Brave New World

Art by Schnette

Essay: Stress Before Redemption by Roy (Yisroel) S. Neuberger   Hat tip: Devorah Designs

Dear Friends:

During our Biblical Redemption, the foundations of Egypt crumbled. We don't have to imagine what that means; the world has witnessed it in Japan.

"Several times I heard from the holy Chofetz Chaim that we can learn about the end of our exile from what happened at the end of our exile in Egypt, as it says [Micha 7:15], 'As in the days of your leaving Egypt, I will [in the Final Redemption] show wonders.'" [Rabbi Elchonen Wasserman zt"l as quoted in Redemption Unfolding by Rabbi A. A. Mandelbaum]

Egypt, the world's most powerful country in Biblical times, crumbled like the World Trade Center crumbled on 9/11. But the Final Redemption may take place on an even larger scale. Since the Jewish People are now spread all over the world, our future Redemption will have to be correspondingly gigantic. Do we not ask G-d to gather us from "the four corners of the earth"? During the Final Redemption the entire world structure as we know it may be dismantled, just as the structure of Egypt was dismantled in ancient days.

Redemption does not have to be violent. All decent people hope that Moshiach will come peacefully. But that, after all, depends on us! If the Children of Israel do teshuva, all will be well!

If not ....

One thing should be clear: following the Final Redemption, the world will look completely different. The Maharal writes, "a complete change will come over the world, to the extent that the world of Moshiach will be considered a new creation in comparison to the world as we know it." [Netzach Yisroel, Ch.47] The direction of world affairs will be the Torah! "Ki Mitzvion taitzai Torah u'dvar Hashem miYerushalayim... From Zion will come forth Torah and the Word of G-d from Jerusalem." [Yeshaya 2:3] G-d will be One and His Name One.

The process has already begun. Every area of life is in crisis. As a result, we are exposed to enormous stress, be it financial, medical, psychological, family, children ... the list goes on and on!

"Maase avos siman l'banim... The actions of the Fathers are signs for the Children."

In Egypt eighty per cent perished during the Plague of Darkness because they "did not wish to depart [from Egypt]" [Rashi on Exodus 10:22]. The stress in Biblical Egypt was enormous. So strong was the pull of the surrounding culture that a huge percentage of the Children of Israel were unable to extricate themselves from its influence! This is a message for our contemporary world!

Today, people are under enormous strain. You see it in hair-trigger tempers. You see it in aggressive driving. You see it in lack of proper behavior, as people rush to put themselves first. You see it in desperate attempts to acquire money. You see it in lavish expenditures on vacations and luxuries, attempts to find peace in a world in which there is no peace!

"Moshe spoke to the Children of Israel, but they did not heed him because of shortness of breath..." [Exodus 6:9]. In Egypt, the stress was so great that many of the Children of Israel did not listen to the voice which would have saved them if they had listened. The same danger exists today. We are so panicked that we are not behaving rationally. If we hold on to the unreality of the surrounding culture, G-d forbid, that "support" will break like a flimsy reed and we will perish when that culture goes under! But if we grasp onto the Torah -lehavdil! - we will live forever!

"Moshe said to the people, 'Do not fear! Stand fast and see the salvation of Hashem that He will perform for you today!" [Exodus 14:13]

Let's learn from this! The Torah is telling us what happened in Egypt so that we may survive during the events of the Final Redemption. Our Rabbis have explained: "In the final war before the coming of Moshiach, all the Jews who fear Hashem will survive. Hashem will say to them, 'All those who are removed from the secular, worldly culture ... you are Mine.'" [Rabbi Yechezkel Levenstein zt"l, Leket Rishimos]

THERE IS NO SOURCE OF SUPPORT BESIDE HASHEM AND HIS TORAH!

In Egypt, the Tribe of Levi escaped slavery because they were completely involved with Torah!

King David's life was in constant danger. How did he survive? He visualized himself as standing constantly before the Presence of G-d. "Shivisi Hashem l'negdi samid... I have set Hashem before me constantly." [Psalm 16]

When we pray, do we envision the Holy Temple? Soon B"H the Presence of G-d will return to Zion, and the HolyTemple will stand before our eyes. If we envision this future event, then we have an "anchor" by which we can steady ourselves as the chaos whirls around us.

Our Rabbis spoke words to sustain us.

"Hashem is with me; I have no fear! How can man affect me?" [Psalm 118]

"Ani maamin be'emunah shelemah ... I believe with complete faith in the coming of Moshiach, and even though he may delay, nevertheless I anticipate every day that he will come." [Rambam, Principle 12]

May we all soon "hear ... for a second time ... in the presence of all the living ... 'I am Hashem your G-d.'" [Shabbos Mussaf Kedusha]

A Whiter Shade of Pale

"If he has turned completely white, he remains pure" [Tazria 13:13]

R' Yochanan in Maseches Sanhedrin [98a] taught: "Mashiach, the son of David, will only come to a generation that is either entirely meritorious or entirely guilty".

This statement is difficult to understand, noted the Chasam Sofer (R' Moshe Sofer).  For while it is easily understood why a generation that is entirely meritorious would be worthy of receiving Mashiach, on what basis would a thoroughly guilty generation receive him?

We find a similar difficulty in the verse: "If he has turned completely white, he remains pure".  If a small affliction is considered impure, why is it considered pure when it covers the metzora's entire body?

We can answer both questions with one answer. Skin afflictions come upon an individual in order to inspire him to repent for his misdeeds.  Now, if his entire body has turned white, he will definitely be humbled to repent completely and sincerely. There is therefore no need to declare him impure.

The same applies to a generation that is completely guilty.  The way to awaken a generation that is full of sin is not with reproach but by sending them Mashiach ben David.  Then they will return to Hashem in complete repentance.

Source: Rabbi Yisrael Bronstein

The Talmud states: "The son of David [Moshiach] will only come when every government becomes heretical".

Rabah said: "Where do we see [an allusion to] this in Scripture?  From the verse: "he has turned completely white, he is ritually pure." [Sanhedrin 97a]

Rashi explains: "Just like when the affliction has spread throughout the entire skin the person is ritually pure, so too when all the governments have become heretical, the redemption will come."

This sign of redemption could be seen as either:

a) A negative sign, that people have become so corrupt that G-d is forced, so to speak, to save the world and bring redemption.

b) A positive sign, that the world has become so refined that it is clear to everybody that any regime or government which is not based on Torah is heretical and corrupt.

This parallels the two views expressed above:

a) If the corruption of governments is a negative sign, it follows that G-d is "forced" to bring the redemption, so to speak, despite the world.  This corresponds to the view that the law ("he has turned completely white, he is ritually pure") is a super-rational decree of scripture, which is followed despite the fact that it is illogical.

b) But if the corruption of governments is a positive sign, it follows that G-d is bringing the redemption because the world has become good. This corresponds to the view that the law is logical.

Source: Based on Likutei Sichos Lubavitcher Rebbe

First Libya, then Israel .....?

Quoting Frank Gaffney Jr. "Particularly concerning is the prospect that what we might call the Gaddafi Precedent will be used in the not-to-distant future to justify and threaten the use of U.S. military forces against an American ally: Israel."

Full article here: UN intervention into Libya an ominous precedent for Israel

Glenn Beck sets it all out for us in these two videos: [Hat tip Moriah]

Revisiting the Prophecies in Psalm 93

Guest post, received via email, published with permission:

Regarding the Previous Lubavitcher Rebbe’s prophecy [written in approx. 1943, in a publication called Keriah VeKudusah, explaining Tehillim 93].

[The Arizal says that our generation is a reincarnation of the generation that was in Egypt over 3,000 years ago. Also, the way in which the Geula will happen now will be similar to the way it happened in Egypt; as explained in the Hagaddah. Therefore, just as in Egypt, there were ten ways nature was changed in order to prove to the nations that G-d runs the world; so too now.]

To paraphrase:

There are two parts to the Prophecy:

1. Hashem wants the entire world (not just the Jews) to know that He runs the world; but simultaneously, He wants everyone to have free-choice.

How does He accomplish this, as well as the second part of the Prophecy [see below]?

Answer: Through flooding.

The flooding will reach to such an extent, that it will become obvious that these are not natural events.

2. The second part of the prophecy has not happened yet.

The Previous Rebbe says that a certain country will be either totally, or almost totally, inundated by flooding.

This will reach to such an extent that everyone will realize that this is a punishment from G-d; and the world’s political structure will change accordingly.

As explained in the talks from 1991-1992, as opposed to previous miracles that were mainly for Jews, the current changes will be visible to the entire world.

[As long as the wizards in Egypt could tell Pharaoh that they could duplicate Moshe's miracles, the Egyptians thought that Moshe was just a great wizard.]

So too now, as long as people can say that current events happen once every hundred years, or are due to natural causes; these events have not achieved their goal.

To say that these events happen once a century could be considered justified - if only one or two events were occurring - but when multiple events happen across the globe, how can they all be seen as happening once every one hundred years?

From the Previous Rebbe’s words it would seem that there is a land-locked country that will be entirely flooded.

It will not be near an ocean, so that we can’t say it is a tsunami; or in an earthquake or flooding zone, so that we can say it was nature.

And somehow the world will realize that G-d did it, in order to bring the Geula to the world.

Also see: Decoding Psalm 93

In the Days of Moshiach.....

  Rainbow at North Poorton, Dorset - Photographer Kris Dutson Daily Mail UK

Question:  When Moshiach comes, the primary branch of Torah study will be the mystical dimension, which deals with knowledge of G-d’s attributes and qualities. However, if this is the case, how we know how to observe the mitzvot?

Answer:  Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi raises this question, and explains that in the future there will be no lapses of memory. Once we learn something, it will be imprinted in our memory forever. Memory loss is a manifestation of impurity and evil spirit, which will evaporate when Moshiach comes. Furthermore, any memories that we might have lost before Moshiach comes will be restored to us. Therefore, we won’t need to dedicate as much time to memorizing the details of the Law, and will be able to spend the bulk of our time studying the inner dimensions of Torah.

Additionally, Rabbi Schneur Zalman explains, in the Messianic era we will be granted an extra level of understanding, and from our study of the Torah’s mystical dimensions, we will be able to infer all the practical laws of Jewish observance.

The Lubavitcher Rebbe adds a unique interpretation: When Moshiach comes, our evil inclination will be removed, and our nature and instincts will be transformed. Just as a young child instinctively draws his hand away from fire, we will have a natural aversion to those things forbidden by the Torah, and a natural inclination to do the things the Torah requires. The details of Jewish Law will be hard-wired into our system, and will not require as much time for us to master.

[Igeret Hakodesh, Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, ch. 26; Hilchos Talmud Torah, 10:2; Likutei Sichos, vol. 25, p. 263]

 

Source: Chabad.info

A Sobering Thought

Art Rob Gonsalves

Everything can change in the blink of an eye. [Rebbe Nachman of Breslov]


"Do not drink wine that will lead to intoxication, neither you nor your sons with you, when you go into the Tent of Meeting, so that you shall not die. [This is] an eternal statute for your generations..." [Shemini 10:9]

There is a view [see Rambam, Laws of Entering the Temple 1:7] that even nowadays a priest [kohen] may not drink a revi'is [86ml] of wine, for this is sufficient to cause some degree of intoxication, and since it is quite feasible that the Holy Temple will be rebuilt within the time it takes for him to become sober, the wine would thus render him unfit for service in the Temple.

Now, according to Jewish law, intoxication caused by a revi'is of wine can be removed by either a short sleep, or by waiting the time it would take to walk a mil. (There are different views as to precisely how long this is: either 18 or at most 24 minutes).

From here we see a remarkable ramification of the above principle: that Jewish law takes seriously into consideration the fact that it is possible for Moshiach to come, with a completed Holy Temple, within a maximum of 23 minutes and 59 seconds, thus requiring the priests to be ready for service immediately!

Based on Likutei Sichos Lubavitcher Rebbe [Gutnick Chumash]

The Test of the End of Days

from the writings of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov

Great disbelief will spread throughout the world.

Fortunate is the person who will strengthen himself with faith in those times.

This warning will not help.

There were others, such as Daniel, who foretold that before the coming of the Messiah, many will be tested and refined, that the evil will worsen while the wise will keep their understanding.

Many will have their faith tested. The person who will pass the test and retain his faith will be fortunate and will attain all the good that is destined to come (may it be soon and in our days) about which the prophets and wise men prophesied.

If so, everyone should take care to remain strong in his faith. Since this prediction is already common knowledge, there will be no test.

But it will still be a great test.

Many will do evil. "The wicked will act wickedly" [Daniel 12:10]

I am telling you this for the sake of those few good people who will be strong in their faith. They will have great internal  battles. But my words will console and strengthen them, for they will see that someone already predicted this. - Rabbi Nachman of Breslov

How to get your prayers answered

There is a very simple way to have prayers answered.  It's so simple, and yet most people haven't yet managed to achieve it.  Hashem is giving people a shove in the right direction, by making things very difficult for many of us, with no help to be found in this generation with the face of a dog.

The way to do it is to come to understand that there is nothing and no-one who can supply what you need, but Hashem.

As Rabbi Yigal Haimoff explains in his shiur Depend Only On Hashem :

Moshiach will not come until all Jews have come to the realization that there is no-one to depend on, no-one to ask, but Hashem. 

But we're not there yet.

Because even while we are praying to G-d, we are also thinking that other people can help us as well. 

Until we get to the point where we are like a newborn baby, solely dependant on its mother for sustenance and survival, our prayers will not achieve what we want them to.

The more a person is solely dependant on Hashem, the more likely it is that he will get whatever he's praying for.   But if Hashem sees that a person also relies on someone else to rescue him, G-d will say ok, that person can help you, you don't need Me yet.

To watch the video shiur: Click here