A massive swarm of locusts that has been eating up everything in its path in Africa crossed the Red Sea into Saudi Arabia. For now, the Arabians have it under control but if it continues to spread (which it seems to be doing), it could bring a welcome respite to war-torn Yemen whose starving inhabitants consider the locust to be a delicacy.

LOCUSTS IN SAUDI ARABIA

Locusts have been plaguing Africa for several years, generating a dire famine, has now crossed the Red Sea and entered Saudi Arabia, covering more than 300 miles of coastline from Jizan to Lith.

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The Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority (ADAFSA) control teams sprayed over 21,000 acres of infested regions using the recommended pesticides, to reduce desert locust’s impact on crops and production.125 engineers and 144 workers participated in control operations, while 72 vehicles were used in spraying locusts. . . .

LOCUSTS: THE PLAGUE THAT WON’T GO AWAY

Despite the efforts of the top experts to stem the infestation, locusts struck on three continents in 2020.  A swarm estimated at 40 million creatures passed through Argentina, spreading to other countries as well. Another swarm hit Asia.

Desert locusts are always present in the region but are typically solitary. . . .

A swarm of just one square kilometer eats the same amount of food in one day as 35,000 people. The swarms also can travel 93 miles a day making efforts to control an outbreak even more difficult. Officials warned that further rains in the region could lead to an even larger outbreak. . . .

Locusts are a certain species of short-horned grasshoppers that have a swarming phase, usually in response to overcrowding.

YEMENIS WAITING FOR THE LOCUSTS, KNIVES AND FORKS AT THE READY

If the swarm spreads south, this may come as a boon to the neighboring country of Yemen. Yemen had been suffering a growing famine crisis as a result of the civil war. More than 85,000 children have died as a result of the famine as of 2018. In May 2020, UNICEF described Yemen as “the largest humanitarian crisis in the world”, and estimated that 80% of the population, over 24 million people, were in need of humanitarian assistance.

Though locusts consume crops, previous infestations have been utilized to ease the famine conditions. . . .

KOSHER LOCUSTS

Despite human consumption of insects being strictly forbidden by the Torah, locusts are the notable exception and are kosher.

Of these you may eat the following: locusts of every variety; all varieties of bald locust; crickets of every variety; and all varieties of grasshopper. But all other winged swarming things that have four legs shall be an abomination for you. Leviticus 11:22-23 . . .

LOCUSTS PRECEDING THE FINAL REDEMPTION

It is interesting to note that last week, Jews in synagogues all around the world were reading Parsha Bo, the section of the Torah describing the plague of locusts that struck Egypt before the Exodus. This current incarnation very much resembles the Biblical plague, coming as part of a wave of catastrophes that left the land of Egypt bereft of any food. . . .

According to Jewish tradition and based on a verse in Micah, the ten-plagues will reappear before the Messiah. . . .

Jewish sources predict that all of the plagues will reappear in the final Redemption but in even more powerful forms. It is written in Midrash Tanchuma, homiletic teachings collected around the fifth century, that “just as God struck the Egyptians with 10 plagues, so too He will strike the enemies of the Jewish people at the time of the Redemption.”

This concept was explained by Rabbi Bahya ben Asher, a 13th-century Spanish commentator, who wrote, “In Egypt, God used only part of His strength. When the final redemption comes, God will show much, much more of His power.”

(Excerpt from Israel 365 News. Article by Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz. Photo Credit: Unsplash.)

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