The war is still continuing and soldiers are dying or getting injured. Many families are still displaced, making it hard for any healthy normalcy. And, of course, hostages remain hostages by the worst kind of captors, with little hope of survival.
Yet there is a lull. Part of the reason is the government, which has a policy of hiding the war as much as possible from its citizens. It is a small country with a small economy, and it needs to remain productive. People need to feel safe enough to carry on with their daily routines, so that the country can continue to survive and prosper.
The only reason is human nature. We just get used to things as time moves on, be they bad or good. What scares us one day can quickly be downgraded to only a concern a few days later. What excites us today in three days may barely bring a smile to our faces. It takes work to keep memories fresh and emotions focused, how much so when we’re talking about other people’s memories and emotional events from long ago.
But when it comes to Jewish history, it is a mistake to think a lull is a lull, unless the worst has already happened, like the Holocaust. After such an extreme period, God gives us time to heal and rebuild, as we did from the 50s until the 80s. But even that was only to allow us to prepare for the next stage of history and national development.
But as truly terrible as the events of Simchas Torah were this year, I think everyone agrees that the situation may only be the beginning of an even more difficult period of time. Anti-Semitism is a beast that once let out of its cage does not go back without first doing some serious damage, God forbid. The fact that a war started by Hamas which resulted in unspeakable atrocities could result in sympathy for the Palestinians over the Jews is a major warning sign about the direction of history.
As Israel has found out the hard way, quieter times usually just means that the terrorists are planning something big. America felt safe all those years that Arab terrorists were planning their horrific attack on the Twin Towers. Israelis may have felt the last few years as if they could safely live more normal and carefree lives, but it was just the calm before the storm.
Lulls don’t tell you to go back to sleep. They tell you to get up and remain more alert than ever.
That is not Jewish pessimism.
That is Jewish realism.
Religious realism adds to this. Torah looks at Jewish history as one ongoing continuum going back to Creation, even though the Jewish people had yet to officially exist. It’s just that God made all of Creation for a very specific purpose, and everything, literally everything only exists because it somehow contributes to the fulfillment of that ultimate purpose.
Even the people who don’t believe in such things.
Even the people who go to war against God.
Even the people who go to war against His people.
Even the people, events, and things that seem so contrary to the purpose of Creation exist just to further its goal. And all those people who have pursued false gods and murdered in their names? They have been, and continue to be just another human means to a Divine end.
It’s like my minyan. There are times when we have a minyan well before the time we’re supposed to start, and times when we are very short just minutes before. In the beginning, I used to panic and considered running to another shul close by. But I learned over the years how quickly a minyan can materialize a minute before starting time. It’s the starting time of the minyan that makes people come on time, albeit at the last minute.
Likewise, Jewish history has expectations and deadlines. Some we know about in advance but only vaguely, others we don’t know anything about until after the fact. The question is, do we know enough to act on in any serious way, such as running from Chutz L’Aretz to Eretz Yisroel? Do we know enough clearly to be able to say with any certainty that what is happening at the time is part of any specific redemption, in our case, the final one?
My research says yes. I have written many books and essays to share that research and show the basis for that opinion. I’ve read other books that have said similar things, or at least interpreted the main sources in modern day terms to show how what we’re experiencing is what they predicted long ago.
For this reason, the lull makes me nervous. I don’t know what will happen next or how, but I can certainly guess. There are enough prophecies and sources to help with that. It’s not the events of today that will necessarily tell us what will happen next, but the deadlines and expectations of Jewish history that hover over us now that do.
So that’s why I say, don’t let up now. Don’t think that the world has settled down a bit and is on its way back to quieter and more sane times. Just the opposite. This is the time to prepare yourself religiously, psychologically, spiritually, intellectually, and when necessary, physically too for what may lie ahead.
To quote one of the great Torah leaders of yesteryear:
I heard in London from the holy Rabbi Elchanan Wasserman, quoting the Chofetz Chaim, that Chazal say the war of Gog and Magog will be threefold. After the First World War, the Chofetz Chaim said that this was the first battle of Gog and Magog, and in about twenty-five years (1942) there would be a second world war, which would make the first one seem insignificant, and then there would be a third battle . . . Rav Elchanan concluded that one must suffer the pangs of Moshiach, but the wise man will quietly prepare himself during that time—perhaps he will be worthy of seeing the comforting of Tzion and Yerushalayim. (Leiv Eliyahu, Shemos, page 172)