Monday, December 6, 2021
My Father's Honour
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| Art by Alec Levin |
"Therefore, tell my father of all the honor that is given me in Egypt" [Vayigash 45:13]
The Ohev Yisrael [R' Avraham Yehoshua Heschel of Apta] was travelling with his son, R' Yitzchak Meir, through the neighboring towns. Wherever he went, hundreds of Jews came out to greet him, the gadol b'Yisrael, and showed him great honor.
The Ohev Yisrael was distressed by the amount of honor that he was receiving and, because of his great modesty, he truly believed that he did not deserve it. He therefore turned to his son and asked: "My son, why is everybody honoring me so much, being that I am not worthy of it?"
R' Yitzchak Meir saw how distraught his father was, so he consoled him: "Do not let it worry you, Father. For these people have come to honor me."
"And why do you deserve such honor?" asked the Ohev Yisrael.
"That is obvious" replied R' Yitzchak Meir. "It is because I am the son of the Apter Rav."
The Rebbe smiled, and he said: "This, my son, is what Yosef meant when he stated "Therefore, tell my father of all the honor that is given me in Egypt - for all the fame and honor that I receive in Egypt is only thanks to my father's merit!"
Source: Rabbi Yisrael Bronstein
Source: Rabbi Yisrael Bronstein
Sunday, December 5, 2021
Thousands Flee as ''abode of gods" erupts
Semeru, or Mount Semeru (Indonesian: Gunung Semeru), is an active volcano in East Java, Indonesia. It is located in the subduction zone, where the Indo-Australia plate subducts under the Eurasia plate.[2] It is the highest mountain on the island of Java. This stratovolcano is also known as Mahameru, meaning "The Great Mountain" in Sanskrit.[3] The name derived from Hindu cosmology's mountain of Meru or Sumeru, the abode of gods. [Source: Wikipedia]
Wednesday, December 1, 2021
The Menorah: Rededication of the Messianic Light
New Shiur from Rabbi Mendel Kessin, given 11/29/2021
Sunday, November 28, 2021
Mikeitz: At the End of Days
Text Source: Likutei Sichos of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Gutnick Chumash
The word Mikeitz means "At the end" as in the saying "the end of days" [Daniel 12:13]
In Aramaic the word "days" is almost identical to its Hebrew equivalent, but the last letter switches from a mem to a nun ימים = ימין
The Zohar notes that this Aramaic word ימין is identical to the Hebrew word ימין , meaning "right" and on this basis, the Zohar concludes: There are two 'ends', one on the spiritual 'right' and one on the spiritual 'left'.
In Jewish mysticism, "left" represents the side of evil. So, the 'end of the spiritual left' refers to the day when evil will cease to exist, with the end of exile, i.e. "the end of days" (קץ הימים).
"Right", on the other hand, represents goodness and holiness. Thus we refer to the "end of the right" to indicate that there is no dilution of values in the realms of holiness, so the end is as good as the beginning. The term קץ הימים ("end of the spiritual right") is thus an allusion to the final redemption, when good will triumph over evil, and we will see how good is found consistently throughout the entire world.
We are thus left with the question: Which "end" does the word Mikeitz refer to - the "end of the left" or the "end of the right"?
In fact, both could be argued:
a) At the beginning of our Parsha, Yosef is released from jail. This was the end of Yosef's exile, i.e. the "end of the left".
b) On the other hand, we then read how Yosef suddenly rose to power and became ruler over Egypt - his redemption, represented by "the end of the right".
How could the two opposite concepts of exile and redemption be alluded to by the same expression?
Chassidic thought explains that the inner purpose of exile is that the Jews should be scattered around the world in order to "rescue" sparks of holiness which had been lost in physicality. Thus, redemption is not the elimination of exile, but rather, it is the goal of exile. And therefore, both concepts are hinted to by the same word.
Thursday, November 25, 2021
L'Shem Shamayim [In the Name of Heaven]
Dovid HaMelech tells us in Tehilim (49:18) כִּי לֹא בְמוֹתוֹ יִקַּח הַכֹּל, when you die you won't take everything with you. The Gerrer Rebbe the Beis Yisroel asks, the word "everything" implies that some things you will take with you after death. But not everything.
This being the case, the pasuk cannot be referring to material objects, since you can't take "any" of your material items with you. Therefore he deduces that Dovid HaMelech is telling us we can't even take all our mitzvos with us. This seems strange. Why can't we take all of our mitzvos with us to Olam Haba? Why are they left behind in the material world?
The Gerrer Rebbe says the next few words of the pasuk reveal the answer. לֹא יֵרֵד אַחֲרָיו כְּבוֹדוֹ, his honor will not follow him to the world of truth, the eternal world. Any mitzva that was done for the sake of Kavod has no place in Shamayim, and will not go with you. These mitzvos will be left behind in the world that reveres Kavod. A world suited for them. You did it for the sake of benefiting in the material world, and in the material world they will remain forever.
Source: Revach
Wednesday, November 24, 2021
Tuesday, November 23, 2021
Transcription: Rabbi Anava's lecture
I began typing up an edited version with the main points of Rabbi Anava's latest shiur 'What is Waiting for us before the coming of Moshiach', and here is what I have done so far. Any numbers in [..] refer to the time on the video if anyone wants to check to see what he actually said. The things that Rabbi Anava is saying here are the same things Geula Bloggers have been writing about for the past 15 years, but now we are much closer to the Geula, everything has become far more obvious.
When I have some extra time I will hopefully manage to complete the transcribing.
Transcription follows.
Right now, Hashem has given control of the world to the Satan. [Known as the ''Samech Mem" which is an abbreviation for s-a-m-a-e-l, a name we don't say.] That doesn't mean Hashem is not ultimately in control, but right now evil is ruling the world, but there are conditions... and one of the conditions is that the evil regime must announce what they are doing. So you just need to listen to what they are saying. They are telling us Hashem's agenda, Hashem has a Plan and He's telling us His plan thru his world government. It is clear as daylight that we are in the days before Moshiach.
We are controlled by an evil regime who think they run the world, and for now Hashem is allowing them to. They are like the axe in the hand of the woodchopper. Everything that is happening has the stamp of approval of the Master of the Universe.
Talmud Sanhedrin 97a
In the generation in which Moshiach will come Torah scholars will decrease, and the rest of the people their eyes fill with sorrow and grief. And troubles increase, and the harsh decrees will be introduced, before the first passes the second quickly comes. In the week Moshiach comes [week refers to the Sabbatical cycle, 7 year cycle]:
In the first year I will cause it to rain upon one city, and not rain upon another city.
In the second year, arrows of famine will be shot.
In the third year, huge famine. Many people will die, women, men, children. The pious men and men of action [those who study Torah] will die and Torah is forgotten.
In the fourth year, there will be plenty, but not plenty. [there will be a lot, but we'll get nothing from it... deception again]
During the fifth year there will be great plenty and everyone will eat and rejoice and the Torah will return to those who study it.
In the sixth year, Heavenly voices will be heard, trumpets, announcements of Moshiach.
In the seventh year there will be a big war [Gog u Magog] and motzei shevi'it [after the seventh] ben David [the son of David] will come. [42.00]
Rabbi Yehuda says something different. He says: In the generation that Moshiach comes the Hall of Assembly of the Sages will be designated for prostitution. The Rabbinical establishments will become corrupted. There will be no rabbinical control over the Torah. The corruption that you can find today in the Batei Dinim is beyond imagination, in any subject.... conversions, divorce, kashrut.... all corrupted. [45.00] Many appear to be pious and great men, but soon we will see the corruption for ourselves. Hashem is going to expose all the junk. Rabbis will sell the Torah for power, control, status... just as prostitutes sell their bodies.
The Galilee will be destroyed. [The Galil used to be the centre of great Torah, now those Sages are buried in the kevarim around Tsfat, and everybody is fighting with each other today] and Gavlan will be desolated.
When a Rabbi disagrees with a part of Torah because he doesn't agree, he will lose everything. Rabbis cannot pick and choose.
The internet is full of rabbis talking nonsense, you need to be careful who you are listening to. There are many fake rabbis out there. They are speaking things that have nothing to do with the Torah, and they have thousands of followers. So we can see that the Torah became merchandise.... like prostitution. They will give you 90% truth and 10% lies. The amount of followers they have doesn't mean anything. Simple people don't know where to go... that's why it says they'll be running to and fro.
Kabbalah has become a factory for money. Most of these people don't know what they are talking about. Be careful who you learn ''kabbalah" from.
The residents of the border who flee the neighboring gentiles will search from city to city and receive no sympathy.
It's almost impossible to make Aliyah now.
The wisdom of the scholars will diminish. Sin fearing people will be despised. In Israel the secular despise the orthodox. And now we have another problem: vaccinated or non-vaccinated. A person can be a Torah genius but if he's not vaccinated, no-one wants to listen to him. [1:11:00]
The face of the generation will be like the face of a dog. [the masks]
They won't be embarrassed by anything. We can see that clearly now.
When you walk with a dog it appears that the dog is leading you, but the reality is that you are leading the dog. Reality is that our leaders are not leading us at all.
The Chofetz Chaim says when you hit a dog with a stick, the dog doesn't bite you, he bites the stick because he thinks the stick is hitting him. Right now we are all getting hit by the stick which is from Hashem, but we think it is from the government, or an employer, or someone else. All the slaps we are getting are coming from Hashem.
The truth will not be found. The Talmud says that in the generation that will look like the face of a dog, truth will be lacking and he who will turn away from evil will be considered mad. [1:17:38]
People who seek truth will have to find refuge in the desert.
Anyone who deviates from evil is deemed insane by the people, the world will call him a fool.
People need to check themselves whether they are truly honest or not. Hashem hates deception. If you want to be close to Hashem for all eternity, do not tell lies. It's all about the Truth. The world above us is called 'The World of Truth'. If you lie, your prayers will never be heard, you will bring upon yourself all the worst things in the world. Just tell the truth. Start working on your truthfulness.
[1:28:00] Another Sage says, in the generation that ben David will come, youth will humiliate elders, and the elders will stand in deference before the youth. A daughter will rebel against her mother, and a bride against her mother-in-law, and a son will not be ashamed before his father.
Another Sage says: arrogance will proliferate and the cost of living will corrupt people so they will engage in deceit. The cost of living will be very high. Distinguished people will be crooks and will deceive. And the vine will produce it's fruit but the wine will be expensive. [we can see the prices of food today are increasing even though there is an abundance.... farmers are throwing their produce into the garbage to keep the prices high]
And the entire monarchy will be converted to heresy. Monarchy = regime/government. We can see governments are not religious at all. There will be no inclination among the people to accept rebuke. ben David will not come until the entire Kingdom will be converted to heresy. [example: same sex marriage is heresy]
[1:36:00] Devarim 32:36 When the Lord will judge His people, and will reconsider His servants, when He sees that the power is increasing, and none is controlled or strengthened. The explanation says instead of following the Torah, they come out with new traditions. And in Israel the deception is the worst. It is all one big deception and slowly they go against the Torah.
The son of David will not come until the traitors will overcome. People will start to inform on others. Here we can see with the vaccines, people may start informing on others.
ben David will not come until the students will diminish. How many people today are sincerely making people do teshuva? The ones who are genuinely rebuking will diminish. We can see this now. Rabbis no longer tell people not to drive to the shul on Shabbat etc.
The son of David will not come until there is not a penny in the pocket. It will be very hard financially. We are also working towards a cashless society, digital currency, we won't have money anymore and it will all be digital.
ben David will not come until they despair for the Redemption. People lose their faith and will give up on Moshiach coming.
Eliyahu haNavi is talking to R. Yehuda and Eliyahu says there needs to be a certain amount of Jubilee [Yovel] cycles before Moshiach comes, and only at the end of a Jubilee year Moshiach will come. Eliyahu did not know whether it would be at the beginning or the end of the Yovel year. He says there needs to be a minimum of 85 Jubilee cycles in the world. We are way past that. But he says that Moshiach will come in a Jubilee year - "during the last Jubilee year Moshiach will come". 2029 on the Gregorian calendar will be a Jubilee year. [Ed note.... some say this year is the Jubilee, but we have lost count] [1:48:16]
Wednesday, November 17, 2021
What is Waiting for Us before the Coming of Moshiach?
Current events clash with Biblical Prophecies.
Rabbi Alon Anava, new shiur. Part transcription of this shiur can be found here.
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