What is happening to the Jewish people?

Something extraordinary is happening now. A kind of awakening, identifying, returning.

Something has shaken up the norm. Jews are not the same. As Israelis are determined to eradicate the evil, as left wing Jews are suddenly shunned by those they thought were their close friends, as Jews are strengthening their bond with G-d and with each other, as Israel wins the war, as powerful nations ally with the Jewish people, it’s not business as usual.

A few months after the Six Day War, the Lubavitcher Rebbe talked about the war and its effects. He spoke about a great shofar that will be sounded before the days of Moshiach, and which will cause a great awakening among the Jewish people. His words seem to resonate and pertain to what’s happening now.

He quoted two verses, from Zechariah (9; 14) and Isaiah (27; 13).

Zechariah prophesied: The Lord G-d will blow a shofar, and will go with a storm in the south (The word ‘teiman’ is understood by numerous commentaries to mean: the south.)

Isaiah prophesied: On that day, a great shofar will be blown, and those who are lost in the land of Ashur, and the exiled in the land of Mitzrayim (Egypt), will come and bow before G-d on the holy mountain in Jerusalem.

The Rebbe related, that the previous Rebbe said that these two verses could be describing the time right after the holocaust. However, there was not, then, a strong awakening of the Jewish nation toward their roots. Nevertheless, the previous Rebbe’s words, like all of Torah, were instructive (not only for the potential after the holocaust, but) also for the future.

The Rebbe explained how the verses could be referring to the time then, right after the Six Day War, when there was a strong Jewish awakening.

Nowadays, the description of the great awakening in these verses seem to be materializing in a very powerful and clear way (as described in the beginning of this post). Moreover, the ‘storm in the south’ fits the location of the current war in Gaza. Perhaps our Redemption with Moshiach is very close.