THE SITUATION ON THE GROUND
Remember last year when we didn’t blow the shofar on the First Day of Rosh Hashanah? Aruch LaNer studied the years when this happened in the past. His findings were frightening and prophetic. Those years contained either exceptionally great events -- like building the mishkan or entering the Land of Israel -- or exceptionally tragic events, like the destruction of both Temples! (I am grateful to my beloved chavrusa, Rabbi Shaul Geller Shlita”h, for bringing this to my attention.)
I need not remind you of the type of year we have endured for the past eleven months. It has been compared to the Holocaust.
Now we have entered Chodesh Elul. This is a time when Am Yisroel should be united in brotherhood and davening with full hearts – not only that we ourselves should do teshuva, but also that Hashem should see our teshuvaand rescue us!
But what is in fact happening? What is the “situation on the ground?”
The situation on the ground is awful.
In the End of Days, “From Tzion will go forth the Torah and the word of Hashem from Yerushalayim…. Each man will sit under his vine and under his fig tree and no one will make them afraid ….” (Micah 4:1ff)
What is the reality today?
Now, from Tzion and Yerushalayim goes forth the shrieks of brother against brother, Jew fighting Jew. I hate to remind us, but this is exactly the backdrop of last year’s horrible events, only now it is worse!
Was there ever such chillul Hashem? Our enemies are laughing with joy!
In my book, “Hold On: Surviving the Days Before Moshiach” (Mosaica Press, 2020) I discuss whether democracy is a Torah concept. Most people in Western society regard democracy as the highest form of government, but the fact is that this “democratically-run” world is sliding fast into anarchy as insane people become more numerous and vocal. Democracy in Israel is anarchic and chaotic as factions scream at each other. In the moment when achdus under the Torah is our most important goal, exactly the opposite is happening.
What does Hashem desire?
It’s all in this week’s Parsha, in black and white! “You shall surely set over yourself a king whom Hashem your G-d shall choose!” (Dvarim 17:15)
The Torah is very clear. In the past, we made mistakes and desired a king for the wrong reasons, “like all the other nations.” No! Not a king like that, but rather a king who carries with him a Sefer Torah, “and he shall read from it all the days of his life so that he will learn to fear Hashem!” This king is chosen by G-d and not by a raucous election process.
This is the king we are commanded to place over ourselves!
It seems clear that we have shown ourselves to be incapable of governing ourselves in a peaceable and Torah-true manner. I would say that the current situation in Israel -- and in fact the world -- shows that democracy leads to chaos. When we weaken ourselves this way with sinas chinom, we become terribly vulnerable to our enemies. Today, the country is torn apart spiritually and physically.
My friends, the Torah-true state is not fantasy; the Torah-true state is a practical necessity and will become a reality on the day on which Hashem saves us. Hashem will not let us be destroyed, G-d forbid. “And Rabbi Yochanan said: the son of Dovid will come only in a generation that is [either] entirely virtuous or entirely guilty,” (Sanhedrain 98a) upon which the Vilna Gaon commented that if we have not repented, Hashem will send the Redeemer out of kindness. He cites the passage “for My sake I will act” (Yeshiah 48:11) as proof that Hashem will rescue us. (Artscroll commentary)
It looks right now as if we are veering sharply toward “entirely guilty.” That means we can expect rough days ahead, but those rough days will be precisely what we need to merit the Redeemer.
I do not think we have the luxury to concentrate on anything except the deepest efforts to correct our own personal inadequacies and beg Hashem with hot tears to save us. For the sake of our own survival, we have to ask ourselves if we are doing all we can to become one with our brethren and elevate Torah to the level on which we all abide by it with all our hearts. We have reached a bitter point at which we need mercy from the Highest Heavens to be saved personally and nationally.
In days of old, there would be weeping and wailing when “Rosh Chodesh Elul” was announced in shul. There is every reason why we should be trembling at this very moment. Our tefillos should be accompanied by oceans of tears. Our lives are at this moment hanging in the balance.
Hashem loves us. Now it is our responsibility to love ourselves enough to acknow
-ledge our desperate situation and beg Hashem to send us the righteous king whom we so desperately need.
GLOSSARY
Achdus: unity
Am Yisroel: the Jewish People
Chilul Hashem: desecration of G-d’s Name
Chodesh Elul: the Jewish month before Rosh Hashanah
Mishkan: The Biblical tabernacle in the Sinai Desert
Sinas Chinom: unwarranted hatred between Jew and Jew
Shul: synagogue
Son of Dovid: Moshiach, the Messiah
Tefillos: prayer
Teshuva: repentance
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