One of the learning cycles that I'm working on (and desperately behind in) is the
OU's Nach Yomi project.
We recently covered
Sefer Yoel. Chapter 3 of that book describes the horrible events of Gog
Umagog (AKA Armageddon).
I make no claims to be able to understand the hidden meanings of this Chapter (or any other part of
Tanach), however I found the following description very chilling:
יואל פרק ג
ג וְנָתַתִּי, מוֹפְתִים, בַּשָּׁמַיִם, וּבָאָרֶץ: דָּם וָאֵשׁ, וְתִימְרוֹת עָשָׁן. ד הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ יֵהָפֵךְ לְחֹשֶׁךְ, וְהַיָּרֵחַ לְדָם--לִפְנֵי, בּוֹא יוֹם ה', הַגָּדוֹל, וְהַנּוֹרָא
Joel Chapter 3
3 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. 4 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the LORD come.
That expression "
וְתִימְרוֹת עָשָׁן" ("Pillars of smoke") which is familiar to us from the
Haggada may possibly be more accurately translated as "Palm Trees of Smoke" (this was according to
Rav Dr.
Gidon Rothstein).
Does the image of a palm-shaped cloud followed by darkness and the "terrible day of
Hashem" bring up any chilling
imagery from the final days of the
Second World War?
