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A 7.3 magnitude tremor, the largest earthquake in Iraq’s history, struck on Sunday just a few miles from the Iraq-Iran border, killing over 335 Iranians in what one prominent rabbi understood as divine judgment. The earthquake, the largest to hit the Middle East in five years and the largest ever recorded in Iraq, struck at 9:18 PM local time on Sunday, followed soon after by over 100 aftershocks. Seven people were reported dead in Iraq, and over 350 wounded. The most disastrous results were felt in
neighboring Iran, where in addition to 335 killed, over 4,500 people were injured. The earthquake that was so devastating in Iran was felt as a gentle tremor in Israel, noticeable but not a cause for alarm. Rabbi Yosef Dayan, a former member of the Sanhedrin, emphasized that this recent catastrophe in Iran should be perceived as divine retribution, since one of the Hebrew names for God, ‘Elohim’, represents the aspect of judgment brought about through nature. READ MORE
