The Blogs: Israel’s Security Lapses as a Reflection of Lot Consciousness

The October 7^th attack by Hamas terrorists on Israel was a double surprise. The brutality and barbarism of the attack, the unspeakable cruelty of the terrorists that stunned the civilized world, was shocking but hardly a surprise. The stunning failure of the Israeli intelligence services to anticipate the attack despite the writing on the wall was a surprise. The complete and shocking unpreparedness of the IDF, which took many hours to mount an organized response after terrorists breached the security fence, killed many hundreds of civilians, and took many hostages, was another surprise. The Israeli intelligence was blissfully unaware of year-long preparations by Hamas and the Israeli army that was caught with its pants down, unprepared to defend Israel’s border with Gaza.

The Torah describes three stages of the development of Mashiach consciousness. The first stage described in the current Torah portion, Vayera, is hinted at by the story of Lot and his daughters:

And the elder said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is no man on earth to come upon us, as is the custom of all the earth. Come, let us give our father wine to drink, and let us lie with him, and let us bring to life seed from our father.” And they gave their father wine to drink on that night, and the elder came and lay with her father, and he did not know of her lying down or of her rising up. And it came to pass on the morrow, that the elder said to the younger, “Behold, last night I lay with my father. Let us give him wine to drink tonight too, and come, lie with him, and let us bring to life seed from our father.” So they gave their father to drink on that night also, and the younger arose and lay with him, and he did not know of her lying down or of her rising up. So they gave their father to drink on that night also, and the younger arose and lay with him, and he did not know of her lying down or of her rising up. And the elder bore a son, and she named him Moab; he is the father of Moab until this day. Genesis 19:31-37

According to our Sages, this is how the progenitor of Mashiach was conceived. This was the stage of constricted consciousness—“he did not know of her lying down or of her rising up.” Lot was sound asleep and blissfully unaware of what happened and with whom it happened—he was doubly clueless. Alternatively, we can say that the two encounters Lot had with his daughters, during which he was asleep, indicate a double constriction of Lot’s consciousness.

The second stage of the development of Mashiach consciousness was the encounter of Judah and Tamar:

And it was told to Tamar, saying, “Behold, your father in law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep.” So she took off her widow’s garb, covered [her head] with a veil and covered her face, and she sat down at the crossroads that were on the way to Timnah, for she saw that Shelah had grown up, but as for her she was not given to him for a wife. When Judah saw her, he thought she was a harlot, because she covered her face. So he turned aside toward her to the road, and he said, “Get ready now, I will come to you…” Genesis 38:13-16

In this instance, Judah knew what he was doing but was unaware of who was before him. Compared to Lot, he was not asleep and was only partially aware. This indicates an expansion of consciousness—from a double constriction to a single constriction. As a result of this intimate encounter, Tamar conceived and gave birth to twins, one of whom was Peretz, the progenitor of Mashiach. Thus, this was the second stage in the development of the Mashiach consciousness.

And Boaz ate and drank, and his heart was merry, and he went to lie at the edge of the stack, and she came softly and uncovered his feet and lay down. And it came to pass at midnight, and the man quaked and was taken around, and behold a woman was lying at his feet. And he said, “Who are you?” And she said, “I am Ruth, your handmaid, and you shall spread your skirt over your handmaid, for you are a near kinsman.” And he said, “May you be blessed of the Lord, my daughter; your latest act of kindness is greater than the first, not to follow the young men, whether poor or rich. And now, my daughter, do not fear, all that you say I will do for you, for the entire gate of my people know that you are a valiant woman. And now, indeed, I am a near kinsman, but there is a kinsman closer than I. Stay over tonight, and it will come to pass in the morning, that if he redeem you, well, let him redeem you, but if he does not wish to redeem you, I will redeem you, as the Lord lives; lie down until morning.” Ruth, 4:7-13

In this story, Boaz is fully aware—he knows who Ruth is and does the right thing—he marries her properly, and Ruth gives birth to a son. “And they called his name Obed-he is the father of Jesse, the father of David.”