Esau's Angel Has Fled to Batzrah (Basra)
Here is a reprint of a response to a recent letter from a friend of this blog:
Since the first Persian Gulf War in 1991, when Gog Sr. stopped at the outskirts of Basra and permitted 2 Babylonian divisions to return to Baghdad, I knew that the second Gog would be back to place Babylon under his thumb. In 1994 when he became Governor of Texas, I knew he was the second Gog. Yechezkel repeats himself in chapters 38 and 39, hinting that there would be two men named Gog. Until Gog W. became Governor, there was no way of knowing that the second Gog would be the son of the first one. Yet, every Shabbat since March 1991 when the Gulf War ended, I have made it a point to sing Droch Pura B'Toch Batzrah VeGam Bavel Asher Gavrah (Tread the winepress in the city of Batzrah {Cause Edom's blood to flow there} and also in Babylon which arose with strength.) This is, of course from the third verse of Dror Yikrah, by tenth century Baghdad poet Donash ibn Labrat who understood that the last war between Edom and Yishmael would lead to the destruction of both, Yishmael in Baghdad and Edom in Batzrah.
The real source to all this lies literally "In the Beginning". On the third day of Creation G-d planted a garden in the eastern half of Eden. (According to Dr. Gerald Schroeder's calculation in The Science of G-d using the General Theory of Relativity, the remaining three days of Creation elapsed over two billion of our years. Of course, these were three 24 hour days by G-d's clock since he fills the universe with His Glory, but His clock ticks one million million times more slowly than our terrestrial clocks in accordance with Einstein's Theory. Therefore, since the third day of Creation took place over a two billion years between two to four billion years ago, the Garden, which exists even now if we could experience the passage of time as G-d's "Divine Presence" experiences it, has existed for at least 2 to 3 billion of our years.) This is important to understand what came next. See my article from last year on this subject.
The text of the Bible is very straightforward but puzzling. And HaShem, G-d, caused to sprout from the ground every tree that was pleasing to the sight and good for food; also the Tree of Life in the midst of the Garden, and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Here comes the puzzling part. The Torah spends the next four pasukim discussing four rivers that issue from Gan Eden. Only then does the Torah bother to tell us that oh by the way about that tree of knowledge of good and evil: On the day you eat of it, you shall surely die.
Rav Shimshon Raphael Hirsch on verse seven dealing with the breathing of Man's neshama into his nostrils explains to us the reason why there is this interlude in the text about the four rivers. In the Torah itself G-d always introduces the tikun (the repair) into the world before the sin. Therefore G-d placed into these four rivers the mineral wealth of repairing the sin of Adam HaRishon. Here another problem arises. The Torah only tells us about the mineral wealth associated with the River Pishon. The good gold is for hashra'at Shekhina (induction of the Divine Presence) on a bed of gold between the Cherubim. The onyx is for Aharon and his descendants to feel the pain and ecstasy of every Jew as the Kohen Hagadol goes about his avodah (Divine service), literally carrying the onyx on his shoulders as the he carries out his daily tasks. These two minerals are therefore integral in returning the world to a Gan Eden existence.
The problem arises with the remaining three rivers. They are mentioned with no mineral wealth associated with them. Chazal (our Sages of the Ages) tell us the Euphrates is mentioned in association with the final borders of Eretz Yisrael, but this does not explain why the Torah seems at first glance to waste print with regards to the Gihon (Ganges) and the Hiddekel (Tigris). For this we need to skip forward 2200 years to when Yakov and Esau received their blessings.
It is with regards to the blessings of Yakov and Esau that we get the keys which unlocks why these remaining three rivers are mentioned if the principle reason for mentioning all four of them is to show us how we can return to a Gan Eden existence. Yakov is told that "Elokim will give you from the dew of heaven and the fat/oil of the earth." There are three things to recognize about this verse.
1. Yakov would get his blessing from Elokim. Therefore he would suffer for his sins in this world so that he would be certain to have a place in the World to Come.
2. Yakov principally gets his blessing from the dew, which emanates from the mouth of G-d. Where there is no dew, he gets no blessing. Everything for Yakov emanates from the dew.
3. The Torah leaves us with a double entendre'. Mishmanei ha'aretz can either mean from the shumanei ha'aretz (fats of the earth) or from the shamnei ha'aretz (oils of the earth). For Yakov Avinu there is no question. Since the shuman (fat) is dependent on the dew for its purpose, the Torah is referencing the fats of the earth which gives forth its blessing dependent on the dew.
Esau swaggers in, begs his father for one blessing, and he receives the following: From the fats/oils of the earth you will receive a dwelling and from the dew of heaven above. The two differences stick out like a brilliant flash.
1. Esau does not get his blessing from Elokim. Therefore, he will not suffer for his sins in this world. Therefore, he may lose his world to come by not being chastised down here.
2. His bracha is reversed! Therefore, even though he does get reward for the good that he does through dew, his blessing for the oil of the earth is not contingent upon his receiving dew. When he deserves blessing, the dew comes to water the fatness of the earth, but Rashi says that even if he is a total rasha (wicked person) with no more merits for the dew, he will still receive from the oil of the earth. Notice that here the double entendre' matters, for without the blessing of water from heaven, he will either depend upon irrigation for the the fat of the earth, or it does not mean fat at all. When it does not mean fat of the earth, it means oil of the earth a.k.a. bubbling crude.
At this point I would need to explain why I believe the end of Esau's bracha came during the Clinton years, but Shabbat is approaching and I must go.
Just food for thought. The Pishon tells us about the tikun to build Olam Haba (World to Come). The other three rivers are the source for the principle mineral wealth of this world. Therefore the Torah which is interested in building Olam Haba does not tell us about the mineral wealth of the other three rivers. The principle mineral wealth for two of the remaining three rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates, is of course 55% of the world's sweet oil reserves. These reserves are located along the banks of these two rivers in northern and central Iraq and of course at the mouth of these two rivers as they enter the Persian Gulf. This is why, except for Iraq itself, most of the Persian Gulf oil is close to the coast of the Gulf. The city which is at the confluence of these two rivers of Eden as they enter the Persian Gulf is of course Basra. Whoever controls the confluence of two rivers which exist to bestow the world with an existence before Mashiach comes can try to dictate terms to others about how they should run their affairs in Olam HaZeh (this world where the wicked are rewarded for the good that they do and where the righteous suffer for their few sins). Gog W. and Blair have come to do just that.
The fact that the oil is "sweet" requires a scientific explanation. In the course of my research on this subject I came across an intriguing fact about oil fossilization. When ancient mulch contains a high concentration of dead animal decay, the resulting fossilized crude will have a high percentage of the high melting point oils. It is therefore not desirable as a source for the more highly volatile, low melting point gasolines which power Western Civilization. Crude oil which is fossilized over eons is considered "sweet" and desirable for energy when the original mulch had negligible amounts of dead animal products. Since these two rivers come from Gan Eden where animals do not die but trees natuarally shed their leaves, one would expect that the original organic mulch would have a non-existent amount of animal decay in it. Therefore, Persian Gulf oil is some of the sweetest oil on the planet. Secondly, the Torah tells us that the river which waters the Garden of Eden goes way underground to become the source of the four rivers, placing the organic waste under intense heat and pressure in an oxygen starved environment. This environment of anaerobic heat and pressure favored oil production over coal production when the organic decay fossilized. G-d has been setting up the conditions of Edom's destruction for a long, long time.
The geulah process is unfolding before our eyes, and I have to finish planting my tree of becoming a teacher. What a bummer! I am figuring that he (Gog) will not attack Iran until at least September or October when night cover for air raids becomes lengthier. America does very well when it starts its air wars as the nights are getting longer and longer. If a ground assault becomes necessary, which is probably the case, Gog W. would like to wait until Spring when it stops raining. If on the other hand, he is expecting to need to launch a ground invasion almost immediately, then you are right, and hostilities are imminent. My reading of Debka.com which is right about 90% of the time is that he wants to begin the air war in the dead of winter (Chanukah?) allowing for a possible ground invasion in the Spring. Yet, you are right. The British are scared to death of this one. Both passages in Isaiah describe exactly the end of Edom's malkhut. I did an entire blog on Isaiah 34 called "Let the Skies Roll Up." The destruction in Basra there is quickly followed by a description of massive oil fires:
Its Rivers will be filled with tar and the soil to sulfur, and its land will become burning tar. Night and day it will not be extinguished; its smoke will ascend forever. (Isaiah 34)
It appears that Red "Edom" Adair who has now passed on has no replacement. He put out the oil fires in the first Gulf War for a million dollars a well. For some reason noone will put the fires out this time. It will no longer be worth a million bucks for each well. By the way the preceeding verse to the above passage tells us why Edom's angel is being slain in Basra: For it is a day of vengeance for HaShem, a year of retribution for the grievance of Zion.
The Talmud in Makkos in the perek of Eilu hen hagolin discusses in detail the ins and outs of a negligent murderer who can flee to a city of refuge. There Reish Lakish makes a striking prediction which you can take to the bank. He says that at the End of Days, the angel of Rome will make three mistakes.
1. He will flee to Basra thinking that it provides refuge like Betzer which is one of the six cities of refuge for negligent but unintentional murderers.
2. An angel like a man can find refuge in a city of refuge. (This is of course not true.)
3. One who has murdered intentionally (bemayzid) can find refuge like one who has murdered unintentionally (beshogaig). This is of course absurd. One who murders intentionally is liable for the death penalty. One can pursue such a murderer into the city of refuge, put him on trial, and if found guilty execute him.
