Page 4 - HaMizrachi 1 Chicago Edition
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Rabbanit Shani Taragin
                The

             Scarlet           70: Revisiting our
             Thread          Prophecies and Dreams




               ת ֶא  'ה  בוּשׁ ְ בּ  :תוֹל ֲע ַמּ ַה  ריׁ ִש"   How dream-like it must have been for the   Zechariah  (Zecharia h 1:12-17) explained
               ".םי ִמְלֹח ְ כּ  וּניִי ָה  ןוֹיּ ִצ  ת ַביׁ ִש  42,360 Jews who returned    (Nehemiah    that these 70 years began 19 years after

              “A Song of Ascents: When God       7:66 ) to see their homeland once again   the Babylonian   invasion, with the actual
              brought back those who returned to   and begin to rebuild the Beit HaMikdash   destruction of Yerushalayim and the Beit
              Zion, we were like those who dream.”      (Temple) 70 years after losing sovereignty!   HaMikdash in 586 BCE. He   thereby
                                                                                        encouraged the fledgling Jewish state to
                     e often recite this  verse   Unfortunately, political, economic, demo-  build with confidence so that by 516 BCE,
                     in liturgy and  song, but   graphic and religious tensions deterred the   70  years of destruction in Jerusalem would
          W for this Yom HaAtzmaut               Jews from   rebuilding the Mikdash upon   also  come to  an  end!  And  they  were  like
           (Independence  Day)  in  particular,  it   returning to Yerushalayim (Jerusalem)  dreamers   once again, because 19 years
             conveys unique significance as we celebrate   in 535 BCE. Disillusioned, they began   after their initial return to the Land, this
           70 years of modern Jewish statehood. This   to   wonder whether the time was indeed   prophecy of rebuilding   the Temple was
           year  we   not  only  recall  the  sentiments   ripe for reconstruction and fulfillment of   fulfilled.
           of  gratitude  and  awe  expressed  in  this   prophecies.
           psalm, but also revisit the   ‘original’ 70-year                                 I am perpetually inspired as we relive this
           historical context,  “When God brought   So what happened to the promises of 70   time period of Shivat Tzion (Return to
           back those who returned to Zion”  following   years of exile and return? Following the   Zion) 2,400  years later. In 1948 we returned
           Babylonian rule. After 70 years of Jewish   appointment   of Judean leader Zerubavel   like dreamers to Jewish statehood (this
           exile which began with the Babylonian   as  satrap  (governor  over  the  province   time after nearly 2,000  years of exile), built
             invasion of Judea in 605 BCE,  Cyrus of   of Judea), Haggai and   Zechariah  appear   homes and communities throughout the
           Persia allowed the Jews to return to their   on  the  prophetic  stage  in  520  BCE,  to   Land  and witnessed the  re- fulfillment of
           Land and  rebuild their Temple (Ezra 1:1)   encourage the people to rebuild the Beit   numerous prophecies, although Yerusha-
           – fulfilling the words of God as prophesied     HaMikdash based on a new 70-year   layim (Jerusalem ) was not yet in our hands.
           70 years earlier by Jeremiah (25:11-13).   prophecy:
                                                                                        But once again, it took us exactly 19 years
                                                                                        from the re-establishment of our statehood
                                                                                        to   rebuild Yerushalayim in 1967! The
                                                                                        prophecies of Jeremiah and Zechariah  echo
                                                                                        in our ears as we   witness the remarkable
                                                                                        parallels of  establishing autonomy  and
                                                                                        rebuilding  Jerusalem over a 19- year span.

                                                                                        As we reflect upon the past 70 years,
                                                                                        we must marvel at the Providence (not
                                                                                        coincidence) of   the 70 years’ prophecies
                                                                                        being revisited in our days.


                                                                                        However, the goal of a prophecy is not to
                                                                                        predict what will be and passively wait for the
                                                                                        words  to materialize, but to charge Am Yisrael
                                                                                        (Jewish people ) with what can be if we
                                                                                        respond appropriately. This  Yom HaAtzmaut,
                                                                                        how are we meant to respond to the past 70
                                                                                        years of fulfilled prophecies  beyond words of
           The “Exodus” – pre-State immigration (The  Palmach Archive)
                                                                                        praise and thanksgiving to God?

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