Rabbi Kahana – TIME – Emor

Rabbi Nachman Kahana on May 16, 2024 09:09 pm

Time

Predicting the future is more precarious than walking on thin ice in June.

We deduce or produce our predications on an array of assumptions, statistics, historic precedents, psychological or religious-cultural orientation of the expert; but most often it’s just plain good guessing and luck. Experience has shown that in most instances things begin according to predictions, until suddenly something happens (oops or snafu) and we toss our learned charts and designs into the trashcan in order to begin a new set of predictions. What is that “suddenly something happens”? It is HaShem’s interacting in human affairs to direct future human traffic according to His original blueprint.

I am challenged by a repeating theme in our liturgy; in the kiddush over wine, in birkat hamazon, in the texts between Shema Yisrael and the beginning of Shemoneh Esrei, and more. The theme is the Exodus from Egypt and the death of the entire Egyptian army under the waters of Yam Suf.

To fortify the dilemma, I put forward the Gemara (Brachot 12b) that quotes the verse in Yirmiyahu to question the position that even after the Mashiach’s arrival we still praise HaShem for the miracles He performed for us at the Egyptian Exodus:

הנה ימים באים נאם ה’ ולא יאמרו עוד חי ה’ אשר העלה את בני ישראל מארץ מצרים, כי אם חי ה’ אשר העלה ואשר הביא את זרע בית ישראל מארץ צפונה ומכל הארצות אשר הדחתים שם!

 

Now, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when people will no longer say, as surely as the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites up out of Egypt, but they will say, As surely as the Lord lives, He who brought the descendants of Israel up out of the land of the north and out of all the countries where he had banished them. Then they will live in their own land (future redemption).

And the Gemara replies:

לא שתעקר יציאת מצרים ממקומה, אלא שתהא שעבוד מלכיות עיקר, ויציאת מצרים טפל

 

Yirmiyahu did not intend that the Exodus would be omitted from the liturgy, but that it would  be secondary to our expressions of thanksgiving for the miracles HaShem will perform for us in the future redemption.

The problem here is that, in fact, the Exodus from Egypt commands a much more dominant position in the liturgy than any reference to future miracles, in contradiction to what the Gemara in Brachot explains regarding the verse in Yirmiyahu.

My understanding is:

If the nations in our region are left to their own designs based on cause and effect without HaShem’s direct involvement in their politics and national interests, the following will occur based on the teaching that “What was – will be again”, that our future redemption will be a repetition of the Biblical past.

Egypt will make war on Israel, either because of a civil revolution led by the Moslem Brotherhood or by some small spark in Azza which spirals into Egypt sending its very large army to the Sinai desert to face off with the smaller Tzahal.

There will be a moment when disaster will be imminent.  But as in days of old, Egypt, will be destroyed by tens of millions of cubic meters of water cascading down the Nile Valley from the crumbling great Aswan Dam!

The masters of Yavneh (the Sanhedrin, authors of the basic liturgy) knew this. So, they introduced into the liturgy the past destruction of Egypt in order to hint to us of the future repetition of HaShem’s miracles.

Part two: A piece of good advice

I need not go into details of what is happening in western countries, especially in the US, in terms of Judenhass; they and their potential dangers to Jews are common knowledge. This coupled with the very real possibility of reinstating the military draft and other things are making daily life for Jews in the US uncomfortable.

If and when it becomes apparent that the “time has come” it could be too late to attend to your personal interests. You will want to sell your home, but so too will many other Jews and the price you get will not cover the cost of 2 rooms in Yerushalayim.

If I were in the States and owned property or a home, I would sell it now and go into a rented place. And with the money, purchase a home in Israel which I would rent out for a handsome sum.

It could save your life, if and when the galut roof falls in!

Think about it.

Shabbat Shalom

Nachman Kahana

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