Words From Rabbi White

Afghanistan.  None of the major powers had predicted such a rapid takeover by the Taliban.  Too bad they hadn’t studied the Bible.

You see after the destruction of the first Temple, the Babylonian king had allowed a small number of Jews to remain in Israel under the leadership of a man named Gedalia.  The Jews under Gedalia were granted a certain autonomy.

However, the king of Ammon (a country on the eastern border of the Land of Israel) was hostile to that idea, and hired a certain Yishmael bin Netania from the royal family(!) to assassinate Gedalia!!!

Gedalia had been warned, but he didn’t take the warnings seriously.  He felt that Yishmael was a man of peace - and he paid with his life.

And that’s the analogy that I alluded to at the top of the article.

The assassination of Gedalia and the loss of Jewish autonomy is marked every year on the day after Rosh Hashana by the Fast of Gedalia.

You can read about it in the Bible: II Kings chapter 25, and Jeremiah chapter 41.  May the leaders of Israel not all into a similar trap!

With blessings for Shabbat shalom, and for a happy and healthy year.