We Have Gotten a Glimpse

Living Emunah By Rabbi David Ashear

The Malbim, in Yechezkel perek 38 writes, one of the purposes of the final war called Gog u’Magog is for Hashem to take vengeance against all our enemies who have harmed us throughout the generations. Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai writes, in the Zohar HaKadosh, parashat Bereshit , that in the future Hashem will bring back to life all of the wicked kings who have harmed us throughout history and they will be part of this final war. It is apparent from the way Chazal interpret the pesukim discussing this war that the Jewish people will not have to fight at all. Whenever that time comes, Hashem will fight our enemies Himself. At times it may look very grim for Klal Yisrael, but we know, in seconds, everything can change. In the story of Purim, Haman was the prime minister over 127 provinces. He made a decree signed with the king's seal to annihilate the entire Jewish nation, men, women and children. At that time, Mordechai was sitting on the floor in ashes, mourning, as the gallows were being prepared to hang him upon. It could not have looked more hopeless than that. And then, in the blink of an eye, everything turned around. Suddenly, Haman was hanged on the gallows and Mordechai was elevated to become the prime minister. The Jews did not need to fight at all to get rid of Haman. Hashem took care of it from behind the scenes. In today's times as well, we have just gotten a glimpse of how Hashem can fight our battles so easily without us even having to lift a finger. Just a week ago, we were all praying for a Jew in Iran, 20 years old, who was sentenced to the death penalty for defending himself against an attacker. It seemed like a hopeless case, but we know there's always hope. After Shabbat, we got word that it was postponed until Monday. And then we got word that it's being postponed for another month and, b’ezrat Hashem, he will be exonerated. The death penalty is carried out in Iran hundreds of times a year due to its wicked leader. A leader who was responsible for firing an unprecedented number of missiles at the Jewish people just one month ago. A man who most certainly spent his days and nights plotting how to kill Jews. And then, in an instant, HaKadosh Baruch Hu rid him from the world in a helicopter crash. We did not need to carry out any secret missions to accomplish this. We did not need to fight any battles to accomplish this. כהרף עין , when nobody expected it, he was killed. As Rabbi Benzion Musafi put it, he was given all four mitot Bet Din simultaneously. This is part of Hashem avenging those who harm his nation. This is just a tiny glimpse into the Yad Hashem at the end of days. B'ezrat Hashem, there will be open miracles to come. כן יאבדו כל אויבך ה'. אמן כן יהי רצון .