'Test' Questions

What unity does righteousness have with unrighteousness?

That's a good question. If there is a semblance of unity, it certainly is not a true unity. And it is sure to break down as soon as any outside pressure is applied. When there is true unity, outside pressure seals the bond.

This is a time of birur. Everything and everyone is being tested and the bad is being separated out from the good, or you might rather say that the bad is separating itself out from the good. Free choice and all that. It is a necessary and desirable process before the complete geulah arrives. We can assist in that process and speed it along by holding very fast to the Truth and the Good, so that the klippot will want to separate from us.

(Unfortunately, there are very influential people who are doing the exact opposite and they are delaying the geulah shleimah. But that's a subject for another post.)

Here are a couple of examples of what I'm talking about:

The US and the EU bring pressure against the Erev Rav regime who rule that the "settlers" must cease fulfilling the mitzvah of conquering and settling the Land of Israel. The "settlers" dig in and cling fast to Torah and mitzvot. Their actions prompt two reactions,

This one: ‘Settlers Don’t Know How Much People Love Them’

A former Navy and Air Force officer, who also is a resident of the wealthy and predominantly secular city of Herzliya near Tel Aviv, has broken the image of secular anti-settler Jews.” In an interview with Arutz 7, retired Lt. Col. Danny Baz called settlers “modern Zionists.”

...“Settlers do not know how much the People of Israel love them.” Baz stated. He called them "modern Zionists...and our hope for tomorrow.”

In an impassioned letter to Shomron Brigade commander Colonel Itzik Bar last month, Baz accused him of turning settlers into a “new enemy"and told him that “[settlers] are an honored part of the defense system of the State of Israel.... They are a strategic non-conventional weapon of Israel.

Maybe not the best defense to be made, but considering where he's coming from, a defense nonetheless and likely the best he can do. At least his Jewish heart is in the right place.
And then there is this one, as demonstrated by a Talkback written in response to this article on Ynet, Netanyahu: Settlers are our brothers :

"Not my brothers thank you very much - Heaven forbid settler thugs in our family!"
At the other end of the spectrum, there's the Hareidi battle for the sanctity of Shabbat, from a YWN article which was the original inspiration for this piece:

Another Front in Ongoing Battles Over Shabbos Yerushalayim?
Sadly, it appears that there may be another escalation in the battle against shmiras shabbos by chiloni anti-shabbos elements in Yerushalayim.

As is the weekly custom, chareidim already adorned in their shabbos clothing and shtreimals visit “The Shuk”, Machane Yehuda, shortly before shabbos, blowing a shofar and announcing the imminent arrival of the holy day, seeking to increase shopper awareness that shabbos is rapidly approaching and shoppers and vendors alike should head home.

This erev shabbos, the scene was quite disturbing, as a small group of secularists came, some wearing multi-colored Purim wigs, armed with flutes, whistles and anything that can produce sound, following the shabbos-announcers and seeking to interfere with their message, openly ridiculing them for their efforts, and most disturbing, mocking the arrival of the holy day.
So, as you can clearly see, the geulah process is chugging right along, everyday a little more and a little more, until one day, it will have arrived in its full force. Another good question is --- will we be happy with the new reality or will we long for "the old days." A question each one must ask of himself.