Here's an article from the Previous Lubavitcher
Rebbe's magazine, Feb. 1943 (הקריאה והקדושה),
roughly translated from Yiddish. I post it on this
blog to serve as a preamble to a subsequent post
wherein I'll maintain, to my utter dismay,
that the gangster regime now in power, the ruler
of Edom, will again triumph in the next
presidential election. I will refer back to
this article to remind readers what this Jewish
leader of his generation forewarned his flock. I
have this premonition of imminent disaster I feel
compelled to share with you, later. [The
highlighting is mine.]
Our sages, who foresaw that this last diaspora,
called "Edom", would endure nearly two millennia,
also foresaw that, as it winds down to its
terminating stage, Torah will have become
enfeebled among a majority of Jews, and this would
therefore bring back the age-old national Jewish
scourge - the FALSE PROPHETS.
These false prophets would then lead Torah-empty
Jews through all 49 degrees of impurity,
unfortunately.
The end-stage period would then necessarily have
to be a horribly bitter one. It would spell
outright danger wherein multitudes of Jews will
undergo waves of spiritual suicide, even
conversion, G-d forbid.
Accordingly, the sages decided to foretell the
signs that will usher in and constitute the
Messianic era's birth pangs - in order to save at
least a remnant of those being swept away; And
also so that some Jews, here and there, will be
able to console their distressed brethren by
disclosing to them these very signs, just as this
periodical has been doing for a year and a half
now. We've been telling you we are in
the eve of the Messianic era; That we've been
foretold the tragedies that will unfold; And
that we can attenuate these problems, or
entirely prevent them from occurring
- by tearing you away from the modern false
prophets, so you return to the warm fold of Torah,
back to the ways our forefathers practised.
Our sages knew saving the entire Jewish nation
would be very difficult because the false prophets
will not loosen their grip. On the contrary, they
will exert their strongest, spiritual pogrom ever
against the Jewish nation, until the very last
moment when, as our sages tell us, they
themselves will finally perish during physical
pogroms against the Jews.
The sages took as their task to rescue the
innocent victims of the false prophets, those who
might even question or doubt one of two things;
Either the false prophets, or, the Torah and its
true prophets. It was for the benefit
of these 50-50 Jews or 50-50 believers for
whom the sages foretold us the many signs by
which to recognize the eve of the Redemptive
Era.
The many signs serve each person as however he
will understand them. In truth, however, all
the signs really boil down to but a single sign
- for they all point to this one point, that "And
against all the gods of Egypt will I avenge
myself, for I am G-d" (Ex. 12, 12). And
why so? In order to finally and totally discredit
the false prophets, so the Jewish masses strip
away their allegiance to them and from the various
idols of Egypt the false prophets would have them
worship.
The modern idols our false prophets
energetically promoted, and succeeded in
convincing a huge Jewish populace to follow
them, are well known: Political Freedom,
Economic Certainty, and Godless Zionism.
These are the
3 primary false
idols. These extend to other
such "isms", like Bolshevism, Bundism, Yiddishism,
and dozens others.
The signs of the Era of Redemption our sages
depict start out as follows: "The son of
David will not come until …" such and
such happens. These signs portend the utter
destruction of the above 3 "isms", for which the
false prophets should be dishonored.
Our sages tell us that after the known, bloody
wars, the entire world will be ruled by the
kingdom of Edom, the one Ovadiah the Prophet
refers to as "You are greatly despised"
(Ov. 1, 2). This means many nations will be ruled
over by unabashed tyrants and oppressors who will
put an end to all hope for Political Freedom,
Economic Certainty or whatever other culture!
"Moshiach will not come," our
sages say, "until the following signs
will manifest":
1) "All cheap dominion will disappear" from
Jewish notion. This means to say, until all new
systems of rule most Jews place their hope in,
will reveal themselves as being cheap and
worthless, as was evident with Bolshevism in
Russia, and other such unavailing systems. 2)
"Mankind will lose hope in any redemptive
process." Note the exact words of the sages; They
did not say, "Until the Jews", but rather
all "mankind" will lose their faith in
any redemptive process. 3) "All judges or police
(protectors of Jews) pass into oblivion." 4) "All
conceit passes from among Jews", because all will
become poor and enslaved.
The 4 above signs indicate that the false
prophecy of Political Freedom will be
shattered. Not only Jews but the other nations too
will be robbed of freedom. No longer will hope be
held out for redemption, or for returning to
previous times.
"Moshiach will not come,"
continue our sages, "until ...":
5) "The last penny of savings will disappear."
6) "When they seek a sliver of herring for an
invalid but can't find one". We can thus imagine
what smidgen of better foods healthy people will
be able to find, who command less mercy than sick
people.
From the latter 2 signs we easily note how the
idol of Economic Certainty will also be
shattered. And our sages offer several more signs
that will convince everyone that the idol of Culture
will also lie in a shambles.
They say, "Moshiach will not come
until,"
7) "All governments in the world are under the
control of G-d-deniers." 8) "The number of
students will diminish." 9) "Every event will have
several interpretations". This implies strong
censorship; When nobody knows the truth, and
everyone has a different version of what happened.
10) "All souls will leave their bodies", which
could mean all mankind will be obsessed with
hunger, when their only concern will be to to hold
on to dear life, where, like animals, no thought
is given to nourish the soul with spirituality.
Under a reign of avowed G-d-deniers who will
abolish education for the masses, except for a
privileged segment, entire populations will slave
for the state, eking out enough only to survive.
With a press akin to that of Nazi Minister of
Propaganda Goebbels, the idol of Culture will
obviously be smashed, just like its two other
"idol friends", Political Freedom and Economic
Certainty.
All these 10 signs of impending redemption our
sages show us actually constitute one
sole general sign regarding
G-d's claim, "And against all the gods of
Egypt will I avenge myself", where
these signs merely indicate the many ways one can
be poked in the eye, in that generation.
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Thursday, November 22, 2012
Red Alert to Klall Yisroel in the name of HaRav
Moshe Sternbuch, shilita
The Jewish people are witnessing miracles in
Israel. The missiles fired at us have the power to
level buildings, yet miracles are taking place and
we were spared from mass destruction. Even the
most secular newspapers report that there is no
way to explain these events according to natural
law.
While the word "miracle" has been liberally
splashed around by the media, neither the secular
nor the religious press grasped the vital message
of the hour. The situation arouses an urgent and
critical obligation for each Jew to ask himself:
"Why is Hashem performing these miracles for us?
How should I be conducting myself in these
extraordinary times?
If we do not deal with these questions
immediately, this current security crisis could –
Chas Veshalom – escalate into the most dangerous
period in Jewish history. Hashem performs miracles
for the Jewish people so that we will become more
aware of His Presence in our lives. In recent
days, He has made perfectly clear that He alone
wields power in the world and that no missile can
harm so much as a hair on the head of a Jew
without His consent. Every rocket has an address
that He predetermines, though the terrorists may
believe that they can aim at a particular target.
Miracles are Hashem's alarm bells, "a red alert"
that we must wake up and become truly conscious of
Hashem's hashgachah in our daily lives. If we
ignore these messages and conclude that miracles
are just a natural part of living in Israel, the
tables w could – Chas Veshalom – quickly turn.
We could – Chas Veshalom – in fact be handed over
to natural law, and the missiles inexplicably
could – Chas Veshalom – begin to hit their targets
with greater frequency. And that means that the
lives of our fellow Jews – our brothers and
sisters living in Israel – could – Chas Veshalom –
be in mortal danger.
We must learn this lesson from the story of the
meraglim (spies). When they returned from Eretz
Yisrael they claimed this land was a place where
miracles were apparent on a daily basis, and
therefore an extremely high spiritual level would
be demanded of those who dwelled there. There was
no way that Klal Yisrael as a nation could
maintain such a level, and therefore the spies,
who were all Gedolei Yisrael, ruled that the
people should not enter the land.
The opinion of the meraglim was brought before the
Sanhedrin, and they concurred with their ruling.
It may seem, on the surface, that their reasoning
was sound, and logic dictated that it was unwise
to enter Eretz Yisrael. Yet we see from the grave
punishment incurred by that generation that they
could not have been further from the truth. What
was the mistake in their reasoning?
The answer is simple. If Hashem told us to enter
Eretz Yisrael, He obviously knew that we would
ascend to the spiritual level necessary for a
nation that sees miracles on a daily basis. For
this reason, the claim of the meraglim was heresy,
and we suffer from its bitter consequences to this
very day.
In more recent times, Rav Yechiel Yaakov Weinberg
once told Rav Sternbuch about a meeting of secular
non-Jewish and Jewish professors to discuss the
authorship of the Torah. Their conclusion was that
while the Torah was far too complex to be
man-made, they were not ready to attribute it to a
Divine source that they knew nothing about. Like
the meraglim, they perceived the significance of
the Divine influence, but refused to follow
through by accepting the full import of this
conclusion.
During the current military operation, we are
facing the very same challenge. Hashem is sending
us a message that we must make real changes in our
lives and raise our level of consciousness of His
Presence, to the point where we are worthy of such
supernatural treatment. If we rise to the occasion
and raise our level of emunah as a result of these
miracles, then we will pass the nisayon (test),
and it is very likely that Moshiach will arrive
shortly.
Chazal offer us practical advice in this area, and
write that reciting a hundred brachos every day
and saying Amen yehei Shmei Rabba has the power to
annul decrees. Reciting Tehillim is important, but
we need to make sure that our tefilah is also said
with the proper kavanah. Everyone should take upon
themselves to do something small to raise their
level of emunah.
We must consider ourselves warned by the lessons
of our history: If Hashem shows us miracles and we
do not respond by strengthening our emunah, His
mercy could – Chas Veshalom – turn to fury and we
are handed over to the forces of natural law. We
dare not speak about what this could could – Chas
Veshalom– lead to, but we all understand the
ruthless nature and implacable hatred of the enemy
we face.
Now is the time, while Hasehm continues to shower
His miracles upon us, to recognize His hand in our
lives on a national and individual level, to turn
to Him in tefilah and teshuvah, and eagerly watch
the redemption unfold before our eyes.
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