Swords into Plowshares

On January 31, 1992, the leaders of major world powers met at the United Nations in New York for the first ever Security Council Summit. There they issued a joint statement announcing a new era in international relations, aimed at reducing arms, redistributing military resources for peaceful purposes, and expanding cooperation for the global benefit of mankind.

The next day, at the Shabbos Farbrengen of Parshas Mishpatim, the Rebbe MHM said that this declaration marked the beginning of the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy, that in the Era of Moshiach, the nations of the world will "beat their swords into plowshares".

This is a lofty ideal, the dream of mankind for millennia. A careful reading of the prophecy will show that it also has a specific definition:
"...at the end of days... is a Messianic prophecy. The Messianic Era begins where world history ends, and once it has begun, there is no turning back: it will change the course of humanity for all time.

To understand this process, we need to look at the commentaries on Isaiah's prophecy, and at the Sicha in which the Rebbe MHM discusses it. Which events showcase the fulfillment of the prophecy? Is the global community really beating its swords into plowshares? What about the conflicts that still rage across the world? What has changed already, and what is yet to happen?

Swords into Plowshares answers these questions.