By Nic Levy
In 2003, in a top-secret phone call to French president Jacques Chirac about the impending invasion of Iraq, George W. Bush referenced the book of Ezekiel, saying “Gog and Magog are at play in the Middle East.” After calling up a professor of theology in order in understand the reference, Chirac became hesitant to send troops to Iraq.
The story of גּוֹג וּמָגוֹג, sometimes read as “Gog and Magog” and sometimes as “Gog from Magog” is found in Muslim, Christian, Jewish, and even ancient British folklore. A large, unbeatable foe is often depicted, who is then defeated miraculously by God or some deity, as a sign of the end times to come.
In Jewish tradition “the war of Gog and Magog” is a sign of an apocalyptic end-of-days. Specifically, the prophesies mention how this great war will affect the relationship between the goyim and the yidden in the time of Moshiach. As the 70 nations (the descendants of Noah that have spread over the globe) battle it out, the Jews shall stay away from these foreign affairs and will be kept safe in the hills of Jerusalem.
The reason for reading Zechariah and Ezekiel’s eschatological prophesies on the Yom Tov and Chol HaMoed Shabbat of Sukkot is not immediately clear. The apocalyptic wars are said to take place during this same month of Tishrei, and Zechariah mentions that “All who survive of the nations that have come against Jerusalem shall go up year after year to worship the King, the Lord of Hosts, and to keep the festival of booths (Sukkot)” and that all who do not make the pilgrimage to Jerusalem shall be cursed with drought (14:16-17).
Sukkot occurs on the fifteenth day of Tishrei, four days after Yom Kippur, and fourteen days after Rosh Hashanah. On the last day of Sukkot, Hoshana Rabbah, our fates for the upcoming year are finally sealed with the beating of the willows. Hasidut tells us that the first of the days of judgement, the high holy days, are merely spiritual and individualistic. Sukkot is the first cheshbon, of the year, or evaluation. Our mitzvoth are finally being taken into account, and after fourteen days of self-reflection we are finally able to celebrate and rejoice together in nature (a sukkah) and this celebration culminates with simchas Torah, where all Jews dance indoors with a closed Torah, which is representative of our most basic connection to the Torah regardless of our observance of mitzvoth or ability to study.
Alrighty well that was kinda jumbled. There is way more where that came from. If you want to talk about Jewish eschatology or the role of goyim in the holiday or even the gemmatrial interpretation of YHVH in Sukkot please get in touch with me; I’ve recently dropped out of school for a semester and have a lot more free time. What I’ve decided to really focus on for this dvar is the wisdom in Kohelet, the text we read on Hol Hamo’ed Sukkot, and meaning that mitzvoth should play in our lives.