> Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, the Chief Rabbi of Safed and a member of the Israel’s Rabbinate Council, says that we are witnessing the beginning of the end of America as a superpower, thus paving the way for Israel to take its place in guiding civilization forward. > “It is with great sadness that we can remember this event [storming of the US Capitol] as part of the process of America’s descent from the stage of history. It’s a sad moment, but it happens,” Rabbi Eliyahu wrote in a piece for Arutz 7. > The Rabbi points out that throughout history many empires and superpowers have fallen as a result of moral crises. Whether it was Rome, Egypt, England or Russia, no civilization can endure once there is a breakdown of its ethical foundations. > The Rabbi believes the time has come for Israel to fill the vacuum of leadership left by the failing American experiment. “One can’t help but mention the collapse of England and France, once regarded as among the four world-governing powers,” he writes. “Who remembers them today as such? They collapsed upon themselves like all of Europe, where moral values and justice have been replaced with ‘political correctness’. Family values have been replaced by hedonism.” > The Rabbi points out correctly that there is a vacuum in moral leadership in the world today and believes that it is Israel’s destiny to take up this role. “Israel leads the world in protecting family values,” he stresses. “The average number of children for an Israeli woman is double the average of the Western world, and that is what drives the successful Israeli economy and ingenuity.” > As examples of the moral decline in the West, the Rabbi noted that “Russia leads the world in alcohol consumption, and the US leads the world in drug consumption. Israel, on the other hand, has among the lowest rates of alcohol and drug consumption in the world.” > Rabbi Eliyahu also believes that there will never be a military or popular coup to overthrow the government in Israel, as happened to nations and empires throughout history. “We all remember the heavy toll of the destruction of the Second Temple and we won’t let it come to that again,” he writes, referring to the belief among many Israelis that Jerusalem was sacked because of the divisions and infighting amongst the Jews.