Thursday, November 22, 2012

Red Alert to Klall Yisroel in the name of HaRav Moshe Sternbuch, shilita

The Jewish people are witnessing miracles in Israel. The missiles fired at us have the power to level buildings, yet miracles are taking place and we were spared from mass destruction. Even the most secular newspapers report that there is no way to explain these events according to natural law.

While the word "miracle" has been liberally splashed around by the media, neither the secular nor the religious press grasped the vital message of the hour. The situation arouses an urgent and critical obligation for each Jew to ask himself: "Why is Hashem performing these miracles for us? How should I be conducting myself in these extraordinary times?

If we do not deal with these questions immediately, this current security crisis could – Chas Veshalom – escalate into the most dangerous period in Jewish history. Hashem performs miracles for the Jewish people so that we will become more aware of His Presence in our lives. In recent days, He has made perfectly clear that He alone wields power in the world and that no missile can harm so much as a hair on the head of a Jew without His consent. Every rocket has an address that He predetermines, though the terrorists may believe that they can aim at a particular target.

Miracles are Hashem's alarm bells, "a red alert" that we must wake up and become truly conscious of Hashem's hashgachah in our daily lives. If we ignore these messages and conclude that miracles are just a natural part of living in Israel, the tables w could – Chas Veshalom – quickly turn.

We could – Chas Veshalom – in fact be handed over to natural law, and the missiles inexplicably could – Chas Veshalom – begin to hit their targets with greater frequency. And that means that the lives of our fellow Jews – our brothers and sisters living in Israel – could – Chas Veshalom – be in mortal danger.

We must learn this lesson from the story of the meraglim (spies). When they returned from Eretz Yisrael they claimed this land was a place where miracles were apparent on a daily basis, and therefore an extremely high spiritual level would be demanded of those who dwelled there. There was no way that Klal Yisrael as a nation could maintain such a level, and therefore the spies, who were all Gedolei Yisrael, ruled that the people should not enter the land.

The opinion of the meraglim was brought before the Sanhedrin, and they concurred with their ruling. It may seem, on the surface, that their reasoning was sound, and logic dictated that it was unwise to enter Eretz Yisrael. Yet we see from the grave punishment incurred by that generation that they could not have been further from the truth. What was the mistake in their reasoning?

The answer is simple. If Hashem told us to enter Eretz Yisrael, He obviously knew that we would ascend to the spiritual level necessary for a nation that sees miracles on a daily basis. For this reason, the claim of the meraglim was heresy, and we suffer from its bitter consequences to this very day.

In more recent times, Rav Yechiel Yaakov Weinberg once told Rav Sternbuch about a meeting of secular non-Jewish and Jewish professors to discuss the authorship of the Torah. Their conclusion was that while the Torah was far too complex to be man-made, they were not ready to attribute it to a Divine source that they knew nothing about. Like the meraglim, they perceived the significance of the Divine influence, but refused to follow through by accepting the full import of this conclusion.

During the current military operation, we are facing the very same challenge. Hashem is sending us a message that we must make real changes in our lives and raise our level of consciousness of His Presence, to the point where we are worthy of such supernatural treatment. If we rise to the occasion and raise our level of emunah as a result of these miracles, then we will pass the nisayon (test), and it is very likely that Moshiach will arrive shortly.

Chazal offer us practical advice in this area, and write that reciting a hundred brachos every day and saying Amen yehei Shmei Rabba has the power to annul decrees. Reciting Tehillim is important, but we need to make sure that our tefilah is also said with the proper kavanah. Everyone should take upon themselves to do something small to raise their level of emunah.

We must consider ourselves warned by the lessons of our history: If Hashem shows us miracles and we do not respond by strengthening our emunah, His mercy could – Chas Veshalom – turn to fury and we are handed over to the forces of natural law. We dare not speak about what this could could – Chas Veshalom– lead to, but we all understand the ruthless nature and implacable hatred of the enemy we face.

Now is the time, while Hasehm continues to shower His miracles upon us, to recognize His hand in our lives on a national and individual level, to turn to Him in tefilah and teshuvah, and eagerly watch the redemption unfold before our eyes.

11 comments:

Akiva said...

Shmuel Alef Chap. 13, "I brought a peace offering." Shmuel, "what have you done???"

TidbitsofTorah said...

correction - yud alef, yes Rabbi Akiva?

What have I done? Cried, begged, packed 3 times - and can say more but hoping/praying HaShem will penetrate the hearts and make XXXX understand what I understand what has to be done.

Anonymous said...

Perhaps as a non-Jew I have no right to say anything, but if this does not seem respectful, and i m just saying what puzzles me, thenforgive me.But why do not all the Jews go to Israel.
One other question, why when one reads of Jews travelling from one cuntry to another, why is it written:"American Jews" French Jews, etc; I learn Jews are one, One Nation, Children of Hashem, He made them Jews, why not just say, Jews, instead of referring to the country they come from. This I think must be removed from the thoughts of Jews, You are one nation, please help the rest of us who are not of you, become the Light for the darkened world, this is with a cry from my heart.
sc

Menachem from the Absolute Truth said...

Excellent post. It was in the news that over 100 rockets from the barbaric terrorists misfired and never made it to Israel but landed in Gaza (of course, the Jew hating news said that they were rockets that came from Israel -- LOL). Their rockets have probably caused more damage to themselves than to us. Their using civilian population as shields has caused more self-inflicted death than anything coming from Israel. Hashem's miracles are seen here everyday. I know that I was in much more danger when I lived in the USofA than I am now -- crime was so bad and "dead is dead." What is the difference between being killed by a terrorist or a mugger. The answer is statistics show that far more people are killed by homicide than by terrorism (deaths by terrorism and homicide combined in Israel is miraculous low). Coming home is more than just a mitzvah, it is survival.

Anonymous said...

לקיים בנו חכמי ישראל
נא להתפלל עבור הרה”ג ר’ שלמה ברעוודה שליט”א הנמצא בבית חולים בתיפול נמרץ ICU במצב קשה מאד, נא להתפלל ללמוד תורה ולהרבות בצדקה לרפואתו ולזכותו “שלמה ליב בן מרים” לרפואה שלמה במהרה

Yidden world wide are asked to please recite Tehillim and learn Torah as Zechus for the famous Magid of the generation Harav Shlomo Brevda Shlita, “Shlomo Leib ben Miriam” who is in urgent need of a Refuah Sheleimah. Again He has been hospitalized under stressful conditions currently in the ICU. The situation is so that only Tehillim & T’efilos can still help save his life.

Before being hospitalized: Rav Brevda requested that we increase the intensity of our Tefillos during Dovening and say Tehillim (day and/or night) whenever the opportunity arises. He feels in very dire straights. Please request that a Misheberech to be said for the Rav during Kryias HaTorah.
Thank you.

The Absolute Truth said...

When you consider that most of the Jews in the world, outside of Israel, are in America and Europe and the fact that Hashem is sending very definite messages to those Jews, (Sandy, Jew hatred, economic and political problems, etc), there is a natural emphasis on helping the Jews of that area. So far as why aren't the Jews all in Israel, there are two explanations. Most of the Jews are like the 80% of the Israelites in Egypt who did not want to follow Moses into the desert and perished in the plague of darkness. They believe that they are happier where they are even though they have no idea how far superior it is to be in Israel (this Geula will be different since they will all want to come later when things get so bad). The second reason is many want to come but don't have the resources to pick up and leave. Right now, Nefesh B'Nefesh has tens of thousands of Jews making application and they are greatly short of funds to help. If you have about 50 million extra dollars you don't need, give them a call. Let me also tell you a very interesting fact. This Geula, the ten lost tribes will be returning -- meaning that a very large population who say that they are non-Jews, like yourself, may find that your interest in all this is because you are of the lost nation of Israel and will be joining us here soon. I'll keep the light on for you.

REsponse to Anonymous about why Jews don't live in ISrael said...

To anonymous: Please see Rabbi Mizrachi's video about why not all Jews live in Israel right now. http://www.divineinformation.com/videos-english/the-war-and-more/

Anonymous said...

The Iron Dome didn't hurt either!

Anonymous said...

To Absolute Truth, Thank you so much.

I wish I( hope and pray that what you say is true}, were I a Jew, I would run to Israel.
I was tryiing to save to go there for a sort of vacation, (not really vacation) just to see and be there for a while. Hashem, has not decreed it for me yet.
I am just getting older, but my longing will always be there.
Once i heard a Rabbi say in a lecture: When Mashiach comes, non-Jews will take hold of the the clothes of a Jew, and beg him/her to take them too.
I hope I can do that too. May Mashiach come today.
One more thing, if I ever win a lottery, (seldom buy a ticket) then I would offer most of it to those helping Jews to go home. I would keep enough for my passage and thus I dream on.....
sc

Anonymous said...

To the one who wrote to me :Response to annoymous.
I have heard that lecture, will hear it again. But... i would still urge the Jews to go and make a home there. Thats the land Hashem gave you all, that is : The Chosen, The Jews.

Bless you,
sc

shoshana said...

That was a beautiful reply!