A Chilling Verse for the Ages

In the tochecha, the curses in this week’s parsha of Ki Savo, there is a fascinating pasuk: “Yisa Hashem alecha goy mei’rachok mik’tzeh ha’aretz ka’asher yid’eh hanasher” – Hashem will bring against you a nation from a distance, from the end of the earth, as the eagle swoops down. (Devarim 28:49).

The Gemara relates in Masechtas Sukkah (51b) about the spectacular community that the Jews once had in Alexandria, Egypt. There was a huge basilica that held 1,200,000 people, double the number of Jews who came out of Mitzrayim. This community came to a tragic end at the hands of Alexander the Great of Macedonia. (Whether it was Alexander the Great of Macedonia or another czar is hotly debated by the Abarbanel, the Vilna Gaon, and others.)

The Gemara tells us that they met their sorry fate because they transgressed the Torah prohibition of “Lo sosifun lashuv baderech hazeh od,” not to return to live in Egypt. In Esther Rabbah, the story behind Alexander’s decimation of the Jewish community is revealed. Alexander had a son born on Tisha B’Av, and it was reported to him that all the Jews were fasting on that day. The following Chanukah, Alexander had a daughter who died. The Jews were in a quandary whether they should light candles for Chanukah or whether they should desist so that Alexander wouldn’t think they were happy on the day his daughter died. Ultimately, they decided to celebrate Chanukah, come what may.

The Queen, while she was in deep mourning, was enraged by the Jewish celebration and requested of her husband to punish the Jews. Thus, Alexander set out for Alexandria, a trip that should have taken him 10 days. However, he arrived there in but five days. Upon his arrival, he asked the Jews what passage they were reading from the Sefer Torah. At that moment they were reading the aforementioned verse foretelling that “Hashem will bring against you a nation from a distance…like the eagle flies.” Alexander felt this was an omen to destroy the Jews since he had arrived in half the time from a long distance. He set out to destroy them forthwith.

What’s truly amazing is that millennia later, this verse came alive once again. The week of 9/11 – September 11, 2001 – we read this verse in our weekly parsha. We saw the truly prophetic nature of Hashem bringing a nation from a distance, “ka’asher yideh hanasher,” like an eagle swooping down, for the terrorist-pilots came from a great distance, from the other end of the world, and commandeered the planes.

What is additionally amazing is the unique word selection of the term “yideh.” The more common word would be “ya’uf.” Astonishingly, the word yideh, which is spelled yud-daled-alef-hei, corresponds to 9/11, for daled (4) and hei (5) equal 9, and alef (1) and yud (10) equal 11.

The pasuk continues, “Goy asher lo sishma l’shono” – A nation that you will not understand their tongue. In the post-analysis of 9/11, when intelligence bureaus such as Interpol and the CIA tried to figure out why they had not foreseen this horrific act, it was discovered that they didn’t have enough cryptographers who knew how to speak Arabic.

The pasuk then states, “Goy az ponim asher lo yisa ponim l’zakein v’na’ar lo yachon” – A nation of incredible impudence that has no respect for elder statesmen, nor does it have mercy on the young. This describes perfectly the jihad mentality where homicide-bombers have no compassion for women and children, nor do they have any respect for international diplomacy.

With amazing precision, the next pasuk continues, “V’heitzar l’cha b’chol sh’arecha” – They will distress you in all of your gateways. This forecasts the shutting down of all bridges and tunnels and airways during the terror of 9/11. “Ad redes chomosecha ha’g’vohos v’hab’tzuros asher attah botei’ach bahein b’chol artzecha” – Until the coming down of your most elevated and most fortified towers which you have the most faith in from all of your land.

We believe, of course, in the accuracy of the Torah. But it certainly strengthens our belief when we see the words of the Torah come alive throughout the ages. It is an eerie fact that on the day of the celebration of the opening of the Twin Towers, Rav Avigdor Miller, zt”l, zy”a, pronounced that as mighty as the Twin Towers are, “if Hashem wants them to come down, they will surely come down.”

May it be the will of Hashem that we not experience any more curses. Rather, may we celebrate very soon the coming of Mashiach, the building of the Beis HaMikdash, and the coronation of the scion of the Davidic dynasty, with long life, good health, and everything wonderful.

Transcribed and edited by Shelley Zeitlin.