Geula-Related Recent Links

Thursday, April 24, 2014

Rebuilding Gates

Sanhedrin 98a: (Daf|Text|English):
שאלו תלמידיו את רבי יוסי בן קיסמא אימתי בן דוד בא אמר מתיירא אני שמא תבקשו ממני אות אמרו לו אין אנו  מבקשין ממך אות א״ל לכשיפול השער הזה ויבנה ויפול ויבנה ויפול ואין מספיקין לבנותו עד שבן דוד בא אמרו  לו רבינו תן לנו אות אמר להם ולא כך אמרתם לי שאין אתם מבקשין ממני אות אמרו לו ואף על פי כן  אמר להם אם כך יהפכו מי מערת פמייס לדם ונהפכו לדם
The disciples of R. Jose b. Kisma asked him, 'When will the Messiah come?' — He answered, 'I fear lest ye demand a sign of me [that my answer is correct].' They assured him, 'We will demand no sign of you.' So he answered them, 'When this gate falls down, is rebuilt, falls again, and is again rebuilt, and then falls a third time, before it can be rebuilt the son of David will come.' They said to him, 'Master, give us a sign.' He protested, 'Did ye not assure me that ye would not demand a sign?' They replied, 'Even so, [we desire one].' He said to them. 'if so, let the waters of the grotto of Paneas turn into blood;' and they turned into blood.
I, along with others, had used this gemara in the past to link it to a few different items as possible scenarios where this gemara could play out:
Let's now add another one to the list of possibilities (which fits nicely with the 100-year process theory that Rav Fish mentioned previously):

Gavrilo Princip was the assassin of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, which started WWI 100 years ago - in Tamuz, 5674.

The house where Gavrilo Princip lived in Sarajevo was destroyed during World War I. After the war, it was rebuilt as a museum in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Yugoslavia was conquered by Germany in 1941 and Sarajevo became part of Independent State of Croatia. The Croatian Ustaše destroyed the house again. After the establishment of Communist Yugoslavia in 1944, the house of Gavrilo Princip became a museum again and there was another museum dedicated to him within the city of Sarajevo. During the Yugoslav Wars of the 1990s, the house of Gavrilo Princip was destroyed a third time; no attempts to rebuild it have yet been announced. Prior to 1992 the site on the pavement on which Princip stood to fire the fatal shots was marked by embossed footprints. These were destroyed as a consequence of the 1992–95 war in Bosnia. There is still a plaque in front of the museum at the spot where Gavrilo Princip stood when he fired the shots. Bosansko Grahovo municipality has announced a plan to reconstruct Princip's birth house in Obljaj before the centenary of the assassination in Sarajevo.[14]
OK, so no plans to rebuild his Sarajevo home, but there are plans to rebuild his Obljaj home that was destroyed in 1995 by the Croats.  Perhaps, all his homes are considered the same entity.  And this "gate" is much closer to Rome (which Rashi says is the location of the gate) than any of the other "gates" I mentioned above.   And they plan to open it this summer as a museum in time for the centennial.

Will they get the chance to do so?

2 Comments:

At Thu Apr 24, 08:57:00 PM 2014, Anonymous Anonymous said...

why is he Gavrilo Princip so important that you have mentioned him. thanks.

 
At Thu Apr 24, 09:25:00 PM 2014, Blogger yaak said...

1) He started a world war
2) That world war is exactly 100 years ago
3) There is a 100 year process according to one interpretation
4) The Hafetz Hayim explained WWI as the first Gog Umagog War followed by 2 more

 

Post a Comment

<< Home