My son turned nine this past week and as per family
tradition, he got to choose what type of birthday cake he will have on
Shabbos. At first he had some typical
nine-year-old idea, but then, after some thought, came back and asked that it
should be a cake with a yellow ribbon on it for the hostages.
Sadly, it's a sign of the times.
A friend of mine recommended a book called
"Galus Yishmoel." He said that
it's something you don't "read," but rather "learn." And he was on the mark.
As we know, there are four exiles (galus) that the
Jewish nation has and will go through: Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome/Eisav
(which we have yet to complete). What is
lesser known is that at the end of the last galus, there will be a fifth
kingdom, called "Yishmoel," otherwise known as "the
Arabs." It is said that this will
be the final one before Moshiach comes, and unfortunately, the hardest.
I cannot possibly give a Dvar Torah on everything
there. However, I'll try to take two of
his questions/answers that he raised and paraphrase it as much as possible.
One question that he asks in the beginning is that
when Avraham is told by Hashem that Sarah will bear a son, Avraham's first
reaction is: "If only Yishmoel might live before you!" (Bereishis
17:18), which is a bit strange to say upon hearing such news. Another question he asks is why does Yishmoel
not have his own separate "exile" like the other kingdoms? Why does he have to share his with Eisav?
As we know Eisav and Yishmoel are connected. When Eisav saw that his parents did not look
favourably on his wives, he went to Yishmoel and married his daughter. Yishmoel became Eisav's father-in-law, if not
physically (some say he died beforehand), certainly spiritually.
We also know that Yishmoel is referred to as a wild
donkey (Bereishis 16:12, and in numerous other places).
We also know that the prophet Zecharia (see
Sanhedrin 98a) describes the two ways Moshiach can come: Either Israel is worthy, and he comes
"with the clouds of the sky" or they are not worthy and he comes "lowly,
riding on a donkey."
So, now that we have a few interesting facts in
front of us, we can answer both questions.
When Yitzchok gave Eisav his blessing, he told him,
"By your sword you shall live, and your brother you shall serve. But when
you cry in distress you will break his yoke from upon your neck"
(Bereishis 27:40). Simply put, as long
as we do our job in the world, Eisav will serve us. But, as long as we fail to live up to our
mission, Eisav will "be on our necks."
Regarding Babylon, Persia, and Greece, we eventually
received freedom from them. Why? They did not have the blessing that Eisav
has: as long as we don't do our job, he will have the upper hand. That is why, even in a low state, we
eventually got out of the first three exiles, but Eisav? He has something special. As long as we don't do our job, he will
continue to oppress us. There is no way
out, in that case.
That is where Yishmoel comes in. He too, has no such promise. If Yishmoel is
in charge, then we have a chance of redemption, even if we are not worthy. That is why Yishmoel slowly takes over
Eisav's "exile" (as we see being played out throughout Europe and
America today). That is why Avraham
asked for Yishmoel to be around. Without
Yishmoel, we would be stuck with Eisav forever.
But, with Yishmoel and his lack of protection, if you will, we can be
redeemed, even if we are not worthy, by Moshiach "riding on a donkey"
aka, Yishmoel.
Again, there is a lot more depth to this, and I hope
I explained this one concept well.
Hopefully, it will give us a bit of hope about the situation in the
world today. Yes, Yishmoel is taking
over and what we see is not making any sense to us. However, "under the hood," things
are happening, and they are happening for the good of the Jewish nation. It will be a very rough ride, but in the end,
the donkey will be subdued, and we will be redeemed.
Have a wonderful Shabbos!