While the entire world is aware of the attack last week in which thousands of Hamas terrorists infiltrated into Israel and murdered over 1,300 Israelis, far fewer people are aware that the portion of the Torah that is being read by Jews all around the world this week contains the word ‘Hamas’ as the reason for which God destroyed the world.

In Judaism, a portion of the Torah is read in the synagogue every Monday, Thursday, and Shabbat. While there are minor variances between Israel and outside of Israel, the Torah readings are universal with the Torah being divided into 54 parshiyot  that are read in a yearly cycle that begins on the holiday of Simchat Torah. Each weekly Torah portion takes its name from the first distinctive word in the Hebrew text of the portion.

This week, the parsha of Noah is being read. This portion begins in Genesis 6:9  and ends in Genesis 11:32 and focuses on the story of the flood in the generation of Noah. In the light of recent events, it is significant to note that the Hebrew word Hamas appears over 60 times in the Bible and, most notably in this week’s parsha:

The earth became corrupt before Hashem; the earth was filled with lawlessness. Genesis 6: 11

In Hebrew, the word translated here as lawlessness is Hamas (חָמָֽס). Rabbi Chaim ibn Attar (Morocco 1696 – 1743), known as the Orh HaChaim, defined hamas as the trait of quarreling, thievery, sexual perversion, idolatry, and spilling blood.

This aspect of spilling blood as expressed by the word hamas is specifically described in relation to the Jews by the prophet Joel in a manner that is eerily reminiscent of recent events:

Egypt shall be a desolation, And Edom a desolate waste, Because of the outrage (מֵֽחֲמַס֙) to the people of Yehuda, In whose land they shed the blood of the innocent. Joel 4:19

The next verse is a prophecy that should discourage the terrorist organization:

But Yehuda shall be inhabited forever, And Yerushalayim throughout the ages. Joel 4:20

Yair Levi, who creates videos teaching about Biblical Hebrew, noted that the ancient Aramaic translation known as Onkelos hinted at the current situation writing:

וְאִתְחַבָּלַת אַרְעָא קֳדָם יְיָ וְאִתְמְלִיאַת אַרְעָא חֲטוֹפִין:

The first word, itchabalat, has the same root as the Hebrew word for ‘terrorists’ (m’chablim). The second half of the Aramaic translation by Onkelos states, “the land will be filled with hostages.”

Rabbi Tuly Weisz, head of Israel365, ascribed importance to the Biblical reference.

“The timing of the Torah portions is always significant, sending timely messages to the Jewish people,” Rabbi Weisz said. “It’s of utmost significance that we read about Hamas in connection with the destruction of the world.”

“We know that the Torah uses very specific language in Genesis,stating that God destroyed the world on account of Hamas. God was able to tolerate bad behavior, but when it grew to the level of Hamas, it became unacceptable. God had no choice then and similarly, we can no longer tolerate such evil. Israel has, has accepted much bad behavior from the Palestinians; intifadas, stabbing, shooting, rock throwing. However, Israel cannot and must not accept the evil.We must destroy them as required by the Torah.”

Rabbi Pesach Wolicki also stated that the appearance of the name of the terrorist organization in the parsha was not just coincidental.

“Christian Bibles usually translate the word ‘hamas’ as meaning ‘violence’, but according to Jewish tradition, and according to many of the verses in the Bible where the word is used, the more accurate meaning in most cases of the word is theft or robbery, though it does also mean violence in several places. But then we see a number of verses, such as Exodus 3:1 and Deuteronomy 19:16 where Hamas is used to mean deceit or falsehood. We also see verses where it means anger and aggression.”

“This is the biblical meaning,  the true meaning of the word for us.”

Rabbi Wolicke noted that in Arabic, Hamas is an acronym for Harakat al-Muqawima al-Islamiyya, the Islamic Resistance Movement. .

“Even so, we should not ignore the truth that we are being told by their choice of name<” Rabbi Wolicki said. “Hamas is all about deceit and falsehood. Hamas is all about violence and aggression. Aas we see in this week’s Torah portion, when the world embraces Hamas, it necessarily brings judgment and floods upon the world. It brings the end of humanity and the end of civilization. We are seeing this in real-time unfolding in front of us today.”