31 October 2020

"AND IF ISRAEL DO NOT REPENT..."

14 Marcheshvan 5781
  Shavua Tov

Rabbi Eliezer said, “If Israel repent they will be redeemed, and if not they will not be redeemed.”

Rabbi Yehoshua answered him, “If they don’t repent they will not be redeemed? Rather say that the Holy One Blessed is He will raise up for them a King whose decrees are worse than Haman’s, and Israel will repent and return to the right path.” (Talmud, Sanhedrin 97b)

Do any of us, can any of us, truly understand the spiritual depths to which we have sunk?  Have we reached this awful place of "a King whose decrees are worse than Haman’s"?  How can it be anything else?

While I hope and pray with all my heart that we really are in the nine months of 'Rome's' global rule and that their power will end in another two months with the cataclysm that will renew our world in righteousness, there is a midrash which indicates that this could go on for another year or two, so in the interest of full disclosure...

Or Hara'ayon, Vol. II, Chapter 32 - "The Gentiles' Punishment for their Persecution of the Jews", pp. 947-948...

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 was never 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 {5781}, 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 {5782} which blackens 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 and quadrupled. 

"All who see them shall acknowledge them" (Isaiah 61:9):  These are the mourners of Zion.  G-d 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.  Our sages said,  "If someone looks forward to redemption, G-d causes him to lie down in the Garden of Eden."  Obviously, simply looking forward is not a great enough attribute to make G-d place one in the Garden of Eden.  Rather, it refers to those who looked forward to redemption and performed acts of faith and trust in G-d in order to bring it, and did not fear either the nations or the ridicule of the sinners of Israel.

Listen well, my friend, to a great axiom of redemption.  Ostensibly, those who ridiculed the mourners of Zion, who mocked those who believed in redemption, were the nations.  Clearly this is so, yet also countless Jews do not believe, and they ridicule those who look forward to redemption and the Messiah.  Following is from the continuation of Pesikta Rabbati:

"He is righteous [tzaddik] and saved [nosha]" (Zechariah 9:9):  This is the Messiah, who justifies [matzdik] the punishment Israel received, for Israel ridiculed him while he was sitting in prison [the ridiculing of redemption transforms the Messiah, so to speak, into one imprisoned, for without repentance and acts of faith and trust in G-d, he is prevented from redeeming Israel until the advent of redemption "in its time."]   He is thus called "tzaddik."  Why is he called "saved" [nosha]?  Because he justifies their punishment and says to them:  "Surely you are all my children, but you will only be saved [tishavu] through G-d's mercy."

In other words, G-d will save them in order to sanctify His name, and this will be redemption "in its time" and not "in haste."  Israel will lack merit to be redeemed in that way.

Even so, it is clear that even large parts of Israel will mock the redemption, and for that reason, it will not come until the deadline arrives.... 

 ~ Rabbi Meir David Kahane, ztz"l, Hy"d

13 comments:

  1. This Ancient Israelite Autist believes that: 1. We ARE in the Nine Months. 2. At the END of the Nine Months (in December,2020) "it" does not happen in "the twinkling of an Eye". "It" happens slowly and steadily like the dawn turning into sunrise, and THAT will be during Years Six (5781) and Seven (5782) of Our Current Shmittah/Sabbatical Year Cycle. THEN, if all goes well, 5783 will witness the Messianic Israelite Yovel for the RIGHTEOUS of Israel AND The Nations. Meanwhile, we each must do our part each day to make the world a better place, each within our own sphere. As Winston Churchill said, "If we EACH brace OURSELVES to OUR Duties". Each "at his own Station". So let's get going !!!

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  2. Ohr Torah Stone launches interfaith education program

    https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/Flash.aspx/520836

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  3. Anonymous@2:11PM, this issue was also addressed over here.

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  4. Am Yisroel MUST repent!! We just must must must!!!
    Who can afford(and I don't only mean finanacially....) to have this drag on for another 2 years?!?! Who?
    We have to tip the scale and bring everything on NOW - as in NOW!

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    1. That's what we are constantly praying for, H. But, if it should be, you can depend on HKB"H's promise not to give us more than we can bear. If it should, God forbid, come to that He will give us the strength to endure, but we have to be connected to Him in order to receive it, to benefit from it.

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  5. H, for your sake I am including here the recent words of the autistic people although I can't vouch for them 100%. I really hope they are right.

    Back on February 23, 2020, Daniel said:

    Afterwards there will be hard times and among other things, a war will begin. Apparently, it will start in Israel and it will pull in various places until it will be serious and there will be an explosion that will shake and panic the whole world and big, well-known places will fall.

    After that, there will be a relaxation at Hanukkah 5781. The Hanukkah candles will give the Jews strength because until then there will be great struggles and they won’t believe at all in the government. The Chareidim will return more and more to HKB”H as is necessary. Hanukkah will be an island of quiet in all the chaos and after Hanukkah the “star” will arrive and it won’t be simple.

    And whoever did not do teshuvah until then will fear what is happening and immediately run to do teshuvah.

    ...We are really at the ‘door’ of the Redemption. It appears to me that the revelation of the real Mashiach will be in 5781. Next year, after the arrival of the “star.” After the “star” passes the world will be completely changed from what we know today. Most of the world will be under water but not Eretz Yisrael.

    The “star” will make a lot of destruction (tsunami waves hundreds of meters high in America and Europe – Edom. Thousands of giant meteors will fall to earth, dry land will sink, darkness will cover the world…

    The Jews will be protected, whoever goes in the way of God, he has nothing to fear. It will be very, very scary, especially when the plague of darkness arrives with the passage of the “star” between us and the sun and it will be dark.


    In a message dated October 7, 2020 Binyamin wrote:

    ...What does Hashem want to tell us? I'll tell you - This is it! It's the end of the exile! B'shana haba'a b'Yerushalayim with Rebbe Nachman. And aside from this, of course, of course with Mashiach, 5781 yes. However, it won't be the final end, but we will know who Mashiach is, that will be clear and Am Yisrael will be strengthened and then will be Gog uMagog.

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    1. Devash, could you please give some more information as to who this Daniel is and to whom he said those things? Would really appreciate it. Thank you so much.

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  6. Teshuvah is always the order of the day and it must be taken very seriously.
    We are coming down to the ketz quite rapidly. The entire world is feeling this. A virus that brings death; financial loss and struggle; fear; confusion and the list goes on.....
    The entire world is effected. Second wave? More? Less? No one except Hashem truly knows.
    One thing is for sure: no one is going back to anything. Not only are we going forward, we are going forward quickly.
    No one should think that teshuvah can wait....

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  7. Replies
    1. Thank you so much.. Shabbat Shalom.

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  8. Anonymous, we are not going to publicize such an allegation without proof. Please point me to what you are referring to on the Dani site. Email: tdnjslm@gmail.com

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  9. Anonymous, I have been reading that site for over a decade and I have just now finished going over it extensively. I have never before, nor have I now seen anything like you claim, so again, I invite you to submit some kind of proof to the email above or stop playing games.

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