THE INEVITABLE END?
The Jewish people were going through one of its worst crises. Jerusalem had been destroyed decades ago, in 586 BCE. Jewish refugees living in Babylon were assimilating at a galloping pace. They married pagan refugees; they no longer spoke in Hebrew; and they had begun to practice pagan rites. The land of Israel had almost no Jews. The Babylonians sent there pagans, from several conquered civilizations, and without a defined identity, to work the land and prevent its desertification. This new ethnic group, the Samaritans, who were now natives of Israel, were very comfortable in the Holy Land. The Babylonians had no intention to authorize the Jews, let alone encourage them, to return to their land. It seemed that the prophecy of Yirmiyahu (Jeremiah), who anticipated that God would bring His people back to Israel, was not going to be fulfilled…. Without a land and a Temple, the complete integration of the Jews into the Babylonian society was only a matter of time. The end of the Jewish people was, seemingly, imminent.
THE HEART OF THE KINGS, AS PER PROVERBS 21:1
And then a “miracle” happened. It was not a supernatural event like the opening of the Red Sea. It was a historical-military event, something that could be considered a “normal” historical development. In 538 BCE the Persians defeated the Babylonians and took their empire. A new emperor emerged: Koresh (Cyrus). At first, no one knew what Koresh policy with the Jews would be. But the uncertainty did not last long.
To relate what happened next, something totally unexpected, I am going to copy below what the Tanakh (the Hebrew Bible) says, literally, in its last 2 verses: “In the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, at the time that the Divine promise that Yirmiyahu had prophesied should be fulfilled, HaShem awakened [= inspired] the spirit of Koresh [Cyrus], king of Persia. And [Koresh] proclaimed this statement, which he also recorded in a document, saying. “Thus says Koresh king of Persia, HaShem, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build for Him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judeah. Whoever is among you of all his people, may HaShem his God be with him and let him go up [=back to Israel.’”
I would like to analyze the implications of Koresh’s proclamation:
Koresh recognized Israel as a people, a nation in exile, with a geographical and historical reference. Something that the many Jews had already begun to forget.
Koresh recognized that the Jews of Babylon had a historical right to the land Israel, which exceeded the right of the Samaritans who were brought there to work the land.
Koresh explicitly mentioned Jerusalem as the capital of the Jewish people, the place where the “House of God”, the Bet haMiqdash, should be rebuilt.
Koresh not only declared and wrote a document expressing his willingness to rebuild Jerusalem for the Jews, and help them to live there in peace, protected from their numerous enemies. Koresh also took care of financing this project. He directed funds from the prosperous Persian Jewish community for this purpose, and contributed funds from his own royal treasury.
Koresh sent some of his guards to accompany the Jews who emigrated to Israel, to protect them on the dangerous roads, and he provided those who travel to Jerusalem with provisions, wood and other construction materials for the job.
Koresh exceeded the expectations of all Jews when he did this: The Babylonian king Nebukhadnetsar, who had destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem, took all the vessels of the Bet haMiqdash, the utensils and sacred objects made of gold and silver, to his royal treasure. Koresh, in an unprecedented act, restored all these vessels to the Jews, and sent them back to Jerusalem to be used again in the Bet haMiqdash.
It is interesting to note that King Koresh never claimed he was Jewish or of jewish descent. But as the Biblical text clearly says, he proclaimed that HaShem “had awaken his spirit” and inspired him to help the Jews to return to their land, rebuild it and defend it.
The prophet Yesha’ayahu (Isaiah) also referred to Koresh in chapters 44 and 45 of his book. Yesha’ayahu described Koresh as the king that God had crowned to help His flock to return to its original pasture lands: Israel.
What did President Donald Trump do for Israel and for the Jews since he was elected ?
President Trump recognized Jerusalem by Congressional Law as the indivisible capital of the State of Israel and moved there the US embassy.
President Trump canceled the nuclear agreement that President Obama signed with Iran, which was considered extremely dangerous for Israel.
President Trump imposed severe economic sanctions on the Iranian government to prevent the extremist regime from obtaining or developing nuclear weapons, and to stop its aggressive expansion in the Middle East. The state of Israel considers the Iranian regime as the greatest threat to its existence.
President Trump recognized Israeli sovereignty in the Golan.
President Trump recognized the legality of Jewish cities and towns in Judea and Samaria. No more “occupied territories”.
President Trump ordered the suspension of economic aid to the Palestinian authority in Ramallah, and to UNRWA, for supporting terrorism. For that same reason he removed the representative of the Palestinian Authority in Washington.
President Trump encourages and fosters the normalization of diplomatic relations between Arab states (Emirates, Oman, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, etc.) and Israel.
President Trump enacted a new law against anti-Semitism in American universities.
לב מלך ביד ה’ על כל אשר יחפץ יטנו
The heart of the kings is in the hands of God, He DIRECTS [theIR HEART] at His will
Proverbs 21: 1
