The projections for Europe seem pretty bleak. Aside from the suicidally low birth rates of "indigenous" Europeans, they have a surging Arab/Muslim population that is openly shaping to take over the continent altogether. So apart from a few notable exceptions like Geert Wilders, the Eurowimps appear to have given up the game already, and are practising a mixture of appeasement and abject surrender to the conquering culture. All the futurists concur that it won't be long before Europe is Eurabia - maybe a couple of decades and the whole continent will be under Sharia law.
The US isn't faring much better, either, under the Obama administration. While I won't go along with the "Obama is a secret Muslim" conspiracy theorists, even though technically according to halacha nationality for non-Jews follows the paternal line (and his father was a Muslim), what is clear is that Obama shares the European penchant for craven multiculturalism, i.e. deprecation of Western culture, and reflexive respect, honor and awe for Islam. That wouldn't be so bad if we could just wait him out for another 2 years, but he's also pursuing a radical socio-economic agenda, that if successful, will leave America's economy in ruins, like the European welfare states on which his policies are modeled.
You might choose to debate the intricacies of these arguments, and maybe I'm overstating the case, but the indisputable point is that the trend is a weakening, diffident and irresolute West, and a strengthening, confident and determined Islam. Conventional wisdom is that this is, in general, a bad thing, because the kind of Islam that's on the rise is the kind that doesn't hold by our fancy modern liberal scruples, like women's rights, free speech, freedom of religion, gay rights, etc. I, for one, would be very afraid of living in a Muslim state, and picturing the world under the domination of Islam is a frightening thought.
But maybe it's not all that bad.
I've been reading a fascinating little book by Rabbi Mordechai Neugroschel, whom I met a few months ago, called "Galus Yishmael", in which he suggests that there is more than just a little silver lining to this black cloud. There's a lot of research behind it from primary sources, but I'll try to precis the main ideas here, without quoting those sources:
There are many primary sources (e.g. gemara) and later commentators (e.g. Maharal) that refer to a Galus Yishmael, which is set to follow Galus Edom (our current exile), in which Esav (the West) hands over his power to Yishmael (the Arabs/Muslims), and the two combined proceed to oppress the Jews, with Yishmael now taking the lead role. While the oppression of Galus Yishmael is in many ways more severe than Galus Edom that preceded it, it is a necessary step towards the ultimate redemption of the Jewish people.
The reason for this is really quite fascinating, and goes back to the story of Yaakov Avinu tricking Yitzchak into giving him the
berachos instead of Esav. The agitated Esav wheedles another set of blessings out of his father, among which: "
...you will serve your brother, yet it shall be that when you are aggrieved, you may cast off his yoke from upon your neck." (Bereishis 27:40). According to our tradition, this means that when the Jews are behaving correctly, keeping the Torah and all the mitzvos, then Esav is subservient and powerless against us... but the reverse is also true, that when we are
not up to par, then Esav has the upper hand over us. That's an ironclad promise from Yitzchak Avinu, and even Hashem will not nullify his words.
So how are we ever to escape from Galus Edom? We cannot even rely on Hashem's mercy - Esav has a blessing from Yitzchak Avinu that gives him power over us, unless Klal Yisrael does mass teshuva! What chance do we ever have of that?
No chance, so it seems. And this is where Yishmael comes into play, as an unlikely - and unwitting - savior. When Yishmael usurps world dominion from Esav, he also circumvents for us the problem of Yitzchak's bracha to Esav - because when Yishmael turns his malevolent attention towards the Jewish people, with Esav sidelined we suddenly have the ability to appeal to Hashem's mercy, even from our lowly spiritual state. Yishmael has no blessing from Yitzchak, and therefore no guarantee of retaining the upper hand even when we are collectively sinful. Indeed, the gemara tells us why he is called Yishmael - because in the end of days, the oppression from Yishmael will be so great that Yisrael will cry out to Hashem for help, and He will hear us (Yishma Kel).
So now it seems all along we've actually been cheering for the wrong team! While Esav of late has certainly provided a more comfortable
galus than what Yishmael is offering, in the long run it will actually be very
good for the Jews for Esav to lose his world dominion to Yishmael! I won't say I'm exactly rooting for Osama bin Laden & Co, because my enemy's enemy is, in this case, still my enemy. But as a previous prime minister of Israel said in reference to some in-fighting between rival Arab groups: "I wish both sides the best of luck."
For us Jews, these ideas may serve as some comfort - and a reminder to us that our hearts should always be directed towards Heaven, because absent national repentance, only through our prayers and individual repentance can we be saved from our exile. May we merit to see it speedily!
