"For lo, the sun comes, glowing like a furnace, and all the audacious sinners and all the perpetrators of wickedness will be stubble. And the sun that comes shall burn them up so that it will leave them neither root nor branch, says the Lord of Hosts. And the sun of mercy shall rise with healing in its wings for you who fear My Name. (Malachi 3:19-20)
5 Iyyar 5780 Day 20 of the Omer Like HKB"H brought the Jews home from exile via a "backdoor" Jewish Secular State, he's preparing the world population to accept the global rule of Mashiach via a "backdoor" world government.
4 Iyyar 5780 Day 19 of the Omer Souls come into this world as human beings in order to be given a choice - trust HKB"H and stay loyal to Him or buy into the Satan's lie of "liberation from God's overbearing control." HKB"H gives human beings life and provides for all their needs throughout their lifetimes and grants them the opportunity to share a close, loving relationship with their Creator. Comes the Satan to challenge human perception of reality and whispers to every human who ever lived: "Did God indeed say...? You will surely not die. ...For God knows that on the day that you eat thereof, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like gods, knowing good and evil." HKB"H's infinite truth, love and goodness are called into question. The implication is that God is, for selfish motives, withholding ultimate good from mankind - humanity's evolution to its own godhood! The Satan presents himself as mankind's savior who is willing and able to advance them on this path to "liberation" and the realization of their "highest potential." Those who swallow this poison pill - by their own flawed choice - do not find liberation but become forever enslaved inside their own minds. The reason is that human beings are not God and the only way they will ever ascend to godhood is by immersing themselves in a grand mental delusion. These are the Luciferians. They are so deep in the web of deception that has been woven inside their minds and hearts that they truly believe that they are the good guys and that their plan for a New World Order (i.e., the overthrow of the Creator's established world order) is in the best interests of all mankind. This was also the belief of the Nazis, may they stand forever condemned, as well as all those who see Klal Yisrael - the loyal Children of HKB"H - as the sole obstacle to their goal. From their perspective we are the true evil. Never, ever doubt HKB"H!! Only a good and loving God whose very Name is Truth would give humanity the option of opposing Him.
3 Iyyar 5780 Day 18 of the Omer Rabbi Alon Anava...
The final war - What has been is what will be - The fall of the new world order With no doubt we are heading towards the redemption. But on the way there will be a force, an evil power that will do anything to stop it... You need to WAKE UP and recognize who we are dealing with and what is their agenda! "What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun..." - Kohelet (Ecclesiastes) 1/9 All I am offering is the Truth... The truth that is not so easy to hear... And remember: Truth can only be seen by others with truth within them! He who does not have truth in his heart will always be blind to truth!
2 Iyyar 5780 Day 17 of the Omer Three words are often used to describe the Creator of All:
Omnipotent - all powerful
Omniscient - all knowing
Omnipresent - present everywhere
Through profane technology, the current incarnation of the builders of the Tower of Bavel are about to realize their long-sought dream of replacing the Creator by duplicating His power - or so they think - using a different kind of tower this time.
5G Cell Tower
"Initial 5G services commenced in many countries in 2019 and widespread availability of 5G is expected by 2025. ...5G will enable instantaneous connectivity to billions of devices, the Internet of Things (IoT) and a truly connected world. ...Massive machine to machine communications – also called the Internet of Things (IoT) that involves connecting billions of devices without human intervention at a scale not seen before. ...5G will enable the connection of billions of devices for our smart cities, smart schools and smart homes, smart and safer vehicles, enhance health care and education, and provide a safer and more efficient place to live. ...New and Emerging technologies such as virtual and augmented reality will be accessible by everyone. Virtual reality provides connected experiences that were not possible before. With 5G and VR you will be able to travel to your favourite city, watch a live football match with the feeling of being at the ground, or even be able to inspect real estate and walk through a new home all from the comfort of your couch." (Source)
From The Stone Edition Chumash Commentary:
All the ingredients for greatness were there: The nations were united, they were in a central location, they spoke the Holy Tongue, and - if they desired guidance in achieving holiness - they had Noah, Shem and Abraham among them. Instead, as happens so often in human history, they chose to ignore their spiritual advantages and turn to their opportunities for self-aggrandizement and power. It seems ludicrous that people who had first-hand evidence of the Flood could have found grounds to rationalize a way of bypassing God's control of events, but such is man's capacity for self-deception that he can negate reality and build substance around a vacuum.
According to the Sages, Nimrod was the primary force behind this rebellion. He planned to build a tower ascending to Heaven and from it, wage war against God. But though the Midrashim perceive sinister and idolatrous motives in this plan, the verses do not reveal the evil motives of the conspirators....
Because they are so deluded by their own egos, they fail to appreciate the true extent of the Creator's power. Ever hear anyone say they'd move Heaven and Earth to accomplish some goal? Of course, that's a bit of hyperbole on our part. But, HKB"Hcan and will move Heaven and Earth - literally - to stop the evildoers in their tracks, just as He did 3,784 years ago. Torah sources reveal that in addition to dividing the world population of that time through a confusion of languages, there was only a single land mass that in a matter of days was split apart and separated into seven continents. There is good reason to believe that at the end of days, this ancient process will be reversed and the world's divergent land masses will return to a single mass of land surrounded by the ocean as at the beginning. The central stable point on the globe is the foundation stone on the Temple Mount from which the rest of the world was created. The most unstable part of the globe is the point at which the continents ceased the spread out, but which will destabilize tremendously when the reunification begins.
THE RING OF FIRE
I think that if we push those land masses away from each other in opposite directions and compress them into one land mass, we might find Eretz Yisrael to be right at the center of it all. During this process of reversal might be fulfilled the prophecy that one-third of the world will be destroyed; one-third will be damaged; and one-third will be untouched. And at the end of the day, the whole world will be Eretz Yisrael. My guess would be that the further the land is from the "center," i.e., that which borders the Ring of Fire, will be most vulnerable to utter destruction.
So, then what sets it off? In short and without going into a lot of detail here, some triggering event will likely stir up solar activity which will spark the pole shift, which is already in progress, resulting in crustal displacement allowing the continents to shift positions. This will bring on all of the awesome predictions foretold by our prophets. (See Tanach on Earth Changes) Summarized in this video in the first 2:40 minutes...
As a bonus benefit, it only stands to reason that just as HKB"H confused the languages, He will also once again return us to the pure holy language as the prophet foretells:
"For then I will convert the peoples to a pure language that all of them call in the name of the Lord, to worship Him of one accord." (Zephaniah 3:9)
In any case, these reshaim will only have nine months (starting from when they "locked down" the world) to pull off their big coup. The final 45 days will be the hardest part and likely the point at which they try to force their will on the unwilling. But HKB"H will most certainly have the final word.
The last 45 days of Chevlei Moshiach will be more difficult than the first days. The troubles of those final days will move the community of Israel to do complete teshuva, and, thereby, they will be privileged to merit the geula.
Rav Avrohom Azulai wrote (Chessed leAvrohom, Maayan 5, Nahar 35): "The troubles shall increase as they never did before.... These are the 45 days in the future when Israel will go out of Jerusalem to be in the desert of the nations of the world, just as Lot was displaced during the upheaval of Sedom, when he was not able to save even a small piece of bread, and he was rushed out into the desert. Actually, the troubles of Israel will be in a very similar manner. Bnei Yisroel will be dispersed throughout the desert, and all the troubles that Israel ever experienced will not be like these troubles.... There, Israel shall count 45 days... they will eat only salty roots that they will find in the desert, and then they will all repent there. Those who cannot stand it will go to the nations of the world, and be destroyed with them. The rest will have their share of suffering, each according to the measure of his sin. The tzaddikim will be grateful for the salty roots in their stomachs, as if it were mon, and they will become stronger in their belief and trust in HaShem; the mediocre ones will do teshuva; the evil ones will turn away, or will repent and be remorseful."
...These are the words of the prophet (Daniel 12:1): "And at that time... it shall be a time of trouble like never before, from the time you became a nation until the present, and, in this time, Your nation shall escape...."
...The Chessed LeAvrohom describes the great and tumultuous events that will occur at the time of the redemption (Maayan 5, Nahar 35): "And, immediately, the dying ones in the desert will rise up, and the salvation will sprout. The Shechina will arise out of her dust... and, immediately, the redeemed ones will come to the rebuilt Jerusalem and the rebuilt Beis HaMikdash, and the Shechina will come with them and dwell in the Beis HaMikdash. The Holy One Blessed Be He will grab the corners of the world and shake out the evil ones from it, and, thereby, there will be no joy except in HaShem, as it is written, 'This is the day that HaShem took action, we shall celebrate and rejoice in it!' Amen, thus shall be HaShem's will."
(Source: Redemption Unfolding by Alexander Aryeh Mandelbaum, published by Feldheim)
One thing the reshaim have got right is what they've been telling us for weeks now: "The world is never going back to the way it was before."
2 Iyyar 5780 Day 17 of the Omer Shavua tov! NOTE: Accepting these ideas does not take anything away from the fact that HKB"H runs this world. These are the gilgulim of the Dor Haflagah just repeating their earlier mistakes and HKB"H will stop them the same way He did in the past. Get ready for it! [If you can't see the whole thing, at least look at 32:20 - 36:50...]
VERY STRONGLY RECOMMENDED: CORONA WORLD ORDER (Again, if you can't see the whole thing, at least look at 18:40 - 20:35)
As originally shared in a letter dated Sun, 16 Jan 2005:
For over a year I have been having a recurring dream.
It is always Erev Shabbat and I am always rushing too late to prepare for Shabbat. In the first dream, it is late morning and I realize I have no food to cook for Shabbat so I have to rush to get somewhere to buy food and then I am cut very, very short for time to prepare it. I barely make it. (This is not my experience in reality. I usually begin preparing two days ahead.)
In each dream, the circumstances are the same except that it gets later in the day each time. Each time, I note the time on the clock, 11 am, 1 pm, 3 pm, 5 pm. In the first few dreams, while I have to rush, at least the stores are still open and I am able to get things, but it gets harder and harder. Maybe I get home with food, but it's too late to cook. Or the store is closing as I arrive and I can't begin to explain the feeling of desperation I experience in the dream.
The last dream I had like this happened maybe a month ago (Dec 2004). In the dream, it seemed like any day of the week, there was no indication that it was getting close to Shabbat, I was talking to someone without any care or worry and suddenly I hear this alarm (like the Shabbat warning) and I asked what it could be and the person I was talking to said, "It's Shabbat." I was in shock and devastated because I had no idea whatever that it was coming to Shabbat and I was not prepared. I had nothing ready. It shocked me that this time, I did not even realize what day of the week it was beforehand.
I have never had a dream that recurred so many times in almost exactly the same way just with differing details.
From a letter dated Tue, 22 Mar 2005:
I dreamed again. Or rather more like a nightmare. Same dream and it was like it took up where the last one left off. In the dream, my kids and I were waking up like from a nap (though none of us sleeps in the daytime) and discovered that it was ten minutes after five pm on Friday and nothing was yet prepared for Shabbat. I tried to make spaghetti in the forty minutes til sundown so we would have something, but it became a huge mess and it just couldn't be done. When the time was up, not only was there no Shabbat for us, but I felt that in trying to get ready so late, I might have actually broken Shabbat and was worse off than ever.
The dream was so distressing that I felt like I was fighting to regain consciousness just to bring it to an end and when I woke up I felt so hopeless like the message of the dream is that we're not ready and it's now too late. So if it's already too late, why have the dream, if it is supposed to be a warning or something? Then I realized that it's not Shabbat yet, we still have three days to get ready. It's not too late.
The last dream I thought was telling me that it was going to be sooner than I thought it was and don't get caught unprepared. And here it is again....
From a letter dated Thu, 23 Feb 2006:
I was just re-reading the last email I sent about this recurring dream I had been having and chills literally went up my spine. I had forgotten that the time on the clock in that dream was 5:10 and now, nearly a year later, a year during which I had no such dreams, I had it again last night and the time on the clock was again 5:10 with an expectation of Shabbat entering about 6 pm.
I'm waking up on a Friday, thinking I have overslept late into the morning and I discover that it is already 5:10 pm with less than an hour before candlelighting. In this dream, I'm telling everyone that the recurring dream I've been having about not being ready for Shabbat has now come true. (In the dream, I don't think I'm dreaming, but I remember the other dreams.)
There is no food to cook and nothing has been prepared. I'm overwrought that it is so late and nothing prepared and all the stores surely closed and no time to cook even if I could buy something....
My clear sense upon awakening from the dreams has always been that Shabbat represents the impending Geula coming closer and closer and closer. Even though I am aware of it, when it comes, it will still be totally unexpected and at this present time, I am still not ready for it.
It was just about this same time last year that the dreams stopped and now here it is again and picking up exactly where it left off...at 5:10 pm late on "Erev Shabbat" with less than an hour to go before "Shabbat" comes in.
The clock stopped a year ago and the tragic events of last summer [Expulsion of Jews from Gush Katif] proceeded. Now, coming again into the season full of the promise of Redemption (Adar/Nissan), it has started up again and still I am not ready....
Fourteen years on, can I yet say that I am ready for this? No. Are you?
"And they shall come into the caves of the rocks and into the hollows of the earth, because of the fear of the Lord and because of the splendor of His pride, when He rises to break the earth." (Isaiah 2:19) "For the stars of the heavens and its constellations shall not allow their light to illuminate, the sun has become dark in its going forth, and the moon shall not shine its light." (Isaiah 13:10) "The earth has broken; the earth has crumbled; the earth totters." (Isaiah 24:19) "And it shall come to pass on that day, says the Lord God, that I will cause the sun to set at midday, and I will darken the land on a sunny day." (Amos 8:9) "And it shall come to pass on that day that there shall be no light, only disappearing light and thick darkness." (Zechariah 14:6)
~~~
"...caves of the rocks and ... hollows of the earth...."
27 Nisan 5780 Day 12 of the Omer So, at the very last moment Netanyahu and Gantz have formed a "national unity emergency government" - whatever that means. The important take-away is that Netanyahu's tuchus is still firmly ensconced in the PM's chair and now he will be able to complete the task for which he was put into power to carry out. Now, just as the commoners are all forced to put on masks, Master Bibi's mask can come off.
Netanyahu can now swing Right or Left on Trump peace deal, annexation The deal between the two men on Monday night didn’t just end the 17 months of electoral turmoil, during which Israel endured a historic, never-before-seen cycle of three back-to-back elections. It has also possibly saved the Trump administration’s peace deal, by rescuing Netanyahu from what was shaping up to be a suicidal choice between the Israeli Right or the US President. With regard to the former, Netanyahu could have lost his political base and possibly his government. With the latter, he could have lost the support of his chief diplomatic ally, US President Donald Trump. It’s a gordian knot of a dilemma that has crystalized in the last three months. The Israeli Right has applauded the portion of the Trump plan that allows for the application of sovereignty over 30% of Area C in the West Bank. It has, however, simultaneously insisted that Netanyahu reject the part of the plan that supports the creation of a demilitarized Palestinian state on 70% of the West Bank. The Trump administration has linked authorization of sovereignty with Israeli support for a demilitarized Palestinian state. Netanyahu had already agreed to the creation of such a state in his 2009 Bar-Ilan speech, but that was eleven years ago. Former Justice Minister MK Ayelet Shaked (Yamina) in the last weeks has minced no words in issuing such a threat, stating that a Right-wing government that supported a Palestinian state had no right to exist. The conflict between sovereignty and statehood, Trump and the Israeli Right, was evident almost immediately on Monday night. US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman issued a congratulatory statement to both Netanyahu and Gantz. With Trump's peace plan hanging in the balance, it's presumed that this was the outcome Trump most desired.
No worries. This is exactly what we expected. It means the geulah process is right on track. ___________________________ RELATED: US envoy Friedman hails new government...
“Delighted to see that Israel’s two leading political parties, led by PM Netanyahu and MK Gantz, have agreed to form a unity government,” Friedman tweeted. “The United States looks forward to working closely with the new gov’t to advance our shared values and interests bilaterally and across the world.”
26 Nisan 5780 Day 11 of the Omer I do not have a pharmacy in my town. I'm allowed to travel to the nearest town to go to the pharmacy for needed supplies. There is no bus to the nearest town, so that leaves the largest city in the country. Only half the usual buses are running from my town. I can go at 8 am or 2:15 pm with a bus back at 1:10 pm or 5:30 pm. I am dropped at the edge of the city at the lite rail. The bus cannot continue its full route because the entire rest of its route passes through religious neighborhoods - all of which are locked down with no one in and no one out. The closest pharmacy accessible by the lite rail was in the center of the business district. After locating one of the few seats not marked with a sign that forbid anyone to sit on it, with no prior warning, the driver suddenly announced that no stops would be made through the entire business district. We rode as unwilling prisoners of the train driver from the Damascus Gate of the Old City until the Central Bus Station. And no bus could be had traversing the same business district where the pharmacies were conveniently located because it required those buses to pass through religious neighborhoods, which, again, it was forbidden to enter. Maybe the petty politicians think the commoners like me will blame the religious people for causing all my troubles today. I don't. Not at all. It makes me long for the days of public executions of failed leaders and wannabe tyrants. People in cars can manage pretty well, but if you are poor or elderly and confined to public transportation, you might as well not be taking up space in their world. One thing stands out when you travel around the City of Jerusalem, the only places where it is "business as usual" are the various construction projects intended for the Global Elite.
PS: I did finally make it to a store and there, they took down my name and phone number to be turned over to G-d knows who or why.
25 Nisan 5780 Day 10 of the Omer Shavua tov! Mixed among the outright propaganda regarding the coronavirus is now information being leaked every day pushing the blame for the pandemic on China. And like all the other propaganda, the mass public is swallowing it and regurgitating it across social media.
I suspect that the United States was responsible for the outbreak in China and after having weakened China, is now planning to finish it off with a war. A world war has been in the making for a long time. Only HKB"H has been holding it back for the sake of teshuvah, but now that grace period is about to end.
Restrictions are to be relaxed, but not eliminated, creating a window of opportunity to prepare for another extended period of 'lockdown'. Don't waste any time taking advantage of it. Now that Pesach has passed, you can stock up on chametz - whatever is non-perishable and will get you through a few months. With flour, oil and salt, you can have bread every day. Canned and dried fruit, nuts, rice, dried potato flakes, beans, oatmeal, barley... Get used to the idea that meat will not be available and possibly eggs, too. Get honey which can also double as an antibiotic if G-d forbid, anyone gets injured. Restock your first-aid supplies. You don't want to call a doctor if you can avoid it. Stock vitamins to keep up your immune system. Keep in mind that Torah, tefillah and mitzvot are always your first line of defense. Exercise your emuna and bitachon as well as your body and your mind.
23 Nisan 5780 Erev Shabbat Kodesh Parashat Shemini- Mevorchim Day 8 of the Omer Sometimes, since we can't see G-d and we often fail to meditate on His greatness and His awesomeness as revealed through His creations (volcanoes, earthquakes, floods, comets and meteors), we need reminding that He is not One to be trifled with or to be underestimated, not even to mention rebelled against! Like Nadav and Avihu in this week's Torah portion and like Uzzah in the haftarah, even when a person has good intentions, it won't save him if he has overstepped the bounds set by the Creator of all. By way of a very simplistic example, I am reminded of the time my baby sister stuck a pair of tweezers into an electrical plug and it zapped her before tripping the breaker. She got away with a scare and a burned finger, but the experience left her with a very healthy regard for electricity after that. However, when the proper respect is given to such power and it is utilized as intended by way of proper electrical wires and plugs, it greatly improves our standard of life. HKB"H's power is not something we can harness and use, but He uses it to sustain the world and everyone in it. We should always be conscious of that fact on a daily basis and bring ourselves to have a very great awe of it and respect for it. It should be for life and not for death. It is the will of our Creator that we live and not die.
22 Nisan 5780 Day 7 of the Omer We have to continue to thank, bless, praise, glorify, exalt, extol, sanctify and proclaim the sovereignty of our King's Name for sparing us, in Eretz Yisrael, His beloved Land, from the worst of the coronavirus pandemic. It is at least ten times worse everywhere else outside our Holy Land. MAKE NO MISTAKES!! It is NOT thanks to the bumbling, incompetent, power-mad non-government sitting in Jerusalem!! We believers in HKB"H know that He alone makes the decision of who will live and who will die. Young people have succumbed and very old people (over 100) have survived this scourge. For a critical period of time, HKB"H allowed us an insight and a lesson no other generation merited to have. We, who have known a world mostly free to all, could not really conceive of what it feels like to be a slave and be confined in our movements and our decisions to those only permitted to us by our masters. We, who with G-d's help are destined to experience the complete freedom of the Final Redemption will have a much greater appreciation for it, having passed through this event unique in the history of mankind. Be assured that everything that we are experiencing now and in the days to come is flowing from the purest, deepest love as what is meant for the nations as a punishment, is intended to clean us up, dress us up, and prepare us for the greatest celebration of all time. If you think the crossing of the Reed Sea was something great, as they say, "you ain't seen nuthin' yet."
We find a remarkable Midrash in Pesikta Rabbati (34):
“Their seed shall be known among the nations; their offspring among the peoples: (Isaiah 61:9): Who did Isaiah say this about? About the mourners of Zion [those who look forward to returning to Eretz Yisrael and salvation]. G-d in the future will give them their victory over their enemies, as it says, “Their seed shall be known among the nations.” Read not “their seed: [zar’am] but their might [zero’am]. Who protects them with strength? G-d protects them with His strength, as it says, “O L-rd, be gracious to us. We have waited for You. Be You their strength every morning, our salvation also in time of trouble: (Ibid., 33:2). “Every morning”: Referring to those who rise early each morning to seek mercy. "Our salvation also in time of trouble": These are mourners who longed for salvation morning, noon and evening, despite great sorrow for Israel through their being mocked and ridiculed. Once they see the decrees of a later year, through which the Messiah is revealed, and these come one after another without pause, they immediately understand and say, “In all our lifetime there never was anything like this. Perhaps the Messiah is arriving.”
These are the decrees through which they understand: in Nissan on the eve of the seventh year, a western wind blows and snow falls and smites the seed. After that, troubles begin in every single month and are doubled. Then they understand and say, “Surely this is the Messianic king.” Even so, they are not at rest until they suffer punishments in the seventh year which blacken their countenances like the bottom of a pot. How are they punished? With hunger, for the heart of Israel is not broken except through hunger.
After that, the righteous of the generation rise up and remove their tefillin and place them on the earth. They beseech G-d , “Master of the Universe! We have not done well all the years. We have strayed like sheep.” G-d says to them, “You are forgiven,” and He kisses them and sets a crown on their heads. Whoever has Torah merit is protected by it, and whoever lacks such merit regrets his lack. This teaches that whoever believes from the first year has his merit doubled andquadrupled.
“All who see them shall acknowledge them” (Isaiah 61:9): These are the mourners of Zion. God brought upon His world angels of destruction who continuously destroy all the days of the redemption, and the mourners of Zion pass them to and fro unharmed, like a person in his friend’s house. Whoever sees them says, “In vain did we laugh. In vain did we mock their words.”
R. Bar Chanina said [that they say], “The merit of these gathers them together, and we were skeptical!” Of that moment Isaiah said, “The nations shall see your righteousness” (Ibid., 62:2): These are the nations of the world who see the righteousness of the mourners of Zion.” How great, then, are those who looked forward to redemption all the time, who from the start believed in the coming of the Messiah and looked forward to his kingdom, and who performed acts of faith and trust in G-d in order to bring redemption near. [Source: Or HaRa'ayon: The Jewish Idea, Vol. II, pp. 947-948 by Rav Meir Kahane, ztz"l, Hy"d]
16 Nisan 5780 Erev Shabbat-Chol-Ha'Moed-Pesach Kadosh Day 1 of the Omer Moadim l'simchah!
Then He said to me, "Son of man, these bones are all the house of Israel. Behold they say, 'Our bones have become dried up, our hope is lost, we are clean cut off to ourselves.' Therefore, prophesy and say to them, So says the Lord God: Lo! I open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves as My people, and bring you home to the land of Israel.
Then you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and lead you up out of your graves as My people. And I will put My spirit into you, and you shall live, and I will set you on your land, and you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken it and have performed it," says the Lord.
What we are seeing today is part of a very long game. Is this a fulfillment of Zechariah 14:1-2? Is the lockdown a cover while an insidious plan is set in motion?
This is a map of Jerusalem printed in Tuesday's Jewish Press that shows Jerusalem divided into districts ostensibly to aid in the control of COVID-19. The thing is, this map is dated April 2009 (upper right corner) - the last time there was a "global pandemic." So, what is it really?
CLICK TO ENLARGE
If you have any ideas or any further information, please share in the comments.
14 Nisan 5780 We usually have Four Questions at Pesach, this year another has popped up... My opinion: Do not ask, "Why is Hashem doing this to us?" Rather ask, "Why is Hashem allowing our enemies to do this to us?" My opinion: This might be the response...
...all the nations of the world will shout from terror, fall upon their faces in fear and undergo such horrible pains as strong as labor pains. And the Jewish people will shout from fear and say, "To where do we turn?! To where do we run?!" And HKB"H will say unto them, "My children, do not be afraid; all that I have done here, I have done only for you. What do you fear? The time for your Redemption has arrived!"
13 Nisan 5780 If you have not already heard it or even if you have, please don't miss Rabbi Yehudah Richter's latest shiur on Burning Chametz, the War on Corona, and the Messiah. (It is also posted on the right column under a different title.) With prayers for the final downfall of "Egypt" and our going forth from "slavery to freedom" once again to serve Hashem as He has commanded us...
Rabbi Yehuda said: (Moshiach) Ben David will not come until the wicked Roman kingdom will spread throughout the World for nine months.
...It is written in the Zohar, that Chevlei Moshiach will be divided into two separate periods: a period of seventy years... and a period of nine months...In the last nine months of the golus, the troubles shall greatly increase, and, at the end of this period, there will be a great fear, and then the Moshiach will be revealed.
It is my opinion that this nine-month period may have started this Rosh Chodesh Shevat, but before I explain why I think so, allow me to back up to Israeli Independence Day 2019. The 5th of Iyyar fell on May 10th. That ended 70 complete years since the founding of the modern State of Israel. Clearly that was the end of Erev Rav rule as there hasn't been an actual sitting government since! Five days later on the secular anniversary date - May 15th - a fancy ceremony took place in Jerusalem to celebrate the opening of an embassy for the United States of America in Israel's capitol. It seems this should have been the beginning of the nine months of foreign rule, but Israel's successive failures to elect a government prevented it, giving us an extension of time in the interim. But, finally, on January 27, 2020 - Rosh Chodesh Shevat - unable to restrain himself any longer, US President Donald Trump revealed the political part of his Peace Plan to the Israeli leadership and with their approval, it was made public the following day. Among many other details, what matters most is what it has to say about the Temple Mount and Jerusalem because we know from the Prophets that the nations want to rule from there and that this is the ultimate "red line."
And it shall come to pass on that day that I will make Jerusalem a stone of burden for all peoples; all who bear it shall be gashed, and all the nations of the earth shall gather about it. (Zechariah 12:3)
The United States recognizes the heightened sensitivity surrounding Jerusalem, a city that means so much to so many.
Jerusalem is a city unique in the history of civilization. No other place on earth can claim significance to three major religions. Each day, Jews pray at the Western Wall, Muslims bow in prayer at the al-Aqsa Mosque and Christians worship at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Throughout history, Jerusalem has been subject to war and conquest. It has been used to divide people and to instigate conflict by those with evil intentions. But it does not have to be this way.
Jerusalem must remain a city that brings people of all faiths together to visit, to worship, to respect each other and to appreciate the majesty of history and the glory of God’s creation. JERUSALEM’S HOLY SITES
After the Six Day War in 1967, when the State of Israel took control over all of Jerusalem, the State of Israel assumed responsibility for protecting all of the city’s holy sites. Those holy sites include, without limitation, the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif, the Western Wall, the Muslim Holy Shrines, Church of St. Anne, Via Dolorosa (Stations of the Cross), Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Church of Viri Galilaei, Church of St. Stephen, Dormition Abbey, Tomb of the Virgin Mary, Room of the Last Supper, Augusta Victoria Church of Ascension, Garden of Gethsemane, Church of Mary Magdalene, Dominus Flevit Church, Pater Noster Church, Church of St. Peter in Gallicantu, Church of the Ascension, The Russian Church, Secours Catholique ‘House of Abraham,’ Mount Scopus, Hurva Synagogue, Tomb of Absalom, Tomb of Zechariah, Second Temple Pilgrimage Road, Tomb of the Prophets Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi, Gihon Spring, City of David, Mount of Olives, Sambuski Jewish Cemetery, and the Pool of Siloam. Unlike many previous powers that had ruled Jerusalem, and had destroyed the holy sites of other faiths, the State of Israel is to be commended for safeguarding the religious sites of all and maintaining a religious status quo. Given this commendable record for more than half a century, as well as the extreme sensitivity regarding some of Jerusalem’s holy sites, we believe that this practice should remain, and that all of Jerusalem’s holy sites should be subject to the same governance regimes that exist today. In particular the status quo at the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif should continue uninterrupted. Jerusalem’s holy sites should remain open and available for peaceful worshippers and tourists of all faiths. People of every faith should be permitted to pray on the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif, in a manner that is fully respectful to their religion, taking into account the times of each religion’s prayers and holidays, as well as other religious factors.
Four days earlier, on January 23, 2020, Wuhan, China was "locked down" due to a viral pandemic. From then until now, the virus, as well as the resulting "lockdown" effect, has spread worldwide, each nation instituting the exact same measures along the exact same time frame, obviously in accordance with a pre-determined global plan. In Israel, it has reached a point where chareidi religious Jewish neighborhoods and cities, as well as some Arab villages, have complete restriction of movement in and out. We have been informed that all of Israel will be under curfew on Leil HaSeder. I will be looking for some big move on Jerusalem during the coming days as the three world religions with connections to Jerusalem will be celebrating their biggest holidays of the year - Passover, Easter and Ramadan. And it looks to be something that will be especially upsetting to chareidi Jews and Arabs. If I'm right that we are now in the nine months of foreign rule, The Powers That Be will want to make some public show of their new sovereign status in Holy Yerushalayim, God forbid and save us from the Evil Ones!!
9 Nisan 5780 Erev Shabbat Kodesh Parashat Tzav - Shabbat HaGadol As it did at the time of Yetziat Mitzrayim, the tenth day of Nisan this year falls out on Shabbat. One of the reasons given by Chazal for why the Shabbat just prior to Pesach is called Shabbat Hagadol is that this is the day the Hebrews brought the Passover lambs into their homes and the Egyptians did not take retribution against them.
Shemot 8:22~ Pharaoh summoned Moshe and Aharon and said, "Go - bring offerings to your God in the land." Moshe said, "It is not proper to do so, for we will offer the deity of Egypt to Hashem, our God - behold, if we were to slaughter the deity of Egypt in their sight, will they not stone us?"
As we all know, Pharaoh did not let the people go and the lambs were taken into the Hebrews' dwellings for four days until the time came to slaughter them and roast them whole over an open fire for all the world to see and know that Hashem is God over all.
Can you imagine the sound of the bleating up and down all the streets? This was quite an in-your-face insult to Egypt, but they bore it without repercussion and Chazal considered it a miracle. Hence - Shabbat Hagadol.
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Remember this: Faith only becomes real when it is put to the test. SHABBAT HAGADOL SHALOM!
For those with enough time to read, here is a very interesting and more detailed account by Daniel Pinner...
Shabbat ha-Gadol, “the Great Shabbat”, the Shabbat immediately before Pesach, commemorates our final Shabbat in Egypt, 3,324 years ago, just five days before the Exodus. G-d had commanded the erstwhile slaves: “On the tenth of this month they will take to themselves – each man – a lamb for each father’s house…it will be for you to guard it until the fourteenth day of this month; then they will slaughter it – the entire assembly of the Congregation of Israel – at the onset of twilight.” (Exodus 12:3-6). The Midrash expounds: “The Jews would tie [the lamb] to their bed-posts from the tenth of the month on; when the Egyptians would enter [the Jews’ houses], they would see the lambs thus, and their souls would explode in rage” (Pesikta de-Rav Kahana, Parashat ha-Chodesh s.v. dabru; Yalkut Shimoni, Bo 191). The lamb was the Egyptian god, and for the Egyptians’ former slaves to show such contempt for their god and their religion drove them insane with impotent fury. Obviously, the corollary was that for the Jews to openly treat their former masters’ god with such contempt took tremendous courage and faith in G-d. Keeping this god tied to a bed-post for four days was a continuous challenge to Egypt; it demanded far more dedication than a single impetuous act of bravery in a moment of excitement. The Midrash continues: “‘Moshe called to all the elders of Israel, saying to them: Draw forth the flock and take it to yourselves’ (Exodus12:21) – every single one must drag around a god of Egypt, and slaughter it in front of them”. They had to extend this brazenness into the public squares and streets of Egypt, by slaughtering and roasting the Egyptian god in front of the Egyptians. G-d commanded them to “eat it roasted over fire…do not eat of it raw [partially roasted], or cooked in water – only fire-roasted, its head with its legs with its innards” (Exodus 12:8-9). Why this specific way of preparing the meat? – “Because it was an abomination for the Egyptians, slaughter it. And so that no [Jew] would say, We won’t roast it thoroughly lest it infuriate the Egyptians, it says ‘do not eat of it raw [partially roasted]’. And so that no Jew would say, We will cook it and thus conceal it in a pot, it says ‘do not eat of it …cooked in water’. And so that no Jew would say, We will cut off its head and its legs so they won’t recognise it, it says ‘its head with its legs with its innards’” (Da’at Z’keinim mi-Ba’alei Tosafot, Exodus 12:9). The Pesach sacrifice was a massive act of defiance against the idolatrous Egyptian oppressors. The Midrash (Pesikta de-Rav Kahana ibid. and Yalkut Shimoni ibid.) further continues: “Their taking of the lamb stood by them at the River Jordan, and their eating of it stood by them in the days of Haman: they had eaten the flesh on this night– the night when ‘the king’s sleep eluded him’ (Esther 6:1)”. The day they took the lamb, the 10th of Nisan, was the day that they would cross the River Jordan into Israel forty years later (Joshua 4:19). And the day that they ate it was the day that Achashverosh’s sleep would elude him 957 years later, in the days of Mordechai and Esther: Haman had promulgated his decree of genocide on the 13th of Nisan (Esther 3:12), so the three days of fasting that Esther decreed (4:16) were the 13th, 14th, and 15th of Nisan. Hence the day that Esther risked her life by donning royal apparel and going to King Achashverosh (Esther 5:1) was the first day of Pesach, so the previous night, when ‘the king’s sleep eluded him’, was the night of the 14th of Nisan (see Esther Rabbah 8:7; Yalkut Shimoni, Esther 1056; Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer, Chapter 50; Seder Olam Rabbah, Chapter 29; Targum, Esther 5:1 et. al.). The Talmud (Shabbat 87b) and the Midrash (Mekhilta de-Rabbi Yishma’el, Beshallach, Masechet de-Vayasa 1) record that the day of the Exodus, 15th Nisan 2448 (1312 B.C.E.), was a Thursday. “So they slaughtered their Pesach sacrifices on the Wednesday, and it was on the previous Shabbat that they had taken their Pesach lambs, because that was the tenth of the month. And it is therefore called Shabbat ha-Gadol – the Great Shabbat, because a great miracle was wrought thereon” (Tosafot, Shabbat 87b s.v. ve-oto yom). The Shulchan Aruch cites this as practical halachah: “The Shabbat which is before Pesach is called Shabbat ha-Gadol because of the miracle that happened thereon” (Orach Chayim 430:1). The Mishnah Berurah (ad. loc.) explains: “In the year that they left Egypt, the 10th of Nisan fell on a Shabbat. Every single Jew had taken the lamb for his Pesach sacrifice and tied it to his bed-post… The Egyptians saw this, and asked them ‘Why are you doing this?’ They responded, ‘In order to slaughter it for the purpose of Pesach, as Hashem has commanded us’. Their teeth were set on edge because they slaughtered their god, yet they were unable even to say anything to them. And because the tenth of the month then was a Shabbat, the Shabbat before Pesach was ever after to be called Shabbat ha- Gadol”. The Haftarah reading for Shabbat ha-Gadol is the very last prophetic vision ever – the concluding 21 verses of the prophecy of Malachi, the last prophet, who prophesied during the early Second Temple era. After castigating Israel for their lack of gratitude to G-d and their defiling of the Holy Temple with their sub-standard sacrifices, Malachi portrays the Messianic era. The Haftarah begins by contrasting the future glorious time with our past misdeeds: “Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to Hashem, as in days of old and as in former years” (Malachi 3:4). In his final message – the message which seals prophecy for all time – until the coming of the Messiah - he exhorts Israel: “Remember the Torah of Moshe My servant, which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel, decrees and statutes. Behold! I send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome Day of Hashem comes”. An obvious question arises: why did our Sages select just this prophecy as the Haftarah for Shabbat ha-Gadol? If they wanted to link the redemption from Egypt with the final Messianic Redemption, then why not select one of the more impressive prophetic passages from Isaiah? Or why not one of Jeremiah’s magnificent descriptions of the final Redemption, which he depicts as being even more majestic than the redemption from Egypt (for example, 16:14 onwards, or 31:30 onwards)? I suggest the following answer: The Targum (Malachi 1:1) identifies Malachi as Ezra, which is also the opinion of two Talmudic sages, Rabbi Yehoshua ben Korha and Rabbi Nahman (Megillah 15a; Yalkut Shimoni, Malachi 586). Later sages, however, disagree: the Radak and the Ibn Ezra (commentary to Malachi 1:1) are of the opinion that Malachi was a separate prophet. The Rambam (Introduction to the Mishneh Torah), Rashi (commentary to Sukkah 44a and Bava Batra 15a), and Rabbi Ovadiah of Bartinura (commentary to Pirkei Avot 1:1) all state that Malachi was part of Ezra’s Beit Din (the Men of the Great Assembly). On the 15th of Nisan they were redeemed from Egypt; and on the 15th of Nisan they will in the future be redeemed from subjugation to exile” (Tanhuma, Bo 9). What is undisputed is that the prophet Malachi lived through the second redemption – the return of the exiles from the Babylonian/Persian exile and the rebuilding of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. Malachi was born during a period of exile, of destruction, when the majority of Jews were in foreign lands and the Land of Israel was under foreign occupation, with the Temple Mount in Jerusalem lying desolate. Malachi witnessed King Cyrus’ proclamation, granting the Jews the right to return to Israel and rebuild the Holy Temple in Jerusalem (Ezra1:1-3, 2 Chronicles 36:22-23); he was part of the second redemption, the end of the Babylonian/Persian exile. It was no coincidence that during the second redemption, the first festival that the Jews celebrated was Pesach (Ezra 6:15-22); neither was it coincidence that Ezra began his Aliyah journey on the 1st of Nisan (7:9), and led his followers from the River Ahava – the last leg of the journey to Israel – on the 12th of Nisan (8:31). Malachi’s prophecy, then, is the synthesis between the first, second, and third redemptions, and is therefore the perfect reading for Shabbat ha-Gadol. Malachi had a unique perspective on Redemption, because he had experienced redemption in his own life. “On the 15th of Nisan…[G-d] spoke to Abraham our father in the Covenant between the Parts; on the 15th of Nisan the ministering angels came to announce to him that his son Isaac would be born to him; on the 15th of Nisan Isaac was born; on the 15th of Nisan they were redeemed from Egypt; and on the 15th of Nisan they will in the future be redeemed from subjugation to exile” (Tanhuma, Bo 9). As we begin to celebrate the first redemption, it is especially relevant that the prophecy of the prophet who, during the second redemption, foretold the final and eternal Redemption, resounds in every synagogue.
