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The story of Gog and Magog is found in this morning’s haftorah reading, taken from Ezekiel 38. It’s complex, but basically it’s a story in which a prince Gog, from the land of Magog, invades Israel. When G-d insures Gog’s defeat, the Israelites are left with the task of burying numerous bodies – an unpleasant job at best. But in the aftermath of this upheaval, the longed-for Messianic age would arrive. This dovetailed with the rabbinic belief in the “birth pangs” of the Messiah. (Chevlay ha-mashiach)
The question which has been posed throughout history concerns the exact identity of Gog (and Magog). One Hasidic master identified this conflict as the Napoleonic invasion of Russia in the 19th century. Obviously this didn’t turn out to be the case, although it did form the backdrop for Tolstoy’s “War and Peace.” No less an authority than Maimonides (1135-1204) suggests that, while belief in a Messianic time is a core Jewish belief, we can’t really concern ourselves with the details because even the rabbis of the Talmud weren’t sure of them.
But why we read the story of Gog and Magog today – that is, its connection to the festival of Sukkot – is something that the Talmudic Sages did address. In the Talmudic tractate Megillah (31a) we read:
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Rav Huna said in the name of Rav: When Shabbat occurs on one of the intermediate days of a Festival, whether on Passover or on Sukkot, they read the Torah portion of “See, You say to me” (Exodus 33:12–34:26), as it includes the halakhot of the Festivals and the intermediate days. They read as the haftorah, on Passover, from the portion of the dry bones (Ezekiel 37:1–14), which portrays redemption from servitude, and on Sukkot they read “And it shall come to pass on that day when Gog shall come” (Ezekiel 38:18–39:16), which speaks of the future redemption.
In other words, the festivals of Passover and Sukkot, celebrated precisely six months apart, are parallel in certain ways. Passover marks our liberation from slavery, that is, our physical redemption. But Sukkot marks our spiritual redemption, which comes later. In fact, just as Sukkot on the calendar falls at the time of the final annual harvest, so it also marks the time when our “final” redemption will be complete.
What signs should we look for that it’s approaching? Let’s just say it’s even harder to track than a hurricane.
- Rabbi Scott Hoffman
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