going home ... to yerushalayim: Reb Neuberger

26 July 2024

Reb Neuberger – Parashas Pinchas

ANSWERING BARBARA AND CHARLES

I saw the following question on a kiruv website: “We … are so horrified, frightened and disturbed by the attempted assassination of former President Trump…. [We] feel unsafe, like we’re standing on shaky ground preceding an earthquake. Is there something that Judaism teaches us about this? [Signed], Barbara and Charles”

Barbara and Charles did not write to me, but I will answer anyway.

In last week’s Parsha Bilaam said, “Oh! Who will survive when [Hashem] imposes these!”

In September, 2001, immediately following the attack on the Twin Towers, Rabbi Yissocher Frand Shlita”h delivered an emotional shiur explaining how this possuk refers to Golus Yishmoel, the final exile before Moshiach. (Pirkei d’Rebbe Eliezer) My friends, that is clearly where we are right now. Indeed, the Zohar explains that “no exile will be as oppressive to the Jewish People as the Exile of Yishmoel.”

Yes, Barbara and Charles, you are so right. The ground is indeed trembling beneath our feet. And yes, the Torah teaches us all about this. It is predicted by our sages, but it is so overwhelming that we are afraid and want to look the other way.

That, however, is dangerous! The problem with “looking the other way” is that -- G-d forbid! --- the future will hit us from behind, and that is a recipe for disaster. I wrote a book about this, entitled, “Hold On: Surviving the Days Before Moshiach.” (Mosaica Press, 2020) My friends, this is not a time for panic, but rather a time to understand, so that we can strengthen our connection to the Master of the Universe, which is our only hope.

Let’s examine the world scene. The shot which almost killed ex-President Trump is only part of the deepening chaos which afflicts the entire world. From where does this chaos originate? From the center of the world, which is Israel, tiny Israel! Everything emanates from the Holy Land.

If we are keeping the Torah, there will be peace in the world!

My friends, I am deeply pained to say that there is a terrible war in Israel. I am not speaking about Gaza, nor Lebanon, nor even Yemen. No, I am speaking about the most terrible war of all, the war between those who love Torah and … those who – G-d forbid! -- want to divorce Israel from the only Source of Life.

Truly, the most powerful army in Israel – or, for that matter, in the entire world -- are the Bnai Torah, through whom the entire world is sustained and protected. But we, in this foolish generation, are trying to destroy our only source of salvation, the Torah itself and those whose lives are dedicated to Torah.

“Unquestionably … if there would be one moment when not one person is engrossed in Torah study somewhere in the entire world, all the upper and lower worlds would instantly cease to exist, G-d Forbid.” (Nefesh Ha Chayim Sha’ar 4, Ch. 11)

Furthermore, it says, “every day, destructive angels go forth … to wipe out the entire world. If not for the synagogues and study halls … the angels would instantly annihilate the entire world.” (ibid Ch. 25)

But evil people who call themselves “judges” want to strike out against the Torah. Please listen to the words of King David concerning lawless judges: “They do not know nor do they understand. In darkness they walk. All foundations of the earth collapse.” (Tehillim 82) This passage connects lawless judges directly with the collapse of the entire world!

At the beginning of my book, 2020 Vision, I quote the Malbim, who describes the Final War in history, Milchemes Gog Umagog, as a cataclysmic battle between the Moslem World and the Western World in which the combatants completely destroy each other. Following this, the world will be redeemed with the coming of Moshiach ben Dovid and the rebuilding of the Bais Hamikdosh.

As frightening as are current events, the result of this chaos will be the total victory of Torah and the destruction of all who oppose Torah. Just the way Mitzraim had to crumble before Am Yisroel stood at Har Sinai, so too the current world culture apparently has to crumble before the final victory of Torah.

We see the signs before our eyes! All the prophesies of events leading up to the Geula Shelemah are occurring, just as the Torah predicted. Take, for example, the devastation in Northern Israel, where our enemies are constantly sending rockets and missiles, burning the land and chasing the residents away from their homes.

It is all predicted! The Mishnah in Sotah says, “In the period which will precede the coming of Moshiach … the Galilee will be destroyed … and the people who dwell on the borders will wander about from town to town ….” (Sotah 49b)

Those who hate us are stepping into a trap. The Torah says that “your enemies shall perish and all evildoers will be dispersed… [but the] righteous man will flourish…. (Tehillim 92) Those who hold the Torah close know these truths. They do not fear evil, because their trust is in Hashem.

May we see His Great Salvation soon in our days!