Talk about a reversal of roles. First blame the other guy, and then do it yourself!

How did it happen? How did Trump steal the idea from Iran?

Simple yet fascinating. First there was the ceasefire. Next US destroyers went into the strait to clear mines. And then, before you knew it, the US was there, in the strait, turning back ships that had used Iranian ports.

So instead of Iran stopping ships, collecting tolls, and turning away ships that they didn’t like, suddenly the US is doing it.

In other words, the US took over Iran’s playbook, and is now using it against Iran.

We find similar reversals in the Purim and Passover stories.

Haman constructed gallows to be used against Mordechai, and instead, the king ordered that Haman be hung on it.

Haman had persuaded the king to issue a decree encouraging antisemites to kill the Jews — and later Esther persuaded the king to allow the Jews to defend themselves, resulting in many murderous antisemites being liquidated.

The Purim Megillah acknowledges this reversal: “And it was reversed, that the Jews — they overcame their enemies.” (Megillat Esther 9; 1)

And in the Passover story, Pharaoh decreed that Jewish babies should be thrown into the waters of the Nile river, but the Almighty reversed it — the Egyptians drowned in the waters of the sea, while the Jewish nation walked through the sea to safety.

As Yitro, the father-in-law of Moses, described it: “Now I know that the Almighty is greater than any deity, because with the very thing that they (the Egyptians) sinned, it went against them.” (Exodus 18; 11) And the commentaries (Unkelos, quoted by Rashi) explain: “With water they (the Egyptians) plotted to destroy them, and they (the Egyptians) were destroyed in water.”

Nations plot, but the Almighty orchestrates events to foil their plots.

And sometimes, it’s their very weapon that is used against them.

Everyone is watching to see what will happen.

The momentum is going against Iran and its proxies. The time of true world peace, ushered in with the complete Redemption with Moshiach, seems very close.

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)