Defanging the Persian Bear
Rabbi Shraga Simmons
Iran crossed the red line. Israel and America responded and the world watches a new dawn. In a spectacular military operation, the U.S. dropped bunker-busting bombs and launched cruise missiles at Fordo, Natanz and Esfahan – Iran’s three main nuclear facilities. The sites were, in Trump’s words “completely and totally obliterated.”
This was not merely military and political news. This is a spiritual moment, the fulfillment of decades-long prayers. A turning point in Jewish and world history. President Trump, in announcing the U.S. strike, choked up as he thanked G-d and said, “We love You, G-d.”
The Bear is Back
The biblical prophet Daniel describes a vision of four beasts, representing four empires that oppress Israel. The “bear” symbolizes Persia, modern-day Iran. The Talmud explains that the Persian Empire – aggressive, irrational, unruly – “have no rest like bears.”
In our days, ancient prophecy came to life when the mad mullahs of Iran roared into the nuclear age with the same raw aggression noted by the Talmudic Sages. Their goal: Launch an apocalyptic war that ushers in a “messianic era” of global domination under the most extreme form of Islamic Sharia law.
For decades, Iran’s jihadi death cult preached “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel.” Not as mere slogans, but as policies. For decades, Iran funded terror proxies – Hamas, Hezbollah, Houthis, etc. – attacking Israel, murdering innocents, and fomenting instability in the Mideast and beyond. The West suffered from Iranian atrocities, whether 241 Marines slaughtered by Hezbollah, or militants storming the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, holding 52 people hostage for 444 days. For decades, faced with the irreversible nightmare of a nuclear-armed jihadist state, the West kicked the can down the road, employing a tepid mix of diplomacy and sanctions, never enough to scare the bear. Iran would never stop its quest for the bomb – until forced to stop.
Israel’s Moment
For decades, Netanyahu sounded the alarm in global halls of diplomacy. Ten days ago, Iran crossed Israel’s final red line, creating an existential threat to Israel. With his entire legacy on the line, Netanyahu authorized a preemptive strike. His justification? Talmudic moral arithmetic: “If someone comes to kill you, rise early to kill him first.” Yet he understood that such a burden is too heavy for any one person to carry alone. On the eve of the attack, he went to the Western Wall – Israel’s eternal heart – and prayed that the mission succeeds.
For nine days, IDF jetfighters pummeled Iran with waves of precision strikes, establishing full command of Iranian airspace – and clearing the path for America’s historic Saturday night attack. The campaign against Iran echoes the Six-Day War in its precision, daring, and historical consequence – and a clear demonstration of G-d’s guiding hand. We are living a moment that will be remembered forever. Finally, the bear is defanged.
Pharaoh & Death Cults
We’ve seen this script before. In the Torah, Pharaoh had ten chances to surrender. He could have spared his nation ruin, freed the Jews, and saved his throne. Instead, Pharaoh chose stubbornness. At each stage, Egypt bled a bit more, until the final plague of the death of the firstborn. The logic of evil prefers martyrdom to surrender.
So too with Iran. No amount of diplomacy, sanctions, or warnings could dissuade the apocalyptic Ayatollah from his goal of nuclear weapons. Only crushing military pressure can override cultural and psychological barriers to surrender. With the Israeli and American strikes on Iran, Israel and the free world is for now, freed from the specter of a nuclear Iran.
The Rising Lion
Israel named its military operation with psychological and biblical weight, based on Bilaam’s description of the Jewish people as “rising like a lion” (Numbers 23:24). The lion symbolizes courage and strength. The lion attacks with purpose, and only when provoked.
After October 7, Hamas discovered the consequences of waking the sleeping lion. Iran has now made the same grave mistake. We declare in the Passover Haggadah: “In every generation, they rise up to destroy us – but G-d saves us from their hand.”
This is such a moment: Israel, with supernatural strength and backed by Divine justice, fulfilling its biblical destiny to defeat evil that seeks our annihilation. Israeli deterrence has been firmly established. We are now more secure within our borders than ever before.
Jewish unity and pride has never been stronger. A great weight has lifted from our hearts. Yet this war is not over. The bear is wounded, yet still dangerous. Iran still has 1,000 ballistic missiles and is now threatening to close the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most important oil chokepoint. Plus Iranian terror cells are planted worldwide waiting to be activated.
As the psalmist King David wrote, the G-d of Israel neither sleeps nor slumbers. G-d is with us in this war and is waiting for our prayers. Pray for the protection of our brave soldiers. Pray for the safety of the home front. The bear has roared. But the rising lion of Judah – a voice of truth and justice – roars eternally louder.
