4 Adar 5775
When the Labor-Hatnua alliance began calling themselves "The Zionist Camp," I thought how ironic that those who least represented "Zionist" ideals should call themselves "The Zionist Camp." But, then I got to thinking about it more and came to the conclusion that really they are aptly named because this is where Zionism without Torah naturally ends up.
I came across an opinion piece that I wrote in 2005. It gives me more food for thought today...
On Fighting the Erev Rav
How do we "fight" the Erev Rav? It is a war for hearts and minds. The battle involves waking up sleeping (uninformed) Jews and convincing them that there is even a war to be waged and to educate them as to who the enemy is and how he can be defeated.
The Erev Rav are klipot. They are parasitic and get their nourishment from the side of holiness. It is critical to be able to recognize when the time for the redemption has arrived (and who are the Erev Rav) as that is the time to separate completely from them so that they lose their source of power.
Now that we are immovably fixed on the course of geulah b'ita, there is now no longer any more we can do by our own efforts (i.e., politics). All that is left to us now is to separate completely from the klipot, do teshuva and strengthen ourselves in emuna, Torah and mitzvot and await (cry out for) our deliverance.
The State of Israel was surely the beginning of our redemption, just as the implantation of the embryo and formation of the life-giving, nourishing placenta is the beginning of human life. But when the birth arrives, that structure is no longer necessary and must be ripped away, else it threatens the life of the one it was created to nourish. Its usefulness is at an end. It must be discarded.
Practically speaking, we need to speak constantly of Mashiach and the geulah and to teach others particularly the subject matter of Kol HaTor...about the Erev Rav and how to help Mashiach ben Yosef to complete his mission.
The task of the hour, as I see it, is to convince good Jews to abandon the political process at this point. It goes against all our thinking up until now, that we have to work in conjunction with it.
While a fetus is developing, everything must be done to maintain the pregnancy, but when the time for birth arrives, the one who does not recognize the changed reality and who continues to try and maintain the pregnancy now delays the birth and threatens the life of the emerging infant.
It is the birth assistant who knows how to recognize the signs of impending birth and who is qualified to instruct others on how best to assist the process. These are our sages and mekubalim.
Learn the Holy GR"A's signs for recognizing the Erev Rav and start trying to convince everyone you know to abandon the political realm. Very many I'm afraid will not be able to make this leap of faith, but will continue to insist that we must remain a part of it in order to influence it. This is the worst thing we can do.
All the suffering that was endured during and surrounding the expulsion from Gaza was meant only to teach this lesson...that there is now no longer any way to influence, we must withdraw and let it collapse. But I fear that too many do not understand how to interpret the events of our time in light of the teachings of our sages on the geulah.
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That was ten years ago. So, was I right or was I wrong?
I'll re-open the comments for discussion. Please do not abuse the privilege. Anyone posting "anonymously" must sign off with some kind of name or your comment will not be published.
Received by email...
ReplyDeleteDear Devash,
A short answer to your question, "was I right, or was I wrong?": Yes. Both.
But rather than abandon the political realm altogether, the system should ideally be replaced, first of all because it is not of Jewish/Hebrew/Israelite (meaning HaSHEM's) origin. But, besides that, it is besieged on all sides, and the government itself is threatened, especially from Europe and the US. How about that V-15 organization, headed by POTUS BHO himself, which is gunning for a Leftist takeover of the government this coming election?! Guess what happens if, with all the moolah they spent, the Right still wins?
Do they pressure the Right to come out and declare itself a fraud? After all, exactly which decisions did the Rightist government make that distinguished itself from the Left?
Or, do they foment civil war here?
Or, do they openly declare that their whole goal was to rid the world of us and then try to carry it out? (Gog uMagog???)
The question, brought down to our level, is what effect our participation in the voting process will have - and this we cannot predict now (and really, not ever - the polls mean nothing.). Not voting, particularly en masse, automatically reduces our perceived numbers. Unless someone is ready to lead a secession of major territory from what is "recognized" as Medinat Yisrael, there is nothing to talk about. We need to be able to choose a real alternative. I'm prepared to vote for Yachad/Otzmah Yisrael (the latter for whom I voted the last time), particularly if they unite. But what if they don't?
If I'm wrong, how else do we register in a real-world way that we want what HaShem wants? Ain lanu eretz ahereth...
(Name withheld)