It is fascinating how many peoples and religions have some kind of tradition of an apocalyptic battle at the end of history, perhaps borrowed from the writings of the Jewish prophets. On the other hand, perhaps, being acutely aware of evil in the world, and, its overwhelming hold on mankind, they sense that nothing short of a major showdown between the forces of good and evil will end evil's dominance over history once and for all.

The technical, Biblical term for this war is "The War of Gog and Magog." There are a few references to this war in the Talmud itself:

There is no accepting converts in the Days of Moshiach ... but rather, they will be 'Gerrim Gerurim' (dragged along). They will wear Tefillin on their heads and arms, Tzitzis on their clothing, Mezuzos will be at their openings. However, once they see the war of Gog and Magog, they will ask them, "Why have you come?" They will answer, "Against G-d and his Moshiach" ... At which point, each one will abandon his mitzvos and go. (Avodah Zarah 3b)

Thus, such converts, unable to build up the proper faith in the face of such mortal danger, will instead quit rather than be counted amongst the Jewish people.

Elsewhere the Talmud writes and advises:

All who eat the three meals of Shabbos will be saved from three things: punishment during the travails of Moshiach, the judgment of Gehinnom, and the war of Gog and Magog. (Shabbos 118a)

Apparently, the third meal on Shabbos should not be taken lightly, especially at this late time in history.

Of course, one of the original sources for the concept of 'Milchemes Gog u'Magog' is the prophets:

"It shall come to pass on that day, on the day that Gog shall come against the Land of Israel," says the L-rd, G-d, "My fury shall rise up ... And in My jealousy, in the fire of My anger, I have spoken -- surely on that day there will be a great shaking in Eretz Yisroel. The fish of the sea and the birds of the sky and the beasts of the field, and all the creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all the people who are upon the face of the earth, shall shake at My Presence; the mountains shall be destroyed, the steep places shall fall, and every wall will fall to the ground." (Yechezkel 38:18-20)

Other prophets, such as Zechariah (12-14), Yirmiyahu (30), Daniel (11-12), Yoel (4), speak of this war. There is a reference to the war of Gog u'Magog in Tehillim as well (83).

Now, there is a rule when it comes to prophecy, and that is, whereas ALL good prophecies MUST come true, negative prophecies DO NOT have to come true. They can be avoided through national teshuvah and world
rectification, admittedly a tall order as of this time.

According to the Zohar (Shemos 7b), Moshiach's coming is supposed to stir up the nations and precipitate a major war against the Jewish people. Says the prophet, Daniel, it will be ..."A time of trouble such as has never been seen" (Daniel 12:1)

However, according to the Midrash, this will not happen just once, but three times -- three time throughout Jewish history Gog u'Magog will have marched against the Jewish people and onto Jerusalem, with the help of
other nations. (Midrash Tehillim, 118:9). According to Rashi (Yechezkel 38:8), this battle will purge the Jewish people of all insincere converts (as we saw above), and act as a rectification for the nation.

And even though the Talmud refers to the battle of Chizkiah and Sennecheriv as one such a battle:

The Holy One, Blessed is He, was about to make [King] Chizkiah the Moshiach and Sennecheriv [who attacked Jerusalem], Gog and Magog, when the Attribute
of Judgment said before The Holy One, Blessed is He, "Master of the Universe! David, the king of Israel, who recited many songs and praises You did not make Moshiach. Chizkiah, for whom You have performed great miracles, and for which he did not recite song, You want to make Moshiach?" (Sanhedrin 94a)

-- it is uncertain whether Midrash Tehillim counts this battle as one of the three. Chizkiah might not have been Moshiach, but, was Sennecheriv at least Gog and Magog?

Many hold that World War II was also such a war. It certainly had all the conditions for a war of Gog and Magog, for Hitler himself claimed to be at war only with the Jews. From Hitler's point of view, the Holocaust was not about World War II, but World War II was about the Holocaust.

Not too long, after World War I, Rabbi Eliyahu Lopian wrote: I heard in London from the holy Rabbi Elchanan Wasserman, quoting the Chofetz Chaim, that Chazal say the war of Gog and Magog will be threefold. After the First World War, the Chofetz Chaim said that this was the first battle of Gog and Magog, and in about twenty-five years (1942) there would be a second world war, which would make the first one seem insignificant,
and then there would be a third battle ... Rav Elchanan concluded that one must suffer the pangs of Moshiach, but the wise man will quietly prepare himself during that time-perhaps he will be worthy of seeing the comforting
of Tzion and Yerushalayim. (Lev Eliyahu, Shemos, p.172)

Thus, according to this statement, one final battle of Gog and Magog may have yet to occur, G-d forbid.

Some conclude that the final battle will not be a physical one, but an ideological one (Rabbi Shimshon Raphael Hirsch). According to Rabbi Hirsch, "Gog" is the people and philosophy, and "Magog" is the exporting of that philosophy (just like "medabehr," which means speaking, is the "projection" of the Hebrew word, "dibur," speech). Hence, according to this opinion, the existing and exceedingly difficult battle against assimilation and inter-marriage, and general disinterest in Judaism, may itself be that very battle!

Who exactly are "Gog" and "Magog" supposed to be?

Originally, 'Magog' was the name of a people: These are the generations of Noach's sons, Shem, Cham and Yefes, [to whom] children were born after the Flood. The sons of Yefes were Gomer, Magog ... (Bereishis 10:1-2)

Targum Yonason identifies Magog with Germania (I Divrei HaYamim 1:5), whereas the Talmud Yerushalmi (Megillah 1:9) seems to say they were the Goths, who migrated to Scythia in what is now southern Russia. Others say that the Mongols may have been from Magog, and it is reported that the Great Wall of China was called by Arab writers, the 'wall of al Magog.'

Gog, according to the Septuagint, is 'Agag,' a generic term used for kings of Amalek, the anti-thetical nation of the Jewish people. That would figure because, any war against the Jews meant to annihilate them has to involve Amalek, if not physically, at least conceptually. For, according to the Brisker Rav, even if there are no pure-bred Amalekians walking the earth today, there are evil people who can imitate his philosophy and even have the halachic status of an Amalekian. Many believe that Adolph Hitler had such a status.

Not to mention the concept of 'gilgulim.' Though current bodies of protagonists and antagonists may be on the stage of history for the first time, it is unlikely that this is the case for their souls. The souls of today's evil people, especially ruthless anti-Semites, no matter what their
nationality may be today, are, more than likely, the same souls as ruthless anti-Semites from the past.

In other words, whether Gog and Magog is a people that has actually PHYSICALLY descended from Biblical ancestors or not, it matters not. What matters only is who will 'wear' the 'clothing' of Gog and Magog at the End-of-Days should, G-d forbid, such a battle occur.

According to the Zohar, though, it says that: ... The Children of Yishmael will go up at that time with the nations of the world against Jerusalem ... (Zohar, 1:119a).

Furthermore, there are other midrashim that seem to paint the Arabs in this light, and many rabbis who have taught that 'Golus Yishmael' comes at the tail-end of 'Golus-Edom.' And, as we have pointed out before, the Zohar also says:

In the time of the resurrection of the dead, many camps will arise in Land of the Galil, because that is where the Moshiach is going to be first revealed, since it is part of Yosef's territory. It will be the first place to be destroyed. It will begin there ahead of all other places, and then
spread to the nations  (Zohar, Vayakhel 220a)

Have we witnessed the fulfillment of this prophecy already? At the beginning of this most recent Intifadah, the Arabs pillaged and destroyed the yeshivah in Shechem -- Yosef's inheritance!

In any case, whomever Gog and Magog will be, whatever war they will wage at whatever time in history, and, for however long it will last (some say not more than three hours!), it's main purpose will be to test the faith of the Jews of that time. For those alive at the time, it may seem like an issue of PHYSICAL survival only. However, according to tradition, all of that will only be to test our ability to SPIRITUALLY survive -- to remain
steadfast in our belief in spite of the terrible storm brewing on the horizon.

That is not a level of belief that one simply 'snaps' into at the moment of crisis. It is the result of many years of hard work developing the proper understanding of how G-d runs His world, and, why we can trust Him until the very end, and beyond. Faith is like a muscle: strengthen it during the 'quiet' moments and it will serve you well during the 'hard' moments.

Techiyas HaMeisim-Resurrection                  Of The Dead

The leap from Yemos HaMoshiach to the period of Techiyas HaMeisim (Resurrection of the Dead) is far greater than the leap from our period of history to Yemos HaMoshiach. For, whereas in Yemos HaMoshiach new bodies will be brought into the world through the
familiar birth process, in Techiyas HaMeisim they will be built anew just like Adam HaRishon's body was at the beginning of Parashas Bereishis:

... It is like a craftsman who extracts silver from its source in the ground; in the beginning he puts it into an oven until all the impurities of the ground are removed, and the silver remains. But not perfect silver, until he puts it into the over again Likewise, The Holy One, Blessed is He, puts the body into the ground until it completely rots and all of the zuhama is removed, and only a small amount of decomposed matter remains. From this He re-builds the body... (Zohar, Vayaira 115b-116a)

What this means is that at the beginning, He will build the body from the small amount of decomposed matter, which will be clean and pure from zuhama. However, it will still be quite physical and not in its true perfected state. (Sha'arei Leshem, p. 490)

Thus, the purpose of resurrection is clear: it is to rebuild the body free of any impurities, so that it can return to its ideal state of 'Kesones Ohr' (aleph-vav-raish), when it is more soul-like than body-like. How long this process takes is the same for every person, however, just when the process begins will vary from person to person:

In any case, the time of resurrection will vary, for, one who is rectified earlier from his zuhama will die and resurrect earlier, since the point of death then will only be to decay the physicality of the body and renew it as a new entity. As a result, the period of death to resurrection for the entire 'generation' will be long, though, tzaddikim who have died previously will resurrect immediately at the beginning of the period, which will be after forty years of the ingathering of the exiles (Sha'arei Leshem, p. 489)

This is what it says in Midrash:

There will be many resurrections, and the period of time will continue, according to Rebi Yehudah from forty years after Kibbutz Golios, at which time the first resurrection will occur, and continue until the last resurrection, a period of 210 years. Rebi Yitzchak says: 214 years. (Midrash Ne'elam, Toldos 140a)

Explains the Leshem: there will be many resurrections over a large period of time, with the first resurrection occurring after forty years of ingathering of exiles, that is, 210 years in advance of Year 6000. The last resurrection will occur towards the end of the 210 years:

They will not all die at the same time, for, the world will not be destroyed in advance of Techiyas HaMeisim. Rather, some will die early, and some later, just as it is now. It will continue this way for a long time-the entire forty-year period of Kibbutz Golios until the first resurrection, as well as the entire 210 years or 214 years after the first resurrection until the last resurrection, as we mentioned previously. Anyone who is not yet rectified by the time resurrection begins as is fitting for eternal life, will die at the end. (Sha'arei Leshem, 490)

Hence, during the period of 210 years, some people will have already resurrected, whereas others will still await death, decomposition, and, resurrection. However, whereas on this side of history we fear death and long to live, on THAT side of history we will long to finally die and be recreated anew:

All those who still live the life of This World will say 'Holy!' before the righteous who have already arisen during the resurrection. The world will exist on two levels: that of angels and that of man. (Sha'arei Leshem, p. 490)

In such a spiritually holy environment, it will be impossible to ignore one's own physicality, and, the sooner one dies, the sooner one will be able to join the ranks of the angels.

Many questions arise as a result of the concept of resurrection, since it represents the 'final form' of the person (though it can become increasingly spiritual as time progresses and creation becomes more elevated). However, when we consider the concept of 'gilgulim,
that is, reincarnation, then the question arises, which body returns in Techiyas HaMeisim?

After all, reincarnation implies that a single soul can live many lives. And, furthermore, in the course of living many lives, he may have had many wives, and she, many husbands-one per lifetime. For whom do we resurrect?

The answer is not so simple, and, it is beyond the scope of this discussion to fully provide it, even if that were possible. However, some details are available, beginning with:

Look also in the Zohar (Chaye Sarah 126a), where it says that the resurrection will literally occur ... in the body that suffered with the soul in This World and did not derive any pleasure from the entire Torah and his good deeds ... after it is purified from all its zuhama and physicality, as a result of death and decomposition in the ground, as it is explained. (Sha'arei Leshem, p. 489)

Thus, according to the Leshem, the body that was used the most to learn Torah and to perform mitzvos, with the least amount of worldly benefit for doing so, is the one destined to be resurrected. Considering that Torah and mitzvos themselves are meant to act as a process of refinement, that would make sense.

And, the less worldly benefit derived for learning Torah and doing mitzvos would mean that the person did both for altruistic reasons, adding to the purification process of the body. For, nothing purifies the body more than serving G-d for HIS sake, and not for our own
sake; it is considered as if the person sacrificed himself on the altar as a sacrifice to G-d and ascended Heavenward.

However, as we will see from the Arizal, it is not so simple which body returns in Techiyas HaMeisim, or, for that matter, how many.

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Perceptions, Copyright © 2001 Rabbi Pinchas Winston and Torah.org.