Rabbi Mendel Kessin is an internationally renowned lecturer and educator who began teaching about the end-of-days implications of current events and politics more than a decade ago. In a wide-ranging interview recorded on December 24, Rav Kessin argued that Trump’s rise and the extreme opposition he provokes can only be understood through the Bible and the teachings of the Sages. Rav Kessin explained that Trump is the embodiment and reincarnation of Biblical Esav, the twin brother of Yaakov (Jacob), and, as such, will play a major role in aiding Yaakov’s descendants, the nation of Israel, in bringing the Messiah. It is for this role that Trump was raised to the level of an emperor, having far more impact than the average president or head of state. It is also due to this end-of-days role that the forces of evil have all aligned against Trump in a final desperate opposition to the Biblical messiah.
Donald Trump’s political career has defied every rule of modern American politics. He was dismissed as a joke, written off by both parties, buried under investigations, impeachments, indictments, media hostility, and assassination attempts. Yet he not only survived but returned to power. For Rabbi Mendel Kessin, this pattern is not merely a matter of political resilience. It is evidence of a role embedded deep within the Jewish understanding of history, exile, and redemption.
According to Rav Kessin, Trump is not an ideological anomaly but a figure emerging precisely at the moment Jewish tradition describes as ikveta d’Meshicha—the footsteps of the Messiah. Rav Kessin rooted his explanation in the relationship between Yaakov and Esav, twin brothers whose rivalry shaped Jewish history. “Most people think there were only three patriarchs,” he said. “But Esav was also a patriarch. He failed, but he never lost his place in the divine plan.”
Yaakov, later called Israel, was charged with internal holiness and devotion to the Bible, Rav Kessin explained. Esav’s role was external power, confrontation with evil, and engagement with the world. When Esav sinned, Yaakov temporarily absorbed both missions, but the Sages teach that Esav’s role would eventually return to him at the end of days.
Rav Kessin pointed to the verse spoken to Rivka during her pregnancy: “And the Lord said to her: Two nations are in your womb, and two kingdoms shall be separated from within you; one kingdom shall be stronger than the other, and the elder shall serve the younger” (Genesis 25:23). The Sages understand this not as a historical footnote but as a long arc of history culminating before redemption.
The Hebrew word for ‘serve,’ as in “the older shall serve the younger,” is ya’avod. In essence, Esau was tasked with assisting his brother Jacob. But according to the Jewish Sages, Esau had a second choice. He could either assist Jacob (ya’avod) or enslave or oppress him, a concept expressed by the very similar Hebrew word ya’aved.
Esau and his descendants were destined to play an essential role in the process of bringing the world to redemption. But the choice, for Esau and for his descendants, has always been ya’avod or ya’aved: Will they cooperate and assist the Jewish people, or will they enslave and oppress them?
Esav, Rav Kessin explained, became Edom. Edom became Rome. Rome became Western civilization. “America is Edom,” he said. “And at the end of days, Edom does not disappear. Edom assists.”
Trump’s purpose, on a spiritual level, is to turn from ya’aved (oppressing Israel and the Jewish people) to ya’avod (cooperating with and assisting Israel and the Jewish people). The more powerful and prosperous America becomes under the leadership of Trump, the more it can assist the Jews and the State of Israel, claims Rabbi Kessin. The stature of Israel will rise in the eyes of the world, and other nations will want to align with and cooperate with Israel, exactly because America is behind it.
In Rav Kessin’s reading, Trump represents a return of Esav’s constructive role. He identified Trump as a reincarnation of the positive side of Esav, similar to the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, who maintained a close relationship with Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi, the compiler of the Mishnah. “That relationship was not accidental,” Rav Kessin said. “It was prophetic.”
Trump’s 2016 victory, Rav Kessin argued, was the clearest modern example of divine intervention in politics. “He ran against sixteen seasoned politicians and the most powerful political machine in America,” he said. “He had no political background. The media mocked him. Yet he won. That does not happen naturally.”
The intensity of opposition to Trump, Rav Kessin said, confirms rather than undermines this view. “This is not rational political disagreement. This is hatred without proportion. People who never met him, who were never harmed by him personally, respond with rage. That level of hatred only appears when something existential is threatened.”
He connected this to the Jewish concept of Satan, not as a demon but as an angel whose role is to prosecute humanity under divine justice. As redemption approaches, that role collapses. “The closer we get to redemption, the less space there is for prosecution,” Rav Kessin said. “Trump represents disruption of that system.”
Examples of that opposition are readily identifiable. Trump faced two impeachments, multiple criminal indictments across jurisdictions, years of investigations that failed to produce convictions while dominating headlines, and an unprecedented level of media hostility. He survived assassination attempts and public calls for his removal that extended far beyond electoral defeat. None of this slowed his political return.
Rav Kessin described Trump’s survival as intentional. “God made it obvious,” he said. “Trump was meant to know that he was saved. Not once, but repeatedly.”
During the interview, Rav Kessin recounted a moment that crystallized this belief. “I said the most important question anyone could ask him was, ‘Why do you think God saved you?’ That question was later asked publicly.” Trump’s response was direct. He said that God saved him because the world is deteriorating, and he was meant to stop it.
“That is not a political answer,” Rav Kessin said. “That is a messianic answer.”
Judaism, Rav Kessin emphasized, does not teach a single messianic figure but a two-stage process. The Sages describe Mashiach ben Yosef, who confronts evil, restores order, and prepares the world, followed by Mashiach ben David, who completes redemption and reveals God’s presence openly. Trump, Rav Kessin said, fits squarely into the first category, not as the Messiah himself but as a tool aligned with that stage.
Hebrew numerology, known as Gematria, assigns numerical values to Hebrew letters and words to uncover hidden meanings. Cyrus’s connection to the Messiah is found in the Book of Isaiah. The Persian king Cyrus is the only non-Jewish leader to be referred to in the Bible as Moshiach, literally ‘His anointed one’. The word for ‘anointed one’ in Hebrew is ‘Moshiach’ (משיח), which means “Messiah”.
Thus said Hashem to Cyrus, His anointed one— Whose right hand He has grasped, treading down nations before him, ungirding the loins of kings, opening doors before him and letting no gate stay shut. Isaiah 45:1
Trump’s connection is found through Gematria. Using the method to break down the value of Hebrew letters, Donald Trump’s name in Hebrew (דונלד טראמפ) equals 424 – which is also the numerical equivalent of ‘Moshiach for the House of David’ (משיח בן דוד).
It has been suggested that, as the 45th president of the United States, Trump would embody the 45th chapter of Isaiah, in which the Persian King Cyrus rebuilds the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem.
“This is why Trump talks about restoring law, confronting corruption, breaking global systems,” Rav Kessin said. “That is the work of preparation.”
The danger, he warned, lies in misunderstanding the mission. Trump’s desire for legacy, recognition, and a Nobel Peace Prize creates vulnerability. “Every Jewish king had a prophet,” Rav Kessin said. “Trump does not. That is his weakness.”
The Bible makes clear that power alone is not enough. “Not by might, nor by power, but by My spirit, says the Lord of Hosts” (Zechariah 4:6). Rav Kessin stressed that free will remains intact. Trump can succeed or fail. If he fails, God will advance redemption through others.
But Rav Kessin was unequivocal about the moment itself. “This is not politics,” he said. “This is redemption unfolding in real time.”
The interview ended with a warning and a declaration. “People think history is random,” Rav Kessin said. “It is not. The pieces are moving exactly where they need to go. Anyone watching honestly can see it.”
Trump’s presidency, the fury it provokes, and the strange resilience that surrounds him are not distractions from the story of Israel. In Rav Kessin’s view, they are part of it.