Understanding

A New Outlook

Last night I reluctantly started to watch The Family.  I have never watched anything that involves Xtianity and when I say I watched it reluctantly, I am totally serious.  There were several times I almost turned it off, but I forced myself to continue watching. 

The main reason I turned it on in the first place was because of the topic coming up on Tomer Devorah's blog, and I wanted to know what all the fuss was about.  And there was also my own blog post where I thought Trump's ''chosen'' comment was a joke.  I don't think that anymore.

After watching one episode of The Family, I now understand that when Donald Trump looked up and said he was the Chosen One, he was totally serious.  Devash is right.

This of course confuses everything for me.  Until now, I have thought that Trump was working towards our Moshiach, but I now think he is working towards a Xtian messiah, and I am re-reading all of Tomer Devorah's posts with a new outlook.

Truthfully, I don't know what to think about the future right now.  

For those of you who have not seen The Family, and I'm sure that is nearly all of you, I suggest you watch it as reluctantly as I did.  It is full of references to JC and it is difficult to sit through I admit, but at the same time it will remove any delusions you may have regarding current events.

I would like to contact Rabbi Kessin and discuss this with him, but I have no access to him.  Someone reading this who does have access to Rabbi Kessin, please make him sit down and watch The Family.

Update:  Just saw this on Instagram: Trump's latest post - watch out !

''Departing MCAS Cherry Point in North Carolina for Fayetteville, North Carolina. This is amazing!'' -
President Donald Trump

Moshiach: The End is Here

Rabbi Yehoshua Zitron, Part 15 in the Moshiach series
To see previous lectures in this series go to Torah Anytime

Rav Kook's Ascension to Heaven

To commemorate Rav Kook's yarzheit this week, Rabbi Yitzchak Breitowitz gave this interesting shiur

851: In It's Time I Will Hasten It

Here is an excerpt from an old Rabbi Kessin shiur from 2001: The Events of 9-11 - A Torah Perspective - based on a midrash in Pirkei D'Rabbi Eliezer, Perek 30.

I found it interesting, and some of the things he says I had amazingly not heard of previously, but then again back in 2001 I had not heard of Rabbi Kessin either.

Opening the Gates

''Karma'' is the word given to the Hebrew term ''midda kneged midda'' - measure for measure

Judges and police officers you shall appoint in all your cities..... [Shoftim 16:18]

This verse can be understood in the light of the teaching found in the Talmud in Berachos [61b] that "Tzaddikim are judged by their yetzer tov [good inclination] and the wicked are judged by the yetzer hara [evil inclination]. The average person is judged by both."

The righteous have an admonisher inside them who reproves and reprimands them even about the good deeds that they perform. He points out the defects and shortcomings of their actions, how they are lacking and how they should have been performed for the Almighty Creator. In this way they are "judged by their yetzer tov".

The wicked are just the opposite. Not only do all their actions appear good in their eyes, but their evil inclination shows them that even the evil deeds they do are good. Thus, the wicked are judged by the yetzer hara.

But the average person is judged by both, and as the Tanna taught, "we are average people" - that a person should always consider himself a beinoni, average, as someone who walks on both paths. On the one hand, he should constantly rebuke himself, debating his own actions; he should consider himself to be falling short of properly serving Hashem and fulfilling his obligations. When doing mitzvos, he should understand well that he has not acted properly with true clarity and purity as befitting the service of the Almighty; he should be humble and lowly in his own eyes.

Even so, one should not consider himself wicked, Heaven forbid, as our Sages taught: "Do not be wicked in your own eyes" [Avos 2:18] Otherwise if one does consider himself wicked, he will have no motivation to perform the mitzvos, not to learn Torah or pray or perform any good deed. He will give up hope, resigned that he is not worthy enough to do these things. Therefore, one must hold on to both paths at the same time in order to be complete. Then he will fulfill the teaching of our Sages "With all your heart" [Devarim 6:5] - with both inclinations. This is the meaning of "we are average people" and the "average person is judged by both".

Thus it says "Appoint for yourself judges and police officers". This refers to the two judges we spoke about, the good and evil inclinations. The good inclination is an "officer" since it polices the nation, preventing them from committing any offence, and so the good inclination admonishes and rebukes man for his misdeeds and shortcomings in serving G-d.

"In all your cities" [literally "gates"] - every mitzvah and holy act has its own gate. When a person learns, prays, or does any other act of holiness in this world, he opens the gates to that specific mitzvah above.

Source: Mipeninei Noam Elimelech
Translated by Tal Moshe Zwecker

For the Sake of Peace

from the writings of the Ben Ish Chai

"Tzedek, Tzedek shall you pursue, that you may live and inherit the earth." [Shoftim 16:20]

"Pursuit" in Scripture is usually in order to destroy, as in "Five of you shall pursue a hundred" [Lev. 26:8].  Why, then, are we told to pursue tzedek - truth - as if it were an evil that we wish to eradicate?

There are times when we must keep away from the truth.

G-d asked Abraham: "Why did Sarah laugh, saying "Will I really give birth, when I have become old?" [Genesis 18:13]. Actually, Sarah had said that Abraham was old [Gen 18:12].  G-d changed the report for the sake of harmony between the two.

Why did G-d mention age at all?

To teach us to use falsehood when necessary for peace.  Being overly "righteous" about it is forbidden.

There are times when truth destroys and falsehood builds.

This is demonstrated by the very word שׁקר - "falsehood". Two of its letters stand on a single base, making them unstable.  Why, though, is the first letter - שׁ - sometimes formed with a stable base?  To show that we should not always discard falsehood. On occasion it is necessary.

Returning to our verse: "Tzedek, tzedek shall you pursue, so that you may live and inherit the earth".  The first tzedek means "charity" or "kindness".  The second means "truth". (Tzedek bears both meanings in Biblical Hebrew).  Our verse hints that truth is to bring charity and kindness in its wake.  Sometimes, charity and kindness require you to "pursue" and banish truth.  When?  "So that you may live" - when life is at stake.

If a critically ill person asks you how he looks, don't reply: "You look as if your condition is deteriorating."  That might hasten his death.  Lie and say: "You look as if you are on your way to recovery."  His joy at hearing this may help him recover.

You may also have to banish truth to bring peace.

Let's say Reuven sent a messenger to pick something up from Shimon, whose response was to curse Reuven.  Afterward, Reuven asks his messenger "What did Shimon say?"  To prevent a feud, Shimon must refrain from telling him the truth.

Pursue truth "and inherit the earth" - banish truth to bring peace, which preserves the earth.

Source: Od Yosef Hai, Derushim Shoftim - Ben Ish Chai

New Rabbi Kessin Shiur

This shiur is called the Greatness of Torah Part 1, and was just given in Israel, but he talks about Moshiach from about one hour in, and then talks about the End of Days and the upcoming Israeli elections.