Rav said: "Persia [modern-day Iran] is destined to fall into the hands of Rome [today referring to the US, Christianity, and the other nations]" – Tractate Yoma 10a. And in Tosafot on Avodah Zarah 2b, s.v. "Mashkha," they wrote that this will occur close to the coming of the Messiah.
Behold, as is known, we are in the period of the End of Days, and we are already at the end of the process of the wars of Gog and Magog. We are very close to the complete redemption, according to all the signs handed down to us by our Sages, of blessed memory, which are being fulfilled in our era. Furthermore, according to the words of the Chafetz Chaim, of blessed and holy memory, who saw far into the future with his divine inspiration (Ruach HaKodesh), he stated at the end of the First World War that this war initiated the process of the wars of Gog and Magog, at the end of which the redemption will come (Lev Eliyahu, end of Parshat Yitro). It is also explained by our Sages in several places that very close to the redemption, the Persian nation (modern-day Iran) will severely oppress the people of Israel, and our Father in Heaven will send them to afflict us greatly so that we will repent and become worthy of being redeemed.
In the Midrash (Pesikta Rabbati 36) it states: "Rabbi Yitzchak said: The year in which the King Messiah is revealed, all the kings of the nations will provoke one another... and the King of Persia [Iran] will return and destroy the entire world... and Israel will panic and be terrified, saying, 'Where shall we go? Where shall we come?' And He will say to them: 'My children, do not fear! Everything I have done, I did only for you. Why are you afraid? The time for your redemption has arrived!'"
Behold, these words of the Midrash are being fulfilled before our very eyes in these days, as the oppressors of Israel from Persia seek to destroy the world, launching highly dangerous missiles at several countries in our region, as well as at the inhabitants of the Land of Israel. The people are terrified and panicking from the fear of the missiles and the sirens, not knowing what to do. Regarding this, our Sages tell us, "And He will say to them," meaning our Father in Heaven tells us—and what does He say? "My dear children, all that I have done—meaning all the great fear and all the missiles launched at us by the oppressors of Israel from Persia—I did only for you, so that you will repent, for the time of your redemption has arrived!"
[As is known, in the Aggadot of our Sages, there are many things we do not fully understand, and not everything is meant completely literally. However, there are things we see being fulfilled before our eyes, which strengthens our understanding that the redemption is near. There is no intention to claim that this specific year is the exact year of the redemption. Even though the Midrash says, "The year the King Messiah is revealed," it could mean that during the era He arrives, these things will happen, rather than exactly within a single calendar year. Nevertheless, it is clear that we are witnessing the events described in that Midrash being fulfilled in this period, which shows us we are very close to the redemption.]
Furthermore, our Sages say in Tractate Sanhedrin (97b): "Rabbi Yehoshua said to him: If they do not repent, will they not be redeemed? Rather, the Holy One, blessed be He, raises up a king over them whose decrees are as harsh as Haman's, and this returns them to the right path." This is exactly what is happening right now with those oppressors of Israel from Persia; the Creator, blessed be He, has raised them up over us to distress us greatly, all so that we will awaken to complete repentance and become worthy of being redeemed.
Our Sages also cite the verse, "I am the Lord; in its time I will hasten it" (Isaiah 60:22). They raise a contradiction: The phrase "in its time" (B'itah) implies the redemption will come at its pre-determined time, whereas "I will hasten it" (Achishena) implies God will bring the redemption early, before its set time. Our Sages resolve this by explaining that there are two possibilities for redemption: If they merit it and repent, God will hasten the redemption before its time (Achishena). But if we do not repent, the redemption will come at its pre-determined time set by the Creator (B'itah).
The Maharsha (Tractate Sanhedrin 98a, s.v. "Ein Ben David Ba") writes that the aforementioned words of our Sages—that the Creator will raise a king as harsh as Haman—will be fulfilled when the designated end-time, referred to as B'itah, arrives. The redemption will come regardless, but since the Jewish people have not repented and are not worthy of being redeemed, He will bring upon us that harsh king like Haman so that we will repent and become worthy. This aligns with the Midrash mentioned above: "The King of Persia returns and destroys the world... Israel panics... and He says to them, My children, the time for your redemption has arrived."
If so, we are currently in a situation where God has raised up a king as harsh as Haman over us. This process already began, seemingly last year in the month of Sivan, when the Persians fired highly dangerous ballistic missiles at us. The purpose was to awaken us to repentance. The Creator, in His great mercy, halted those oppressors after a few days, and events unfolded here in Israel through various means—but everything, as we know, is under Divine Providence and in the hands of the Creator. Now, once again, the Creator has raised up the oppressors of Israel from Persia against us to awaken us to repent. We do not know what tomorrow will bring, but it is clear that everything happening right now is from Heaven. Our sole duty at this moment is to reflect upon our actions and return in complete repentance before our Father in Heaven, since we are very close to the final and ultimate end, where the redemption must inevitably come, as explained above.
In Isaiah (26:17) it is written: "Like a pregnant woman approaching birth, she is in pain, she cries out in her pangs..." Rashi explains that we see troubles and mistakenly think they are just afflictions, but we are promised to be redeemed out of distress and trouble, just like a woman giving birth. Similarly, it is brought in the writings of the Vilna Gaon (Even Shlema 11:5) that the redemption is referred to as a birth, as it says, "As soon as Zion was in labor, she gave birth." Just as the pain intensifies more than any other time during the pregnancy as the birth approaches, so too, right before the redemption, the exile will become heavier... and these are the "birth pangs of the Messiah."
Right now, we are like a woman about to give birth who feels strong contractions. As the contractions intensify, it indicates the birth is near. Similarly, the people of Israel are in a state of severe troubles; as the troubles increase, it shows that the final, difficult redemption—the "birth"—is close. Every period has a "contraction," followed by a pause, until another contraction comes. On the holiday of Simchat Torah 5784, we experienced a horrific and terrifying "contraction," followed by a pause. Last year in the month of Sivan, we experienced another very severe contraction from the Persians (modern-day Iran), who launched hundreds of missiles at us, followed by another pause. Now, we have entered yet another set of difficult birth pangs as the oppressors from Persia afflict us greatly. All of this shows us that the redemption-birth is near. We do not know how many more contractions lie ahead, and there may be another pause before the next ones, but one thing is certain: we must hurry and return to our Father in Heaven in complete repentance. We are approaching the time of redemption known by the prophets as B'itah—the final deadline when the redemption must come, a time predetermined by the Creator. Therefore, He brings these oppressors from Persia upon us so we will repent and be worthy.
Additional prophecies of our holy Sages are being fulfilled before our eyes, showing us how close we are to the redemption. Within all that is currently happening with Persia (Iran), the USA and its leader brought massive military forces and aircraft carriers with hundreds of the world's most powerful fighter jets last summer, severely attacking Iran's nuclear facilities. In these very days, they are attacking Persia again; they even struck the residence of the King of Persia, killing him and forty of his ministers and aides, relentlessly attacking and causing massive destruction throughout Persia. [Note: This reflects the specific narrative/timeline of the Hebrew text].
Our Sages in Tractate Yoma (10a) say that Persia (modern Iran) is destined to fall into the hands of Rome—which today refers to the Christian nations, including the USA. The Tosafot in Tractate Avodah Zarah (2b) write that this prophecy of Persia falling to Rome will be fulfilled close to the coming of the Messiah. Amazingly, we are seeing this happen before our eyes right now: Persia (Iran) is falling to Rome (the USA), as they have killed the King of Persia and have been invading and striking hundreds of locations across Persia for several days without any resistance or ability to repel the US soldiers and aircraft. According to all this, we are currently standing right before the coming of the Messiah. On one hand, Persia is falling—a great sign of redemption. On the other hand, as it falls, it wages wars around the world, primarily against the people of Israel. Everything is from Heaven to awaken us to repent. These matters are intertwined: Persia/Iran must fall before the redemption, and it is currently in a state of great collapse because the time of redemption is at the door. Furthermore, they fight us and cause us trouble—all from Heaven so we will repent and become worthy of redemption.
All the troubles they cause us are from Heaven so that we will repent. True, tremendous miracles have occurred, for which we must thank our Father in Heaven, but we have not yet merited seeing the complete redemption. This means we are still not fully worthy and have not completely repented or rectified our deeds. As is widely publicized, there is a great fear that Persia (Iran) has the capability to produce nuclear weapons; they are working on it constantly and declare it openly, and their war with us will not stop until we repent.
In the prophecy of Joel (3:5), the prophet says: "And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved; for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be a deliverance, as the Lord has said, and among the remnant whom the Lord calls." The Radak explains there that during the war of Gog and Magog, there will be great distress for Israel for a brief time, as it says regarding that time, "Hide yourself for a little moment, until the wrath has passed." Many in Israel may perish, but the holy ones and those who truly fear God will be saved. From all this, it emerges that there will be a sorting process to determine who is worthy of being redeemed and who is not. Nothing stands in the way of repentance! Now is the time to awaken and repent before our Father in Heaven so that we may be among those worthy of redemption.
After all that has been written thus far, according to all the events currently taking place in the world—especially as Persia has begun to fall to Rome (the USA), fulfilling the words of our Sages that Persia will fall to Rome (which Tosafot says will be right before the Messiah)—we are very close to the coming of our righteous Messiah. Our duty at this time is to grasp the ways of Teshuvah (repentance) so we can be worthy of being redeemed. As the Rambam (Maimonides) ruled (Laws of Repentance 7:5): "Israel is only redeemed through repentance. And the Torah has already promised that Israel is destined to repent at the end of their exile, and they will immediately be redeemed."
May it be God's will that we merit to repent and be among those privileged to see the Lord's return to Zion with great mercy.
