Faith in Hashem ALONE

I've got a lot on my mind and the next few blogs are going to reflect that. Just preparing you in advance.

About that shekel. Suddenly all the rents are being quoted in shekels instead of dollars and houses for sale are being listed at millions of shekels instead of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Interesting that Israel's weaning from America (and western values) would start with the monetary unit. Is that telling us that money is at the root of all our dependency? Are we still doubting, after all these thousands of years, that Hashem will bring manna from Heaven and water from a rock if that is the only way to provide for our needs?

I grew up hearing the misquote: "Money is the root of all evil." The actual quote is: "The love of money is the root of all evil." But what is at the root of our love for money??? In large enough amounts it confers power---great sums of money can buy great power---but for most of us, it brings us a sense of security, a feeling that we will have our needs met with a certainty. If there is money in the bank, there are no worries about what will be.

But, besides the fact that this is not Hashem's ideal way for us to live, this misplacement of our faith from the Giver to the gift brings about a certain corruption of the soul. The human mind can contort itself into all kinds of weird shapes in order to rationalize and then to justify the acceptance of gifts of money from less than kosher sources. We see this most prominently in our society here in Israel with the politicians and the ongoing investigations into financial improprieties. But, it doesn't stop there. We're seeing it also in the religious community...most notably, in the so-called 'settler' community, as they are becoming more and more dependent upon the gifts of money coming from the so-called "Xian Zionists."

The biggest problem with accepting this money is the sense of obligation that it engenders in the recipient. This leads to a breaking down of the barriers and the generation of feelings of gratitude, friendship and compatibility, all of which were the intended goals of the Xians from the outset. All of this spells trouble for the Jew, but his mental gymnastics will enable him to find a way to turn it into a "kiddush Hashem."

A heretical approach to the End of Days has now developed out of the profound need of certain Jews to make kosher that which can never be kosher. Judeo-xianity is the religion that Hellenism only dreamed of---a synthesis of Judaism and "Western (Xian) values." Someone has now determined that the Torah of Mashiach will be "universal"---for both Jews and gentiles---and they are already (prematurely) welcoming the "pro-Israel" gentile to become ONE with us without barriers, as if Mashiach already came.

This is a TEST, folks! And we are failing miserably!! We are supposed to be trusting in Hashem to provide for our needs, not our sworn enemy Eisav!

Historically, it was the gentiles who have endeavored to deny us our chosenness, our unique destiny. Today, Jews are working hand-in-hand with them to open it up to anyone who wants to be part of it without benefit of conversion or need to denounce false religions.

I see this coming from Erev Rav rabbis whose well-meaning followers are baalei teshuva with very weak foundations in Torah and those whose heads have been turned by the money and the personal adulation.

There is a cure. It's called antisemitism and it's already started. Look at the talkback reactions to the Ariel bombing and the NT book burning. Those whom we've drawn closest to us in the past few years will be those who become most violently opposed, i.e. our "best friends" will become our worst enemies. Because that's how it is between Jews and gentiles who follow a competing religion.

Wait til you see what Mashiach will do with these people!