The Wars of Hashem

Jews find themselves in this 2nd half of the Hakhel year 5776.

The first order of the day for Jews as a whole is that they must appoint a king when they enter their Holy Land. Then comes the need to conquer the Amalekites, a war waged to cleanse the atmosphere for the next and 3rd obligation - to build the Third Temple.

The first obligation for Jews in Israel, then, is the nomination of a king. Well, that king years earlier made his presence in Brooklyn, NY. This king, otherwise known as “The Rebbe”, was accepted by many Jews whose prominent rabbis ruled on this by signing such a declaration. Even a giant of the non-chassidic Litvish element (Rabbi A. Soloveichik) agreed that the claim these rabbis make coincides with Torah view, leaving his legacy as a stalwart supporter of the cause (link).

Then, on the 3rd of Tammuz, 5754, he may well have made his move to Israel - as King Moshiach. (The 3rd of Tammuz is significant in Jewish history for then it became obvious how the whole world order caters to the wishes of the “Leader of the Jewish People”, the day Joshua froze the entire orchestrated motions in the heavens above.) That we cannot see him in person for now is a problem we have, but only if perceived from lightweight faith in the Rebbe’s words, or from undue faith in Nature for a people who transcend Nature, or simply underestimating the supernatural powers of Moshiach who is no less a personage than Moses or Joshua.

The next obligation, that of wiping out the enemies of the Jews (the Amalekites and their Jew-hating supporters), is now in progress. Enemies of the Jews are enemies of God. Right now, as you read these words, King Moshiach is fighting the wars against God’s enemies for the sake of the Jewish people. He’s doing it all on his own. No soldiers of Israel need be involved. While Jews sit in security watching with folded arms the world’s stage, seeing how Jew-haters fight Jew-haters, Jews remain unblemished spectators while their enemies swallow each other up with vicious violence.

The words of the Rambam, “And he will fight the wars of Hashem” [Kings 11:4], make a little more sense to me now. Normally the reader figures it means Moshiach as general will command that war be waged against so and so, and we assume he’ll lead brigades or battalions into battle. Apparently the wording of the Rambam is precise. We can assume it means that he, the general himself, will be doing all the “fighting”. Let’s put this into context. After all, the enemy is fighting another enemy, so what kind of fighting is the general himself doing? Evidently it means he is “mediating” between enemies that they fight each other, generating conflicts among these enemies. For this war of “mediation”, the general himself is handling it - all by his lonesome.

Now, in this age of instant communication, where the entire world has an open window to see all that transpires in every corner on earth, a phenomenon is unfolding. Evil has surfaced for the whole world to observe and/or to choose sides between good and evil, between being pro- or anti-Jewish. It all boils down to this simple distinction. Israel and the Jewish people always take center-stage; Whether you’re in Tibet or in Timbuktu. For evil Amalek must be vanquished before the purity of space provides the proper base upon which to build the physical sanctuary on earth for God - the 3rd and ultimate Beit Hamikdash. As long as weaponry remains significant, we must lay aside the tools of construction. The king we have. The wars of Hashem are now in process; And, may it be very soon, once the Beit Hamikdash is rebuilt in Jerusalem, all Jews from the world over will stream their way to live and thrive in their wonderful Holy Land.

These wars are very significant because they decide for us, based on victory or defeat, whether we speak of Moshiach with certainty. Unless “this general” emerges victorious and afterwards builds the Temple, he may cast doubt about who he really is. Only complete victory followed by the rebuilding of the Temple shall be the final gauge.

Nevertheless, for now, in this 2nd half of the Hakhel year 5776, we remain firmly committed to seeing our general trounce our enemies from this old world order and create for us the new world order, the Era of the Final and Ultimate Redemption, which is barreling its way headlong into our modern history.

Rabbi Ahron Soloveichik's Verdict of Chabad's Meshichistic Stance

In the summer of 1996, the president of "The Rabbinical Council of America" in the U.S. wrote an impertinent letter, in which he claimed the belief of Lubavitcher chassidim that the Rebbe is Moshiach rests upon non-traditional sources. The letter caused a storm among American Jewry, and people wanted to determine if in fact the rabbis of The Rabbinical Council of America were behind those words.

When the renowned Rabbi Ahron Halevi Soloveichik, זצ''ל, this council's spiritual mentor, got wind of the letter, he published a sharp letter, one that could not be misunderstood, in which he said the belief "that the Rebbe can still be Moshiach" is based on sturdy sources from gemora and halachic texts, as well as on literature from kabalah and on the Rebbe's own writings. A Chabad rabbi of Buffalo, Heschel Greenberg, was in the room when Rabbi Soloveichik signed the letter. Here is that letter, dated the 7th of Tammuz, 5756 (Jun. 24, 1996).

Rabbi Greenberg also said that when they wanted to publish this letter in the weekly Jewish Press, the latter's editorial personnel called Rabbi Soloveichik for his confirmation, to which he answered he agrees and wishes it to be published.

This letter caused a stir among rabbis of Chabad, and on the 15th of Tammuz they wrote to Rabbi Soloveichik a letter of thanks, for he declared a Torah verdict fearlessly, a letter that carried the signatures of rabbis from Rabbinical Courts of Chabad in Israel, the U.S., Canada, Australia and of various European countries.