After the horrific attack of Hamas on Shemini Atzeres/Simchas Torah (October 7th 2023), I wrote in these pages about the connection of Iran to Yemos HaMoshiach. Now that Israel is officially and fully at war with Iran, it is worthwhile revisiting the roots of this ancient and contemporary struggle.
First of all, it has been known for centuries that eventually, Persia (i.e., Iran, according to Yoma 10a, Sanhedrin 98a) will be deeply involved in the conflict known as Gog UMagog at the End of Days (Pesikta Rabbosi 36:3; Yalkut Shimoni, Yeshayah 60). Since we all know and firmly believe that Hashem not only created but runs the world, it is He Who has decreed that this war should be happening now. It is neither the prime minister of Israel nor any generals who are making these decisions. It is the Master of the Universe Who is bringing the culmination of this part of history to its close.
Secondly, the Sifri on last week’s parsha (Behaaloscha 10:9) and alluded to by the Baal Haturim there, states that “When war comes to your land” refers to the final war of Gog UMagog. The Torah promises that we will be saved from our enemies, after which we will no longer suffer the ravages of war. The novi Zechariah (14:3) predicts that “Hashem will go out and wage war with those nations.” Now, how do we know that the present battle is what is being referred to in these pesukim? Of course, we don’t know for sure. But as mentioned above, we do know that Poras will be deeply involved in the final war. This is the first time that Iran/Poras has openly attacked the homeland of Eretz Yisroel after repeated threats to so. Furthermore, we know that for several years, the surrogates of Iran have already attacked Eretz Yisroel, although this is the first time that our ancient enemy had actually acknowledged their role in the recent brutalities.
Let us therefore delve a bit more deeply into the nature of this mysterious nation and empire known as Poras. Part of their enigma is reflected in a Gemara (Brachos 8b), which enumerates a number of positive traits that the Persians possess. They conduct themselves with a certain degree of modesty, yet they are destined to be consigned to purgatory. In other words, although their superficial demeanor seems extremely religious, their essence is both vicious and evil. It was their destiny that their empire fall into the hands of Rome (Yoma 10a) despite their good traits and the tremendous power that they were granted (Kiddushin 49b). In fact, the Targum Yonasan (Bereishis 15:12) long ago predicted that Poras will fall into the hands of Klal Yisroel at the End of Days. It should be a dramatic proof of the eternal veracity of the Torah that an ancient civilization should still be both functional and an active enemy of Am Yisroel, as the Torah predicted so long ago. In fact, the Maharal (Netzach Yisroel 21) states that Poras and Edom have been preserved over the centuries and millennia precisely because they have a role to play in the coming of Moshiach.
The Maharal (Chiddushei Aggados to Sanhedrin 98a) also states presciently that Edom (the Christian West) and Poras (the Moslem East) will each rule concurrently, but neither will rule over the world exclusively. This is surely the world in which we live today. Rav Shamshon Raphael Hirsch (Bemaaglei Shanah 2:249) also points out the contradictory nature of the Persian culture by an analysis of Achashveirosh’s reign, as depicted in Megillas Esther. There are constant references to yodei das vadin – the rule of law and ethics, yet the king is mired in material pleasures and immoral in his behavior and especially his anti-Semitism, as evidenced by his collusion with Haman. Like everything else in the capital of Shushan, it is all a play and sham. Achashveirosh, like the current mullahs, is quite prepared to wipe out the entire Jewish nation, joining with the Hitler of his time, Haman the rasha. The Sheim M’Shmuel (Purim 5673) postulates that Hashem manipulated Haman into a partnership with Achashveirosh so that we would be able to triumph over Amaleik. Indeed, Hashem’s ways are mysterious, but, again, let’s remember that He is pulling all the strings from above.
Rav Tzadok Hakohein of Lublin (Pri Tzaddik, Chanukah 14) sees the downfall of Haman together with Achashveirosh as the culmination of the process of exposing the hypocrisy of Poras. They only appear to be pious and modest, but when exposed by an extravagant party replete with excesses of wine, Achashveirosh and the Persians show their true colors. The king and his Persian compatriots become inebriated and immoral, exposing their true selves. The contrast to Klal Yisroel is all the more stark and vivid when we think of the holy Purim seudos with niggunim, divrei Torah, and the true depth of kedushas Yisroel being revealed even when all the boundaries seem to be torn down. Surely, this will hopefully be a time when this war, too, will highlight the havdalah between Am Yisroel and Poras.
Rav Yisroel Moshe Sorotzkin (Keitz Hayamin 4:540) also indicates that our triumph over Poras will come about, as it did in Shushan, through our recognition of the sole absolute power of Hashem over our lives. He notes that Chazal (Megillah 15b) teach that Esther invited Haman to her “parties” so that Klal Yisroel will not think that “we have a sister in the palace of the king and forget to beg Hashem for rachamim.” He quotes from the commentary of the Nesivos to Megillas Esther (4:1) that Mordechai tore his clothing to indicate that we, as a nation, were hopeless without turning to Hashem. All was lost without our fasting and heartfelt davening to Hashem.
Rav Yitzchok Eizik Chover (Afikei Yam to Megillah 15b) also explains that Esther judged herself harshly, thinking that she may have momentarily relied upon her own devices and influence in saving Klal Yisroel. However, when the Shechinah left her for a moment, she realized that her and Klal Yisroel’s only hope was that Hashem would intervene and save His people. The Targum (Esther 5:14) also confirms that the salvation began when we realized that all we have and in fact all we ever need is Hashem. We, too, should take this to heart, as we daven for rescue from this newest threat from our ancient enemy.
As Rav Sorotzkin concludes, in Mitzrayim, too, it was Paroh who brought us to teshuvah, when we understood that only Hashem could save us. The Medrash (Shemos Rabbah 25:5) quotes the posuk of “uParoh hikriv” (Beshalach 14:10), which literally means that “Paroh approached,” but expounds it to mean that Paroh brought us closer to Hashem in repentance. This is the story of Klal Yisroel through the ages. Hashem wants to hear our tefillos, so He causes us to be afraid. Klal Yisroel around the world has increased its number and quality of tefillos, which is exactly what we should be doing. The situation is frightening, despite the fact that many miracles have already been seen and heard. This, too, is the way of Hashem to cause us to daven and to partially reveal His Hand in our lives.
We should also remember that Poras’ partner Yishmoel is called by that name because he will cause us to cry out to Hashem (Pirkei D’Rebbi Eliezer 32). The Baal Haturim (Devorim 31:29) also makes note of this when he predicts that we will do teshuvah because of him. It is certainly sad and even tragic that at the same time that Klal Yisroel requires tefillos and learning in our botei medrash, our internal strife is about ceasing the kol haTorah in the yeshivos. Perhaps this, too, is part of the plot of the Soton and his evil twin, the yeitzer hara, to turn us away from Hashem instead of closer to Him. All we can do is strengthen our connection to Hashem, as He clearly wants us to do, so that He will bring an end to all our enemies bimeheirah beyomeinu.
