A week ago we were led to believe that a severe attack on Israel by Iran and her proxies was imminent with the risk of a swift spiral into a full-scale Middle East war.
Since then here in Israel it has certainly been a very tense time of waiting, not knowing how to prepare for the totally unpredictable, trying nonetheless to carry on normally. Yet through G-d’s mercy, to date there has been no attack from Iran, although the unremitting “little war” of daily rocket, missile and drone attacks against Israel from Hezbollah in Lebanon shows no sign of abating and could escalate at any moment.
So were all the pundits wrong last week expecting an immediate large-scale war? Some were perhaps hoping that an attack of some kind would come, opening the door for a massive Israeli reprisal that would knock Iran and Lebanon back into the stone age and open the gates for Mashiach to be revealed on Tisha b’Av. However, this seems like messianic wishful thinking, since if past experience is anything to go with, American pressure on Israel would drastically limit any such response even if the Israeli government had the nerve to try.
Numerous commentators are now saying that despite Iran’s fierce threats, the regime has cold feet, realizing that even a limited Israeli reprisal attack could cause devastating losses to Iranian infrastructure. It is evident that the recent Israeli successes in eliminating top Hamas-Hezbollah-Iranian leaders, including in Teheran itself, have quite unnerved the Iranian regime, which to many is looking more and more like a paper tiger.
Perhaps they comfort themselves with the thought that by showing restraint now they will buy more time to further develop their nuclear program in the hope of making a far more cataclysmic attack in the future, G-d forbid.
Or will new situations develop unpredictably, making it impossible for the bully mullahs and their legions ever to accomplish their satanic dreams?
Buying time for repentance
It is said that the students of Rabbi Moshe Chayim Luzzatto (Ramchal) asked him why he did not bring the Mashiach immediately since he apparently had the spiritual power to do so. He replied that the coming of Mashiach would be a time of very severe Judgment, and it was preferable that his arrival should be deferred in order to give sinners time to repent and rectify themselves so as not to suffer in the great Judgment.
Could it be that G-d Almighty is indeed bringing things to near boiling point and then leaving the pot to simmer in order to give us all time to repair what we need to repair?
False prophets?
Were all those anticipating an imminent Iranian attack simply wrong, in which case has their credibility been forever compromised?
It is significant that Torah teaching about the prophets of Israel does not deem one who foresees tragedy and disaster to be a false prophet in the event that his prophecy does not materialize. Only if he makes specific promises about coming salvation, peace and blessing but the contrary transpires would this be proof that he is a false prophet, because G-d never relents from a good promise.
On the other hand, it can happen that G-d sends a prophet a message foretelling imminent harsh decrees, yet because people repent in face of the decrees, G-d in His mercy relents and nullifies the decree. In this case, the fact that the prophet foretold harsh punishments that did not materialize does not mean this prophet is a fake. (See Jeremiah 28:9 and Rambam, Mishneh Torah, Foundations 10:7.) Perhaps the smooth-talking pundits of our times some kind of latter-day false prophets?
Until this moment there is no assurance that an Iranian attack will not occur or that there will be no major conflagration. What this means is that Jews both in Israel and across the world – for we have all become targets of a hatred that is now global – have a sword of Damocles hanging over our heads at all times.
The message is that we cannot afford to be complacent and we must not in any way relax our efforts to fight the war that is incumbent upon us to fight. This is our personal struggle to sanctify ourselves through increased Torah study, acts of kindness and charity, scrupulous observance of the Mitzvot and unremitting prayer to G-d to reveal Himself in kindness and compassion and finally redeem His people Israel from all our enemies.
May we all have a peaceful Shabbat Chazon (when every Jew dreams of the Holy Temple) and be ready to welcome Melekh Mashiah, King of Peace, this Tisha B’Av.
Avraham ben Yaakov
