Does The Fall of Damascus Mean That Moshiach Is Coming?

Dear Jew in the City,

Can we understand the fall of the Assad regime as the fall of Damascus described by Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai? 

Thanks,

Alexis

Dear Alexis

Thanks for your question, which I didn’t understand at all. In asking for clarification, I was directed to a tweet in which some rabbi cites an obscure midrash to this effect on an Israeli news program. After a little more effort than I would have liked, I found the source in a midrashic work called Perek Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, all the way at the very end. The relevant portion says:

This will be the sign for you: When you see the fall of the Nero of the east in Damascus, the kingdom of the people of the east will fall. Then, salvation will sprout for Israel and the Davidic messiah will come. They will ascend to Jerusalem and rejoice over it, as it says (Psalms 37:11), “the humble will inherit the land and rejoice over great peace.”

I admit that it’s an interesting thought, since we have just witnessed the fall of Damascus, but we’re far from the first. In 640, Syria was conquered by Khalid ibn al-Walid and Damascus became the capital of the Umayyad dynasty. In 750, the Umayyad dynasty was overthrown by the Abbasid dynasty.

During the Crusades in the twelfth century, Syria was mostly the Principality of Antioch. It was then conquered by Salah ad-Din, a Kurd. Damascus fell to the Mongols in 1260. The Mamluks defeated the Mongols in 1281 and made Damascus a regional capital. The Mongols retook Damascus in 1400.

In 1516, the Ottoman Empire conquered Syria. In 1831, Egypt overran Syria and captured Damascus. In 1840, the Ottomans took it back. The Ottoman Empire was dissolved in 1922, but by this time Syria had already become a League of Nations mandate.

In 1920, an independent Kingdom of Syria was established but Faisal I ruled for only a few months. France occupied Syria, which was put under a French mandate. In 1936, Syria negotiated independence from France and Hashim al-Atassi was elected the first president of the modern republic of Syria, but France refused to ratify the treaty. In 1940, Syria came under the control of Vichy France; the British and Free French occupied the country in 1941. The French withdrew in 1946, leaving the country under the control of a republican government.

In 1949, Syria was overthrown in a military coup led by Colonel Husni al-Za’im. He was overthrown by Colonel Sami al-Hinnawi, who was overthrown by Colonel Adib Shishakli – all in the same year! Shishakli was overthrown in 1954 and the parliament was restored.

In 1958, Syria and Egypt merged as the United Arab Republic. Syria seceded in 1961, following – you guessed it – a coup.

In 1963, the Ba’athists took control after yet another coup, forming a totalitarian state. In 1966, one Ba’athist faction rebelled against the military government, imprisoned the president and formed a civilian government. In 1970, Salah Jadid was deposed by Hafiz al-Assad. His son, Bashar al-Assad, was elected (unopposed) in 2000 and deposed in December 2024.

So, when you speak of seeing “the fall of the Nero of the east in Damascus,” to which revolution does it refer? The Umayyad dynasty in 640? The Abbasid dynasty in 750? The Mongols in 1260? The Mamluks in 1281? The Ottoman Empire? Egypt? France? al-Za’im? al-Hinnawi? Shishakli? The Ba’athists? al-Assad’s ouster is just the latest in a loooong list. What makes you think this is the one Rabbi Shimon meant?

At this point, I’d like to turn from Syria to The Simpsons. In the episode “Thank God It’s Doomsday,” Homer calculates the date of the Rapture. He develops a large following but it turns out he has made a math error and the Rapture doesn’t occur as he predicted. He corrects the error and calculates the right day, but it’s too late: his disillusioned followers no longer believe that the Rapture is coming.

Two thousand years before The Simpsons, our Sages gave us a similar warning regarding trying to calculate Moshiach’s arrival. They cursed those who try to calculate the end of days specifically because if and when someone gets it wrong, others will despair of it happening at all (Sanhedrin 97b). So, I’m not a big fan of “messianic signs.”

Only a few in history were ever privy to the secret. Our forefather Yaakov tried to share it with his son, so the information was blocked from him (Genesis 49:1; Pesachim 56a). Daniel was specifically told to “keep the words secret and seal the book until the end time” (Daniel 12:4). This information was never intended for the likes of you and me.

So, what should we do? The answer is in Deuteronomy 29:28. There it says, “The secret things belong to Hashem our God, while the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever so that we may perform all the words of this Torah.”

Our job is to keep the Torah, not to mess around with things that we’re told not to worry about. Is the current fall of Syria the one foretold by Rabbi Shimon? Maybe. The answer depends on whether or not Moshiach arrives imminently. But it doesn’t matter. Either way, we have to do what God has told us in the Torah. We must do our part and have faith that He has His part under control.

Sincerely,
Rabbi Jack Abramowitz
Educational Correspondent
Follow Ask Rabbi Jack on YouTube

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