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Tuesday, February 28, 2023

Third Rome #3: Russia's Hidden Role in Hasidism and Zionism

Rabbi Efraim Palvanov 

How did events in the Russian Empire launch two transformative Jewish movements that changed the world? What role has Russia (particularly the KGB) played in the early years of the State of Israel, and the ongoing Arab-Israeli conflict? And what does it all have to do with ancient prophecies of Magog, Edom, and the "Third Rome"?

To watch previous lectures on "Third Rome" click on the Palvanov Label below this blog post.


24 comments:

  1. According to Rav Alexander Hool, moshiach will reveal himself by Tisha B'Av of this year.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vz5fC872Oek&t=13s

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  2. https://www.express.co.uk/news/us/1738768/putin-news-yellowstone-supervolcano-nuclear-threat-dxus

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  3. Rav Hool said in that shiur that it is a possibility Mashiach will reveal himself on Tisha B'Av 5783.
    It is also possible it will be on Purim 5787.

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  4. A few ideas to consider for a more well rounded understanding.

    1) Breslove maybe not as load as chabad has taken the middle path in publicizing chasidus, both through outreach and inreach. In adittion there are many other chasiduses that have made substantial changes including but not limited to nodvorna, chernoble rabonim in various cities in the U.S, then later Aish and Ohr Somayach, amongst litvishe kolels.

    2) To the western mind, subtle refinement and learning of Torah may not be as profound but this is the standard Torah approach by Men learning in Kollel, a substantial change is made in the fabric of creation.

    3) Before "zionism" took hold, Both the Baal Shem Tov and the Gra sent their Talmidim to Eretz Hakodesh to build and bring the redemption.
    These communities continue to flourish today.

    4) The accepted normative Torah understanding to Eretz Yisroel is not "zionist" but Torah.

    5) H' has never given the dispensation to replace the Torah and Mitzvos with a nation state identity "zionism" similar to other nations.

    6) The overwhelming normative ashkenazi gedolim were against such a state being formed and did not want any part of it as this was in contradiction to our ability to fulfill Mitzvos and seen as a violation in the oath not to go up against the nations of the world.

    7) The post state Rabonim, although not all, have taken part in the governments to a limited degree only to protect and defend the Torah way of life.

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  5. Won't we all be surprised when Moshiach comes at a time no one expects him. (Rebbe Nachman)

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  6. LondonMale Re Purim 5787

    Look at the situation of the world and ask yourself if it is possible.
    If moshiach only comes by then we may all be dead.

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  7. To Anon 12.04

    Moshiach comes from the union of a father with his daughter, which from the pshat and with our limited human understanding is simply the most revolting thing imaginable. We do not understand Hashem's ways, and why He chose to bring about the return of the Jewish masses to Tzion the way it has transpired. It says in the Zohar that there would be a secular state for 70 years. This has happened and now the secular population is a minority and its hold on power slipping.

    B"D Torah and Mitzvot are growing by leaps and bounds in EY. Many thousands, including influential figures like singers, are making tshuva.

    Most Jews who stayed in exile married out and ended their place in the Jewish people. The nations violated the oath by being a bit too enthusiastic in their persecution and thus it is no longer valid. Additionally the nations of the world, by a miracle, voted to allow us to return home so we did not go against them. That argument is completely moot.

    The level of Torah learning in EY far exceeds that of the exile.

    We go by the rabbonim of our generation, and Rav Kanievsky zatzal, sar haTorah, told ALL Jews to make aliya.

    L.L.

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  8. Very well said, L.L. You beat me to it, I wanted to say the same that the 'the oath' problem is moot! When the nations, through the U.N.
    gave permission for the rebirth of the Land of Israel for the Jews, that whole scenario of the 'oath' literally disappeared and has no meaning whatsoever anymore. Anyone who still does not accept that coming back to our Homeland as a nation is part of the redemptive process is either very uninformed of Torah, Jewish history and does not accept the prophecies of our holy Sages, etc. H's ways and thoughts are not ours and this was surely His way of getting us back to E.Y. and to our ultimate Geulah with the upcoming arrival of Moshiach tzdkeinu. Those who still don't get it are those who 'don't' want to 'get it'. That is their big mistake because one of the first three questions asked up in Shamayim is 'were you yearning for the Geulah'? Wake up to reality and that is the reality
    of the Geulah Shleimah k'heref ayin, b'mheirah b'yameinu!

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  9. אור הגאולהMarch 2, 2023 at 8:58 PM

    סיפור מטורף!! האם המשיח עומד להתגלות בפורים אדר תשפ"ג!!! מידע חדש מכיוון בלתי צפוי לחלוטין - סנגוריה תביא הגאולה

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tG8eJtaZdNQ

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  10. To 2.36

    Be"D amen ve'amen. You bring up a really good point - that of yearning. Regardless of circumstances, one can still wish and hope for something. In the amida, the blessing for the ingathering of the exiles and having righteous judges precedes that of the final geula. Just as most people make some effort, for their health and wealth, so too for all the blessings we want in our life. (Hashem doesn't need our efforts, we do it for ourselves). Rav Brody from LazerBeams says that if you can't make aliya, open an account and every week put in a dollar towards your aliya and talk to Hashem. I would add if even that is too much, have your aliya diary, a little notebook, just make the plan on paper, what it would look like, your aliya to do list do some decluttering towards packing up, etc, etc.

    Unfortunately many Jews are just not interested.There was an inflamed thread on A7 under the Lakewood article. Someone was vaunting the better choice of kosher restaurants in Lakewood over TA. Throwing away their birthright for a bowl of pottage.

    L.L.

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  11. The Lakewood article

    https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/368062

    I know that there are Jews in vulnerable situations, but this is not true of most.

    When the Jews were scrambling to leave the FSU in the aftermath of WW2, I believe it was Chabad organising it, every Jew had to hand over all their money to support all Jews if they wanted to be assisted in leaving. Birthright trips were a great idea, but now we need Birthright 2.0, Aliya No Jew Left Behind, so that everyone wishing to make aliya can do so. It has to be truly organised, not everyone left to their own devices. I know that there are complaints against the NonJewishAgency (majority of olim not Jewish). That too has to be dealt with through organisation and collective pressure on MKs in Israel to make it happen.

    L.L.


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  12. Frankly L.L. it's all incorrect. It's not about nationhood or religion-in-general. It's about one human being anywhere in the world having empathy for another human being anywhere in the world. THAT'S what it's supposed to be all about.

    That's if the empathy is not a falsely "gushy" empathy, but rather perceptive.
    And if the empathee (the object of empathy) has a legitimate concern which merits a listening ear.

    It can even mean a constructive idea, which has merit.
    It can even mean a cute idea, which is original.

    In other words, just because I live in Israel, doesn't mean my next-door-neighbor will be perceptive and someone of empathy to my concerns. Even IF we're both within the same nation and same religion. Yet someone in far-off Kalamazoo may be very perceptive and empathetic despite being from another nation and religion.

    Here's an example. I was once in Israel. A woman in the neighborhood was complaining that her baby barely gets any sun, because of her Northern exposures. So I told her that I'd read about a Japanese innovation wherein mirrors positioned outside Northern apt. windows reflect the sun, and thus can "mirror" the real thing. The woman was very interested in that, because it addressed the point of her concern. Other women might have responded "yeah, but you know what I'm dealing with? Mold! My kids are getting sick from it." Or else they might cluck their tongues the way Israeli's do. And so forth.
    M.M.

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  13. For M.M., sorry, but genuinely I don't understand your comment in response to mine. L.L.

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  14. LL, although I hear why you might think thus is the case as I have heard this before.

    However, this is not written or found to my knowledge in any accepted halachik provisions in Torah.

    Just because they violated their obligation in the oath does not absolve us of our obligation.



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  15. אור הגאולה :

    Would you be able to tell us in short what that video is about? I can not watch it

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  16. For 5.27

    Please see these two links which go into the issue of the oaths in some detail.

    https://www.kby.org/english/torat-yavneh/view.asp?id=3970

    https://www.yeshiva.co/ask/6695

    For an indepth study see Em Habanim Smeicha, and the books mentioned in those links.

    The short version is that the oaths are not necessarily halacha, alternatively that they were only valid for 1000 years, the Satmar Rebbe holds a minority opinion, (personally I don't understand the logic that the Jews of Europe were punished, if it were the Jews who went to EY were committing a sin. Shevet Efraim were punished for pre-empting yetziat mizrayim, not the Jews who remained), the nations agreed to the Jewish return to EY, Balfour, San Remo, UN partition vote, signalling that it was time for the return.

    Anyone who was in the wars in Israel of 48, 67 and 73 said that Hashem made open miracles, why would He do that if it was against His will?

    If someone is Satmar and follows their teachings, it is understandable, but otherwise it's hard to see why any Jew would cling tenaciously to the oaths in the light of all the opinions, all that has transpired in the last 100 years, and the fact that Gadol haDor called on ALL Jews to make aliya, most recently about a month before the corona lockdowns started.

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  17. Anonymous,

    I believe there are two topics that we are speaking about.

    1) Making Aliya - Yes, I am aware of Rav Kanievsky Ztz"L who was a proponent of telling buchrim not to leave, but have yet to hear that he called upon am Yisroel to make aliya all together or even individually. Not to say it didn't happen, only that I am unaware or it.

    Other Rabonim in the chareidi world were in fact on record in encouraging aliya, not necessarily in mass but individually.

    There are plenty of Satmar chasidim who have come on aliya to live in Eretz Hakodesh although their involvement with the state may be little to none if and when possible.

    Practically, many olim believe that anyone with two eyes in their head should be able to see the direction of the world and run to live in E"Y or at least make sincere plans.

    2) The questions regarding the oath to which I was referring to is post state. One concern is for example that the secularists and some say antiJewish who run the state do not have the sensitivity in Torah (obviously) to see that all options have been explored before taking physical action against the Arabs. a. at what point is this going up against the umos haolam? b. directly causing their hate to fester and thus anti-Semitism both in E"Y and abroad.

    My understanding is that in Chevron amongst other places, before the pogram, there was relative peace and a large Torah community. Only after the zionists provoked with the perverted idea of "כח ועצם ידי" tried to show them who is boss, the arabs commenced the pogram.

    I have also heard stories that rabonim in bnei barak have been successful in achieving peace when they worked with sheiks in resolving disputes with employees and R. Froman of Tekoa was also known to achieve peace.

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  18. A French rav by the name of Rav Ron Chaya who I follow said unequivocally that Rav Kanievsky zatzal called for all Jews to make aliya about a month before the skies were closed at the start of corona. you can google him and ask him yourself. He speaks Hebrew and probably some English.

    About the oaths, it is highly questionable whether or not they were halacha, and if they were, it they are still valid after 1000 years. I have never heard anyone use these oaths in the way you have, and I wonder whether you are aware of the Israeli reality. In addition to what you see in the news, every day there are hundreds of alerts of potential attacks, B"D most are thwarted, there are literally thousands of Jewish girls held captive in Arab villages, and not a few murdered and buried in same villages and the police do nothing, and many more attacks ending in serious injury that you never hear about. Israel shows extreme restraint in the face of ongoing Arab aggression. Any shooting of Arab terrorists become international events put under the magnifying glass. Elor Azaria was sent to prison for shooting a terrorist. To put it into perspective, Israel kills about 120 Arab terrorists a year in the face of the hundreds of alerts of daily attacks. The US and UK have killed 70,000 NON COMBATANT CIVILIANS in Afghanistan since about 2008, i.e. in addition to enemy fighters. Israel does everything possible to save civilian life. Arabs from all over the ME send their children to Israel for free state of the art medical treatment. What more exactly do you want? If the Arabs stop inciting against us and attacking us there will be peace. It's as simple as that. In the meantime we are simply defending ourselves.

    Antisemites hated us to death well before the State of Israel. It flourishes with or without the SOI. Cowering before the nations, and dissociating yourself from Israel, claiming that you are a good Jew won't serve you well. It was Hitler's mufti who provoked the Arabs into the Hevron pogrom with his Friday sermon and pre-prepared leaflets. Nothing organic about it.. Do you have any idea just how horrific it was: shooting, axing, raping, mutilating civilians including children.

    R. Froman didn't achieve peace for Ori Ansbacher a Jewish teenager also from Tekoa, raped and murdered for being Jewish. I guess that was one Arab who hadn't attended a diversity seminar.

    Am Yisrael is one. You seem to be trying to divide us up amongst the "good" Jews and those you deem to have brought their punishment upon themselves. Nearly all gedolei hador in the last few generations have lived in EY. You can cling to your galut, no one is stopping you, your choice. Personally I find your views antithetical to achdut of Am Yisarel and will not be engaging any more in this conversation with you.

    L.L.



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  19. The following sources (majourity and minority) may be helpful for those who wish to make an informed decision.

    Included are also the rabonim that backed chovavei tzion and Rav Kook to name a few.
    (scroll down about half way)

    https://www.truetorahjews.org/3oathsclaimsandfacts

    Haskamot:
    https://www.truetorahjews.org/rabbinic-endorsements

    Purim Samayach to all :)!

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  20. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5to83soLzk

    Purim: Russia Vs. USA ; Is This The Final War? - Probing the Historic Tradition of the Vilna Gaon

    L.L.

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    Replies
    1. Gemara says that the final war will be between Edom and Persia.

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  21. The rav explains with sources why Russia,is the klipa of Paras. It's worth listening to the shiur. He has another class, which I can't find now, on the same subject with more information, about which power will be the last one left. It's a machloket and the answer is in chad gadya.

    L.L.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you for your response, I will try to listen the Shiur

      Delete
  22. Thank you for that link LL - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5to83soLzk
    Purim v Russia the Final War

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