Study Berakhot folio 13A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
לא שיעקר ״יעקב״ ממקומו, אלא ״ישראל״ עיקר ו״יעקב״ טפל לו. וכן הוא אומר ״אל תזכרו ראשנות וקדמניות אל תתבננו״: אל תזכרו ראשנות״ — זה שעבוד מלכיות, ״וקדמניות אל תתבננו״ — זו יציאת מצרים.
not that the name Jacob will be entirely uprooted from its place, but that the name Israel will be the primary name to which the name Jacob will be secondary, as the Torah continues to refer to him as Jacob after this event. And it also says that the ultimate redemption will overshadow the previous redemption in the verse: “Do not remember the former events, and do not ponder things of old” (Isaiah 43:18), and the Talmud explains: “Do not remember the former events,” that is the subjugation to the kingdoms, and “do not ponder things of old,” that is the exodus from Egypt, which occurred before the subjugation to the nations.
״הנני עשה חדשה עתה תצמח״, תני רב יוסף: זו מלחמת גוג ומגוג.
With regard to the following verse: “Behold, I will do new things, now it will spring forth” (Isaiah 43:19), Rav Yosef taught a baraita: This refers to the future war of Gog and Magog, which will cause all earlier events to be forgotten.
משל למה הדבר דומה — לאדם שהיה מהלך בדרך ופגע בו זאב וניצל ממנו, והיה מספר והולך מעשה זאב. פגע בו ארי וניצל ממנו, והיה מספר והולך מעשה ארי. פגע בו נחש וניצל ממנו, שכח מעשה שניהם, והיה מספר והולך מעשה נחש. אף כך ישראל — צרות אחרונות משכחות את הראשונות.
The Talmud cites a parable: To what is this comparable? To a person who was walking along the way and a wolf accosted him and he survived it, and he continued to relate the story of the wolf. A lion accosted him and he survived it, and he continued to relate the story of the lion. A snake accosted him and he survived it, he forgot both the lion and the wolf, and he continued to relate the story of the snake. Each encounter was more dangerous and each escape more miraculous than the last, so he would continue to relate the most recent story. So too with Israel; more recent troubles cause the earlier troubles to be forgotten.