Sunday, June 18, 2023

The Sufferings of the Generation before Moshiach

Text below was transcribed by Nava from the Dreaming of Moshiach Blog, in 2007.


In Gemara, Chazal tells us that three divisions of sufferings came down to the world. 

The first division of suffering was placed on the generations of the seven holy shepherds: Avraham, Yitzchak, Yaakov Avinu, Moshe Rabenu, Aaron HaKohen, Yosef HaTzaddik, and Melech Dovid, zs'l. 

The second division of suffering was placed on the remaining generations, excluding our generation.

The third division of suffering was placed on our generation, the last generation. 

The first two sufferings were a gradual process but the last suffering, the third, is the hardest and harshest. Whether it's an illness, unnatural death in a family, livelihood, divorce, finding a spouse, having children, etc....every Jew, regardless where, when, what, who, why, is suffering! 

This is the reason Chazal wrote in Gemara that if a person is not suffering in the generation of the End of Days, know that this person is not a Jew!

If someone tells you he is not suffering, he is not the son/daughter of Avraham Avinu, zs'l. 

Why is this very harsh decree occurring specifically in our generation, all at once and so numerous?

The suffering is a necessity required before the arrival of Moshiach Tzidkenu. Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, zs'l, explains it further in the Zohar HaKadosh, as follows: 

When Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, zs'l, (Rashbi) was hiding in the cave, he wrote the Zohar HaKadosh in Ruach HaKodesh (Divine Spirit). Thru Ruach HaKodesh, he saw that in the last generation will be in a large fire and he cried for us and said, ווי לון מאן דגרמי דיוזיל ליה - Oy to the people who will live in the last generation. Rashbi saw that our generation will transgress the Torah and commit adultery, lust, promiscuity, stealing, heresy, secularism, etc. He cried because he saw that we will need to go thru so many tests and suffering. 

But why so much suffering in our generation? Why does the Yetzer Hara (evil inclination) have so much power in this generation, more than in all past generations? 

It is because HKB'H is so merciful and so generous! The Zohar HaKadosh explains: Every soul comes into this world only for the reason to correct past lives for sins committed. HKB'H saw throughout all generations that many souls were unable to correct themselves and remained unworthy to enter Gan Eden. Even though they were reincarnated as humans, animals, in-animates, plants, food, etc., and also placed in Gehenom or Kaf Hakela. Yet, they were still unable to correct their souls. Even after so many reincarnations, these souls were unsuccessful in their tikun and were placed in Heichal HaNeshamot (hall of souls). 

The Zohar HaKadosh continues and says that HKB'H revealed Himself to the souls placed in Heichal HaNeshamot and the neshamot cried to HaShem, "Merciful Heavenly Father, help us correct ourselves, we want to succeed in cleansing our souls, we reincarnated as humans, plants, animals, we went thru Gehenom, Shaol Tachtit, Kaf Hakela... but we still have not properly corrected our souls...". 

When Merciful HKB'H heard this, He said, "I'll place you all in one generation, a generation that will have much confusion, tests, suffering, and hardships, a generation where the truth will be absent, a generation where one will be easily trapped by the evil inclination. There will be many opportunities to get trapped into terrible sins; everything will be available to you in split seconds. It will be a generation that will feel exhausted from trying to do Teshuva, the evil inclination will be very powerful and adultery, lust, temptations, promiscuity, stealing, heresy, secularism, etc. will be everywhere." "BUT, despite all these hardships, all neshamot that will succeed to pass these difficult tests and continue to have Emunah, will be tremendeously rewarded and will merit to live in the Geula." 

This is the reason the holy Rashbi also said  "Overjoyed is the person who lives in that generation." Although it's difficult to comprehend, it's important to know:  all people in this generation: you, me, him, her, them.... are all from Heichal Ha-Neshamot. 


39 comments:

Elisheva said...

The big question is how long is a generation? The overall terrible suffering seems to have been several decades already. Do we have to wait another 20/30/40 years until a “generation” is over and the generation of Moshiach is complete and time ran out for Moshiach to arrive? I don’t want to wait another 40 years of this horrific golus. I don’t even want to wait another week of this corrupt world and tremendous suffering. I think the time for Moshiach should be now for the sake of Hashem having mercy already on his nation suffering so much for so long.

Avi said...

It would be nice if we knew how long this generation until Moshiach will be? When did it start and when will it finally end with the coming of Moshiach?

Anonymous said...

The wprld might have been cruel in the past generations but there was a standard normalcy where all societies with all their drawbacks understood wrong from right as it had been since the time after the flood and also the basic concept of knowing there is G-D. Today civilizaton has been turned on its head.
They have altered the mindset of peoples by modern technology which is a
strong tool of the wicked to manipulate world society and that is why we see
the insane problems that are cited above in the post happening today, just as foretold by the Zohar. Our perception of right and wrong has been twisted like a pretzel and therein lies the confusion and the falsehoods which dominate society.
The world had to accept that the shoa was evil beyond words eventhough so many countries were involved in this evil, it was understood by basic decent humanity that it was pure evil and it had to be stopped and, at least some justice had to be done. These days, the mindset isn't as clear of what is evil and what is good.
That is why the clear-minded can see the difference.
That is also why people are slowly waking up and, hopefully, Jews will wake up too and realize the danger we are all in, The most important thing to do is tshuvah. Praying that will bring the Geulah with great rachamim!

Devorah said...

Well explained @2:11

Anonymous said...

So we might be stuck in this nightmare for another few decades “unless Jews wake up”?

Devorah said...

We seem to be stuck in having the same conversations over and over....
do you really think this world can survive the way it is now?

Kids are being taught that some people can be called "they" and "them" instead of "he" or "she" even though it is not grammatically correct. That is because the world accepts that a person can be non-binary. There can be two or even five different personalities in one body and people have accepted that as OK.

Mental illness is no longer perceived as mental illness, it's perceived as something worth bragging about.

Lies have become the new truth.

Our world has self-destructed.

We obviously can't be far away from Geula.

A world can't survive without truth.

Anonymous said...

All I should ask is what is “can’t be far away”? 5 years maximum? 20 years maximum? 1 year maximum? I’m losing my mind from the craziness of this golus

Gavriela Dvorah said...

What hit me the hardest about this article is the very last line. Yikes!

Devorah said...

Yes Gavriela Devorah, we even have the "him, her, them" going on with the non-binary pronouns ! :)

Anonymous said...

A Rav told me that eventually people will get sick of the wokeness and all and it will end on its own (without Moshiach)… and that it wasn’t a proof for Moshiach coming. He said there have been many times over the generations of plenty of immorality.

Devorah said...

How about the mass televised satanist agenda?
As Rabbi Kessin has told us, the satan is dying and before he goes he's making sure he leaves his mark. We've never had a satanic agenda quite like the one we live with now. Everything is out in the open because of the internet. There may have been pockets of evil, but now it's everywhere and right in your face whether you want it or not.

Anonymous said...

Not if you live in Monroe or Williamsburg or Bnei Brak. Many people in these communities aren’t even aware of what’s going on.

Anonymous said...

My friend in Meah Shearim didn’t even know Joe Biden was president. He didn’t even know they were pushing LGBQ across America (and Israel). I’m not kidding. So to him and many others, they don’t see signs of Moshiach and can easily avoid seeing them.

Bernard said...

I’m done waiting for Moshiach. I’ve been believing it’s coming since 9/11/2001 and every day is a disappointment. I give up.

Devorah said...

That's ok Bernard, we all give up sometimes. I've been blogging for over 20 years, I've given up a few times. But we always come back, because there is no other option but Geula.

Devorah said...

No it's not over 20 years, it's about 19 years. Sometimes I exaggerate to make a point.

Bernard said...

Did you feel Moshiach being this close 20 years ago? I don’t want you to get burnt out like me and many other from waiting for Moshiach

Devorah said...

I did delete my blog in 5771 because I expected Geula in 5770. I haven't felt it this close though. I genuinely feel we're nearly there, but I dont' want people disappointed if I say that and it doesn't happen that way.

Anonymous said...

Nearly there or there? What else are you expecting before Moshiach can finally arrive?

Anonymous said...

This isn't just about immorality. It's a war on the fabric of civilization. And in this state the world simply cannot survive.

Western society is imploding and seeking to utterly destroy the world.

Rav Mendel Kessin has spoken about this topic extensively., and about the "closing of the windows. "

It is a sign of impending redemption, since the world can no longer exist in its current state.

C S

nothing said...

I've been alive almost half a century Baruch Hashem....I have never witnessed state mandated immorality, nor the public broadcasting of a satanic agenda, such as what we are witnessing in Hollywood and even to some extent in the political arena. ....there used to be a standard of morality and that is completely gone. the world is upside down and on fire, only the blind don't understand we are in an all out spiritual war and in the end of days....It is truly terrifying we are assaulted on all sides....they are even now trying to legitimize hurting children...between sterilizing them in the Trans agenda and normalizing adults that prey on children...it's heartbreaking and defies belief. We need Moshiach immediately...we are without a doubt on the 50th level, the world cannot tolerate anymore.
CSF

nothing said...

that's just not true...it has even infiltrated those communities to a lesser degree...it's just swept under the rug...people are having huge nisyanoit with their children going off the derech
CSF

nothing said...

I have been in the moshiach blogs sphere since 2007...I always felt like we were close but never like this...I feel it with an undeniable certainty that he is here already.... the stage is set and we are just waiting for the curtain to be pulled back
CSF

nothing said...

Only Hashem knows how he is planning to reveal moshiach...but so many of the signs have been met we are literally on the cusp...we need to have faith. That is our entire job right now ...to not lose faith. We must have bitachon and continue to do our part to bring light into the darkness to ease moshiachs passage...that it should be b'rachmim. I don't say this lightly...I have had the worst suffering imaginable this year...and my only consolation is that I feel moshiachs approach....I know we are in the home stretch ...it's how I get up and face every day.
CSF

Leah said...

Yes, we are incredibly close. We are in the beginning of WWIII. Hold on. Don't make a time construct, as t is all on Hashem's time line.
We are, hoever, incredibly close. WE have all 15 signs Yemos HaMoshiach. We are in the Messianic era- at the end. Moshiach's arrival is a process and, we are at the end of this 2000 year long process.
Not on the legs of man do I rely, only on my Father in Heaven.
Study Torah, do mitzvos, chessed. We are literaly at the door and yes, I admire those in B'nei Brak who don't have t.v. et al
They are doing what they need to do.
Keep on hanging in there and focus on the fact that there's not much time left and we need to do the above mitzvos and get in our personal and national rectification to help us and klal Yisrael to get these precious mitzvos in.
I'm tired of things they way they are too.

Anonymous said...

To all those commenters who are so confused and disallusioned, frustrated and giving up hope, it is a sign that Moshiach is much closer than we can imagine.
We know from Chazal that when we will feel so lost and hopeless will be the time when we can expect Moshiach tzdkeinu. H' is giving us more time to awaken and realize how much we need HIM. Just as we cried out in Mitzrayim to G-D for His Mercy to help them, that is when HE sent Moshe Rabbeinu to redeem us.
We basically see all this but it's in the back of our minds because we are bombarded with so much 'falsehood' that we cannot see straight. The satanic forces will lose this battle forever because the end of times is reaching its end. They are using every trick in the book with evil filling the universe to its limits.
As far as the commenter who wrote about his/her rabbi saying there were other times when we had all this mishegas and it will pass without Moshiach coming;
I found that very disturbing and an indicator that the rabbi is not really looking forward to Moshiach. That is a big 'no, no'. A correction is needed here. Since the great flood in Noach's time, there has never been a time where the organized world powers have dared to go so far as what we now see, 'the upheaval of civilization'. This is their war against the Creator, nothing less. The time has come when we have all the signs that were predicted by our Prophets and commentaries to give us the absolute reasons for the coming of our
righteous Moshiach! Exactly when is not for us to know because only Hashem
knows and when HE deems it to be, it will be. But, we do know that Moshiach is close at hand and the more desperate we get, the closer he is.
We pray it be with much 'chesed & rachamim'!


Jon Anon said...

How to know when the "anointed one" is arriving:

Daniel 9:25:
25 “Know and understand this: From the time the word goes out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One,[a] the ruler, comes, there will be seven ‘sevens,’ and sixty-two ‘sevens.’ It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble.

The seven sevens means 7 shmitah years after the word goes out to restore and rebuild jerusalem. So we look for the beginning of a shmitah year. A new block of 49 years starts right after a jubilee year.

In order to determine a jubilee year you take the jewish year and divide it by 7 if it is divisble by 7 without a remainder it is a shmitah year. If it is also divisible by 49 then it is a super shmitah year making the following year a Jubilee.

The command to restore and rebuild jerusalem happened during the July 6 1967 six day war where Israel recaptured Jerusalem. So we find the beggining of the next set of 49 year shmitah years after 1967 which happens to be the year 5733(1972-1973 rosh hashanah) So seven sevens after 1972-1973 takes us to hebrew year 5782(2021-2022) making day of atonement 2022 the beginning of a jubilee year because 5782 is divisible by 7 and 49 making it a super shmitah year so 2022-2023 is a jubilee year and the arrival of an anointed anointed one.

Possibly elijah and messiah ben Joseph are one and the same person. Elijah will come from the line of Joseph qualifying him to be messiah(anointed) ben(son) of Joseph

So during a jubilee year(2023) what is a high watch time for the anointed one to arrive? Tish b av 2023. What is one thing this anointed one will do? He will build the foundation of the ezekiel temple and the moat around jerusalem.

Once we see messiah ben joseph arrive he is the end-time elijah and Messiah ben David will arrive shortly after to build the Ezekiel temple.

I think it was rabbi kuduri who said the anointed one would arrive in the month of av which makes the 9th of av(tish b av) a high watch date. Kudri also said that this anointed one would arrive in a way that seemed "unholy" to the jewish people. The only way I can see an unknown arriving on the world stage on exactly the 9th of av would be if he won a very large lottery and that would seem unholy to the jewish people. If he won the lottery he would have the funds to build the foundation and moat as it would take millions of dollars to perform that operation.

The rabbis also say an anointed one will be born on tish b av....possibly by the phrase "born on tish b av" could mean begins his commision on tish b av.

Anonymous said...

Bernard, live your life as well and as honorably as you can. Keep the desire for Moshiach in your heart and do not allow that little flame to stop yearning. Let's not forget, "when we least expect it, in a blunk of an eye". Keep your faith, live your life and help others.

Anonymous said...

Avi, the Lubavitcher Rebbe said that this is the last generation before Moshiach. The general balagan in this world, everywhere, all the time, is proof positive that we are at the end as the world cannot survive longer like this. Much chizzuk to all of us in the meantime. Shoshana

Aharon said...

Unfortunately no one knows:

In 5755 (1995) Rabbi Isser Zalman Weisberg gave a long Shiur with proof after proof that 5755 - Motzai Shmitah was the year of the Geula

Friday, March 18, 2011
Rabbi Winston on Current Events [video]
Rabbi Pinchas Winston speaks on why the world seems to be falling apart, why we should not be worried, and why Moshiach is not very far away. This is on this blog

There is a book Sod Hachashmal with 42 pages of proof after proof that 5772 [2012] was the Geula

Throughout the 5740's [1980's] The Rebbe gave each year a term connected with the Revelation of Moshiach as the Mem was constant for that whole decade.

There is an incredible calculation that we needed the Bais HaMikdash by 5780 [2020] so that the 3 Batei Mikdash would stand for at least 1,050 years

As The Rebbe said "Kolu kol HaKitzim" - all the calculated times have long gone passed.

The GR"A says that at the end of it all - the Geula is dependent on the few "Anshei Amana" - the few who truly believe that the Geula is imminent and this is the very difficult Avoda now to keep believing that Moshiach can be revealed at any moment !!

This is OUR challenge and it is an extremely difficult test and challenge for us.

Anonymous said...

According to Rabbi Kessin (older video shiur) our job these days prior to Moshiach's revelation is to grab the rope of our yiddishkeit and never let go. The shaking of the rope is going to increase and it will be difficult to hold on. But hold on we must. We cannot afford to fall off and we are all in this together - Am Yisrael, Noahides and Righteous Gentiles. Much love & chizzuk to us all. Shoshana

Anonymous said...

I listen occasionally to talk-radio, and so I want to say that none of the above blog-comments seem to be acknowledging another development which is disquieting to me. Namely, that because the Dem. woke people have been rising up so much on the left, that's EXACTLY why the Republican Xtians and Catholics are chomping at the bit to kick back to the same degree. And along with that comes the risk of the sorta scenario's cranked out by malevolent Catholic priests way back in Europe. True i may be paranoid, but the possibility is there.
M.M.

Anonymous said...

Shoshana re: "The shaking of the rope is going to increase and it will be difficult to hold on."
That reminds me of the below excerpt from lyrics I composed.
"so now just hold on very tight...to the torch in the ship that's tossing through the stormy waters of the night"
M.M.

Anonymous said...

According to קץ מגולה blog, this year is the year of Moshiach.

He wrote this on his blog 15 years ago.

According to Rav Alexander Hool, Moshiach will reveal himself this Tisha B'Av. And the 2nd Purim from now, (2025) will be the war of Gog U Magog.

C S

nothing said...

M.M. the US is in a state of unacknowledged civil war and most of the conservatives xians, ect are becoming more militant and there is a strong undercurrent of antisemitism floating right below the surface. The Kanye West debacle is indicative of the direction the states are headed in....most Jews are on the democratic crazy left ...fully onboard with the plunging nosedive the progressives have taken to the depths of immorality and in between both warring factions is an unbridgable chasm...Now who do you think is gonna take that fall and be blamed for everything?

LondonMale said...

@Anonymous June 19, 2023 at 11:40 PM

Please note that Rav Hool in his own words said this coming Tisha B'Av was a Keitz (likely time) for Mashiach, but not the definite time for Mashiach.

Rav Hool based this on an interpretation of the Book of Daniel.

Anonymous said...

nothing; am afraid you are correct. The Jews (so many, r'l) are leftists; I say if jews (so-called) are still that way in this insane era, they are NOT Jews but of the Erev Rav. Their whole reason for existence is to undermine the Jewish nation, c'v. May have H' have mercy and hasten the coming of Moshiach! Amen!

Anonymous said...

Anonymous123:
-Someone said the Lubavitcher Rebbe said the nation was yotzai Gog Umagog due to WWII. Check if this covers this.

-Interview w/ Rabbi Hool on Utube discusses upcoming timelines, not just of those that past. Very interesting.

May the Creator have mercy on us.

Devorah said...

Yes Anon123 the video of the Lubavitcher Rebbe saying that is here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJfgt2sxt5s