Daniel: Part 3 - "A Time, Times and a Half"

2 Marsheshvan 5780

(Part 1. Part 2.)

If, for argument's sake, we accept my proposition that the United States of America is the "little horn" described in the Book of Daniel, then I have some explaining to do, because the following does not fit our commonly held assumptions about that country.

And he will speak words against the Most High [1], and he will oppress the high holy ones [2], and he will think to change the times and the law [3], and they will be delivered into his hand until a time, two times, and half a time [4].

We have to keep in mind that this is the ultimate EMET.  The fourth empire is represented by the chazir (pig) because it makes a public show of being kosher, sticking out its cloven hooves, but the inner sign is missing; it is quite the opposite.  Publicly, the United States honors God, but, in fact, it's only artifice.

Regarding the points enumerated above, the commentaries state as follows...

According to Rambam's Epistle to Yemen:  "[...this upstart would conjure up a religion similar to the Godly religion.  He will say that he is a prophet and say many things.]  Daniel here explains that his interest will be to hinder and destroy the true religion. And shall think to change the times and the law (v. 25)."

[1]  "Speaking words against the Most High" would be to propagate a religion that misrepresents the Torah; replacing the covenant with a "new" one and the people of God with a "new" one, etc.

...the United States still tops the chart by far in terms of total missionaries, sending 127,000 in 2010 compared to the 34,000 sent by No. 2-ranked Brazil. (Source)

The [Evangelical] movement gained great momentum during the 18th and 19th centuries with the Great Awakenings in Great Britain and the United States.

In 2016, there were an estimated 619 million evangelicals in the world, meaning that one in four Christians would be classified as evangelical. The United States has the largest concentration of evangelicals in the world. American evangelicals are a quarter of the nation's population....  (Source)

But, not only is the United States in the business of replacing Torah Judaism with a false religion, it is also the mainstay of anti-Torah Jewish "streams" like Reform, Conservative and Reconstructionist 'Judaism'. Not to mention that it is the birthplace of the 'Messianic' movement which really seeks to blur the lines between Judaism and Christianity.

However, when I read [3] "shall think to change the times and the law," I think of the mass assimilation that has been going on since Jews arrived in America.  Jews who abandon the Shabbat and mitzvot are the most celebrated in America.

[2] and he will oppress the high holy ones: He will burden and oppress Israel.

One really need look no further than the ongoing, decades-old "Peace Process" to understand this statement, but it goes so much farther than most people even can imagine...

...exposes a series of scandals from Oliver North to the British royal family, The Secret War Against the Jews reveals as much about political corruption inside Western intelligence as it does about Israel. Using thousands of previously top-secret documents and interviews with hundreds of current and former spies, Loftus and Aarons, both veteran investigators, Nazi-hunters, and authors, present a compelling narrative.

The authors demonstrate that numerous Western countries, especially the United States and Great Britain, have conducted repeated and willful spying missions on Palestine and later Israel over many decades. While on the surface these two countries and others profess to be ardent allies of Israel, they work, in fact, through their intelligence services to betray Israel's secrets to the Arabs. Their motive: oil and multinational profits, which must be attained at any price through international covert policies.

Which brings us to the most important part.

[4] "...and they will be delivered into his hand until a time, two times, and half a time."

Does that phrase strike you as unusual - "they will be delivered into his hand"?  It made me ask myself, "Who is delivering whom into whose hands and for what purpose?"  

The commentators unanimously identify the "holy ones" as the Jewish People.  So, the Jewish People is being "delivered" into the hands of the "little horn" after it has become an exceptional world power, i.e., the United States after WWII. (The British Empire declined and America took its place.)

The Nazis were not defeated during the war, they were transferred to the United States (Operation Paperclip), their work continued in the service of American interests, and the war on worldwide Jewry took on a new form.  In Israel, that meant to keep pushing the Jews down until they gave up or gave in.  

Since Jews still remained scattered all over the world, how could it be possible to deliver all the Jews into the unfriendly hands in the American government?  It would only be possible if one Jew were valuable enough to feasibly represent the entire Jewish nation.  That would require a Mashiach ben Yosef-type figure, strategically placed by Divine decree at the center of American power, in a position to be privy to information that could save Jewish lives and the Jewish state.  A solitary Jew with tremendous mesirut nefesh who would willingly sacrifice himself to save his people - a Jew like Jonathan Pollard.

As is common knowledge now, after discovery, and upon reaching the safety of the Israeli embassy grounds, Jonathan Pollard (and his wife Anne) were "delivered" into the waiting hands of the FBI by the Erev Rav in the Israeli leadership.  It was November 21, 1985 (8 Kislev 5746).

Had Yosef HaTzadik not been released from prison, who would have fed the starving families of Ya'aqov Avinu?  Having one Jew in your power really can influence the fate of the entire Jewish people. 

Right now, you might be thinking this is quite a stretch but just wait.

The text says, "...and they will be delivered into his hand until a time, two times, and half a time." 

"They" being Jonathan, and, by extension, the Jews of Eretz Yisrael whom he tried to help, would be trapped and held in their grip until the passage of some period of time equal to  "a time, two times and half a time."  The mystery has always been the definition of "time."  The text tells us that it would not be possible to figure this out until the End of Days, but at that time, it would become clear.

I've tried off and on for fifty years to figure this out.  But now, I think I may actually have uncovered the secret, and why?  Simply because the time has come.  

I was pondering this enigma again and thinking in segments of time -  days, weeks, years, decades...  And wham, it hit me like a sudden light going on out of the dark.  Three and one-half decades or 35 years of Jonathan Pollard in prison.  And then I was even more amazed when I suddenly realized it was divided into three parts:  The first 10 years was really all he was supposed to serve for breaking their law - "time".  Then, they decided to hold him hostage (Dennis Ross to Pres. Clinton at the end of that ten years:  "Save Pollard's release for a later time.  You don't have too many cards like this to play.") for another 20 years - "2 times."  For the life sentence that he was handed, he became eligible to go out on parole after 30 years, which he did in 2015 on the exact original date.  It was a miracle that no one contested it.  But, that brings us to the third period - "half a time" or 5 years of supervised probation - when he is neither in prison, nor truly free.  It's a transitionary period.

We can know it now because, as of November 21, 2019, there is only one year left.  That final 5-year period ends on November 21, 2020.  Because they did not prevent his going out from prison, I do not believe they will (or can) prevent his leaving the US after that time.  Their power to hold him would have been ended, as it says - "until time, times and a half of time."

However, that said, had we merited it, Jonathan Pollard would have been saved by Israel just like he had saved Israel.  He was safely inside the embassy grounds!  With the deliverance of Jonathan Pollard to Eretz Yisrael in 1985 instead of his being delivered into the hands of the corrupt US Justice system, we might have been spared all the horrors of intifadas and Oslo and the Gush Katif expulsion, etc.  Furthermore, had we merited it, Jonathan Pollard could have gone free at any point and still can!  The 35 years, if I'm right, would be the final end by which Redemption has to come even if we don't merit it. 

'How long until the ultimate end?' [the final date for redemption to come] ...for a time, times and a half a time and upon the completion of the fragmenting of the hand [yad=power] of the holy people,....  (Daniel 12:6-7)

Here is another riddle which I believe we can easily see based on current events, since I am convinced we are living now very near the end of the End.

The "power of the yad of a people" rests in the government and the military, for better or for worse.  An unprecedented event took place in Israel this year.  There were two elections and still there is no functioning government.  The unrelenting call of the day is for a "unity" government and yet contrarily, the fragmenting increases daily.  I really think this is what Daniel is describing - the very situation we find ourselves in right now.  

When this situation reaches a stalemate where nothing can be resolved, that will be "the completion of the fragmenting of the hand of the Jewish people" - in keeping with the predictions of the rabbis that two elections will fail and before a third can be held, Mashiach will come.

And the kingdom and the dominion and the greatness of the kingdoms under all the heavens will be given to the people of the high holy ones; its kingdom is a perpetual kingdom, and all dominions will serve and obey it."

Of course, this all remains guesswork, but educated and informed guesswork.  In any case, Mashiach will surely come, and we are getting closer to Redemption every single day.  But, I have a lot of faith in this idea.  We really won't have to wait long to see if it pans out.  I hope it will inspire everyone to pray often for Yehonatan ben Malka and Esther Yocheved bat Raizel Brachah who is very ill.  They both just want to come home.

Please continue and review the additional material reproduced below.  And thanks for hearing me out.

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In the history of the United States, no other spy convicted for passing intelligence to an ally has received a life sentence. In fact, the maximum sentence for such an offense today is 10 years while the median sentence has always been 2 to 4 years. (Source)

Imprisoned spy Jonathan Pollard's handler revealed on Monday that he agreed to supply the United States with information proving Pollard’s guilt, since he knew that the United States and Israel had an agreement to release Pollard from prison after he served a ten-year sentence. (Source)

*** 

Over time, the Rav [Rav Mordechai Eliyahu, ztz"l] shared with us and with a few others who were very close to him that Jonathan's release is the key to the redemption of all of Am Yisrael.

He taught us how Jonathan's release is also the key to the release of all of Israel's captives and MIAs. Once Jonathan is out, all the captives are all out! Once they are all out, we are all in Geula!

Perhaps most significant of all, the Rav always referred to Jonathan as the "Yosef HaTzadik shel doreinu" (The Yosef Hatzadik of our generation.)

While the Rav never forbid me from speaking of these things publicly, he himself was reluctant to do so. I remember asking him, many years ago: "Kavod HaRav, if you know all these things about Jonathan, why don't you say so openly? Why don't you speak about this in public?"

The Rav responded with a sigh, "Esther," he said, "it would not help anyone if I were to do so. Every Jew has to wake up; to open his/her own eyes; to realize for themselves that we have the Yosef HaTzadik of our generation languishing in a pit in America. Every Jew has to feel the pain of his suffering and to decide on his/her own to participate in this mitzvah -- to do whatever he or she can to redeem Jonathan, and in so doing, effectively redeem themselves. We have to wake up Am Yisrael to this mitzvah!"

The Rav spent the rest of his life doing just that, trying to wake up Am Yisrael! He spoke about Jonathan everywhere he went. He wrote prayers for Jonathan, and headed prayer rallies on his behalf. He lectured and taught and wrote and constantly reminded the Nation that we have a captive in America and that the mitzvah of pidyan shvuyim devolves upon each and every one of us. He also taught that in Jonathan's case, this was the highest form of the mitzvah - that it is the mitzvah of pidyan shvuyim for one who was "moser nefesh for Am Yisrael" ( That is, for one who sacrificed himself for the sake of the Nation of Israel). (Source)

Wednesday, October 30, 2019 Coalition for Jewish Values Calls for Pollard Freedom on Humanitarian Grounds

May any learning from this blog post go to the merit of Esther Yocheved bat Raizel Brachah for a refuah shleimah bimehira.  Amen!