17 Marcheshvan 5778
It sounds like a no-brainer, right? I mean, the Christians have been telling us for 2000 years that the messiah already came and we've always answered them that it was not possible since none of the signs of his coming have materialized. Most notably, the Jews are dispersed worldwide and the Temple lies in ruins, the nations of the world have beaten every plowshare into a weapon and humanity is further from the universal recognition of One God than ever.
Suddenly, we've got Jews sounding just like the Christians telling us that we are already living in Messianic times and that, as a consequence, new rules apply. Can this be compared to a "new covenant"? Is this the second coming of Christianity???
If you look at any of the Jews involved with groups of gentiles today and especially the ones who have made themselves instrumental in forging relationships between Jews and gentiles today, you will find that in each case they explain their actions using this flawed logic.
And like their Christian friends, they take prophecies out of context and point to their "fulfillment" as proof that we are already in a new messianic era which allows or even requires the setting aside of accepted halachah.
In other words, Mashiach (Moshe) has not appeared when we thought he was supposed to so it is now up to us to build a new Golden Calf to lead us.
(See: Is Mashiach Coming or Isn't He?)
Just like this test could only come right before Moshe's arrival back from Har Sinai, so too this current test tells us that we are right before the revelation of Mashiach Tzidkeinu. Be very careful not to fall for this trick of the Satan a second time. This is the only make-up test we're going to get. Don't blow it!
One sign that we are certainly living in fact in messianic times is the horrible Ger movement as elucidated in Gem: Avoda Zara - 3a and 3b.
ReplyDeletePlease be more specific with your terminology. We are not living in "messianic times" which refers to the time when Mashiach has already arrived and is ruling. We are in the pre-messianic times known as the "footsteps of Mashiach" or the "birthpangs of Mashiach".
ReplyDeleteHere is the relev passage: Gemara Avoda Zara 3b. (Soncino translation)
DeleteR.Jose says,In time to come idol-worshippers will come and offer themselves as proselytes...They will be self made proselytes
and will place phylacteries on their foreheads and on their arms, fringes on their garments and a mezzuzah on their door posts, but when the battle of Gog-Magog will come about they will be asked,"for what purpose have you come?" And they will reply "Against G-d and his Messiah."
Important post!
ReplyDeleteThe 6 hours of the Golden Calf is one example. Another is the idea that eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil too early - before the onset of Shabbat - brought disaster upon all of humanity.
We are similarly instructed לא לדחוק את הקץ - not to force the Ketz.
Good point. I addressed this idea in more detail here.
Delete"...Twice before in history has man stood at this precipiece.
The original man and woman started out in Gan Eden. God set up a test for them. Adam left Chava alone in the garden and the Satan came and sowed doubt in her mind. She did not wait for Adam's return to confer with him about what the Satan had told her. She acted on her own, ate of the forbidden fruit and you know the rest of the story.
At Har Sinai, those who accepted the Torah were elevated once again to the level of Adam HaRishon in Gan Eden. Moshe went up the mountain to receive the Tablets of the Law. When he failed to return exactly when expected, they began to doubt that he was ever coming back, so instead of continuing to wait, they commenced to build the Golden Calf and fell from their elevated status.
The final opportunity to rectify this error is upon us. We can see what these two previous tests had in common - doubt followed by a failure to wait - and from that we can extrapolate that these two elements will figure prominently in our final test as well.
In the little time that we have left, let us use it productively to strengthen our emunah in Hashem and His word. Know without any doubt that He will finish the work He started; that He keeps all His promises; and steadfastly wait for Him to fulfill it in His time.
Mashiach is surely coming. Wait for him!!"
Given that the majority of the Jews are now living in Eretz Israel according to the Chief Sephardic Rabbi and what is happening at the Temple Institute Kohanim School could we be in the "footsteps of Mashiach"?
ReplyDeleteSure, but hearing the new boss's footsteps coming down the hall does not entitle anyone to change the rules of the workplace. The new CEO will do that when he actually takes his chair at the head of the conference table.
DeleteI was looking for Rabbi Amnon Vaknin’s Facebook page, but all the listings on google have been usurped by the non-Jews!! What is the status of this now, 2017?
ReplyDeleteLast post was little over a month ago. HERE.
DeleteThank you. I had trouble finding him.
DeleteAnytime. :-)
DeleteSo utterly foreign for me to think that there are that many Jews who fall for this claptrap of phony Ger,Jews or whatever you want to call them. It is only due to the ignorance of Torah Judaism that so many do fall prey to them. Keep up the good work in educating our people. Now, anyone who is able to think should realize what the galut has done to the Jew, especially in this modern era. H' yerachem!
ReplyDeleteThank you for your support.
DeleteDear Devash,
ReplyDeleteWe have in our hands the word of God. It is a great gift. We know that at the end many people will be deceived. The more we read that great gift, and keep our minds on His word, and focus our efforts to be what He wants us to be, the more likely we are not to be deceived.
Rivkah
Dear Tomer Devorah, While I DO agree that we are at the Onset of the Messianic Era I DO NOT FOLLOW THE LOGIC of these people and the conclusions they reach. It does not make any sense to me. This is the time to CLEARLY STATE to the Nations that they MUST believe in God and honor and observe His Noahide Covenant and Laws, and honor His Land, Torah and People Covenants with His Chosen People Israel. It is also time to CLEARLY STATE to our own People that we cannot say "this" and do "that", that there is only ONE GOD, not multiple "gods", one "god" for the beit knesset, one "god" for the boursa. I think what I am saying is self-explanatory. Shalom, Lowell
ReplyDelete