Zechariah's Prophecy Comes to Life: What He Revealed About Our Difficult Days

00:00 Who among us isn’t waiting these days, hoping to hear words of encouragement, words of comfort, words that will give us strength in these difficult times? We are all waiting for true comfort, the consolation of Zion and Jerusalem. “I, I am the One Who comforts you,” the prophet tells us. Hakadosh Boruch Hu Himself is the One Who can comfort us in these difficult days. We are all waiting for that comfort. Today I want to speak about words we heard from the prophet himself, Zechariah. In Tanach, in the Book of Zechariah, there is a prophecy given at this very time of year, on 24 Shvat. Zechariah was one of the last prophets, along with Haggai and Malachi. They lived during the Babylonian exile and were among those who came up from Babylon to Eretz Yisroel to build the Second Beis Hamikdash. The Book of Zechariah is full of comfort, full of remarkable prophecies. Right in its first chapter, he relates that on the twenty-fourth of Shvat he received a very special prophecy. This prophecy is deeply relevant, and it is important for us to reflect on it in these days. Zechariah writes: “I saw in the night, and behold, a man riding a red horse, standing among the myrtles.” In his prophecy, Zechariah sees a man riding a red horse, standing among the myrtles. He then goes on to say, “What are these?” He wants to ask; he asks Hakadosh Boruch Hu to explain what these horses are, what they mean—first red ones and then white ones. Then he is told that they have gone to see what is happening in the land, what is happening in the world. The angels return and report: “We have walked through the land, and behold, the whole land sits still and at rest.” “And the angel of Hashem answered and said: ‘Hashem of Hosts, how long will You withhold mercy from Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, with which You have been angry?’ And Hashem answered the angel who spoke with me with good words, comforting words.” Then he continues with the prophecy: “Thus says Hashem of Hosts:

02:23 “I am zealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with great zeal. And I am very angry with the complacent nations; for I was angry only a little, but they added to the harm.” Hakadosh Boruch Hu gives him the good news: “Therefore, thus says Hashem: I have returned to Jerusalem with mercy. My House will be built in it, declares Hashem of Hosts, and a measuring line will be stretched over Jerusalem.” “Thus says Hashem of Hosts: My cities will yet overflow with goodness, and Hashem will again comfort Zion and again choose Jerusalem.” These words speak for themselves. The prophet speaks to us about the complacent nations. His cry is: How long will You withhold mercy from Zion and Jerusalem? Those words echo in our minds and ears today more than ever, together with the words of comfort—that the cities will yet overflow with goodness and Hashem will again comfort Jerusalem. When we think about this prophecy and reflect on the days we are living through, it speaks of the complacent nations, who see what is happening in the world, see what is happening in Eretz Yisroel and to the Jewish people, and yet remain complacent. And here we also see the words of comfort: Hakadosh Boruch Hu speaks good words to us, comforting words. We know that when we see these words come true, the rest of the verse will certainly come true as well. The Rebbe addressed this prophecy more than forty years ago, in 5744. It was Shabbos Mevarchim, just as it is this year, Shabbos, 24 Shvat, and the Rebbe spoke about this prophecy. The Rebbe said that when we reflect on it, we see how closely its words relate to our own time. The point about the complacent nations: What is this complacency? Where does it come from? It is true that Hakadosh Boruch Hu decreed exile upon us—because of our sins we were exiled from our land. But the complacency of the nations around us, who see everything that is happening, while many of them still stand by and watch with coldness and complacency—

04:47 and do nothing—is very painful. Interestingly, the Rebbe explained why we actually expect the nations not to be complacent. What do we expect of them? We certainly expect them not to cause us any more trouble or suffering. But why does their complacency matter? The Rebbe explained that the nations of the world have the Seven Noahide Laws, one of which concerns the suffering of animals. The prohibition against eating a limb from a living animal is one of the seven commandments that all the nations of the world are obligated to observe. One must not cause an animal suffering. If the Torah demands that even the nations of the world show concern for animals, protect them and not cause them suffering, then how much more so must they care about the suffering of human beings. And all the more so the suffering of the Jewish people, as Rashi tells us on the first verse of Bereishis: the whole world was created for the Torah and for the Jewish people. So it is true that the Jewish people must be in exile, but even in exile they could live in the best part of the land, as they did at the beginning of their time in Egypt. The Jewish people should have been living in a palace, yet they were afflicted for four hundred years. But we see that it was not meant to be so harsh. They added to the suffering, as the verse says here: “I was angry only a little, but they added to the harm.” And this complacency, which shows a lack of concern, is what pains Hakadosh Boruch Hu most. To break through that complacency and bring about the fulfillment of the promise, the fulfillment of the words of comfort Zechariah gives us in this prophecy, it all has to begin with the Jewish people. The Rebbe then delivered a very powerful, wonderful sicha, speaking from the depths of his heart. Everything that happens in the world begins with the Jewish people. A Jew must know that his conduct is what, in fact,

06:53 affects everyone around him and the entire world. We see the complacency all around us. That demands, first of all, that we Jews put an end to our own complacency, to our coolness and coldness, to carrying on as though nothing is happening. Each and every one of us needs a stirring of life, an awakening—something must move in our hearts, and above all in our actions. We must know that we are now in the final moments of exile. The prophet’s cry, “How long will You withhold mercy from Zion and Jerusalem?” must be the cry of each and every one of us. A Jew is in exile; we see the suffering and hardship of exile, and yet we carry on with our daily lives as though nothing has happened. That complacency also brings about complacency in those around us. First of all, it has to begin with us, with every single Jew: to leave our complacency behind, to pray and ask Hakadosh Boruch Hu that this cry of “How long?” be a cry from deep within. When we pray each day, we ask several times—particularly in the Amidah, where we say, “May You speedily cause the offspring of David Your servant to flourish, for we hope for Your salvation all day,” and “May our eyes behold Your return to Zion in mercy.” We say these words in every prayer, three times a day, and on Shabbos. We say “May our eyes behold” on Shabbos too. We repeat this prayer and say these words, but we need to truly reflect on what we are saying. And after we pray, those words should keep echoing within us. It should matter to us; it should be important to us. That cry—“How long will You withhold mercy from Zion and Jerusalem? How long will the enemy taunt?”—how many times do these words appear in the prophets, in Tanach? “How long?” That must be the plea of every single Jew: to leave our complacency behind, to pray and ask that we merit to see the prophet’s words fulfilled. This account of Zechariah with the angel, with the man

09:11 The one sitting on the horses and standing among the myrtles is also discussed in the Gemara, Sanhedrin 93. The Gemara asks there: What does “and he stood among the myrtles” mean? The Gemara says there was a time when Hakadosh Boruch Hu wanted to turn the whole world into night. That is how it explains Zechariah’s prophecy. The prophecy begins by saying that it was at night. Hashem, G-d forbid, wanted to turn the whole world into darkness and night, into destruction. Then He saw the tzaddikim—the one standing among the myrtles. Who are the myrtles? The Gemara says these are the tzaddikim who gave their lives to sanctify Hashem’s name. Chananiah, Mishael, and Azariah lived at that time. We’re talking about the Babylonian exile. We know the story of Chananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, who were ready to give their lives to sanctify Hashem’s name rather than deny Hakadosh Boruch Hu. And think of the souls of the tzaddikim over so many generations—we see this throughout the thousands of years of exile. How many Jews gave their lives? How many Jews reached this level of the myrtles? These are the tzaddikim who gave their lives to sanctify Hashem’s name. Especially the pure souls in this recent period, when we thought such things were no longer going to happen. And, rachmana litzlan, as we see these things before our very eyes, we know, as the Gemara says there in Sanhedrin, that in the merit of these tzaddikim—the one standing among the myrtles—the red horses turned into white horses. The red, which signifies blood, darkness, murder, rachmana litzlan, and wars, turned into white horses of forgiveness, pardon, atonement, and consolation—good things, words of comfort, as the verse says here. It’s very interesting: Chassidus explains the whole subject of the chariot. Here we see a man sitting on horses. Chassidus explains that among the chariots we encounter in Tanach, we learn about three chariots. There are the prophecies of Yeshayahu, Yechezkel, and Zechariah. The prophet Yeshayahu saw the

11:26 supernal chariot, the angels. That’s the haftorah of Parshas Yisro. We read it not long ago, and there he describes the chariot Yeshayahu saw: “Seraphim stood above Him; each had six wings.” That is one kind of chariot. Then there is Yechezkel’s chariot, the famous chariot in the Book of Yechezkel. Over several chapters, he describes the chariot he saw: the face of an ox, the face of a lion, the face of an eagle, the face of a man, and all the details of the chariot Yechezkel saw. And there is Zechariah’s chariot, which we are discussing today, in the prophecy of 24 Shvat. Chassidus explains that these three kinds of chariots also represent three kinds of angels. They correspond to three periods. The prophet Yeshayahu lived when the Beis Hamikdash stood, and he saw the seraphim standing above Him—a high level of chariot, angels in the World of Beriah. Yechezkel lived at the time of the destruction of the First Beis Hamikdash, and he saw the chariot of the ofanim. That is a lower level of chariot. And Zechariah, who, as we said earlier, was among the last prophets, saw the chariot of horses. Horses are non-kosher animals, but what is special about horses? Chassidus explains something wonderful. On the one hand, as we said, a horse is a non-kosher animal. On the other hand, a horse has the power to run extremely fast. After all, the reason we call the angels a chariot is that a chariot takes you from place to place. The supernal chariot, with the supernal Man, so to speak, carries Hakadosh Boruch Hu, the holy Shechinah, and brings it into the world. Knesses Yisroel is uplifted by the chariot. Hakadosh Boruch Hu, the holy Shechinah, is revealed in the world through the chariot. So there are many kinds of chariots. The chariot of horses represents a time when the Jewish people are in the darkness of exile, in the harshest exile, and then it takes the form of horses. As we said, non-kosher animals symbolize the hardship of exile, the darkness of exile. But precisely the horses are the ones that run much faster. They can leap over high mountains, climb to the highest places, and descend to the lowest places. That is what the horses symbolize. Precisely in the darkness of the terrible, difficult exile we are now experiencing, the prophet Zechariah sees the red horses turning white. These horses symbolize the strength of self-sacrifice, the strength of faith, the strength of trust in Hashem that we have seen recently. In the latest war, we see the Jewish people, how everyone is united. We see the strength of self-sacrifice, the holiness of the Jewish people, their burning faith, and their trust in Hashem precisely in these difficult moments. So we are certain that we too will see all the words of comfort that the prophet Zechariah tells us here come true: good words, comforting words, “the cities of Jerusalem shall yet spread out,” and “He will yet comfort Jerus...” Hakadosh Boruch Hu is going to comfort us. Then we will see “and He will choose Jerusalem,” and the walls of Jerusalem and the walls of Eretz Yisroel will be rebuilt, and all the Jewish people—may we all merit the complete Geulah. As we also see later in the words of the prophet Zechariah, later in his prophecy, “a menorah entirely of gold” speaks of Knesses Yisroel: how Hakadosh Boruch Hu is with each and every Jew, and He is the One who will take us out of exile. May we merit to see the complete Geulah with Moshiach Tzidkeinu this very day.

13:45 the hardest of all—and that is the level of the horses. As we said, non-kosher animals symbolize the hardship of exile, the darkness of exile. But it is precisely the horses that run much faster. They can leap over high mountains, climb to the highest places, and also descend to the lowest places. That is what the horses symbolize. It is precisely in the darkness of the terrible, difficult exile we are in now that the prophet Zechariah sees the red horses turning white. These horses symbolize the strength of self-sacrifice, faith, and trust in Hashem that we have seen recently. In the latest war, we see how united the Jewish people are—their self-sacrifice, the holiness of the Jewish people, their burning faith and their trust in Hashem, precisely in these difficult moments. So we are certain that we, too, will see the fulfillment of all the words of comfort that the prophet Zechariah tells us here: “Good words, comforting words,” and “My cities shall again overflow,” and “He will again comfort Jerus...” Hakadosh Boruch Hu is going to comfort us. Then we will see that He “will again choose Jerusalem,” and the walls of Jerusalem and of the Land of Israel will be built again, for the entire Jewish people. We will all merit the complete Geulah. As we also see later in the words of the prophet Zechariah, in the continuation of his prophecy, the menorah made entirely of gold speaks of the Jewish people—how Hakadosh Boruch Hu is with each and every Jew. He is the One who will take us out of exile, and may we merit to see the complete Geulah with Moshiach Tzidkeinu this very day.