Follow ChabadInfo & Never Miss an Update!

Follow us on Instagram Subscribe to our WhatsApp status and broadcast Follow us on Tiktok Follow us on Facebook Follow us on X Follow us on Google News Subscribe on YouTube

לזכות שבע חי’ מושקא בת נעטל תחי’, שמואל בן שולמית שי’ לרפואה שלימה בתוך שאר חולי ישראל

By Prof. Shimon Silman, RYAL Institute

What is the prophecy and who is the president? Well, we all know that we are currently in the Era of Moshiach, as the Rebbe MHM said, “In our days, the Era of Moshiach that we are now in…” (sicha of 19 Kislev, 5752). The prophecy is the famous Messianic prophecy of Isaiah (Ch. 2) and the president whom we are referring to is Donald Trump.

The prophecy ends with the famous lines: Nation will not raise a sword against nation, and they will not learn any more war.” As Rambam describes this era in the very last Halacha of Mishnah Torah: “In that era there will be no hunger and no war.”

The purpose of this paper is to investigate if Trump is in fact a president of this prophecy—if he is a president of “no war.” If so, it will be another clearly visible aspect of the Messianic Era occurring right before our eyes. [As I explain in my book (see my Swords into Plowshares book, esp. Chapter 1), “opening our eyes” to see the Geulah sometimes means noticing things that are occurring right before our eyes, and interpreting them properly.]

Modern Day Cyrus

Let’s do a quick review of Trump’s presidency. Starting with his first term, he had a favorable attitude toward Israel and the Jewish people in general. (That’s already Messianic).

But in 2018 he did something extraordinary. He moved the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Yerushalayim (Jerusalem), the real, historic capital of Israel since the time of King David. Several presidents promised that they would do it but didn’t do it because they were afraid of the Arab reaction—protests, demonstrations, even war! Some Arab countries had been claiming Jerusalem as their capital.

Trump did it and none of these reactions occurred. The Arabs knew that it was our capital for thousands of years.

I heard one Fox News commentator praise President Trump for this move. Judge Jeanine Pirro (now U.S. Attorney for Washington D.C.) compared Trump to Cyrus, the king of Persia who helped the Jews return to Jerusalem, from their exile, and helped them build the Second Beis HaMikdosh (Holy Temple). That’s even more Messianic—Moshiach is scheduled to build the Third Temple.

Trump’s efforts were slowed down by constant challenges from Democrats who repeatedly raised new accusations and fake scandals, such as the Russian Collusion Hoax, and two impeachments, but he managed to organize the Abraham Accords, an agreement of peace and trade between Israel and some Arab nations. Did I hear “peace”—as in no more war?

Well, that was Trump’s first term. In 2020, after a dubious election, Trump lost and became a private citizen. One commentator called this “one of the best things that ever happened to him [Trump].”

But the Democrats continued to harass him during this time—they wanted to make sure that he would never run for president again. For the next four years they attacked him with fake legal charges (“lawfare”), a raid on his house by the FBI, and a non-stop barrage of negative statements. But he did decide to run for president again, and during his campaign there were two assassination attempts on his life.

So why does that commentator say that this period was “one of the best things that ever happened to Trump?”

This is because a lot of good came out of it. As Chazal say, “Everything that Hashem does is for the good.” I will explain: In the first assassination attempt Trump was actually hit by a bullet. But he “happened to be” turning his head at that moment to look at a chart behind him, so the bullet hit his ear, about an inch off from hitting his head. If the bullet had hit his head, Trump would be dead.

But there is no “happened to be.” All events are controlled by Hashem. It was a miracle that Trump survived. Even media reporters and commentators said that this was the “Hand of G-d.” Trump himself said many times that “G-d saved me for a purpose,” and “G-d was protecting me,” and even “It was the hand of G-d leading me to where I am today”

He continued his run for the presidency and won. He had learned two important lessons during his years out of office that are serving him well during his second term: 1) Not to waste time fighting with the Democrats or even answering them back, because 2) G-d has given him a purpose to fulfill. He has a mission to accomplish something for the U.S. and for the world and he has only four years to do it—no time to waste.

That is why that commentator said that Trump’s four years out of office and the challenges that accompanied them were “one of the best things that ever happened to him.”

President of Peace

During the campaign, Trump said that he would bring about an end to the wars going on in the world. Now that’s Messianic! How was he going to do it? Classically, a U.S. president wouldn’t care if two countries were fighting a war somewhere in the world as long as it was causing no trouble for the U.S. If we had to stop the war because it was causing us a problem, a U.S. president might use the country’s military power to pressure one or both sides into an agreement. But Trump is different…

Trump uses economic inducements to get both sides to agree to a settlement—offering them good trade deals with the U.S. if they stop fighting or threatening economic sanctions (or high tariffs) if they don’t.

Peace and trade go hand in hand. If two countries stop fighting and make peace, they can trade with each other. But it could work in the reverse also. If two countries have a successful trade relationship, they are less likely to start a war with each other. (See my Swords into Plowshares book, p. 265, for a further discussion of this.)

Let’s look at some examples. We start at the beginning…

What is the beginning? Well, the Torah says that Eretz Yisroel is “the land which Hashem looks out for…” (Devorim 11: 12). Rashi comments: “Doesn’t He look out for all lands?…But He (so to speak) only looks out for Eretz Yisroel, and through the attention that He gives to the Land of Israel, He pays attention to all the other lands also.” So we will start with Israel and then go on to some other countries.

President Donald Trump signs a trilateral joint declaration with President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of Armenia, Friday, August 8, 2025, in the State Dining Room. (Official White House Photo by Daniel Torok)

We mentioned earlier the help that Trump gave Israel during his first term. During his second term, in June of this year, there was a major confrontation between Israel and Iran where it became clear to Israel that Iran was on the verge of using a nuclear weapon against it. Israel quickly initiated a military operation—under the title Operation Midnight Hammer—destroying Iran’s air force and killing its top officials and top nuclear scientists. Israel also bombed some of Iran’s nuclear sites but didn’t have enough force to destroy its major nuclear site at Fordo which was deeply buried in the ground.

Here the U.S. stepped in with special “bunker buster” bombs that were designed specifically for this purpose. This action brought the confrontation (it wasn’t an official war) between Israel and Iran to a quick end after just 12 days, concluding with a cease fire agreement.

Several days later, on July 7, Netanyahu met with Trump in Washington and presented Trump with the document of his nomination of Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize.

The peace agreement most prominent in the news appears to be the one that Trump made between Armenia and Azerbaijan. This is the story…

The conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan primarily revolves around the region of Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan but predominantly populated by ethnic Armenians. The conflict stems from the collapse of the Soviet Union, when Nagorno-Karabakh, a region within Azerbaijan, declared its independence with the intention of joining Armenia. This has led to a long history of conflict, including the First Nagorno-Karabakh War in the early 1990s, and a second war in 2020, which saw Azerbaijan reclaim significant territory. More recently, a one-day operation by Azerbaijan in September 2023 led to the complete re-establishment of Azerbaijani control over Nagorno-Karabakh.

On August 8, 2025, Armenia and Azerbaijan signed a peace agreement at the White House which ended decades of conflict. The leaders of both countries said that President Trump should receive the Nobel Peace Prize for his effort in securing the peace deal.

India and Pakistan have a history of conflict, including four major wars and numerous smaller clashes since their independence in 1947. The primary source of tension is the dispute over Kashmir, a region claimed by both nations. Other factors contributing to the conflict include cross-border terrorism and a long-standing rivalry.

While tensions between these two nuclear-armed countries have existed for years, in May hostilities broke out following an attack in Indian-administered Kashmir.

After four days of strikes, Trump posted that India and Pakistan had agreed to a “full and immediate ceasefire”. He said this was the result of “a long night of talks mediated by the United States”.

Trump, on Friday, repeated his claim that he got “things settled” between India and Pakistan after a four-day military clash that he said could have escalated into a “nuclear conflict.”

Trump made the comments flanked by Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev and Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan after they inked a US-brokered peace agreement during a trilateral signing ceremony.

“As President, my highest aspiration is to bring peace and stability to the world. Today’s signing follows our success with India and Pakistan,” the US President said.

Asserting that he is settling conflicts through trade, Trump said, “I got things settled with India, Pakistan. I think it was trade more than any other reason. That’s how I got involved.”

Pakistan thanked Trump and later recommended him for the Nobel Peace Prize, citing his “decisive diplomatic intervention”.

Rubio summed it up

Speaking recently, Rubio said Trump is committed to being the “President of Peace”.

“And so, we saw when India and Pakistan went to war, we got involved directly, and the president was able to deliver on that peace,” Rubio said.

Rubio went on to cite other disputes where he said that Trump played a role in resolving tensions:

“Cambodia and Thailand more recently, Azerbaijan and Armenia,…and the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda—a 30-year war, 7 million people killed—we were able to bring them here to sign it,” he said.

The secretary of state added that the U.S. was “proud” of such initiatives and was aiming for more, “obviously, the big one being in Ukraine and Russia.”

This brings us to “the big one”—the Russia-Ukraine war.

Kol Shi Kalaam

About 12 years ago, an Israeli singer, Sagiv Cohen, composed a beautiful song in Hebrew, with a title in Arabic, called Kol Shi Kalaam (“It’s all just talk”), about things in people’s lives that are “just talk.” Politicians, too, are sometimes plagued by this…

The war between Russia and Ukraine is the toughest war of our time. It has been compared to World War II, and even to World War I. I have a personal interest in this matter since my daughter and her family are Chabad shluchim in Kharkov, Ukraine—living there now. Kharkov is about 20 miles from the Russian border.

Putin invaded Ukraine in February, 2022 for the slightest of reasons. He was told by his military that the war would last only 3 days, but it has continued for more than 3 years with no end in sight. We assume that the reader is familiar with most of its details from news reports. Our purpose here is to see what Trump’s involvement has been in trying to end this war.

Trump campaigned in 2024 on this war, saying that he would end it quickly (“Within 24 hours of taking office”). He kept emphasizing that “this is not my war” and said that if he was president during the last term instead of Joe Biden, the war never would have started. He emphasized many times that he’s not taking sides, he just wants to stop the killing—“I want to get to heaven!”

Trump has had several phone calls and meetings between himself and Zelenskyy and between himself and Putin, most importantly, a major meeting between himself and Putin in Alaska on August 15, 2025.

Each time he talks to Putin, especially at this recent meeting in Alaska, Putin talks of ending the war, negotiating with Zelenskyy and reaching a peace agreement, but he never follows through with his commitments…Kol Shi Kalaam.

Not only does Putin not keep his promises, but each time he makes these peace promises he follows it up with a vicious bombing attack on Ukraine, as if to say, “I was just kidding…”

On the other hand, each time Trump and Putin talk or meet, Trump announces that he will give Putin a certain number of days or weeks to take some action to follow through on his commitments or else Trump will impose severe sanctions and tariffs on Russia. Putin does nothing (besides attacking Ukraine, as we said) and then Trump gives him more days or weeks to show a positive reaction. But nothing happens…Kol Shi Kalaam.

Part of the problem seems to be that Trump likes Putin, personally, but has no such feelings for Zelenskyy…

Attempts at Peace

The following is a short list of major events in the negotiations:

• January 2025: Trump, following his inauguration, makes ending the war a top priority, initially pledging to resolve it within 100 days.
• February 2025: He holds separate calls with Putin and Zelenskyy to initiate peace talks.
  • Later in the month, Trump meets with Zelenskyy in the Oval Office to discuss a potential minerals deal but the meeting turns contentious.
  • Trump also temporarily withholds military aid to Ukraine to pressure Zelenskyy toward peace.
• August 2025:
  • Trump and Putin hold a summit in Alaska. They emerge from the talks without a concrete agreement, though Trump suggests they “largely” agreed on land swaps.
  • Following the summit, leaked reports indicate Trump told European leaders he would back a deal involving Ukraine ceding territory to Russia, a concession Zelenskyy has firmly rejected.
  • Zelenskyy travels to Washington, D.C., where he meets with Trump and European leaders to discuss security guarantees for Ukraine.
• September 2025:
  • In a phone call, Trump warns Putin of consequences if Russia does not engage constructively in peace talks.
  • European leaders host virtual meetings with Zelenskyy and other allies to discuss security and defense coordination in response to the slow progress of US-led negotiations.
  • A deadline from Trump for Putin to come to the negotiating table passes without action, leaving the US president “very disappointed”.

Russia and Ukraine Now

But Zelenskyy is very smart. He’s not waiting for Trump any more. Recently, Ukraine has initiated ingenious methods of attacking Russia, mostly using drones to bomb Russia, its army, its airfields and most importantly, its oil refineries. So far, they have destroyed 20% of Russia’s oil refineries causing a tremendous financial loss for Russia. Selling oil is Russia’s largest source of income. Ukraine has even developed its own missile called the “flamingo” which has a range of 3,000 km and Ukraine can attack anything they want with it. (Weapons they get from other countries have restrictions put on them by those countries.)

Now Russia has stopped exporting oil for a while. But the loss of fuel causes domestic problems also. There’s a severe shortage of gas, cars waiting in long lines at gas stations getting little or no gas. There is unrest in Russia, frequent sabotage by local partisans (a group called “Atesh”) causing nightly explosions of important buildings in Russia. Many men are leaving Russia so they won’t be drafted into the war. The FSB and the military, both corrupt, are fighting with each other for control and for money, in expectation of Putin’s fall from power.

So what will happen with this war? It looks like it will just go around in circles for years to come…Kol Shi Kalaam.

I would say that Putin will fall from power soon. According to many analysts, Ukraine is slowly winning this war. This external pressure on Putin may bring about his downfall. Or the internal opposition to Putin from various factions, military and civilian, may bring about his downfall. Putin himself “lives in a bubble” and doesn’t know what’s really going on. He is a dictator and the people around him tell him what he wants to hear (or else they mysteriously disappear.)

What About Moshiach?

I would say that, but that would be a “rush to judgement.”

Let’s sit back and look at the big picture. This is Yemos HaMoshiach, the Messianic Era. Everything that happens in the world now is a Messianic event in progress, a Messianic event unfolding. As far back as September, 2022, Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India told Putin to stop the war. He said to Putin, “This era is not an era of warfare.” How did he know that? Did the shluchim in India tell him about the Rebbe MHM’s sicha?

There is a law of nature that applies here and that is Klipa Kodma L’Pri—the shell precedes the fruit. When a new fruit grows into the world, say an orange, we don’t see the sweet fruit of the orange right away. First, we see the orange peel. The orange grows larger and larger until the fruit is ripe. Then we remove the peel, in which we have no interest, and throw it away. We then have a sweet juicy orange!

This can happen with a Messianic event. First, we see the shell—an event which is similar to, but quite the opposite of, the Messianic event. When the true event is ready to appear, the shell event will be removed and thrown away, and we will just have the pure, sweet Messianic event.

For example, about 5 years ago the Democrats came up with the idea of defunding the police. Can you think of anything more absurd and downright crazy? Anarchy and crime will necessarily result, as they have in some places. (This is beginning to be reversed, partly due to Trump’s push to bring law and order to certain cities.)

But if we look in the Sicha of Shoftim 5752 we see that the Rebbe MHM says, in part, that “the time has come…and we don’t need police…” So, what’s going on here?!!

“Defund the police” is the ugly shell of one of the first Messianic prophecies of Isaiah (1:26). We will see the fruit completely grown and the ugly shell completely discarded.

So now let’s go back to the sicha and see the full statement that the Rebbe MHM said: “It is clear that it is already time for ‘I will return your judges as in the beginning and your advisors as at first.’ (Isaiah 1:26) in complete perfection (and we don’t need police since everything is already sorted out).”

The same applies to our situation. We look at Putin now and we see an evil dictator who won’t end a war that he started for no good reason…

But we see only the shell. After it comes off there may be “sweet fruit” inside. Let’s not forget that back in the day, Putin did good for a lot of Jews (see my Swords into Plowshares book, pp. 256-275)

There may be a possibility of peace in a way that would be good for Russia and Ukraine together, a good that is higher than both of them and unites them. This is the definition of true peace (shalom) according to the Alter Rebbe—a 3^rd thing that unites both of them…

But we can’t do this. This can’t even be done by a President of the Prophecy. For this we need the Moshiach of the Prophecy, as it says in the prophecy of Isaiah, “And many nations will go and they will say ‘Let’s go up to the mountain of Hashem…and he [Moshiach] will teach us His ways and we will walk in His paths’…”)Isaiah 2:3)

As we said above, this has already started. Now we ask Hashem that the Rebbe MHM should be completely revealed immediately and end all wars completely.

139