Max Power

God Hardened the Hearts of Khamenei, Sinwar, and Nasrallah I spoke last night at a Purim Torah and Chizuk gathering to Israelis. I began my speech talking about President Trump’s preference for a deal over military conflict. I told the audience that I had visited the White House mere days before the initiating of attacks and the sense I got was that America wasn’t anywhere near deciding to attack. The talk we heard was about caution before acting when the ramifications of military action couldn’t be predicted. I said that to explain that all the cards were in the Ayatollah’s hands. He could’ve easily made a false deal, or even completely given in and in three years, with a new president, gone back to his nefarious ways. Any advisor would’ve offered that sage counsel. Yet the Ayatollah instructed his negotiators to act arrogantly and refuse to compromise significantly. He also knew he was being watched and at any moment the Americans or Israelis could bomb him. To arrogantly call an in-person meeting was foolish. The only way to explain these foolish actions is that the Ayatollah was no longer in control of his decision-making facilities. Rambam wrote that a Divine punishment for sinning is having your free choice taken from you. He wrote, “A person may commit a great sin or many sins causing the judgment rendered before the True Judge to be that the retribution administered to this transgressor for these sins which he willfully and consciously committed is that his Teshuvah will be held back. He will not be allowed the chance to repent from his wickedness so that he will die and be wiped out because of the sin he committed.” Rambam goes on to explain that when the Torah says God hardened Paroah’s heart, it was a Divine punishment of having his free-choice taken from him. Greater than the ten plagues, the splitting of the sea, and the destruction of the Egyptian army, was God interfering with Paroah’s decision-making capabilities. Without Paroah making foolish decisions, the Jewish people could not have experienced the other miracles and their ultimate emancipation. I believe the Ayatollah’s free choice was taken from him and that’s why he negotiated foolishly and called an in-person meeting leading to his death. I also believe that Yahya Sinwar prematurely launched Hamas's October 7 attack without waiting for coordinated Hezbollah and Iran involvement, disrupting their multi-front plan because his faculty of free-choice was Divinely taken from him. This allowed Israel to decisively defeat Hamas, leading to Sinwar's death in Rafah. I also maintain that after the pager operation and Khamenei's warning to flee, Hassan Nasrallah of Hezbollah has his free-choice taken from him, and instead held an in-person meeting with an Iranian general in a Beirut bunker Israel knew about, resulting in his assassination by airstrike. I also maintain God taking away evil people’s free-choice is why Palestinians never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity. Had they once made a smart decision and compromised on their ridiculous demands; they’d have a state on the heartland of the historic homeland of the Jewish people. The world is astounded by their foolishness in their intransigence. Their refusal to compromise has doomed them to disastrous eternal homelessness. Palestinians aren’t stupid, they must know the ramifications of their actions. Only God hardening their hearts can explain their shortsightedness. God is operating in full view of the world for the Jewish people right now. Just as God saved the Jewish people during the times of Purim, God is saving us now with the defeat of ALL our enemies. The Jewish people have benefited from this Divine providence in more ways than we know.