going home ... to yerushalayim: Reb Neuberger

15 August 2024

Reb Neuberger – Va'eschanan/Nachamu

THE MAN WITH YELLOW HAIR

““Nachamu, nachamu … comfort, comfort My people, says your G-d. Speak to the heart of Yerushalayim and proclaim that her time [of exile] has been fulfilled….” (Haftaras Va’eschanan) These words restore our soul, coming just after Tisha B’Av, when we have been reduced to pulp and cried our hearts out.

But this year … where is the comfort? Tisha b’Av has come and gone and we still sit in darkness. “The harvest has passed; the summer is ended, but we were not saved.” (Haftara for Tisha b’Av)

Rabbi Eliyahu Eliezer Dessler zt”l described the world before the Final Redemption: “The destruction of Edom will come only through the destruction of this world [as we know it]. Hakadosh 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….” (Michtav M’Eliahu as seen in Redemption Unfolding page 75)

We are living it, my friends. My heart is fluttering, I look around and see that the entire world is falling apart, cracking, shaking. Every person feels the imminence of some mighty, cosmic event. Israel especially is surrounded by danger, but the entire world is afraid. Evil and barbaric people control weapons of unimaginable power. Even remote islands are in mortal danger.

In the darkness, there is in fact hope.

Parshas Va’eschanan contains an incredible prophecy. Listen please to the words of Moshe Rabbeinu: “When you beget children and grandchildren and have been long in the land, you will grow corrupt … and do evil in the eyes of Hashem …. You will surely perish quickly from the land to which you are [going] …. Hashem will scatter you among the peoples …. [where] you will serve gods of wood and stone …. [And then] when you are in distress … at the end of days … you will return unto Hashem your G-d….” (Dvarim 4:25ff)

Dovid ha Melech tells us: “All the nations surround me. In the Name of Hashem I cut them down.” (Tehillim 118)

“The Name of Hashem.” That’s all we have. When we are enveloped in doom; when the walls are crashing on every side, that is all we have left.

“Ana Hashem hoshia na …. Please Hashem! Save now!”

Please hear the following words of Yalkut Shimoni.

“Rabbi Yitzchak taught: in the year in which Moshiach will be revealed, all the nations of the world will be in conflict. The king of Persia will quarrel with the king of Arabia … and the king of Persia will destroy the entire world. The nations will be confused and agitated and will be seized with fear and pains like the pangs of birth.

“Israel too will be agitated and confused, saying, ‘What should we do? Where shall we go?’ Hashem will then say to them, ‘My children, do not fear. All that I have done, I have done for your sake. Do not fear, for the time of your redemption has come. And this final redemption will not be like the first redemption [from Egypt], for the first redemption was … followed by subjugation to other nations. But the final redemption will be without pain and will not be followed by subjugation to others.” (Thanks to my dear friend, Reb Reuven Cohen for reminding me of this amazing passage. Translation: Book of Our Heritage)

Last summer, my chavrusa, Reb Shaul Geller, was anxious because Chazal express trepidation concerning a year on which the first day of Rosh Hashanah falls out on Shabbos, with the result that the shofar is not blown on that day. How right he was! He predicted the terrible tzouris which this year has brought!

The shofar is our cry to Heaven, a cry beyond words, because words are not enough. “Save us, Tatty!” It is the cry of our Father Yitzchak at the Akeida, the sound which ascends from the depths of our being! And, last year, the shofar was silent on the first day of Rosh Hashanah!

My friends, we are surrounded by cosmic events. I for one feel helpless in the face of these tsunamis which are sweeping the world. But we must know that all forces are in the Hand of G-d. Just as the force of darkness can wash over us, so can darkness suddenly turn to Redemption and light.

Last week my wife and I were walking in Manhattan. A couple approached. He must have been six and a half feet tall, shirtless, with a headful of bright yellow hair. He looked straight at me. I thought maybe he was going to kill me! He walked right up to me and raised his fist. What next!

Then he shouted with all his might, “Fight for Israel!”

Suddenly a big smile, high fives and hugs!

Yes, you heard it!

This world is beyond our control, and we really don’t know what is coming next. Those who hate us think they know what they are doing, but wait! “Rabos machashavos …. Many thoughts are in man’s heart, but only the counsel of Hashem will prevail.” (Mishlei 19:21)

“In His goodness, [Hashem] renews daily, perpetually, the work of creation. May [He] shine a new light on Tzion and may we all speedily merit its light!” (Shacharis)

Redemption will come “k’heref ayin,” in the blink of an eye. “Let the [old] year and its curses end! Let the [new] year and its blessings begin!” (Achos K’tana)