Behold, Days Are Coming

HT: Joe

Passover Miracles? You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet! 

by Rabbi Tuly Weisz 

While we all love and enjoy Passover, Jewish tradition says something surprising about the future of this beloved holiday. According to one opinion in the Talmud, at the end of times, we are not even going to talk about the Exodus from Egypt anymore because those miracles will be entirely overshadowed by what G-d has in store for us. Blood, frogs, lice… that’s nothing compared to what the Almighty has planned for the future redemption of the Jewish people. How could there be any miracles greater than the 10 plagues?! How could anything top the splitting of the sea?! 

The answer lies in a close reading of Jeremiah 23: ’Behold, days are coming’, says the Lord, ‘when they will no longer say, ‘As G-d lives, who brought the Jews out of the Egypt,’ but, ‘as G-d lives, who raised and returned the Jews from the northern lands and from every country into which I had driven them, and they will dwell on their own Land.’ 

What will make the future redemption even greater than our Exodus from Egypt is that it will be accompanied by the greatest biblical miracle ever imagined: the In-gathering of the Exiles. 

After 2,000 years of separation from the Land, it would be historically unprecedented if even a small number of Jews were to rediscover our ancient homeland. However, Jeremiah promises that Jews will return, not only as an isolated community here and there, but from all four corners of the world! On the most basic level, this pipe dream would have been logistically impossible just one century ago: the communication and transportation challenges were insurmountable. 

There was no one language to communicate with all of world Jewry, and even if there was, there was no way to reach all of them spread out to the far flung corners of the earth. And even if you could reach them, there was no good way to get to the Promised Land, and even if somehow large numbers of Jews got there, there was not even the most basic infrastructure to absorb them: there were no modern roads, plumbing or any other kind of industry to speak of. The list goes on and on. Who would have imagined that in the last century entire Jewish communities have picked up and resettled in the Land of Israel, just as the prophet described, and for for the first time since Jeremiah spoke those words, a majority of the world’s Jewry lives under a Jewish government, in one of the most advanced countries in the world?! 

The first Israeli Chief Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Kook zt"l [1865-1935] explained that this is precisely why the miracle of our future/current redemption is even greater than the miraculous Exodus. It would have been easier for G-d to break the laws of nature like He did with the Ten Plagues and the Splitting of the Sea, than to orchestrate our return to Israel through natural means. Yet, He has begun to do just that with the miraculous restoration of the Hebrew language, the in-gathering of Jews from Arab and African countries, the upheaval of the Holocaust and the rebirth of the Jewish State after 2,000 long years of exile. 

Passover is our time to explore the miracles that G-d performed for us long ago and appreciate His active role in our own lives as well. Those of us fortunate enough to live in this generation where we see with our own eyes the fulfillment of these grand Biblical prophesies were put here for a reason and must not merely stand by as passive onlookers. This Passover, make a commitment to connect with Israel, pray for Israel, support Israel and play a leading role in the most exciting drama of human history and the greatest Biblical miracles ever described.

IDF on Full Alert for Pesach

The IDF is making preparations to celebrate the holiday of Passover, which commemorates the ancient Israelites’ exodus from slavery in Egypt. Although Jewish people worldwide will be celebrating Passover with friends and family, many IDF soldiers will not able to do so because IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz has ordered all IDF units to cancel their usual Passover vacation. 

All IDF units are expected to remain on full alert due to unspecified security threats, possibly from Gaza. Israel has previously come under attack during Jewish holidays, including the 1973 Yom Kippur war and the terrorist attack during Passover in 2002.

Read more: Algemeiner

The Moshiach Haggadah: Free Download

Why does the Pesach Seder conclude with "Leshana haba b'Yirushalayim"? Is it simply the end of 15 seemingly unconnected stages describing Yetzias Mitzrayim? Or is it the start of a transformation that takes us from the First Redemption to the Final Redemption? 

 You'll find the answer in "The Moshiach Hagaddah" by the International Moshiach Campaign. 

"The Moshiach Hagaddah" presents the 15 Simonei Ha'Seder as as viewed through the perspective of Geulah. It was edited by Rabbi Binyomin Walters of Chicago IL, who edited the popular book, "Moshiach Day by Day." What's more, it will help you transform your Seder from a celebration of our past to an exciting trip that leads to our glorious future! 

The Moshiach Hagaddah, and The Moshiach Seudah Handbook, are now available as a free download. To obtain your copy, visit Moshiach Campaign

 Source: Chabad.info

Hevron Machpela Expulsion [video]

While it appeared that Defense Minister Ehud Barak had defied Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in expelling Jews from the Machpelah House in Hevron, Netanyahu had in fact agreed to the expulsion. 

Sources close to the prime minister explained his reasoning Wednesday, speaking to Maariv/nrg. Between Netanyahu’s declaration Tuesday evening that the eviction would be delayed and the expulsion early Wednesday afternoon, Barak met with Netanyahu and convinced him the expulsion was necessary, they said. 

 Source: Israel National News

Video: [HT: Moriah]

Develop a good eye.  Always looking for good will bring you to truth.

Even with a good eye, be careful not to rush to judgment. This is no different than looking at something from afar and drawing the wrong conclusion.

from the writings of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov

North Korea 'preparing to unveil missile capable of striking continental US'

Reconnaissance satellites have identified the huge missile at a government research and development facility in Pyongyang, South Korean government sources told the Chosun Ilbo newspaper.

Analysts estimate the weapon to be around 130 feet long and, equipped with a more powerful booster unit, capable of delivering a warhead more than 6,200 miles.

Unveiling the missile will raise new fears in neighbouring countries, already alarmed by Pyongyang's insistence that it will go ahead with the launch in mid-April of a rocket to put a satellite into orbit. Washington, Seoul and Tokyo believe the launch is a covert test launch of a missile.

South Korean and US officials said they believe Pyongyang wants to show the new missile off at the military parade scheduled for April 15 to mark the 100th anniversary of the birthday of the founder of the nation, Kim Il-sung, or on April 25th, which marks the founding of the North Korean army.

Source: Telegraph UK

Ships of Kittim [?]

[HT: Klishlishi]

''For ships of Kittim shall come against him...''[Daniel 11:30] 

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov issued a strong warning against a military attack on Iran Monday, April 2,, saying that a pre-emptive strike would violate international law. His comments, made during a visit to Armenia, stopped short of threatening (the US and/or Israel) of consequences. But they backed up and were in tune with the explicit threat from Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei last Thursday of strong Iranian resistance to foreign intervention in Syria and vow to defend Damascus as the “center of resistance against Israel.” 

Western military observers link the two statements as representing an evolving Russian-Iranian front. After their shared success in delivering Bashar Assad from the revolt against his regime, the two partners are preparing to fend off a potential strike against Tehran’s nuclear program as well as shore up Iran’s regional interests from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean. Continue reading at Debka

US State Department Refuses to Say Jerusalem is Israel's Capital - Updated: with Torah Codes

[HT: Miguel]

Last week’s United States Supreme Court decision declared that a lower court must deal with a complaint by a Jerusalem resident that the State Department has refused to write “Jerusalem, Israel” on his passport.

A court decision in the plaintiff’s favor would force a major policy change, but what apparently prompted the question to the State Department was its altering an official communication that originally referred to Israel and Jerusalem as separate entities. “The first media note was issued in error, without appropriate clearances,” Nuland tried to explain.

 The Clinton, Reagan and Obama administrations have used a Congressional waiver to avoid carrying out a law that declares that the embassy be in Jerusalem. The waiver allows the president to declare that carrying out the law would create a national security problem, although it never has been explained how American security would be threatened by moving the embassy.

 

 Also see: Is Israeli Capital in Tel Aviv?

And a timely Torah code video from Rabbi Glazerson: ''Jerusalem is the Heart of Israel''