Articles Index Prophecy And Commonsense
Last Updated on Monday, 20 August 2012 17:58
With the current events in the Middle East growing more unstable every moment, Gadi Adelman sat down for a candid back and forth conversation with Rabbi Aryel Nachman. It appears whether one uses commonsense or prophecy it is obvious what the future holds.
Written with Rabbi Aryel Nachman
Gadi Adelman: Rabbi, you know since my return from Israel in 1981 I have been warning the U.S. that terrorism would strike our shores. I was called an alarmist, but that was only because the term “Islamophobe” had yet to be invented. I was called crazy and no one listened.
Rabbi Aryel Nachman: Gadi, Islam is Amalek. Many people say Amalek no longer exists, but this is not so. G-d told us that Amalek would be against the House of Israel until the time of the Messiah. Just as G-d will return the exiles to Israel, Amalek must be destroyed. Islam draws the children of Amalek together using the same methods and tactics to attack as they did in ancient days; attack from the rear, attack the unarmed and innocent, attack the young and the old.
GA: Rabbi, that is so true, but people don’t see it. In 1993 the World Trade Center was bombed in an act of terrorism that killed 6 and injured over 1000. This was all compliments of financing from Khaled Sheikh Mohammed and training of those that carried it out in Al-Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan. Few started to listen to me; I was still just an alarmist.
RAN: It was a warning. G-d does not punish, act or implement a decree without long warning. He is not a highwayman who crouches in the darkness to spring forth on the unwary traveler. G-d warns time and again to turn back the wayward to the path of righteousness.
GA: Yes, and then came September 11, 2001, no explanation needed here; needless to say my phone didn’t stop ringing for years. What bothered me was that overnight it seemed that there had been a population explosion of “terrorism experts” on television, radio and in news print. I must admit that 99% of those I heard knew nothing about terror, had we truly had that many “experts” prior to 9/11, 9/11 never would have happened.
RAN: But remember Gadi, G-d only acts when the cup of abominations has overflown. Just as he did with Sodom and Gomorrah, the Hittites, Gergashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and the Jebusites. He uses the nations to strike and to punish. G-d sends prophets to warn His people. Only when they have ignored His warnings, defamed his prophets and turned onto the path of self-destruction does He finally act with harsh judgment.
GA: Speaking of judgment… Since 9/11 I have gone from being an alarmist to being an Islamophobe. Once again, very few listened. In 1981 I told an FBI interviewer that Islamic terror would hit the US in ten years. It was an ‘off the cuff’ statement at the time, but I was only 2 years off. I am not psychic or clairvoyant; I use my knowledge of terrorism, Islam, history and commonsense.
RAN: Commonsense like that of Pirkei Avot (Ethics of the Fathers). This tells us: Warm yourself before the fire of the sages, but be heedful of their glowing coals for fear that you be burned, for their bite is the bite of a jackal and their sting the sting of a scorpion and their hiss the hiss of a serpent, and all their words are like coals of fire.
GA: Rabbi, I realize that commonsense is no longer common, but what will it take for people, normal everyday Americans to see that what has happened throughout Europe and the UK with Islam has already started here?
RAN: Listen to the words of Proverbs, “That the wise man may hear, and increase in learning, and the man of understanding may attain unto wise counsels; to understand a proverb, and a figure; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; but the foolish despise wisdom and discipline.”
GA: Yes, Proverbs speaks of learning, knowledge and wisdom. So given the current situations throughout the Middle East, specifically the so-called Arab Spring, how much more has to occur day to day before we in America wake up to the truth? The answer to that is frightening because I believe it may take another 9/11 type attack or another bloody Arab/ Israeli war with the U.S. military in the Middle East also getting attacked.
RAN: “Remember what Amalek did unto thee by the way as ye came forth out of Egypt; how he met thee by the way, and smote the hindmost of thee, all that were enfeebled in thy rear, when thou wast faint and weary; and he feared not G-d. Therefore it shall be, when the LORD thy G-d hath given thee rest from all thine enemies round about, in the land which the LORD thy G-d giveth thee for an inheritance to possess it, that thou shalt blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven; thou shalt not forget.”
GA: Rabbi, history and commonsense can often be a crystal ball into seeing what the future may hold, but when the words and actions of those involved are added to the mix it’s no longer conjecture, it’s reality.
RAN: Exactly! What is so hard to understand? Have we not been shown time and time again throughout the Torah and the Tanach what is happening is not new, only a repeat of the past? In the words of the great Rabbi, Maimonides “Awake! You sleepers from your slumbers. You who waste eternity in the pursuit of the moment!”
GA: Rabbi, you know that at its peak, the Islamic Empire, also known as the Ottoman Empire or the Ottoman Caliphate controlled much of southeastern Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa, comprising some 1.2 million square miles. That same area today include parts or all of southeast Hungary, Albania, Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia, Macedonia, Slovenia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, southern and Caucasian Russia, Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Libya, Tunisia, and Algeria.
The Ottoman Empire ended between 1922 and 1924 but that was not the end, it was the beginning of the next Caliphate. In 1928 the Islamic cleric Hassan al-Banna founded the Muslim Brotherhood. Hassan al-Banna stated,
“It is the nature of Islam to dominate, not to be dominated, to impose its law on all nations and to extend its power to the entire planet.”
The Muslim Brotherhoods motto is,
“Allah is our objective. The Prophet is our leader. Qur'an is our law. Jihad is our way. Dying in the way of Allah is our highest hope.”
The fact is, each and every country where the ‘Arab Spring’ has overthrown its government with so called Democratic intentions, the Muslim Brotherhood has come to power. The west needs to understand that when these countries talk about ‘Democracy’, their definition of Democracy is not the same as ours.
RAN: Correct, and had Saul destroyed Amalek as G-d told him, it would not have been necessary for Esther to save us from Haman. If we had learned our lesson after the destruction of the first Beit HaMikdash and the Babylonian Exile, the Romans would not have destroyed the second Beit HaMikdash and sent us into exile around the world. If we don't learn from the past we will only replay it in the future.
GA: Exactly. “Replay it in the future”, look at the new Egyptian President, Mohamed Morsi, he is talking about amending Egypt's peace treaty with Israel. Morsi is a leading figure in the Muslim Brotherhood.
RAN: Yes and Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson (zt"l) told us in 1970,
“Since the signing of the Camp David Accords and Treaty, the consequences it has spawned have turned out to be even worse than I feared. Now, some 18 months later, everyone can clearly see that Egypt never intended to keep its promises fully. Right from the moment it took over one segment of Sinai after another, it broke its pledge to keep these zones demilitarized; though for the sake of expediency this matter has been hushed up. Even at this moment Egypt is busily engaged in aggressive military preparations (the construction of tunnels under the Suez is but one glaring example). This should come as no surprise, given the record of broken Egyptian pledges in the period following the Yom Kippur War, and ever since 1948. At the same time, it is demanding, and obtaining, from the U.S., an ever-increasing supply of the most sophisticated weaponry, not to mention what is going to such other “moderate” Arab states as Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and even Iraq.”
GA: And then there’s Syria, Syria’s leader President Assad and his government are on the verge of collapse and Al-Qaeda is ready to step in.
Iranian General, Gholam Reza Jalali stated just last Wednesday,
“…that there is no other way but to stand firm and resist until Israel is destroyed.”
And not to be outdone, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said later the same day,
“…the superfluous and fake Zionist (regime) will disappear from the landscape.”
RAN: What they don’t understand or know is that the land was given to Israel forever to dwell in, it is not ours to do with as we please, it is G-d's to do with as He wills. The people in the land of Canaan were dispossessed because of their abominations, and we were told not to make deals with them, or to "exchange the land for peace". It is He, the Righteous Judge who determines what will, and will not happen, not the magicians and necromancers of the false prophets.
GA: And once again all we need to do is look at history. Look at the history of the Ottoman Empire and the Muslim Brotherhood, more importantly; listen to their words. Commonsense is not even needed; anyone with eyes and ears can see the future happening now.
RAN: Blessings and Curse are laid out in the Torah to tell us, not just then, but for every generation leading into the future, what will happen to us if we obey and what will happen if we turn away. At the Yarden River, before we were allowed to cross over to possess the land, we were taught a song, not just a song, but a song of whoa and dread to stand as a witness against us if we should turn away from the path of righteousness. We were told to sing this song whenever times were dark. It is a warning to turn back to HaShem and away from idolatry; it is a reminder that “past is prologue”.
We have Torah and the books of the prophets, writings and chronicles. This is not just stories to teach our children, or to read on a cold night next to the fire! These are intended to teach us to beware of the circumstances of the past so we do not repeat them in the future.
GA: And we have history and commonsense, if people would just open their eyes and ears they would see what is coming and we could defeat the enemy!
RAN: The times are dark, sing the song and go back and study the books. Then you will know how to make a stand and defeat the enemy!
Rabbi Aryel Nachman ben Chaim is a follower of the Baal Shem Tov and considers his Rebbe to be Rebbe Nachman of Breslov. He is the Senior Rabbi for the House of Seven Beggars Synagogue (http://sevenbeggars.com/) and broadcasts studies and services for people who are unable to attend, or don't have, a local synagogue (http://www.livestream.com/sevenbeggars) . Rabbi Aryel Nachman is a lecturer, storyteller, cartoonist, puppeteer (Zeyde the Lion) and author (Pulitzer Prize nominations in 2004 and 2006). He is the co-creator and artist of the Jewish comic strip, "4 Corners", as well as the author of such books as: "Zeyde and the Hidden Mine", "New Chassidic Stories" and numerous articles and short stories. Rabbi Aryel Nachman can be contacted through the Seven Beggars Synagogue website.
There are solitary figures in busy neighborhoods. Watchmen on the walls and in the towers. You can find them in a childs prayers. You can hear them in songs of joy. Yet, though you see them, you take no time to absorb. Like spoiled children. Or, lazy men and women. And call crazy the solitary figure crying out, 'repent'! For it seems too simple. An odd thing for men to do. The truth tellers have no monetary gain. Life is short, yet they take the time, borrowed from HaShem. gifted. To cry again, 'Repent'!