In his weekly lesson, Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu said Israel’s complicated situation should be understood as part of a redemptive process, not as a new historical crisis. He argued that the instability among world powers is a signal for Israel to awaken and act from its own strength, rather than relying on others.
Eliyahu said repeated reversals by foreign powers throughout history, including Britain’s retreat from the Balfour Declaration, the United States’ reversal of support for a state in 1948, and Cyrus’s change of heart regarding the Second Temple, were meant to push Israel to take responsibility for its own redemption. “The return of all the nations from their promises was meant to make Israel awaken and act willingly, not as emissaries of the nations,” he said.
He linked current events to rabbinic sources about the end of days, citing the Yalkut Shimoni statement that in the year the Messiah is revealed, “all the kings of the nations of the world will provoke one another.” He said the Gulf War and political upheavals around the world fit those signs, and described Israel’s victories as divine acts carried out through natural means, visible to ordinary people.
Citing the Lubavitcher Rebbe, he said the miracles now unfolding are greater than the Purim miracle because they are openly apparent not only to Jews but also to the nations. Eliyahu added that in the days of the Messiah, the world will continue to function normally, but sovereignty will return to Israel and the miracles will be even more visible than those of the Exodus. He concluded by urging gratitude and publicizing the miracles, saying that even when the surface looks dark, people must recognize the hidden good and holiness in the generation.
