The war between tiny Israel against giant Iran brings to mind one of the 13 articles of faith—that Moshiach will come after a great war between Gog and Magog, followed by resurrection of the dead. While details are unclear, it still remains one of the central tenets of the Jewish religion.
I previously wrote a column, “Is Hashem Using Scientists as His Agents to Fulfill Torah Prophecies?” (Jewish Link, December 22, 2022) showing the close correspondence of modern science findings with those disclosed by the Torah 3,000 years ago. I would now like to amplify my thoughts about the “end of days,” the coming of Moshiach.
With the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, such as biological forms of viral pandemics, chemical nerve gases and other agents, and vast numbers of nuclear bombs, it is now very easy to visualize the destruction of modern civilization by any madman willing to employ them.
However, it is much harder to visualize the next step—the revival or resurrection of the dead of every Jew who ever lived, one of the fundamental beliefs of the Jewish religion and the last on Rambam’s list of thirteen such beliefs. This essay describes how even laymen can now begin to visualize a physical process whereby Hashem may be orchestrating this basic Torah tenet by again using scientists as His agents. The clue may be in DNA studies now being carried out by the scientific community.
First, some background. It has been established that chromosomes, which are in the nucleus of cells, are the vehicle whereby traits are passed on from generation to generation, mi dor l’dor. Chromosomes in the cell nucleus are made up of DNA strands that are very complex and have a large number of parts, including the genes,which are the segments of your DNA that give you the physical characteristics that make you unique. The chromosomes, DNA, and genes work together to make you who you are. The building blocks of genetic material are four chemical bases. There are an estimated three billion of these bases in the human body. About 99% of those bases are the same in every person. The remaining 1% is what makes you unique. The DNA studies are still relatively in their infancy as far as scientific studies go, but scientists are making rapid advances in the field, including manipulating the genes themselves to change their properties, and they are even starting to clone extinct species from DNA samples.
With this introduction, we can begin to perceive how the information correlates to the discussion of Moshiach. According to rabbinic writings, the Oral Torah was given to Moshe at Mount Sinai, which occurred in 1312 BCE or 3,337 years ago. If we assume, for the purpose of this discussion, that a ‘generation’ is a span of 30 years, then there would be about 111 generations of Jews between the giving of the Torah and today. We can even go further back in time to Avraham, the first Jew, about 500 years or 17 generations earlier. This would encompass all of Jewish history.
I was born when my grandparents were still living and now have great-grandchildren of my own. In other words, I myself span six generations of the Wisotsky family lineage, so DNA samples of all six generations could be readily available. Six generations is over 4% of the entire Jewish history and is a reasonable sample to work with. In the future, maybe even the near future, scientists using sophisticated computer programs, including possibly AI projections, may be able to backtrack each individual’s DNA composition, generation by generation and trace them back to Avraham. If every Jewish family would do the same thing, virtually every individual’s DNA markers could be fixed, in effect recording the DNA markers of every Jew who ever lived. As mentioned above, the vast majority of genetic material is common to all human beings and only a very small percentage accounts for differences between individuals. This greatly simplifies the still incredibly complex DNA coding process.
For the next step, scientists are now able to manipulate strands of DNA to remove, add or otherwise modify DNA structures, as desired. And, as I mentioned, scientists are now on the cusp of being able to clone complete bodies from some bits of DNA. In fact, these bits may already actually exist as the “luz” bones referred to in Zohar teachings.
The final step would be the implanting of each person’s neshama. This is out of reach of modern science (some might consider this a “temporary” disadvantage!), and can only be accomplished by Hashem.
That would then complete the fulfillment of the Techiyas Hameisim prophecy. While at the present time it is still a leap of faith (no pun intended), we can now at least begin to visualize how, in the time of Moshiach and under Hashem’s guidance and in His time-frame, every Jew who ever lived can at least be physically resurrected.
All this, of course, is pure speculation, but I think there is an important message here. There are so many times when events occur that appear to us to be “miraculous.” We often use expressions like “a miracle of modern science,” “a miracle of modern medicine,” “a miracle of nature,” etc. We may not always reflect on the fact that many of these events may actually have been preordained, predicted and even set in motion at the very beginning of Jewish history, and may be embedded in the Torah.
We can only wonder whether other (so-called) “miracles” are really just prophecies waiting to be discovered in 3,000-year old Torah teachings!
Toda Raba: I am indebted to Rabbi Yaakov Luban for his wisdom and advice in helping me write this.
