"DIVIDED JERUSALEM"

16 Nisan 5780
Day 1 of the Omer

~ MOADIM L'SIMCHAH ~

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.

Ask the Right Question This Pesach

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!"

Soon,  b'ezrat Hashem!!

~ CHAG PESACH KASHER v'SAMEACH! ~

Wishing Klal Yisrael the Most Meaningful Pesach Ever

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...

Are We Now in the Nine Months of Foreign Rule?

12 Nisan 5780

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)

From the Peace to Prosperity Document aka "The Deal of the Century"... 

(Click to enlarge)

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!!

"Please Join the Fight in Stopping Corona - April 8, 2020"

12 Nisan 5780

Cause and Solution for Corona - What Should Be Our Focus Right Now?

11 Nisan 5780

"Passover without Granny? Passover without the Temple!"

11 Nisan 5780
Shavua tov!

Getting Ready to Greet Mashiach - It's Not Easy and It's Not Simple

8 Nisan 5780

Yesterday, I wrote: "With full acknowledgement that Hashem is in control of everything in His world, there are things which are perpetrated by human beings, like the Holocaust for example, that HKB"H, for His own reasons, allows to happen."

To clarify that statement further, there is no question in my mind that HKB"H has sent the coronavirus.  The only question in my mind is whether He sent it directly, like the plagues of Egypt?  Or did He appoint human emissaries to carry it out?  As the prophet Zechariah (1:14-15) tells us.... 

Call out, saying, 'Thus said Hashem, Master of Legions:  I have become zealous for Jerusalem and for Zion, a great zeal; and I am wrathful, a great wrath against the complacent nations, who, when I became slightly wrathful, augmented the evil.  

[Commentary]  When I decreed that a nation be a "rod of punishment" for My people, they exceeded their mandate and magnified the ordained punishment many times over.

Quoting from the book Redemption Unfolding by Alexander Aryeh Mandelbaum (Feldheim Publishers):

In the Torah it states (Devorim 21:29):  "And this trouble has befallen you, in the End of Days, for you shall do evil in the eyes of HaShem to anger him."

In reference to the troubles of Chevlei Moshiach, the prophet Zecharya said (Zecharya 13:9):  "And I shall bring one third into fire, and I shall refine them as one refines silver, and I shall assay them as one assays gold." 

The Malbim comments:  'And I shall bring' - the third of Klal Yisroel that remains at the End of Days will suffer yissurim - fire - to refine and separate them from the dross; 'and I shall refine them' - to remove the dross; 'and I shall assay them' - after their purification, HaShem will assay them a second time, to see if they have been purified as they should have been.  This is the same way one processes gold, which is smelted and refined more than silver, until only pure gold remains.  We learn from here that HaShem will allow only those who are completely righteous (tzaddikim gemurim) to live and merit the Final Redemption.

...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.

Is what we are experiencing now the "great fear" or is this just the beginning of the nine months with the prophesied "great fear" yet to come at Chanukah 5781?  We may yet look back on this time and say it wasn't as bad as it could get.  But, I really pray this really is the end of the nine months with Pesach 5780!

From Rabbi Pinchas Winston's commentary on Parashat Vayakhel-Pekuday... 

...Redemption is not a door you just walk through. It is one you have be READY to walk through.

Therefore, God increased the slavery of the Jews before the exodus. The time for redemption had come, they had not been ready, and the increased slavery made up for the difference. Therefore, God sent Haman in Mordechai’s and Esther’s time. The time for redemption had come, the Jewish people had not been ready, so God sent Haman to speed things up.

The end is near. Exactly which one, nobody is really quite sure. Personally, based upon what I have seen and worked out, I think the final one. Yes, I know, that sounds too good (or bad) to be true. But that’s what I believe, especially since today’s “Haman” is a global one. It is affecting so many Jews and their ability to get to Eretz Yisroel.

If ever our choices have mattered, it has been over the last few decades. But if this is truly the end, and it should be a glorious one and one we can enjoy, then the choices we make today count the most. Four-fifths of the Jewish people died in the plague of darkness, because they made a very wrong last-minute decision. The Talmud expects a similar scenario at the end of days as well.

Look past the headlines. Look at the Torah’s version of history. Make the right choices. It is those that will separate you out to the side of good, or, God forbid, to the side of bad.