30 October 2019

Daniel: Part 2 - The Little Horn

1 Marsheshvan 5780
Rosh Chodesh Bet
CHODESH TOV!

(See Part 1.)


As you can see from the comments to Part 1, we're already seeing the various opinions brought from our Sages in the past who were speculating from a place of scholarship that none of us can even dream of attaining and yet they were working at a great disadvantage as well.  Daniel was commanded to "obscure" the words so their meaning would not be discernible by generations far removed from "the time of the end."  However, those living in those days may be able to figure it out, and it might not take a high level of Torah knowledge to do it either.
"As for you, Daniel, obscure the matters and seal the book until the time of the end; let many muse and knowledge increase." (Daniel 12:4)
Why would the words be recorded and passed down for thousands of years if there would not come a time when people could understand it?  If we are truly living at the End of Days, as all of the rabbis are saying, this must have been meant for "us."  So, on to Part 2...




The Artscroll Commentary on Sefer Daniel says the following:
According to R' Saadia Gaon [882-942], the Roman Empire is composed of ten governments of monarchies:
  1. the Roman emperor in Constantinople (ruler of the Byzantine Empire);
  2. the king of Armenia; 
  3. the king of Hungary;
  4. the king of Germany  (Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire);
  5. the king of Bulgaria;
  6. the king of Canaan (i.e., the western Slavic countries - Bohemia, Moravia, Slovakia);
  7. the king of France; 
  8. the king of Spain;
  9. the king of Russia; and,
  10. the king of Yishmael (the Arabic empire) who is included among the rulers of the Roman Empire.
Malbim [1809 - 1879] advances the possibility that [malichin] in v. 24 are kingdoms; thus the Roman Empire would disintegrate and split into smaller units, of which ten countries would be considered the major powers.  He does not elaborate on this.
Since the exact meanings of Daniel's words have been purposely hidden from earlier generations, I think the time during which the commentator lived is important to his outlook.   Clearly R' Saadia Gaon was looking at events current to his time and noted how history was developing the record.  Malbim, living later in the exile, also had the benefit of historical hindsight to make his own observation, but he did not live long enough to recognize the "sprouting of the little horn."

If you Google European Monarchies in the Middle Ages, this is what you find...
The Early Middle Ages begin with a fragmentation of the former Western Roman Empire [as Malbim noted] into "barbarian kingdoms". In Western Europe, the kingdom of the Franks developed into the Carolingian Empire by the 8th century, and the kingdoms of Anglo-Saxon England were unified into the kingdom of England by the 10th century. With the breakup of the Carolingian Empire in the 9th century, the system of feudalism places kings at the head of a pyramid of relationships between liege lords and vassals, dependent on the regional rule of barons, and the intermediate positions of counts (or earls) and dukes. The core of European feudal manorialism in the High Middle Ages were the territories of the kingdom of France, the Holy Roman Empire (centered on the nominal kingdoms of Germany and Italy) and the kingdoms of England and Scotland.  With the rise of nation-states and the Protestant Reformation, the theory of divine right justified the king's absolute authority in both political and spiritual matters.

(1) France,
(2) Portugal,
(3) Spain,
(4) Britain,
(5) Germany-Italy (still called the Holy Roman Empire),
(6) Russia,
(7) Poland/Lithuania,
(8) Sweden,
(9) Denmark-Norway,
(10) Austria. 
History, as well as current events, prove the fact that the Roman Empire did fragment and devolve, first into kingdoms and then into democratic nation-states, as they continue to exist today.  But, something phenomenal happened that the earlier commentators possibly could not have imagined.

Three of those kingdoms became empires in their own right, at different points in time, and went exploring.  In the process, they discovered the New World and began to colonize it.  
And the ten horns that sprout from that kingdom represent ten kings that will rise, and the last one will rise after them, and he will be different from the first, and he will humble three kings.
The discovery, exploration, development and colonization of the North American continent by Britain, France and Spain created a situation whereby a "new little horn" rose up from them, but actually came about 800 years after them.  It was different from them in that when it declared its independence, it was not a monarchy like all the rest, it had eyes and a mouth like a person because it was ruled by the people.  And these three kingdoms, who were in turn great empires in their own rights, would one day be humbled, replaced and dominated by the "little" horn that they had established, but whose "appearance" would become "greater than theirs" - the Final Iteration of the Roman Empire - The United States of America. 




I asked Google, "What country has the most military bases around the world?"  And the answer was...
The United States
The United States is the largest operator of military bases abroad, with 38 "named bases" having active duty, national guard, reserve or civilian personnel as of September 30, 2014. Its largest, in terms of personnel, was Ramstein AB in Germany, with almost 9,200 personnel.

I don't believe that any of our commentators, with the benefit of living in our times, would deny that America is the epitome of Rome in our days.  Further, if we truly are at the "end," then the only thing left is for the power to be handed over to Yisrael.  There is already an undeniable transition going on, evidenced by the State of Israel's (soon to become the Kingdom of Israel) rising stature in the world at the same time that the dominant world power, the US, evokes derision among many nations and is collapsing internally from debt, disaster and disease.

The fourth and final exile is finally coming to an end, and we can see it happening!

Proceed to Part 3 - "A Time, Times, and a Half".

May any learning from this blog post go to the merit of Rabbi Alon Yehudah Yosef ben Chanah Miriam for a refuah shleimah bimehira.  Amen!

8 comments:

  1. Bs''d
    wow, i finished reading and just at the end i was thinking, the solution is CHABAD.
    At the moment someone is able to get them so far to leave USA and come back, all the CHABADNIKS leaving, means ESSAU will get mad and give up. Imagine all THE MAMON leaving with them....would they stop them???
    Then i was thinking the key is RABBI ALON ANAVA, then i saw the last message of you on this post....
    May any learning from this blog post go to the merit of Rabbi Alon Yehudah Yosef ben Chanah Miriam for a refuah shleimah bimehira beyameinu. Amen!

    wow....walla, this is something....so, Rabbi Alon Anava, hang on and you better get well, you have job to do! Get the brothers and sisters back! Mashiah is already here, and we know it!

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  2. First - wishing a Refuah Shleimah to Rabbi Alon Yehudah Yosef ben Chana Miriam!
    Second - Thank you for this interesting and informative history and for, hopefully, getting to the meanings of Daniel's nevuah! This is fascinating!

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    1. Wait till you see what's coming up next!

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  3. I have often wondered about whether Alon Anava might be Moshiach, and I have nothing to base it on other than a gut feeling after having met him several times. Whether he is or not, Hashem should grant him a refuah shleima.

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    1. We actually live in a very hopeful time when there are a few viable candidates. ;-)

      A few hours ago, it was announced via Facebook that Rabbi Anava is improved - he is off the oxygen but still in ICU. And they encourage everyone not to let up on all the prayers and acts on his behalf.

      I have no doubt that this is all to bring unity of Am Yisrael out of love for a fellow Jew and to inspire greater efforts at prayer and good deeds in order to bring us to the complete redemption.

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    2. Bs''d
      I asked the assistant of Rabbi Berland to pray for him in the morning.
      After speaking with Missis Dvora i understood the heaviness of the situation. Sorry did not know about this earlier as i have no FB and similar...it took me time to find the phone number...
      Bezrta Hashem, all will be good in the end and we all we be ONE in real unity with just one goal, to serve HAKADOSH BARUH HU with all OUR HEART!
      BESHT at our best, I think his gilgul is also already back between us :).

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  4. The Battle of Little Bighorn

    The Battle of the Little Bighorn, also commonly referred to as Custer's Last Stand, was an armed engagement between combined forces of the Lakota, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho tribes and the 7th Cavalry Regiment of the United States Army under the leadership of Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer. The battle, which resulted in the defeat of U.S. forces, was the most significant action of the Great Sioux War of 1876. It took place on June 25–26, 1876.

    Although the battle was a major victory for the Sioux, they abandoned the encampment at Little Bighorn and fled, fearing further reprisals from the US Army. The battle marked the beginning of the end of the Indian Wars, as the remaining tribes were forced to cede their lands and move onto the reservations.

    It marked a turning point for America, much as Pearl Harbor did. The latter was also a major defeat, but it galvanized a sleeping giant. It started the process of America’s rise to dominance and super power status.

    The Battle of Little Bighorn, a watershed moment for America, took place almost exactly 100 years after the American Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. One would be hard pressed to invent a more suited name, marking America’s transition from a little horn to a big horn, than the Battle of LITTLE BIGHORN!!!!. It matches Devash’s theory of America being the little horn which eventually usurps the bigger horns.

    That it was exactly 100 years after the Declaration of Independence, the little horn started evolving to the big horn, is particularly striking especially when you consider what happened 100 years after that….

    100 years later, 200 years to the day of America’s birth, July 4 1976, another watershed event took place. It was Israel’s miraculous hostage rescue at Entebbe. This amazing, galvanizing event, unintentionally, but nevertheless, stole America’s thunder on the day of its 200th anniversary. This was further emphasized, when in hindsight, in comparison with Jimmy Carter’s failed hostage rescue attempt in Iran. Interesting that the Entebbe mission was “coincidently” called “Operation Thunderbolt”. It took the thunder out of the fireworks, and like a flash in the sky – heralded the start of a new era.

    The Entebbe Raid on July 4, 1977, appears to have been another watershed moment, signaling the start of Americas decline and Israel’s ascendancy. Of course it’s a process and doesn’t happen overnight. But it seems that Hashem has given us some signposts to indicate where things are going. This certainly jives with what Devash said about the little horn and the big horn and the undeniable transition to Israel’s rising power, in accordance with prophecy and God’s plan. Ultimately the big horn will give way to the Shofar Hagadol (may we merit to see it).


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