By Rav Yaakov Bak
March 26, 2022 Anno Domini
Translated from the Russian
The following is a transcript (translated from Hebrew) of a video by venerable Rav Yitzhak-David Grossman of the Migdal Or organization in Israel, published a few weeks before the Russian attack on Ukraine:
When I was a child and stood next to my father in the synagogue… a certain person had the honor of sitting next to my father. I don’t remember who it was, but he told my father a story, and it stuck in my head for all the years.
He said that he once visited the Rabbi of Stolin, Rabbi Yisrael Perlov (1868-1921), who said to those present:
“Do you know what will happen before the arrival of Moshiach? Two roosters will fight each other, and the third rooster will come and strike both. But the Jewish people, thanks to their faith in the Most High, the God of Israel, will survive.”
People asked him what he was talking about, who were those roosters? Listen to what he said: “The two roosters are America and Russia. The third rooster is China.
It seems to me that the comments made by the Rebbe of Stolin a hundred years ago are connected with the following verse of the prophet Yeshayahu (27:1): , the serpent that coils, and will kill the monster that is in the sea.”
The commentators explain that these three beings (the straight serpent, the crooked serpent and the sea dragon) represent the three peoples who will be defeated in the war of Gog and Magog (RADAK), the “day of vengeance” (MAlbim). Among the comments we find:
1. RASHI (d. 1105): Pharaoh, king of Egypt, Sancherib, king of Ashura, and Esau, ancestor of Edom (Romans);
2. RADAK (d. 1235): Edom, Ishmael, India;
3. “Metsudat David” (d. 1769): Edom, Ishmael, other peoples on the sea islands;
4. MALBIM (d. 1879): A nation protected by its mountainous geography, a nation protected by its vast size and population, a strong and powerful nation.
This prophecy follows the words (26:21): “For, behold, the Lord comes out of his place to punish the inhabitant of the earth for his sinfulness; and the earth will reveal the blood (swallowed up) by it, and will no longer cover its slain.”
Commentators explain that this also refers to the war of Gog and Magog, which will be a time of disaster for Israel for a short time, until Divine Justice avenges the blood of Israel shed by the peoples of the world.