Identifying the Erev Rav in 4 Parts

(Reposted material from the former Jewish Jihad.)

"...our main service and battle is to break and to remove the strength of the Erev Rav, the k'lipah of Armelius the Evil, from Israel; the Erev Rav is our greatest enemy, the one who separates the two moshiachs. The k'lipah of the Erev Rav works only through deception and roundabout ways. Therefore, the war against the Erev Rav is the most difficult and bitterest of all. We must strengthen ourselves for this war, and anyone who does not participate in the battle against the Erev Rav becomes, de facto, a partner with the k'lipah of the Erev Rav, and was better off not being born in the first place. (Kol HaTor, Chapter 2, Section 2, Letter 'bais')

Divre Simcha by Rabbi Simcha Ysachar Ber Chalberstam, zt"l) "...even if we see in them (The Erev Rav) good things like Torah and tradition and good manners and in particular they make peace with everybody and peace is the foundation of everything,...we must reject all these people even when they have good aspects in their behavior because then will be time of clarification and selection and this will be the trial and choice in those days."


10 August 2005

Identifying the 'Erev Rav' (Part 1)

The following speaks for itself. Quote:

They are called 'Erev Rav' because they are the heads of the Jews in exile, and therefore they are called 'rav.' (Likutim HaGra)
In fact, some of the most frightening words come from the Divrei Chaim, who says:

"Before the arrival of Moshiach, most of the rabbis will be from the Erev Rav, because Israel in themselves are holy, but the Erev Rav only work for their own benefit . . . wanting to rule over the public . . . One should only join with those who truly serve G-d and sacrifice themselves to Him, but not in order to receive any benefit." (Divrei Chaim, Parashas Vayakhel, 'Omissions')
Thus, a tell-tale sign of Erev Rav is not what the person does, but his motivation for doing it, which is not always simple to know. However, over time it is clear which leaders serve G-d and His people 'lishmah' - for altruistic reasons - and which ones do so for the sake of some personal benefit. Thus, you can find simple, unlearned but devoted Jews who are cherished by Heaven, and intelligent and well-learned leaders who are self-serving, and despised by Heaven, especially when they fool the public and garner their respect.

The Erev Rav does not [necessarily] have an outwardly secular nature. On the contrary, they can appear quite religious and, for the most part, fulfill the mitzvot incumbent upon a Jew today, at least externally. However, the Zohar itself, and then the Vilna Gaon, have more to add to this list, bringing into even greater focus the worst of all Jewish enemies that lives within.

In his book EVEN SHELOMO, the Vilna Gaon, zt"l wrote that the selection and purification of Israel will not be complete until the Erev Rav separates from Israel completely,....

This explains all the tzuras that we are undergoing and the purpose of the birrur which is currently taking place in the Jewish world today


Identifying the 'Erev Rav' (Part 2)
From An Anthology of the Gaon by Rabbi Moshe Tzuriel:

Erev Rav which are the souls from the world of chaos, G-d transplants them every generation, and they are the bold-faced of the generation. Our Sages said that in the period of "messiah's footsteps" impudence will become great... and the "erev rav will return to be the shepherds of Israel" - Safra ditz'ni`utha, chapter 1, beginning with the words "They were not watching" (3).

"You should know that there are five kinds of erev rav. The first kind are argumentative and libelous people; the second kind are those who pursue passion and fornication; the third kind are those who are deceitful, who pretend to be righteous but whose hearts are not whole. The fourth kind are those who pursue honor in order to make a name for themselves; the fifth kind are those who pursue money... and the argumentative kind are the equivalent of all of them: they are called Amalekim, and the son of Dovid will not come until they have passed out of this world, for it is of them that we recite timche et zekher Amalek - "You shall erase the memory of Amalek" - Adderet Eliyahu, commentary on Deut. 1:1 (325), his words being based on Zohar 1:25, 27; 3:125: and see the Gaon's commentary on Tikkunei Zohar 97, pp. 86,91.

..."Arguments which are not for the sake of Heaven come from the Erev Rav, those who jump forward to teach and to take the crown of 'let us make for ourselves a name' - Tikkunei Zohar, p. 91, beginning and who caused [it] (v. Maimonides, Hilkhot Talmud Torah 5:4: 'and every knowledgeable person who has not reached the level of teaching (spiritual conduct) and teaches is wicked, idiotic and rude... These are the small intellectuals who have not studied Torah as much as they should, but try to make a great impression on the boors and the people of their own town, and so they jump up and sit at the head of the line of sages who come to discuss cases and teach Israel. These are the ones who are argumentative, they destroy the world and extinguish the light of Torah, as they sabotage the vineyard of the L-rd of Hosts. Of them Solomon said: "ehezu lanu shu`alim, shu`alim k'tannim m'habb'lim k'ramim" - "grasp for us the foxes, little foxes that destroy the vineyards".

..."Of the Amalekites some were leaders of the Israelites in their galut, their exile, acting violently and robbing the Jewish poor, [the kapos are an example of this]

...They are the fallen ones, who follow around after loose women and after bribes of this world. They are warriors, men of great name, all of whose deeds are done in order to enhance their reputation. [Ariel Sharon fits this category.]

They are spirits who do not desire to bestow kindness and charity for masters of Torah; they are giants who ridicule Torah scholars" [Tommy Lapid and his ilk fit this description.] - Tikkunei Zohar, p. 194.

If you find yourself saying of someone, "How can a Jew do (or say) something like this?" they are very likely not Jews, but 'Erev Rav.'

Identifying the 'Erev Rav' (Part 3)

They [the 'erev rav'] desire to become a Rabbi in order to be proud of this and not to do it Leshem shamaim (For Hashem's sake) and the desire to rule over the Tzaddikim with the full force of his ego that everyone should be subservient to him under his rule, and this person that wants to rule is an empty pit full of serpents and scorpions and the person who is led by him and acknowledges him is actually serving idols.(Zohar Chai, Shemot 86)

The Holy Rabbi Chayim Vital zt"l warns us about the category of rabbis whose main purpose is honor and to make a name for themselves.
We read in the introduction to the Holy book Etz Chayim what the Holy Rabbi Chayim Vital, may his merit shield us, (who was the student of the Holy ARI zt"l) wrote concerning the Erev Rav: All those that do kindness and toil in the Torah, all they do for themselves, and in particular through our many sins, in our times, the Torah has been made into a hammer with which to do their own ends for many ba'ale Torah, who occupy themselves in the Torah in order to receive their reward and other benefits and luxuries, and in order to be in the group of heads of Yeshivot, and judges (dayanim) in their courts, so that their names and fame are spread throughout the land, and the actions of these Rabbis resemble those of the generation of the Dispersion, those who built the Tower of Babel, with its top reaching the heavens, and the main motivation for their actions is what is written there in the Torah: "Let us make a name for ourselves" as it is written in the Zohar (Bereshit 25b) on the verse : "These are the generations of the Heavens and earth" that there are five types of Erev Rav and the third type is called Giborim (powerful ones) and on them it is written: "These are the Giborim of old, men of name" and they belong to the side of those about whom it is written: "Let us build for ourselves a city and a tower" and let us make a name for ourselves by building Synagogues and Houses of Study and putting in them Torah Scrolls with crowns on their heads but not for G-d's sake they do thus but for their own benefit.

BETTER FOR THESE RABBIS HAD THEY NOT BEEN BORN

Continues the Holy Rabbi Chayim Vital: And on this type of Erev Rav it was said in the Talmud (Berachot 17): "He who occupies himself with the Torah not for its own sake, it would have been better for him had his fetus overturned and would not have come out to the air of the world" And indeed these people look humble and righteous, when they say that all their involvement with the Torah is for its own sake, nevertheless the Great and wise, the Tanna Rabbi Meir peace be upon him, testified against them that it is not as they say, when he said (what we just quoted at the beginning of the introduction, Pirke Avot 6:41): "Rabbi Meir said: He who studies the Torah for its own sake (without ulterior motives) deserves many things, and not only that, but the whole world is indebted to him. And he is called beloved friend, loved by G-d and men, he pleases the Creator and humanity. The Torah covers him with modesty and fear, makes him virtuous, merciful, devote, just and faithful, moves him away from sin guiding him by the path of virtue, etc" "The secrets of the Torah are revealed to him and he is turned into an endless fountain of wisdom, and he becomes modest, patient, forgiving offenses, etc"
FOR EVERY TZADDIK THERE'S AN EVIL PERSON PRETENDING TO BE A TZADDIK THAT DOES THE WORK OF THE SATAN HERE ON EARTH

My Holy master the Baal Shem Tov explained as a counter balance for every real Tzaddik there is another one who opposes him, who possesses no love and fear of G-d, but only confuses creatures. He looks as a Tzaddik and guides the people to different kinds of wisdom and strange beliefs and he has great strength and from this comes the free will [that people will have to choose between good and evil]....
(Zohar Chai, Bereshit 329)
[And this is how we come to have rabbis who oppose "disengagement" as well as those who support it.]

From all that, we learn frightful things, that most of the Rabbanim are from the Erev Rav, and one has to fight against them with a strong war. And due to our many sins, not only that we do not fight against them but many people have a good connection with them, and build buildings and palaces for them and give them large sums of money, and they have an honorable and famous name, and the real Tzaddikim, who are connected to Hashem, sit in poverty and cannot act for the sake of Heaven properly, to increase actions for Torah and fear of heaven.

...Once the Holy Tzaddik Rabbi Mechle Mi Zlatchov, ...fasted many times when he was already old. His students asked him why he was doing this. The Rabbi told them that the Satan wanted to eliminate the Chassidim from the world, and with many devices he caused the accusations and persecutions against the Chassidim to increase.

When the Satan saw that his plan was not succeeding, because he had no strength to eliminate them (The Chassidim), he devised a new scheme. He thought that he would also create many Chassidim, and that they would multiply greatly and they would mix with the true Chassidim that separate themselves from the vanities of the world, and the true Chassidim would be mixed with the false Chassidim.
And when I saw what the Satan planned to do, I also fasted many times to eliminate this thought from the Satan, because this is the worst possible situation: That there will be many Kosher looking people, deceivers and one will not be able to distinguish who is authentic and who is false.
And the Holy Rabbi finally told his students: "I will not fast anymore, because I can't do much to annul the desire of the Satan, because the Yetzer Harah (The Satan) will exist in the future also, G-d save us, and He who will have the merit to sanctify himself, who will desire honestly to come to the Holy One Blessed be He and his eyes will illuminate from the Light of the King of life's face, he who will want to go in the ways of life and the paths of truth and rectitude, should do this: Do not mix with them (with the fake Chassidim) and the Holy One Blessed be He, will purify us for His Service. AMEN SELA


Identifying the 'Erev Rav' (Part 4)

The main force of the `erev rav' is at the gates of Jerusalem by the entrance of the city (The Great Period, 503-504).

[Where today sits the Israeli government complex---the Knesset, the Prime Minister's Office, the Bank of Israel and the High Court of (In)Justice among them.]

This seems to be a shift and a change in the definition of erev rav from what we have seen in the other quotations (full of desire, argumentative, honor-seeking, hurrying to give instruction though they are unqualified to do so, etc.).

It would seem that this point mentioned by "Kol HaTor" of the resistance to the realization of the redemption of the Jews was not expressed in the other utterances by the Gaon regarding the `erev rav.' This, however, is what R. Hillel of Shiklov explains to us: the nation of Israel has suffered so many tribulations during its horrible exile (see MahaRal, Netzah Yisrael, the beginning of chapter 49), and our heart boils over with distress at the memory of our terrible debasement, both in spirituality and in materiality.

How, now, can there arise out of our nation Sanballats to destroy and disrupt the restoration of the nation of Israel in its land? The only explanation possible is that they really are full of desire, argumentative, proud etc. - lacking true links with the Jewish people or with the Torah of Israel.

We must not take into consideration that some of them do actually have some superficial knowledge of Torah (see Adderet Eliyahu to Deut. 32:20) for My people is foolish, they do not know Me... they are wise in causing evil, but know not how to do good (Jeremiah 4:22). That is, if they are not G-d-fearing - they do not know Me - they will turn the words of the living G-d into lies and deceit. The proof that their hearts are impure is that they are not distressed at the disaster of Yosef (Amos 6:6).

They do not feel sorrow at the disaster of the entire Jewish people, though they chatter Torah-like platitudes of love of Israel. "And they heal the disaster of My nation too easily, saying `Peace, peace!' - but there is no peace!" (Jeremiah 6:14).

Further proof, instead of quarreling with the nations of the world who cause us distress, they choose to argue and quarrel with the faithful of Israel - all by virtue of those very same characteristics defined by the Zohar (I/25).

[Instead of uprooting the enemy, they uproot law-abiding Jews. Instead of arresting terrorists, they arrest Jewish children and indict rabbis.]

All this was seen at the time by R. Hillel of Shiklov. He knew how the words of the Zohar and those of the Gaon, his rabbi, could co-exist with contemporary problems. The false virtues of the hypocrites and deceivers are what cause them to put barriers and other delays on the path to the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the redemption of Israel. Really, all the words of this chapter correspond to one another extremely precisely - to whoever understands.
[Make no mistake. This is the evil regime which rules in the Land of Israel in our day.]

The Erev Rav are Amalek and they are mixed with ISrael and they will be blotted out.

But AMALEK, who are the first born of Mitzraim and The EREV RAV mixed among the Jews, it is written about them (Devarim 25:19) "You shall blot out the remembrance of Amalek" So that none of them remain, for they are an admixture from all the nations and even from Cain. And as soon as they are blotted out from the world "Then the people will start calling in G-d's name" Tikkune Zohar Tikkun 69

...In "Bnei Yisachar" (articles of Chodesh Adar) it is written, "the groups of the Erev Rav who sit among us are heretics, informers, Apikorsim, they are from the root of Amalek, the Sitra Achra, (Erev Rav in Gematria = Sitra Achra=474) as you may see in these generations, that on account of our myriad sins, the heresy has increased. And there are those who carry weapons on them to wound Israel with bad advice and faulty laws."

This is the tragedy of Adam's original sin---good and evil became mixed. The tikun will come from their separation. We participate in that tikun when we work toward assisting in the separation process.

The main drive of the Erev Rav is to unify Eisav and Yishmael and to separate the two Moshiachs.

Therefore, our main service and battle is to break and to remove the strength of the the Erev Rav, the klipah of Armelius the Evil, from Israel; the Erev Rav is our greatest enemy, the one who separates the two Moshiachs.