to the Gaza border? The theories are numerous, each more sinister than the next. Personally, I find them hard to believe, and although I am no fan of the government, it feels absurd to suggest that anyone could deliberately allow something like this to happen to their own people.

But then I was reading Jeremiah—the same Jeremiah that refers to Nebuchadnezzar as God’s servant, and the same Jeremiah from whom we read this week’s Haftarah. We find something quite amazing in the Book of Jeremiah: it is the one place in the Tanakh that describes a family called “Netanyahu”. (Another is briefly mentioned in a list in I Chronicles 25:12.) Jeremiah first speaks of a righteous court official named Yehudi ben Netanyahu (36:14). Yehudi delivers a scroll bearing Jeremiah’s gloomy prophecy to the king, and reads it before him. Judea’s King Yehoyakim refuses to heed the warning and thinks he is safe from the Babylonians. He scoffs and burns the prophetic scroll of Jeremiah. We hear no more of Yehudi ben Netanyahu after this.

We then read how Jeremiah’s prophecy was tragically fulfilled. The Babylonian armies arrived, destroying Jerusalem and the Temple and starting the grim period of the Babylonian Captivity. However, the Babylonians did not expel all the Jews from the Holy Land, and even allowed the Jews some autonomy to continue governing themselves. They appointed a Jewish leader named Gedaliah ben Ahikam as governor of Judea. Gedaliah reassured the remaining Jews that everything would be okay; to stay in the Holy Land and rebuild.

Here we are introduced to another Jewish leader, called Ishmael ben Netanyahu (40:8). A descendant of the Davidic monarchy, he had dreams of becoming king and making himself the undisputed leader of Israel. Gedaliah, of course, stood in his way. Ishmael made a secret alliance with the king of Ammon (same place as today’s Amman, capital of the Palestinian state of “Jordan”) to assassinate Gedaliah. Gedaliah was warned of Ishmael’s sinister plans, but dismissed the rumours, thinking no self-respecting Jew could ever stoop so low.

Although the entire British Mandate for Palestine was originally promised to the Jewish people, the British suddenly gave away more than two-thirds to the Arabs to form a new Palestinian state now called “Jordan”. (Credit: Eli E. Hertz)

But then, “in the seventh month” (Tishrei), Gedaliah was having a holiday feast and Ishmael joined him for the yom tov meal (41:1). Wicked Ishmael suddenly struck down Gedaliah “and all the Jews who were with him” (41:3). The next day, pilgrims “came from Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria” to bring holiday offerings. Ishmael came out to greet them and invited them into town before turning on them and slaughtering them, too (41:7). Ishmael threw all the corpses into a cistern. He didn’t stop there:

Ishmael carried off all the rest of the people who were in Mizpah, including the daughters of the king—all the people left in Mizpah, over whom Nebuzaradan, the chief of the guards, had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam. Ishmael son of Netanyah carried them off, and set out to cross over to the Ammonites. (41:10)

Ishmael took hostages and fled back to Ammon. A Judean general named Yochanan ben Kareach finally figured out what’s going on and chased after Ishmael with his men, managing to free the hostages. Ishmael, however, escaped and we don’t know what happened to him afterwards.

In the aftermath of the massacre, the frightened and traumatized Judeans feared the Babylonians would come back to punish them for the death of the Babylon-appointed governor Gedaliah. Despite Jeremiah’s protests and assurances that all would be fine, the remnant of Jews decided to flee to Egypt. The result of Ishmael’s treachery was that the Holy Land lost its last Jews, along with its semi-autonomous Jewish government. The last traces of the Kingdom of Judea were officially obliterated.

For this terrible tragedy, we still observe the “Fast of Gedaliah” today every year immediately following Rosh Hashanah. Though the Tanakh doesn’t say exactly which holiday it was, according to tradition the Gedaliah massacre occurred on Rosh Hashanah. Since we don’t fast on holidays, the fast is observed on the third of Tishrei. However, a careful reading of the Tanakh suggests that the holiday may have been Sukkot, hence the pilgrims that came the following day to bring offerings. Altogether, the narrative is eerily similar to what we experienced last Sukkot in Tishrei, when Ishmaelites came into the land and slaughtered Jews peacefully celebrating a holiday, while taking other Jews hostage.

Strangely, the villain in the Jeremiah narrative (also recounted in II Kings 25) is a power-hungry Jewish leader named Ishmael ben Netanyahu. It would be another millennium before an Ishmaelite by the name of Muhammad would arise, and henceforth “Ishmael” would always be associated with the Muslims. If this episode in Tanakh is not only historical, but prophetic, I wonder what it might mean for all of us today.

I am reminded of the fact that our own Netanyahu was all too kind to the Ishmaelites, giving record-high work permits to Gazans to enter Israel (the Bennett government gave 10,000 before Netanyahu came back to power last year and doubled it to 20,000), transferring Qatari suitcases of cash to support them, and refusing pre-emptive strikes when warned by military officials. The same Netanyahu has yet to fulfil a single objective in the current war. Nearly eight months later, most of Hamas’ tunnel infrastructure is still in place, their leaders still at large, rockets still being fired on Israel, and worst of all, a multitude of hostages still in captivity. The government of Israel is paralyzed, the Knesset remains a circus of corruption (on both sides left and right, secular and “religious”), and “there is no one to rely on but our Father in Heaven.” (Sotah 49b)

Will today’s Netanyahu be more like the righteous Yehudi ben Netanyahu—who supported Jeremiah the Prophet and sought to lead people towards truth and repentance, while confronting the corrupt government of Yehoyakim—or is he more like Ishmael ben Netanyahu, a power-hungry manipulator and a collaborator with Israel’s enemies, a facilitator of Jewish massacres? Will he go down in history as a real “Yehudi”, or as an imposter “Ishmael”? I hope time will prove the former to be the case, but I fear the reality is fast-approaching the latter. If Benjamin Netanyahu does not make some dramatic changes for himself and his country, he may well end up like Ishmael ben Netanyahu long before him; shamefully fleeing his country, remembered for centuries thereafter as a villain.

Whatever happens, Jeremiah in this week’s Haftarah reminds us of a critical principle never to lose sight of: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man… Blessed is the man who trusts in God; and God shall be his security.” (17:5-7)