After 1,000 years of keeping Iceland “free of Jews”, the government recognized Judaism. But according to one rabbi, their prohibition preventing Jews from establishing the “covenant” is severing the connection between Heaven and Earth.

Iceland: Recognizing Jews But Forbidding the Covenant

On March 8, Iceland officially recognized Judaism for the first time as one of the approximately 50 recognized religious groups. This allows Jews to register themselves and their children as belonging to the country’s Jewish community. It means that the annual $100 church tax paid by Jewish Icelanders will now go towards their own religious institutions. Jewish marriages, baby-naming, and funerals will also be accepted by civil law. 

In 2018, the first rabbi arrived to serve the approximately 250 Jews living in Iceland, mostly residing in the capital city of Reykjavik.  But the Jewish community was still faced with trouble in their adopted home. In the same year, a bill banning circumcision was put forth in Iceland’s parliament thereby making Iceland the first European country to ban male circumcision for non-medical reasons. The bill gathered the support of all political parties in Iceland but was called an attack on religious freedom by Jewish and Islamic groups. The bill is still being processed. 

Circumcision is common to both Judaism, which refers to it as Brit Milah, and Islam, which refers to it as Khitan, though it is not mandatory in Sunni Islam. When Abraham circumcised his son Isaac, the father of the Jewish people, he also circumcised Ishmael, the father of the Arabs.

Then Avraham took his son Ishmael, and all his homeborn slaves and all those he had bought, every male in Avraham‘s household, and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskins on that very day, as Hashem had spoken to him. Genesis 17:23

In addition, Icelandic law requires that animals must be sedated prior to slaughter, making shechita (the required technique for rendering the meat kosher for Jewish consumption) is not permitted in Iceland. Kosher meat must be imported. 

Norse Paganism Making a Comeback

Religion in Iceland has been predominantly Christian since the adoption of Christianity as the state religion by the king of Norway, in 1000 CE. In the 20th Century, the pagan Norse religion, a form of Germanic neo-paganism, began to make a comeback in Iceland, and in 2017, the Asatru Society finished the construction of a new temple dedicated to the Norse god Odin,  the first of its kind in over one thousand years. Unlike the mainstream Lutheran church that most Icelanders attend, the Icelandic version of neo-paganism promotes same-sex weddings.

Volcano Erupts for First Time in 900 Years; Could Shut Down European Air Travel

After more than 50 000 earthquakes registered over the last month, a volcano erupted near Iceland’s capital Reykjavik on Friday, leaving a 1,640-2,300 fiery fissure full of lava gaping in the earth.

The last eruption there was some 800 years ago.

In 2010, the eruption of Eyjafjallajokull, another Icelandic volcano, brought air traffic to a halt across Europe resulting in what at the time was the largest air-traffic shut-down since World War II. Over 95,000 flights had been canceled all across Europe during the six-day airspace ban,[15] with later figures suggesting 107,000 flights canceled during an 8-day period, accounting for 48% of total air traffic and roughly 10 million passengers.

God’s Reminder: Who Rules the World

Rabbi Yosef Berger, Rabbi of King David’s Tomb on Mount Zion, emohasized that there was clearly a connection between Iceland’s treatment of the Jews and the volcanic eruption. 

“They claim to care about the children and the animals but that is not really the truth,” Rabbi Berger said. “It’s not even against the Jews. They want to be free of all the rules of heaven. Psalms teach us that this will happen in the end of days.”

“Let us break the cords of their yoke, shake off their ropes from us!” Psalms 2:3

“Before the Final Redemption, people will rise up en masse against any rules of decency that limit what they can do,” Rabbi Berger said. “They will fight against anything that reminds them that there is a God in Heaven.”

“These revolts against morality are coming now because very soon, when the Moshiach comes, they will have no choice,” the rabbi said. “God’s presence in the world will be right there in front of them in every way.”

“The Midrash teaches that after killing the Jews, the Amalekites, Israel’s archetypal and eternal enemy, cut off the male organ and threw it up towards heaven,” Rabbi Berger said. “Brit Milah (circumcision) literally means a covenant. It connects heaven and earth. It is a sign that a Jew, no matter where he is, carries the connection between heaven and earth on his body. The Jew acts as this connection. Rejecting this specific mitzvah (commandment) is an attempt to sever this connection, cutting off the entire world from God.”

PROPHETS WARN VOLCANOS MARK END-OF DAYS

Volcanoes are explicitly mentioned by the prophets as playing a role in the end of days, preparing the world by burning away impurities as a crucible is used in metallurgy to purify metal. This process is described in Zechariah.

And I will bring the third part through the fire and will refine them as silver is refined and will try them as gold is tried; they shall call on My name and I will answer them; I will say: ‘It is My people’ and they shall say: ‘Hashem is my God.’ Zechariah 13:9

This type of cataclysmic seismic activity is mentioned specifically by the prophets as an aspect of the End-of-Days process.

But Hashem God is the true God, He is the living God, and the everlasting King; at His wrath the earth trembleth, and the nations are not able to abide His indignation. Jeremiah 10:10

Iceland: Historically “Free of Jews”

There was historically very little contact between Jews and Iceland, mostly limited to Jewish traders from Denmark who visited the island nation. The term for Jew in the Icelandic language is Gyoingar, and most Icelanders only knew of the Jews from the Bible.

In November 1937, C.A.C. Brun, the first secretary of the Danish legation in Reykjavik, met with the Icelandic Prime Minister, Hermann Jonasson to discuss the plight of a Jewish family that was threatened with expulsion due to Nazi expansionism. In his diary, Brun exclaimed, “Iceland has always been a pure Nordic country, free of Jews.” This view echoed the sentiments of many other Icelanders at the time.

On Yom Kippur in 1940, a service was held that included 25 allied forces servicemen from in a lodge that belonged to the Good Templars. This service was the first non-Christian religious ceremony to take place in Iceland in 940 years since the nation officially embraced Christianity in the year 1000. According to Iceland’s Statistical Bureau, there were only 9 Jews in Iceland in 1945.