Saddam is Executed

I wrote the previous post not knowing for sure that he would be executed over Shabbat. I only heard that he may be.

Having gone through the Gulf War, it's hard not to rejoice at such news.

Who's next? I can think of someone in neighboring Iran that deserves a similar fate.

Saddam's Death - Geula Sign?

Anyone remember gog1.com?
It's not been updated recently, but they're still around, and they have a page in both Hebrew and English about how the end of Iraq means the beginning of the Ge'ula. It was written near the beginning of the Iraq war, and much of it has now been proven false, but it still contains statements from Jewish sources showing Bavel's downfall - interpreted to mean Saddam-controlled Iraq's downfall - as being a Ge'ula sign.

For example, see Metzudat David on Micha 4:10.
Also, the Ma'oz Tzur song that is sung on Hanukka contains "קץ בבל זרובבל" (the end of Bavel [Iraq] comes Zerubavel [one of the names of Mashiah]).

Could it be that the end of Bavel is not complete until Saddam's death?
Time will tell.

In the meantime, as I announced when he was sentenced,
'כן יאבדו כל אויביך, ה

Rain on 5 Tevet

Tuesday was the 5th of Tevet. It rained in Israel.
Last year, on the 5th of Tevet, it rained.
The year before, on the 5th of Tevet, it rained.
In fact, it rained every year on the 5th of Tevet - even in years of severe drought - since the passing of the Sadigerer Rebbe on the 5th of Tevet, 5721 - over 45 years ago.
The Sadigerer Rebbe's last words were, "Am Yisrael needs rain!"
The power of the righteous is greater in death than in life.

Source - Ladaat.net

Links Worth Reading

[link] Tsunami Kabbalist predicts another tsunami - this time in Iran. Afterwards, New York will fall, and Yerushalayim will rise.

[link] Persian New Year falls out on Rosh Hodesh Nissan, when there is to be a partial lunar eclipse over Iran, and when a dramatic announcement from Iran's leadership is to be announced.

[link] Sanhedrin in Israel calls for public fasts and Teshuva and for Israelis to move towards Yehuda and Shomron for Piku'ah Nefesh reasons.

Save Kever David

Akiva created and posted a nice video about King David's tomb, and saving it from falling to Vatican hands.

R' Winston on Hanukka

See this pdf file poster

See further explanation here and here (which partially contradicts an earlier post today).

Sticking it to the Yevanim

According to Ladaat.net, this past Monday, Shas conducted a Habura-writing contest in which Yeshiva guys and Kollel Avreichim received Sefarim given out from the hands of Rav Ovadia Yosef, Shlit"a for those who wrote the best Hidushei Torah during the summer "Bein Hazemanim" period.

What a way to stick it to the Yevanim!

Hanukka Everlasting

From Halacha Yomit today:

ימי החנוכה אינם בטלים לעולם

מובא בכמה ספרים (ומהם בספר מגיד מישרים למרן רבי יוסף קארו זצ"ל) "דרשת חז"ל", כל המועדים יהיו בטלים חוץ מחנוכה ופורים. ונרמז עניין זה במה שאנו מברכים אשר קדשנו במצוותיו וצוונו "להדליק" נר חנוכה, שלשון "להדליק" מורה גם על העתיד. (ואילו לשון "על הדלקת נר חנוכה", אינו מלמד כלום.)

וכתב רבינו הרדב"ז שברור הדבר שלא תתבטל לעולם שום מצווה ממצוות התורה, כמו שנאמר לא תוסיף עליו ולא תגרע ממנו, אלא שלעתיד לבא, תרבה הטובה כל כך לישראל, והשמחה והמנוחה (כלומר שלוה) יהיו בכל ימיהם, עד שכל הימים יהיו שווים בשמחה ובטוב לבם, וכאילו נתבטלו המועדים (שכן לא תהיה בהם שמחה מיוחדת) אבל ימי הפורים יהיו נזכרים ונעשים בשמחה מיוחדת. וכמו כן יש לפרש לגבי ימי החנוכה שיהיה בהם היכר מיוחד בשונה משאר המועדים.

ובהלכות פורים הזכרנו את דברי רבינו הרשב"א בתשובה (סימן צג) שכתב שכוונת המדרש היא שיש הבטחה מאת ה' יתברך, שאף על פי שכל המועדים עלולים חס ושלום להתבטל לגמרי מישראל לרוב הצרות והגלויות שהם סובלים, בעוונותינו הרבים, מכל מקום לגבי פורים יש בידינו הבטחה, שבשום דור מהדורות לא יתבטל לגמרי חג הפורים. וכמו כן יש לפרש דברי המדרש לגבי ימי החנוכה.

Hanukka, along with Purim, will exist even in the future, whereas the other holidays will be canceled out.

Against All Odds - Hanukka and Mashiah

The miracle of Hanukka is one when we celebrate an "against all odds" victory of the Torah-true Hashmonaim over the Syrian Greeks and Hellenists. The Hasmonian small group of righteous soldiers defeating the enemy, thereby reestablishing Jewish sovereignty over Judea and the Beit Hamikdash, is the miracle that the Al Hanisim discusses, and it is the reason why we say Hallel on the holiday.

The continued lineage of Mashiah is no less a miracle. I'll list for you some of the miraculous circumstances that will eventually bring (or hopefully has already brought) about the birth of Mashiah.

• This week's Perasha has the story of Yehuda and Tamar - where Yehuda has relations with what he thinks to be a harlot and ends up being his daughter-in-law, Tamar.
  
• A few weeks back, we learned of the story of Lot and his daughters. Lot was the father of Mo'av, an ancestor of Rut, who is an ancestor of David Hamelech. Lot was also the father of Amon, an ancestor of Na'ama Ha'amonit, the mother of Rehav'am Ben Shelomo Hamelech.
  
• Rut herself was married to Bo'az one night, whereupon Bo'az died, but not before she was pregnant.
• Updated: Yishai's wife, Nitzevet, had relations with him after being separated from her for 3 years by tricking him into thinking he was having relations with his maid-servant.
• David Hamelech had relations with Bat-Sheva, a married woman, the mother of Shelomo Hamelech.
• Atalya, the daughter of Ahav, wipes out the entire royal family, but not before Yehosheva, her daughter and wife of the Kohen Gadol, takes baby Yo'ash and hides him in the Holy of Holies for 7 years.
• Yehoyachin's son's miraculous birth (see Sanhedrin 37b-38a and Rashi there).
• Rabban Yohanan Ben Zakkai asking for the "Geneological chain of Rabban Gamliel" to be saved from the Roman Emporer Vespasian (see Gittin 56b and Rashi there).

May we soon see an "against all odds" Final Redemption speedily in our days.

When I Learn Vayishlah, I Think of the Palestinians

When I Learn Vayishlah, I Think of the Palestinians.

What????

Did I just say that???

Yeah, it's actually true. Here's my list so far:

• 32:8 Rashi s.v. ויירא ויצר - Yaakov Avinu was afraid that maybe he would be killed, and he was bothered maybe he would kill others. This is the same dillema an Israeli soldier goes through when faced with Palestinians shooting and firing rockets from civilian areas.
• 32:9 Rashi s.v. והיה המחנה הנשאר לפליטה - Yaakov Avinu prepared himself for 3 things: for gifts, prayer, and war. How do we deal with the Palestinians? We give them way too many gifts, and not enough prayer or war.
• 32:25 Rashi s.v. ויותר יעקב - Yaakov Avinu forgot small pitchers, and returned for them. When our soldiers like Gilad Shalit are captured by Hamas ימ"ש, we don't give up on getting them back.
• 33:19 Yaakov Avinu buys a field in Shechem. I've heard it said that Shechem is such a hotbed of terrorism because Yaakov Avinu bought it when he should have just taken what was a G-d-given gift already. The same with Avraham and Hevron.
• 34:16 Rashi s.v. ואת בנתיכם נקח לנו - When Hamor is talking to the sons of Yaakov Avinu, he says, "You will give your daughters" and "You will take our daughters," implying that the sons of Yaakov have control whom they will pick. However, when Hamor talks to his townspeople, he says, "We will give our daughters" and "We will take their daughters", implying that the Shechemites will have control whom they will pick. This reminds me of how Arafat ימ"ש and current Palestinian leaders say one thing in English and a very different thing in Arabic.
• 35:5 There was a G-d-placed fear over the cities surrounding the sons of Yaakov. This, I'm told, was the case in Israel in the aftermath of the Six Day War. ויי על דאבדן.
• 35:19 Rahel Imeinu is buried in Beit Lehem. Look at that - it's a Jewish city.
• 35:29 Yitzhak Avinu is buried in Hevron. Look at that - it's also a Jewish city.
• 36:33 Rashi s.v. יובב בן זרח מבצרה - Botzra was of the cities of Mo'av, but since it supplied a king for Edom, it is destined to be punished together with them, as it says כי זבח לה' בבצרה. One of the commentaries on Rashi (I forgot which) asks why Botzra is singled out here, when all the kings were supplied from elsewhere. He answers based on a ספר הישר that the previous king, Bela ben Be'or, was killed in a battle by Yosef and his brothers in Egypt. After that, the Edomite nation was decimated, and couldn't function as a nation without its leader. Came along Yovav ben Zerah from Botzra to save the day for Edom and became their new leader. I'm reminded how Arafat ימ"ש and the PLO were saved from bankruptcy in Tunisia, and the Palestinians were brought back to life once again by misguided Israeli leaders.

May Hashem save the Jewish people from all harm, and may we merit the returning of our complete Land of Israel, including the Har Habayit, to our hands, together with Mashiah Tzidkenu, speedily in our days. Amen.

Magdiel, Iram, and Romi

Who is Magdiel and Who is Iram?

The last Rashi on Vayishlah is on the Pasuk אלוף מגדיאל - Rashi adds זו רומי. This tells us that Magdiel is Rome. See the Ramban and the Mefarshei Rashi here (including the באר בשדה, who says that this רומי refers to "the small Rome". See R' Gil Student's post for a possible explanation).

Midrash Rabba and Yalkut Shimoni bring down the following:

אלוף מגדיאל אלוף עירם יום שמלך לוטינוס נראה לר' אמי בחלום היום מלך מגדיאל. אמר עוד מלך אחד נתבקש לאדום אלוף עירם למה נקרא שמו עירם שהוא עתיד לערום תסבריות למלך המשיח. מעשה בשלטון אחד שהיה מבזבז תסבריות של אביו נראה לו אליהו ז"ל בחלום וא"ל אבותיך מצמצמין ואתה מבזבז ולא זז עד שמלאן.

The Chief of Magdiel, the chief of Iram - From the day that the king Lotinus began his reign, the following appeared to Rabbi Ami in a dream: "Today Magdiel has reigned". He [Rabbi Ami] said, "One more king is sought for Edom." The chief of Iram - Why was he called Iram? Because he is destined to empty out his treasury [to give to] the King Mashiah. There was an incident with one [Roman] ruler who was wasting the treasury of his father. Eliyahu, Zachur Latov, appeared to him in a dream, and told him, "Your forefathers were storing, and you are wasting?" [He did so so that the Mashiah will gain more eventually. - Etz Yosef] The ruler didn't move from there until he refilled his treasury [by blackmailing his constituants - Etz Yosef].

It would appear from this Midrash, then, that Iram was a separate king (nation?) that will live right before the coming of Mashiah.

Rabbeinu Bahye, however, takes a different approach. He says that when the Torah said "Chief of Iram", it is merely explaining Magdiel. In other words, the Torah is saying "Magdiel, who is the Chief of Iram." Iram is spelled עירם, which (besides meaning "their city" of Rome) are the same letters as מיער - from the verse in Tehillim יכרסמנה חזיר מיער. Notice on the above link that the letter "ע" of the word מיער is raised to indicate that it can be removed to give you the letters רמי, or Romi. The חזיר, pig, is the fourth of the beasts that was in Daniel's prophecy, which is to symbolize the fourth exile of Edom, or Romi. Iram also has the same letters as מעיר as from the verse in Bil'am's prophecy וְיֵרְדְּ, מִיַּעֲקֹב; וְהֶאֱבִיד שָׂרִיד, מֵעִיר which is speaking of Edom at the end of days.

So, we have 2 different explanations on Iram. However, either way, we pray that the following verse that Sephardic Jews read in the Haftara this week will come speedily, in our days:

וְעָלוּ מוֹשִׁעִים בְּהַר צִיּוֹן, לִשְׁפֹּט אֶת-הַר עֵשָׂו; וְהָיְתָה לַיהוָה, הַמְּלוּכָה

Ahashverosh is Alive and Well

The Persians of old were lustful people. Just look at Ahashverosh.
Despite his best efforts to show us otherwise, the Iranian president is same old - same old.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran, who flaunts his ideological fervour, has been accused of undermining Iran's Islamic revolution after television footage appeared to show him watching a female song and dance show.

The famously austere Mr Ahmadinejad has been criticised by his own allies after attending the lavish opening ceremony of the Asian games in Qatar, a sporting competition involving 13,000 athletes from 39 countries. The ceremony featured Indian and Egyptian dancers and female vocalists. Many were not wearing veils.

I'm just waiting until נתמלא סאתן.


(Hat tip: Mere Rhetoric)

Lebanon Unrest - a Possible Sign

Hashem1.net uses the oft-quoted Midrash to show a connection between the current unrest in Lebanon and the Ge'ula.

The Midrash (in Pesikta Rabbati 36) says:

אמר רבי יצחק:
שנה שמלך המשיח נגלה בו, כל מלכי האומות מתגרים זה בזה.
מלך פרס מתגרה במלך הערבי, והולך מלך הערבי לאדום (הנצרות) ליטול עצה (עזרה) מהם.
וחוזר מלך פרס ומחריב את כל העולם (פעולות טרור אירניות עולמיות).
וכל אומות העולם מתרעשים ומתבהלים ונופלים על פניהם. ויאחזו אותם צירים כצירי יולדה (חרדה בעקבות הטרור האיראני בעולם).
וישראל מתרעשים ומתבהלים (בגלל האיום של מחיקת ישראל) ואומרים: להיכן נבוא ונלך? להיכן נבוא ונלך?
ואומר להם (כביכול הקב"ה משיב לישראל כך): בניי, אל תתיראו! כל מה שעשיתי, לא עשיתי, אלא בשבילכם! מפני מה אתם מתיראים? אל תיראו, הגיע ימי גאולתכם!

The translation, taken from this post, (which was also translated from Hashem1.net):

Rabbi Yitzhak said: The year that King Mashiah will be revealed, all the kings of the nations will provoke each other (wars, armed and verbal confrontations in the entire expanse of the world). The king of Paras (Iran) will provoke an Arab king (Iraq? Saudi Arabia? Jordan?Lebanon?) (via its proxy - Hizbollah) and the Arab king will go to Edom (who is understood to be by Haza"l as the Christian empire, who is in our days probably the U.S.), to take advice from them (requesting help and assistance from the U.S.).

Then, the King of Paras will go ahead and destroy the whole world (Iran starting terrorist acts or a war throughout the world, according to its threats). And all the nations of the world will tremble and be panicky and will fall on their faces. And pains like birth pangs will take hold of them (great fear from the Iranian terror in the world).

And Israel will tremble and be panicky (due to the Iranian threats of wiping Israel off the map) and will say "Where will we come and go? Where will we come and go?"

And He will say to them (כביכול, Hakadosh Baruch Hu will answer Israel the following): "My children, do not be afraid! Whatever I made, I only made for your benefit! Why are you afraid?

Do not be afraid! The days of your redemption has arrived!"

Hashem1.net goes on to say that there are reasons to believe that this year is the year and not to give up hope.

Browsing Ladaat.net

Baruch Dayan Ha'emet. R' Yitzhak Toledano, a relative and student of R' Refa'el Toledano Zt"l, and the Mehutan of יבדלחט''א R' Ovadia Yosef Shlit"a has passed away in Yerushalayim.

Religious Jews are protesting El Al's plans of flying selected flights on Shabbat.


Israel's Postal Authority will soon be issuing stamps with pictures of great rabbis. The list includes Rav Kaduri Zt"l, Rav Messas Zt"l (the former Chief Rabbi of Yerushalayim), and Rav Yosef Karo זי"ע.