21 Adar - Yarzheit Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk

 

The great Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk (1717-1786) was one of the elite disciples of Rabbi DovBer, the Maggid of Mezritch, and a colleague of Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi. He is also widely known as the No'am Elimelech, the title of the renowned chassidic work he authored.

Rabbi Elimelech attracted many thousands of chassidim, among them many who after his passing became great chassidic masters in their own right. Most notable amongst them was Rabbi Yaakov Yitzchak Horowitz, the "Seer of Lublin." Many of the current chassidic dynasties trace themselves back to Rabbi Elimelech.  Rabbi Elimelech was known as "the Rebbe of Rebbes".

More at Chabad

Kever of R' Elimelech

It happened once in the time of the Rebbe Reb Elimelech that the government had a case against a certain Jew. The courts ruled, found him guilty, and he was sentenced to death by hanging. As was the custom, the courts granted him one last request, and he asked that they notify his sons of the verdict.

The sons were notified, and they immediately set out to see their father. On the way they stopped in Lizhensk to see Rebbe Elimelech and ask his advice and guidance. When they related the whole story to the Rebbe, he answered, in his holy manner, that they had nothing to fear - their father would not be hanged. 

They left Lizhensk comforted, reassured by the words of the holy Tzaddik, believing that his promise would come true. However, when they arrived they saw that nothing had changed. On the designated day, their father was brought forth to be hanged and no-one said a word to save him. 

According to the law, before a sentence was carried out, they would read the charges and the verdict that had been pronounced. But when the officials went to retrieve the necessary documents, they could not find any of the papers relating to the judgment and could not proceed with the execution. They hastened back to the courthouse, but they found not a trace of the ruling nor even a memory of the case. The judges themselves were no longer able to recall the case, nor were they able to remember who the witnesses were or what testimony had been given. Everything was totally forgotten. After a lengthy delay and numerous searches, they reluctantly released the prisoner since they could bring no charge against him. 

On the trip back home, the sons, this time with their father, stopped once more in Lizhensk to see Rebbe Elimelech. The Rebbe told them: "I had no other alternative except to make use of the angel of forgetfulness to cause them to forget the whole matter completely." 

 [Ohel Elimelech 283] Source: Mipeninei Noam Elimelech compiled by Tal Moshe Zwecker

Rabbi Travis Talks About the Star and Moshiach's Arrival

Rabbi Daniel Travis from a shiur given on Feb 19, 2016

I have transcribed the relevant part of this shiur, which is from the 12 min mark.  He does speak about Nibiru from about the 9 min mark but I did not think it was necessary to include that here.

Please bear in mind that this shiur was given 8 years ago... but the information is extremely relevant to us right now.

To watch video at Torah Anytime click here

Zohar 

Rav Shimon cried "woe is the person who's going to be at the time of Moshiach and happy will they be at the time of Moshiach.... Why "oy?" Because Hashem is going to look at the world at the time that Moshiach is going to come and see that nobody is worthy, so Hashem is going to have to bring tremendous yissurim upon the world so that Moshiach can come.  It's going to be a test in Emunah.

He who remains with his emunah at that time is going to see unbelievable things - whoever is zocher to Moshiach at that time.

Have you ever seen silver being purified? They put it on a furnace and heat it up until it's very hot, and melt it and take the dirt out... and that's what has to happen. That's what the Zohar says, so that's something to think about.

There will be a 40 day period where there is a pillar of fire in the Galil and after that time Moshiach is going to reveal Himself - there'll be a certain tekufah of 40 days, all the nations of the world are going to attack klal Yisrael and there are going to be tremendous gezeirahs upon klal Yisrael.  At that time, when all these gezeiras come, Melech haMoshiach is going to reveal Himself and from the East there will be a planet or Star with seven satellites [moons or whatever] around it.  This Star which is coming is going to have an effect on this world when it's going to come into the orbit of Earth.

It says everything that's going to happen: there will be tremendous wars, and it's going to be very auspicious times, and that is the procedure which will happen AFTER Moshiach has revealed Himself.

We see that something extraordinary is going to happen - big changes in the world - Reb Moshe always said "why are people going to laugh? because there's going to be such a change in the entire planet that the only thing you can do is laugh."  It's going to be a totally new existence, a new world order you might call it, it's going to be totally different... and even though when we hear about Planet X it sounds like science fiction but the Zohar IS saying that there is something that is going to come and change the entire earth, some kind or planet or Star, so we can't say that these things are mamash crazy.

I'm not saying this will happen, but definitely things are brewing as we might say, and we have to be ready for that.  Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai says the avodah is to remain with Emunah during these times. We're going to see things happening and we have no idea what they could be. It will be things beyond belief. It says it's going to make Yetzias Mitzrayim look like nothing. Every day it's going to be worse, and we're going to forget what it was like the day before [from all the wars that will be going on].

Halevei, if Moshiach comes early we'll be zocher with rachamim. Says Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, the nisayon is that whoever has Emunah at this time will be zocher to see the End.  There's different opinions how many people are going to survive this ordeal - some say a very small amount, some say a bit larger, maybe a third or maybe more... but the nisayon is Emunah.  Emunah is with Tehilla, with mussar, with everything that happens...... everything Hashem does is good.

The avodah right now is to build our Emunah so when this happens we'll be ready for it.

When we come to that level of Emunah then we'll be ready for Moshiach.

Why I Believe the Moshiach is Coming

H/t Sherry

Rabbi Yaakov Asher Sinclair - 3 minutes

The Spiritual Ladder

I heard in the name of Rebbe Elimelech that if a person wishes to rise higher in his spiritual level, he must see to it that his character traits are whole and perfect on the lower level. This is because it is impossible to maintain a constant static level.

A person is like the angels called Chayos, which run and return, for sometimes he rises and sometimes he falls.  And if his lower levels are not perfected, how can he return to them?

The Rebbe compared this to a man climbing a ladder.  The wise and intelligent man will first test all the rungs to make sure that they are whole and intact so that if needs be he can retrace his steps and return to them.

[Tal Moshe Zwecker: Mipeninei Noam Elimelech]

Kabbalah of Music

Rabbi Efraim Palvanov

What role did music play in Creation? And what is the song of Mashiach? Which instruments did King David play? Find out in this class where we explore the mystical power of music, the divine octave, the musical notes of the Torah, and much more. 

Also discussed: where did the Breslover Hasidic “Na Nach” concept come from? Can a Jew listen to the church music of Bach? And what is the significance of the number 91?

Is This The Kabbalistic Meaning of the Israel-Hamas War? (And Will It Bring Moshiach...?)

H/t Leah

This is from Tu b'Shvat but the information in it does not date.  Apart from the obvious mentioning of fruit, Rav Doniel Katz [who is a former Australian, now living in Israel] brings down some interesting facts.  "Moshiach is a process" - "Hashem doesn't want the Geula from Above, He wants the Geula from Below".  He quotes from the Sefer Ma'amar HaGeula.

The Final Tikkun

Written by R. Yaakov Nathan

The generation of the desert, the Dor Hamidbar, was on a very high level. They were a "dor de'ah", a generation of knowledge, on the level of Bina. Yet they committed the sin of the Golden Calf [parshas Ki Tisa]. This sin was a direct result of their own intellectualization, their miscalculation of when Moshe should have come back from his spiritual elevation on Mount Sinai. [The verse says "boshesh Moshe" and Rashi from the Gemara explains that it means "ba shesh" - that they calculated that Moshe should have been back by the 6th hour of the day.]  It was their own intellect which brought them into trouble--they wavered in their trust of Moshe and over-intellectualized the situation.

The midrash states that the Soton showed them Moshe lying on his deathbed, which opened them up to consider the reasoning that Moshe should have already come down. The Ohr Hachayim explains that what they saw was "with the eye of the intellect"--they didn't hallucinate, but rather they misinterpreted the reality.

Amidst this confusion comes the Erev Rav, the Egyptian magicians who left Egypt with the children of Israel, demanding a new leader to replace Moshe -- since they saw that the Jews were wavering, open to the suggestion that Moshe was delayed and could not descend from the spiritual heights he had ascended to. This is the cause of the Golden Calf [see the Ramban--it was a replacement for Moshe, not Hashem].

When Moshe ascended the mountain, the Arizal states that he received 1,000 lights. This is the level of Moshiach. Moshe had been elevated to Moshiach on the mountain, but the people did not withstand the test; their faith in Moshe wavered, allowing the Erev Rav to bring about the sin of the Golden Calf. This caused Hashem to say to Moshe "Go, descend" [32:7], says Rashi: "Descend from your greatness", descend from the level of Moshiach.

The Arizal writes that the final generation is a reincarnation of the Dor Hamidbar. The Lubavitcher Rebbe said explicitly that this applies to us - we are literally the souls of the generation of the desert. In Rambam's "13 Ikkarim" he writes that we believe in the coming of Moshiach "even if he delays".

Why does the Rambam feel the need to mention a delay here? What's the connection between Moshiach and a delay? The first redeemer [Moshe] is the last redeemer [Moshiach] and perhaps our situation now - waiting in the confusion - is the tikkun for the situation the first time around?

The Rambam explains in Hilchos Tshuva that "Tshuva is completed when an opportunity to commit one's original transgression again arises but one doesn't and repents instead." We are the generation of the midbar--we are rectifying our sin by waiting for Moshiach. Despite what the eye of the intellect might think, our obligation is to trust in Moshe Rabbeinu, not to seek a replacement leader. Not to let the Erev Rav within us entice us to find a "new leader" of the Jewish nation, to make a new Golden Calf [G-d forbid].

Moshe Rabbeinu doesn't need to be replaced, and we are playing our role in the final tikkun. Hold on strong with emunah that goes beyond the intellect and "even though he delays, we wait for him every day".

David and Batsheva - A Mystical Love Story

Rabbi Efraim Palvanov

 

What really happened with David and Batsheba? Did David sin, or were the couple true soulmates destined to be together since Creation? And what does it all have to do with Adam and Eve, the Forbidden Fruit, and the forthcoming Messianic Age? 

Find out in this class, where we also explore the mechanics of soulmates, the origins of Lilith, the battle with Goliath, and conclude with a fascinating Zohar passage where the angel Dumah, the “warden” of Gehinnom, argues with God and attempts to incriminate King David.