Today as I ‘opened’ the newspaper I did a double take. Although it was 5:30 AM, I did not think I was still dreaming; however, the headline seemed to be more relevant to a Chumash (Bible) Shiur (class) than an article in the New York Times!
“ISIS Damages Temple of Baal in Palmyra” screamed the headline.
Can this be true?
Is this a fulfillment of the verse in Devarim (12:3): “And you shall tear down their altars, smash their monuments…cut down the graven images of their gods, and destroy their name from that place”?
The article goes on to describe: “Consecrated in A.D. 32 to the Semitic god Baal, the temple was a source of pride for Syrians and stood not far from where the other building, the Temple of Baalshamin, was destroyed.”
Here we have a physical remnant from the pagan god Baal, a god which was certainly Avodah Zora and which according to the Rambam (Mitzvah Asei 185) in his Sefer HaMitzvohs: “We are commanded to destroy all those places where idols are worshiped: Eretz Yisroel is a holy land. Therefore, special efforts must be made to clear it of idol worship entirely.”
And indeed, since almost all of Syria (including Palmyra) is included in the Biblical borders of Eretz Yisroel; then the destruction of these pagan temples is apparently a fulfillment of the Mitzvah to “destroy all those places where idols are worshiped in Eretz Yisroel”.
Indeed in the words of one eye witness: “A resident of Palmyra, Nasser al-Thaer, told The Associated Press, “It is total destruction,” adding, “It was an explosion the deaf would hear.”
Is the ‘total destruction’ of a biblical place of Avodah Zora a harbinger to the coming of Mashiach?
Are the ‘end of days’ coming closer and soon we will see the Kingdom of Hashem in all its glory?
Obviously I know not the answers to these questions; however, certainly it means something.
Once thing I can say with conviction: as Rosh Hashanah looms closer and closer we should make the best of our time and certainly prepare ourselves with Teshuva, Tefillah and Tzedokah.
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Since "mitzvos tzrichos kavvana" and the ISIS definitely don't have kavanas mitzva - we won't give them credit. But I like the possibility of Moshiach being right around the corner! [E.E.]
