YAAKOV AVINU AND THE ACHARIT HAYAMIM (THE END OF DAYS)
Did Jacob have any knowledge about what will happen with his children (the Jews) in the last days [The time of the end]?
The answer is, yes. But, how do we know that?
Jacob (Ya'akov) called for his children and said, "Gather around and I will tell you what will happen to you at the time of the end, in the lastvdays (Acharit Ha'Yamim).
Well, that's very convencing; but he didn't really tell them much. What happened? Maybe he forgot. Not a chance! Jacob didn't forget, HaShem did not allow him to tell them. Our sages say that when he started to tell them the Shechinah withdrew, so obviously he understood, Jacob got the point, that he was not allowed to tell them. So he told them other things instead.
".. and I will tell you, etc.: He attempted to reveal the End, but the Shechinah withdrew from him. So he began to say other things. — [from Pesachim 56a, Gen. Rabbah 98:2]"
However in verse 10 he gave them a hint about the concept of a coming Mashiach: As it says, "The scepter shall not depart from Judah (The Judeans), nor the student of the law from between his legs, until "Shiloh" comes, and to him will be a gathering of peoples." Who is Shilo? Did the children of Jacob know who is Shilo?
There are a few prophecies in this verse about Yehuda (Judah / Judeans / Jews) which is the son from whom the entire Jewish nation is name Jews. There were 12 + 1 children = 13 Tribes; but the entire nation would remain attached to God, Torah, and holiness through the Jews (Yehuda), just like we read in the verse: "The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the student of the law from between his legs"; Ok, until when? The verse continues: "until Shilo comes". Who is Shilo?
Whether they knew or not is foreign to me right now; however, Rashi gives us the best detailed interpretation about this verse, and he said:
The (Royal) scepter shall not depart from Judah means: from King David and thereafter. These (who bear the (Royal) scepter after the termination of the kingdom) are the exilarchs (princes) in Babylon, who ruled over the people with a scepter, [and] who were appointed by royal mandate. — [From Sanh. 5a] - nor the student of the law from between his feet: Students. These are the princes of the land of Israel. — [From Sanh. 5a].
Then Rashi tells us about who Shilo is: "until Shiloh comes": [This refers to] the King Mashiach (Messiah Ben David), to whom the kingdom belongs (שֶׁלוֹ) , and so did Onkelos render it: [until the Messiah comes, to whom the kingdom belongs]. According to the Midrash Aggadah, [“Shiloh” is a combination of] שַׁי לוֹ, a gift to him, as it is said:“they will bring a gift to him who is to be feared” (Ps. 76:12). - [From Gen. Rabbah ed. Theodore-Albeck p. 1210 ]. Ultimately Shilo, could be rendered as Shelo which litterally means what belongs to him or "His".
The prophecy speaks also of Abundance of wine and Milk as a blessing for the Jews... Jews definitely use lots of wine, all of Jewish rituals includes wine, kidush, Havdalah, Yom Tov, etc.
But what else did Jacob know? He definitely seems to know more than he told us. For some of his knowledge about the End, we learn to decipher from his life, his story, his exile, ect.
Indeed, we learn from the oral Torah that the life of the forefathers serves as a sign to the children "Maasseh Avot Siman La'Banim"
Jacob seemed to be extremely concerned about the future Edomite's attempt to wipe out the descendant of Israel. In which he ended up dispatching Malachim to visit Essav in Seir. The issue is that at that time Essav was still living in Eretz Israel, his twins brother only moved to Seir much later. Therefore, some opinions are referring to that incident as a Mystical transcendental messengers into the future, to prevent the Holocaust in Germany / Europe.
The Talmud (Megillah 6a-b) discusses Psalms 140:9: Rav Isaac also said: What is meant by the verse, “Grant not, O Eternal, the desires of the wicked man, do not further his plot, lest they exalt themselves, selah (Psalms 140:9)?
Jacob said before the Holy One, blessed be He: Master of the Universe, grant not to Esau the wicked the desire of his heart, do not further his plot: this refers to Germamia (גרממיא) of Edom, for should they but go forth they would destroy the whole world.
GERMANY IS GERMAMIA [GERMANIA]
In Masechet Megillah, "Germamia" is said to consist of "300 princes in a place called "Germamia of Edom", and every day one prince kills another, and if they ever get together, they would destroy the world." This memra is from mid-4th century. A century later, the Germanic tribes got together in the Sack of Rome. And when they really permanently united, in 1848, they did try twice to take over the world (1914, 1939).
Interestingly, according to Wikipedia: "The number of territories in the Empire [Holy Roman Empire aka Larger Germany] was considerable, rising to about 300 at the time of the Peace of Westphalia. Many of these Kleinstaaten ("little states") covered no more than a few square miles, and/or included several non-contiguous pieces, so the Empire was often called a Flickenteppich ("patchwork carpet")."
There is at least 1 other instance where "Germamia" is mentioned in the Talmud: Yoma 10 page-A, where it is said the nation of "Germamia" stems from "Gomer", the son of "Yafet"(= Noah's son).
This supports Germamia being Germany (according to Jewish Religious historiography) since Gomer's son is Ashkenaz - the Jewish term for Germany.
Interestingly, this places Germamia as the "First Born" of nations; Yafet, Gomer, and Ashkenaz (respectively) being Noah's first borns. This may correlate the chant of Bilaam (Numbers, 24:20) where Amalek is called the 'first of the nations'..
The answer to the question above is yes, Jacob appeared to have had a very good or at the very least enough to make him worry about the future of his descendants.
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