Yom K'Purim: A Day Like Purim

11 Adar Bet 5784

Fast of Esther observed 

We have a wonderful opportunity ahead of us.  A time devoted to fasting and teshuvah, followed by a period filled with mitzvot!  Just the preparation we need to see us through these dangerous times.

It's not unlike the period just prior to the Simchat Torah Massacre, is it?  Yom Kippur followed by the many mitzvot of Sukkot.

My opinion:  What happened then was a warning, now the judgment comes.  Make the most of this opportunity.

Our sources say that at the End of Days, all our ancient enemies will return to finish the job they started.  It makes a lot of sense that this war with Amalek should go into high gear towards our annihilation on the 14th of Adar.  In my 2005 dream, I saw missile barrages from an Iranian source hitting from Tel Aviv to Haifa.  It symbolized the downfall of the Zionist State.  

I think the Amalek forces will do their worst for two weeks, until Rosh Chodesh Nissan.  On that same day the "The Great North American Eclipse" will signal the downfall of America, paving the way for the revelation of Mashiach, who will quickly take control from the Erev Rav.  Rabbi Eliyahu Abitbul, shlita, quoting Rabbi Zadok HaCohen of Lublin, says Mashiach will come on Rosh Chodesh Nissan and the war that began at the end of Sukkot 5784 will end on Erev Pesach 5784.

 

To get us all pointed in the right direction, let's review what HKB"H expects from us in regard to fasting.  And don't forget to turn in your half-sheqels at Minchah!!

Yeshayahu (Isaiah) - Chapter 58

 1   Call with a [full] throat, do not spare, like a shofar raise your voice, and relate to My people their transgression, and to the house of Jacob their sins.

 2   Yet they seek Me daily and they wish to know My ways, like a nation that performed righteousness and did not forsake the ordinance of its God: they ask Me ordinances of righteousness; they desire nearness to God.

 3  "Why have we fasted, and You did not see; we have afflicted our soul and You do not know?" Behold, on the day of your fast you pursue business, and [from] all your debtors you exact [payment].

 4  Behold, for quarrel and strife you fast, and to strike with a fist of wickedness. Do not fast like this day, to make your voice heard on high.

 5  Will such be the fast I will choose, a day of man's afflicting his soul? Is it to bend his head like a fishhook and spread out sackcloth and ashes? Will you call this a fast and an acceptable day to the Lord?

 6  Is this not the fast I will choose? To undo the fetters of wickedness, to untie the bands of perverseness, and to let out the oppressed free, and all perverseness you shall eliminate.

 7  Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and moaning poor you shall bring home; when you see a naked one, you shall clothe him, and from your flesh you shall not hide.

 8  Then your light shall break forth as the dawn, and your healing shall quickly sprout, and your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall gather you in.

 9  Then you shall call and the Lord shall answer, you shall cry and He shall say, "Here I am," if you remove perverseness from your midst, putting forth the finger and speaking wickedness.

10  And you draw out your soul to the hungry, and an afflicted soul you sate, then your light shall shine in the darkness, and your darkness shall be like noon.

11  And the Lord shall always lead you, and He shall satisfy your soul in drought, and strengthen your bones; and you shall be like a well-watered garden and like a spring of water whose water does not fail.

12  And [those coming] from you shall build ancient ruins, foundations of generations you shall erect, and you shall be called the repairer of the breaches, restorer of the paths, to dwell in.

13  If you restrain your foot because of the Sabbath, from performing your affairs on My holy day, and you call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord honored, and you honor it by not doing your wonted ways, by not pursuing your affairs and speaking words.

14  Then, you shall delight with the Lord, and I will cause you to ride on the high places of the land, and I will give you to eat the heritage of Jacob your father, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.  (See Rashi here.)

Astoundingly, Rashi brings here the following:  "...the heritage of Jacob your father: An inheritance without boundaries, as it is said (Gen. 28:14): “And you shall spread to the west and to the east, etc.”

Isaac is sending Jacob away to Padan-Aram with special blessings.  On the way, Jacob stops to rest, falls asleep (on Har HaMoriah) and dreams of a ladder up to Heaven.  HKB"H tells him:  "And your seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and you shall gain strength westward and eastward and northward and southward; and through you shall be blessed all the families of the earth and through your seed."

What if this is a prophecy for our own time?  Are we not counted by the entire world as "dust of the earth" to be trampled upon?

The very words "you shall spread to the west and to the east" are very reminiscent of an Isaiah prophecy which I have quoted before in terms of a "Third Messianic War" in which we take possession of the entire Land of Israel at The End of Days:

They (the Jews brought back at the end of the exile) will fly in unison against the Philistines (Palestinians) to the West (Gaza), and together they will plunder the people of the East ('Palestinian Territories'); their hand will extend over Edom and Moab, and their discipline over the Children of Ammon (Jordan). (Yeshayahu 11:14)

If you read on, even the "north" (Assyria) and "south" (Egypt) are mentioned.  And keep in mind, now, that this is seemingly connected to a fast.  Who knows but what THIS TA'ANIT ESTHER is the fast which leads to the fulfillment of this promise/prophecy?

If we do it right!!  Wishing us all the most successful fast we've ever passed.  Do your best!!