This week’s Parsha introduces us to the mighty conflict between Yaakov and Esav, a conflict which reverberates to this day throughout the world. “Hashem said to [Rivka], ‘Two nations are in your womb, two regimes from your insides … the might shall pass from one … to the other and the elder shall serve the younger.’”
The Parsha ends with these words: “So Esav went to Yishmoel and took Mahalath, the daughter of Yishmoel son of Avraham … as a wife for himself.” And so, darkness deepened with the union of Yishmoel and Esav. I quoted last week the amazing words of the Malbim on the final war of history, in which Yishmoel and Esav will unite to attack their “brother” Yaakov.
My friends, with the results of the U. S. elections before our eyes, we see all these mighty prophesies coming to pass. Great darkness is descending upon the world. The dawn will not come until the world is changed into a place which does not resemble the world of today. In the portentous words of Sir Edward Grey, "The lamps are going out all over Europe; we shall not see them lit again in our lifetime." (British Foreign Secretary on the eve of World War I)
How typical that Vice President Vance blamed the Republican catastrophe on Israel. Is this not the way of the world: “Everything is Israel’s fault.” Are these not the words of Esav in this week’s Parsha? “He took away my birthright and now he took away my blessing!” And the Torah continues, “Now Esav harbored hatred toward Yaakov … and thought, ‘May the days of mourning for my father draw near; then I will kill my brother Yaakov.’”
And so throughout history: we are considered the root of evil! How reminiscent of the days when Hitler – ymak shemo!– was amassing power. When the nations speak like this, we know that the next war is brewing, and, in this coming war, there will not be daled amos in the world where that war will not reach.
But the end is clear. Look in this week’s Haftarah, where Hashem spells it out through His Servant Malachi: “I loved Yaakov, but I hated Esav! I made his mountains a desolation and his heritage for the desert serpents…. So said Hashem, Master of Legions, ‘They may build but I shall tear down … the people who infuriated Hashem to eternity….”
It is happening now. Not tomorrow, but today!
My friends, America was once great, but its day has passed. We are approaching the end of history, when mighty nations will be reduced to dust. As we said last week, quoting Haftaras Lech Lecha, Hashem says, “Behold, I have made you a new sharp threshing tool with many blades. You shall thresh mountains and grind them small and make the hills like chaff … The wind will carry them off; the storm will scatter them … but you will rejoice in Hashem!”
The moment at which a culture says, “All our troubles are because of Israel,” is the moment when that country has plunged into the abyss from which there is no escape. Every civilization – except l’havdil Am Yisroel! – has its end. We have to open our eyes and understand.
“During Shacharis on a morning close to the end of his life, Rav Chaim Volozhiner suddenly burst into heart-wrenching sobs …. The prayers over, Reb Chaim entered his private study…. The students appointed Reb David Tevel to enter … and hear from Reb Chaim … the cause of his distress. Reb David entered with trepidation and, in a quavering voice, told Reb Chaim how the Yeshiva was gripped with fear as a result of his sobbing …. Reb Chaim turned to Reb David and said, ‘You should know, my son, that the day will come when the pillars of European Jewry will topple, when the yeshivos will be destroyed and uprooted. However, they will be reborn in the exile of America, the final stop of the Jewish people before the arrival of Moshiach. The American exile will be the tenth and final exile of Torah, following those of Babylon, North Africa, Egypt, Italy, Spain, France, Germany, Poland and Lithuania….” (Dare to Dream, published by Agudath Israel of American, 2003)
My friends, this is the final stop. One door is closing and another is opening. The journey will not be easy, but the end is in sight. “The earth was astonishingly empty, with darkness upon the surface of the deep… [But] the Divine presence hovered upon the …. waters [and] Hashem said, ‘Let there be light.’” (Beraishis 1:1-3)
There will be a Great Light. May we see it soon with our own eyes!
