Eschatology, Israel Style

November 6, 2008 - 12:41 PM by DavidS

A small country risen after centuries of exile and wandering, surrounded by enemies that seek to destroy it, with a large religious population – it’s an eschatologist’s dream. Jews in general, and especially Israelis, are experts in seeking out signs of “the end,” the final redemption in which the Messiah comes and declares the victory of the Kingdom of G-d.

As an observant person, I subscribe to the idea of the Messiah, who can come at any moment and redeem the Jewish people The Talmud discusses various scenarios of what that redemption would mean, and the circumstances under which it would occur. Then there’s the “great war” that is to precede the coming of the Messiah – the War of Gog and Magog, which may or may not be a prerequisite to the final redemption. Rabbinical opinion on the identity of this entity also varies, with some attributing it to a specific king/nation, and others describing it as a force.

In other words, the subject is one of deep mystery – as Maimonides says, these matters “cannot be [clearly] known by man until they occur, for they are undefined in the words of the prophets.” There really is no point speculating on the identity of Gog, Magog, the Messiah, or any of the other features of the “final days,” Maimonides says – we won’t understand the scenarios laid out by the prophets until they actually occur.

But of course, Maimonides’ logical approach to the subject is not shared by everyone. There are many who insist on speculating on the identities of all the figures and events described by the prophets regarding the coming of the Messiah – in fact, a cottage industry in such speculation has sprung up in recent years, aided by the “advances” in the “science of Torah codes,” where hints of current or future events are discovered by counting off equidistant letter sequences in the Torah. There are several web sites, and at least one best selling book, that purport to show that historical and current events were predicted by the Torah, using various code combinations. And, of course, future events, as well. But they don’t always work as their boosters hope they will.

Latest evidence: Barack Obama’s election as President of the United States. For Israelis, Obama is a mystery – other than what he said during his campaign, little is known about his views on Israel, the Middle East, the peace process, etc. In recent weeks, there has been all sorts of speculation – on the one hand, he supposedly palled around with PLO supporter Rashid Khalidi of Columbia, and on the other hand, his Chief of Staff is going to be, according to media reports, Illinois congressman Rahm Emanuel, whose parents are Israeli (his dad was a member of Menachem Begin’s Irgun, no less), and who himself volunteered in the IDF. Go figure!

But the arrival of a new president – especially one as exotic as Obama – is a gold mine for those looking for “hints” of the future. Add that to Torah codes methodology – and you come up with the formula cited at http://tinyurl.com/5n9w3r (page is in Hebrew), where the name “Obama” appears in code in the book of Ezekiel, smack in the middle of where the Prophet discusses Gog. Busted! And Obama, who seeks to “unify” everyone, is a perfect candidate – his “unity” program is, according to this theory, to get the rest of the world to gang up on Israel!

But Obama has some competition for the title of Gog – George Bush! According to http://tinyurl.com/5dxy6a, (a page created in 2002), it’s Bush who is Gog, based on a couple of complicated formulas in Genesis and the Book of Isaiah. Even his name is suspicious: Drop one letter from the Hebrew spelling of “George,” and you get you know who!

Well, Bush still has 75 days to go Gog over Israel, although it’s hard to figure how a lame duck president would get away with that. As far as Obama is concerned, I’m betting he has a lot more on his plate than our chronic controversy with the Arabs of this land. But here’s my question: If Bush fails to fulfill his Goggist legacy, does that mean the mantle automatically passes to Obama? Or does it mean that Obama gets a pass, too? Gotta love that Eschatology!

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