Question: There is a well-known story of Rabbi Akiva, the great teacher of generations, when he and three sages stood amidst the ruins of the Second Temple, and suddenly a fox ran through the place where the Holy of Holies stood. All the sages wept, but Rabbi Akiva suddenly laughed. They asked him, “Why are you laughing?! Wild animals are already running where the Holy of Holies stood!”

He said, “One prophecy has been fulfilled, the prophecy of the prophet Uriah, that the Temple would be destroyed, and this means that another prophecy will also be fulfilled, the prophecy of Zechariah, which says that Jerusalem will be rebuilt.” And so on. In response, the sages said, “Akiva, you have comforted us!”

Rabbi Akiva understood that the prophecy of the future Jerusalem and the Land of Israel would be fulfilled.

How would you comment on the words of Zechariah in his prophecy?

His prophecy relates to the period of the final redemption, which is called “the end of times.” He lived 350 years before our era.

Zechariah predicted, “Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of staggering unto all the peoples round about. And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will make Jerusalem a stone of burden for all the peoples; all that burden themselves with it shall be sore wounded; and all the nations of the earth shall be gathered together against it“ (Zechariah 12: 2-3).

What is the “end of times”?

Answer: The end of times is when the time has come to hold righteous judgment over all people.

Question: How can we Jews become a “cup of staggering” for all nations?

Answer: Because the nations will see that in our hands lies the ability to correct ourselves and thus correct the world, yet we fail to do so.

Question: Is this what it means to become a “cup of staggering”? It feels like this time is approaching. I see how people are beginning to treat us.

Answer: Yes, it will come in waves, sometimes rising, sometimes falling, and it will reach a point where the entire world will want to destroy us.

Question: So will it truly become a cup of staggering?

Answer: Yes, but our actions must be the opposite. We must show the world that only by uniting among us can we save the world and then a force called “Messiah” will emerge within us.

It will pull all of humanity out of egoism and elevate them to a spiritual level. “Messiah” comes from the word “to pull out.”

Question: Further, Zechariah writes: “And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem“ (Zechariah 12:9).

So far, today armies and diplomacies are fighting. In what case does the Creator engage in battle? It is written here that He, the Creator, fights for Israel.

Answer: He does not fight for Israel as it exists today. He fights for the manifestation of faith in the Creator in the world and the need for Him to teach all humanity how we truly should live.

Question: Here it says, “I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.” What does it mean?

Answer: Jerusalem represents the fear of God. It is Ira Shlema, complete fear, before the Creator.

Question: Then it continues: “And there shall be no more extermination; but Jerusalem shall dwell safely” (Zechariah 14:11). How do you understand this?

Answer: I understand that from then on, people will no longer attack each other. They will try to live in peace and fully follow, as much as they can each time, the laws of the Creator.

Question: Are you referring to all people in the world in this case?

Answer: Yes.

Comment: Although it is said that “Jerusalem shall dwell safely.”

My Response: Jerusalem represents the whole world.

Question: Moving on. Zechariah predicts: “Jerusalem shall be inhabited without walls” (Zechariah 2:8). When there is no need to build walls anymore, what kind of state is this?

Answer: This is already the common redemption of people from their egoism, from all prejudices, beliefs, and so on, and the revelation of the Creator to all nations.

Question: Are you again talking about the world?

Answer: Yes.

Question: “Yea many peoples and mighty nations shall come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem, and to entreat the favour of the LORD (Zechariah 8:22). …in that day shall the LORD be One, and His name one “(Zechariah 14:9).

What does it mean “mighty nations shall come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem”?

Answer: Because He must be revealed in this city, in this place. But Jerusalem is in the heart of each person, the most central, secret place. They will strive to feel Him there: “Is there a Creator in me, at the center, in the depths of my heart?” And everyone will seek like this.

Question: Do I have this point of fear before the Creator?

Answer: You do. Every person does.

Question: Will they find precisely this point? Then what does “shall the LORD be One, and His name” one mean?

Answer: Then they will connect all these points in the heart, and God will be one and His name will be one.

Comment: This is very beautiful! If we say, “the LORD is one,” then all religions, all beliefs…

My Response: All of that will be abolished. There will be one aspiration.

Question: When we say “The LORD is one,” are we talking about the quality of the Lord? Love, bestowal,  is that what we mean?

Answer: Yes.

Question: Moving on: “Thus saith the LORD: I return unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem; and Jerusalem shall be called the city of truth” (Zechariah 8:3).

This phrase I return unto Zion always goes after the Jews, after the people. Poets and Psalms talk about this. What does the return to Zion mean for the world, if we are already talking about the world?

Answer: Zion, or rather, Tzion, comes from the word “Etzia,” exit and distancing. That is, through distancing from Jerusalem and coming as if to Jerusalem, through these small steps, the Creator creates a real desire in us to reveal Him.

Question: If you said that this is the point of fear before the Creator within us, then we lose it, find it, lose it, and find it again. Does it become stronger as a result?

Answer: Yes.

Question: So, by doing so, do we come closer and closer to it?

Answer: Yes, in this way it is revealed more and more in us each time.

Question: Should there always be these entrances and exits in us?

Answer: Yes.

Question: They do exist. You lose, then you find… All the time either in disbelief or in faith, that’s how you are.

My question is: Jerusalem as the “city of truth.” “Truth” what does it mean here?

Answer: Truth is when it will be revealed that there is truth in the world.

Question: Does this relate to the fear before the Creator?

Answer: Yes.

Question: Is this what truth is?

Answer: Truth is to know the Creator.

Question: We constantly say, “We seek the truth. We seek the truth.” Is this what we are seeking? Are we constantly seeking the Creator?

Answer: Yes.

Comment: But He hides behind all the clothing, and so on.

Further, there is a very beautiful phrase, just the song of songs!

It says: “Thus saith the LORD of hosts: There shall yet old men and old women sit in the broad places of Jerusalem, every man with his staff in his hand for every age. And the broad places of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the broad places thereof” (Zechariah 8:4-5).

My Response: Beautiful!

Comment: Very beautiful!

My Response: This is tranquility, this is wisdom that descends upon the city, which represents all the aspirations of humanity, and which will receive all this wisdom and distribute it to all the nations.

Question: It is very interesting here. Why does it speak specifically about the elderly who will sit in peace “with his staff in his hand for every age” and then it immediately talks about boys and girls playing?

There is not some kind of middle, just old age and youth.

Answer: This is because the more a person strives for wisdom, the younger he becomes. The wisest and the youngest in each person will find each other, understand each other, and coexist in joy.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 3/18/24

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Understanding The Language Of Prophecy
Was The Prophecy Wrong?
Kabbalistic Prophecy

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