21 October 2024

The Most Important Thing

19 Tishrei 5785
4th Day Chol HaMo'ed Sukkot

Chazal say that Eisav will come to Ya'aqov at the End of Days and offer to join forces.  They should each make compromises in order to move closer together and become like one - "no daylight" between them.  (This is the description we often hear from the US administration with regard to the relationship between the US and Israel.)

This is the "brotherly kiss" of Eisav that disguises the deadly poisonous bite to come.  The most important thing is not to be fooled and to maintain our distance.

We've seen with our own eyes, no one needs to tell us, how undependable and self-serving they are as an "ally."  The most important thing to remember that we have no one upon whom to depend except our Father in Heaven.

No less than the Chafetz Chaim warned us about any attachment to Eisav...

The Rosh Yeshivah, Rav Aharon Kotler zt"l, would say in the name of the Chofetz Chaim zt"l that in the final war, only a true ben Torah, one who is totally disconnected from the umos ha'olam, will be saved.  Rav Nosson Wachtfogel zt"l repeated this and added that he has a tradition handed down to him from Rav Yehoshua Lieb Diskin zt"l that in the last battle before the arrival of Mashiach, all "ehrliche Yidden" will be saved.  Who is defined as an ehrliche Yid?  One who separates himself from the goyim, who has no connection to their culture, their interests, their newspapers, music and books.  Hashem says about him, "This one is Mine," and the non-Jews will have no jurisdiction over him.  (The End Illuminated by Rabbi Yisroel Moshe Sorotzkin, Chapter 20)

In the footnotes, the author clarifies:  "...the term ben Torah used in this context has nothing to do with how much a person learns; rather, it refers specifically to the concept that is being discussed here - the degree to which one is connected to 'Torah values'."

The most important thing to learn from this is not to be attached to them in our hearts, to see ourselves as separate and apart, and to acknowledge that as Diaspora Jews, we are foreigners in a strange land not our own.  Our focus and goal should always be on attaining to service of Hashem in a rebuilt Beit HaMikdash, in the Holy City of Yerushalayim, in the Holy Land of Israel.  

And that's why we want Mashiach so desperately, because only he will be equipped by HKB"H to lead us there.  That's the most important thing!

Mo'adim l'Simchah!  ~

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