A Jewish View of Gog and Magog

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A Jewish view of Gog & Magog



Emunah In the Hour of Truth

It seems that virtually every week in this parsha sheet, we express a variation of the theme: “Jew! Trust in God, and not in America”. We can’t say it enough. For it is obvious that only our fear of the world and American pressure is what causes us to make suicidal withdrawals and concessions. We are terrified of the CNN and BBC cameras, thereby risking the lives of our soldiers so that “innocent” Arabs won’t be killed.

From a Torah standpoint, this “fear of the gentile” mindset is the greatest sin we can commit. As religious Jews, it undermines all the mitzvot we do. For the premise of all the mitzvot is faith in God, and what kind of faith do we exhibit by succumbing to gentile demands, knowing it negates God’s will? These national issues are not “politics”. They are the very yardsticks by which true faith in God is measured. They are the criteria which separate the men from the boys in “emunah”.

Many Jews beg to differ. They say such thinking is unreasonable. After all, we can’t depend on miracles. We cannot risk a showdown with the “world”. We must be “realistic”. In response to these claims, we offer the following:

1.) One who shows he buckles under to pressure, invites further pressure. Every Israeli PM who ever took office felt the need to grovel to America, thereby guaranteeing that he can be pushed around.
If Israel would play hardball by telling Washington: “We are a sovereign nation with certain interests, and so are you. If it is in your interest to help us, then fine. If not, that’s fine too” - we would be on our way to being a normal country. One can only gain respect from others if he has self-respect. It is more important to be respected than it is to be loved.

2.) It is true, that by taking the proper actions expelling the Arabs, annexing Yesha, removing the mosques from the Temple Mount (i.e. the difficult mitzvot) we will bring upon ourselves isolation and hostility from the world. Sure, it seems scary. But that’s the stuff by which one’s faith is tested. Remember, we are destined to be a “nation that dwells alone”. These words uttered by Bilam were meant as a curse, but are actually a blessing. Unfortunately, most Jews still view it as a curse.

3.) Yes, a confrontation with the world is scary to consider. We saw what happened in Yugoslavia, when Milosevic (in circumstances strikingly similar to those in Israel) stuck to his guns. Do we want Israel to be another Bosnia? By expelling the Arabs, will we not be accused of “ethnic cleansing” like Milosevic was?

Indeed, as believing Jews, we know that all world events are directed at the heart of all nations, the nation of Israel. In Yugoslavia, when America imposed its will on another country, sided with the moslems, and bombed the Serbian capital city (!), how could we not see the comparison! Rabbi Meir Kahane and Rav Binyamin Zev always taught us that “Gog and Magog”, that is, the unification of the nations against Israel, will occur through very natural circumstances of international political events. All the events which lead to the redemption (Bi-Eta) occur through natural circumstances.

What does this mean for us? That the unification of the nations against us is inevitable, as we draw nearer and nearer to the greatest and most decisive moment in all of history. The prophecies written in the Bible concerning Gog and Magog are no less true than any of the other prophecies, and we need not run from them. And we need not concern ourselves with the gentile reaction to what we do. We must act as we were commanded by Hashem, and not be afraid to fulfill even those commandments that may at first glance appear “dangerous”. In the end, it is infinitely more dangerous not to fulfill them.


Darka shel Torah (the Way of the Torah) is a bi-weekly torah newsletter founded by Rabbi Binyamin Zev Kahane hy’d in 1988. The newsletter is circulated today in thousands of shuls around Israel in 60,000 copies in Hebrew, English and Russian. The Darka shel Torah staff is harassed from time to time by the Israeli authorities because of Torah commentaries and political analysis that different or question polices of the government.