The Days of Judgment are Approaching . . . Parsha KiTavo

“THEN THOSE WHO FEAR HASHEM 

SPOKE TO ONE ANOTHER”

The Days of Judgment are approaching and we should be afraid. 

It is well-known that, in previous generations, Jews trembled during the entire month of Elul. We should be no different. In fact, we should tremble even more, because it is increasingly clear that the fate of the entire world is extremely precarious at this time. Davening for our very survival is necessary and appropriate. With this in mind I am going to discuss some very serious matters. If we contemplate the gravity of the situation, perhaps the intensity of our tefillos will merit Heavenly mercy. 

There is a tendency to believe that the world is going to continue as it has, with enough sense of normalcy to lull us into forgetting that we are in Golus and hoping that this state of affairs will continue into the distant future. 

We need to consult our Gadolim in order to bring us back to reality. 

Please give your attention to the words of Rabbi Eliahu Eliezer Dessler zt”l: “The destruction of Edom [at the end of our last exile] will only come through the destruction of this world [as we know it]. Hakodosh Baruch Hu will cause the very foundations of life on earth to collapse. Tranquility will be disrupted, personal lives will be filled with worry, fear and yissurim, and the entire world will cower in dread of destruction and devastation…. Only then will the light of Moshiach be revealed … ‘and the saviors shall go up to Har Tzion to judge the mountain of Esav…’” (Ovadia 1:21, as quoted in Michtav Me’Eliya-hu)

These words should be contemplated. Rav Dessler is speaking about “the destruction of this world [as we know it]” and the collapse of the “very foundations of life.” If we understand what this means, then we will clasp with all our strength the Source of Life, the only means of rescue which can save us when the world as we know it is threatened to its very core. This necessitates that we not confine our intense supplication to the Ribono shel Olam to our regular daily tefillos, but that we remain in the attitude of supplication for our entire day, our entire week, and – in reality – our entire life. 

My dear friends, Rav Dessler’s words are coming about today. 

When Titus Harasha was returning to Rome by ship with the vessels of the Holy Temple, against which he had led the armies of Rome, he mocked Hashem and challenged Him to “wage war” on dry land. “A Heavenly Voice … said to [Titus] … ‘I have a puny creature in My world and it is called a gnat…. Go up on dry land and fight [this puny creature!’ When] Titus ascended to dry land, a gnat came and entered his nose. It picked his brain for seven years…When [Titus] died, they split his head open and found [a gnat] inside like a swallow weighing two selas. A Tanna taught … [the gnat] was like a one-year-old pigeon weighing two litras. Abbaye said: We hold a tradition that its mouth was of copper and its nails were of iron.” (Gittin 56b)

There is a tiny insect in our world called a mosquito whose Latin name is “Aedes Aegypti.” It carries a virus called “zika,” which – interestingly – means “life-breath” in Aramaic. It injects fluid into a person without being noticed. This tiny, invisible droplet is capable of shaking the foundation of states, of regions, of multi-national corporations, of entire populations consisting of millions of people, of the economies of vast regions of a country which considers itself to be an eternal culture. 

We have a realistic basis to hope that Hashem will have mercy on us and allow us to see with our own eyes the Bais Hamikdosh. We daven every day that “our eyes witness Your return to Tzion in compassion.” Gadolim like the Chofetz Chaim and Rav Yechezkel Levenstein zt”l have stated that those who reject the dominant culture of Edom will survive Ikvos Hamoshicha. That is why it is appropriate to discuss these things, especially at this time of year, when we are davening with intense devotion for nothing less than survival on every level. 

The Novi states, “You have said, ‘It is useless to serve G-d! What gain is there for us that we have kept His watch and that we walk submissively before Hashem, Master of Legions?’ … Then those who fear Hashem spoke to one another and Hashem listened and heard, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear Hashem and those who give thought to His Name. They will be a precious treasure for Me, says Hashem, Master of Legions, on the day which I bring about, and I will have mercy on them as a man has mercy on his son who serves him. Then you will return and see the difference between one who serves G-d and one who does not serve Him.” (Malachi 3:13ff, which we read as Haftaras Shabbos Hagadol)

“The day which I bring about” is coming, my friends. What kind of day will it be? 

“Behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the wicked people and all the evildoers will be like straw, and that coming day will burn them up … but a sun of righteousness will shine for you who fear My Name, with healing on its wings.” (ibid)

Yes, I know I have quoted these lines before. Should we not endlessly hear these great words, especially at this time of year? May they enter our hearts and transform our lives, so that we quickly see the consolation which the Al-Mighty is preparing for us, and – through our teshuva and our chessed and our achdus – we experience the Geulah Shelemah and live in a transformed world of ruchnius and purity with the coming of Moshiach ben Dovid soon in our days! 

*          *          *          *

Roy Neuberger, author and public speaker, can be reached at roy@2020vision.co.il.

© Copyright 2016 by Roy S. Neuberger