"Moshiach Must Be Really, Really Close"

1 Av 5774
Rosh Chodesh Av

Guest Post by יקותיאל בן יעקב

When my dear friend Ben Caspit, formerly of the lunatic fringe extremist left wing ilk writes an op-ed piece calling upon Israel to smash the Hamas enemy without mercy, not to agree to a ceasefire, and to disregard international opinion and get the job done without risking Jewish soldiers even at the expense of killing “innocent terrorist shield civilians” then you know Moshiach must be here or very near indeed.

When Yair Lapid talks about conquering all of Gaza and about looking for his grandpa’s prayer book to pray to Hashem, you know there is something new and special in the air.

When correspondent Ben Caspit today speaks about a wonderful dream that the media would not be broadcasting their nonsense that instills hysteria and fear in the hearts of the people, we are approaching the final days of redemption.

When thousands of Jews come out to Tel Aviv’s “Rabin Square” to pray, there is revolutionary and unprecedented faith and unity in the streets.

When Ofer Winter, the Chief officer in charge of the Givaati Brigade gives a speech that could have been taken straight out of the Bible to strengthen the faith and resolve of his troops before they entered Gaza, this is something new, that we have not seen since the time of the Bible. We are not speaking of an IDF Rabbi, but rather a high ranking combat officer. He made all of the soldiers say shema Yisrael and he spoke about destroying the enemies who threaten Jews and who defile the living G-d of Israel…

Haaretz and Maariv attacked Machat Givaati Ofer Winter for turning this into a religious war as they spoke, to their great dismay of the new reality of a Jewish army filled with religious zealots who are dominating the combat units, including the ranks of the officers.

When Egypt supports Israel’s military operation…

When G-d hardens the hearts of the Hamas who despite their being clobbered continue to force Israel to continue smashing them…

When Israel continues to disregard international pressure for a ceasefire…

When 40,000 fellow Jews show up for the funeral in Haifa of a lone soldier who they never met…

When Israelis start acting nice to each other and stop cutting you off on the roads as they curse you out…

When Rabbis openly speak about driving the Arab enemy out of Israel….

When the Iron Dome miraculously intercepts most of the missiles that would land in populated areas, and 3000 rockets cause almost zero harm…

When dozens of tunnels that were meant to surprise Israel and facilitate hundreds of armed terrorists launching dozens of simultaneous raids into Israel are discovered and blown up by the Israelis who had no intention of fighting this war until they were dragged into this, 18 days ago….

Two weeks ago, the average Israeli would never have supported a ground assault on Gaza…

The Targum in Isaiah 14:29 explains the reference to flying snakes as a sign of redemption. The COBRA helicopters with their insignia of a cobra snake dropping its payloads of explosives over Gaza, and the paratroopers with their flying snake symbol are living prophecy.

The insane bombing of Daniel The Prophet’s grave two days ago by Islamic fundamentalists in Iraq can be seen as yet another divine sign to add to all of the other signs about a redemption rapidly approaching. It was Daniel who tried to discover and reveal the date of the final redemption…

Yisrael Misgav of Haaretz attacked the new era that this operation has ushered it in, “Israel has been conquered with prayers”…

This is a war that has great potential to roll into the final war of redemption. Will Israel have the faith to get the job done, disregard world opinion, destroy Hamas, rid the area of any hostile enemies, liberate all of Gaza and allow the return of Jews to Gaza? If so, then clearly Moshiach is at our doorstep. If not, we will continue to respond to Arabs murdering Jews with ceasefires and wars and more bloodshed. We have reached a decisive and critical juncture in Jewish history and there is change in the air…

Will Jews in the Exile have the faith and wisdom to understand that their time is more than limited with attacks on Jews and Jewish institutions throughout the Exile, with flights being temporarily frozen? Who is to say that Jews will have an opportunity to leave when Israel really does what they ultimately must do? As the prophet Yoel says, the only refuge will be in Zion.

See Rashi in Breishit 15:9 where Rashi speaks of the Moshiach coming when Abraham will send away the Ayit, the symbol of America…Will Israel have the faith and the courage to do that today?

Regardless, it is clear that the nation of Israel is readier than ever to do so, and that if the politicians once again buckle under American pressure, there will be sever political repercussions for Bibi. Actually in as much as bringing the redemption closer, it is a no lose situation for the good Jews. Because the nation is more ready and prepared than ever to sacrifice with faith in unity.

Let us do what we can to strengthen the resolve of the nation and the leadership of Israel to fight the war the way it should be fought and to bring decisive victory with G-d’s help. Faith in G-d, not in Obama!

Rabbi Kanyevsky, on several occasions in recent weeks, including this week speaks openly and out of character about Moshiach being close and about the possibility that we will not have to fast this 9th of Av. May it be the will of G-d, Amen.