going home ... to yerushalayim: Reb Neuberger: OUT OF THE BOX

07 February 2025

Reb Neuberger: OUT OF THE BOX

OUT OF THE BOX

For the last few weeks, we have been speaking about rain.

Please forgive me, but I want to discuss this topic again, because it seems to me that it is not being properly addressed. I checked various sources, including reports from the Israel Water Authority. The conclusion is that “the current winter is one of the most arid in recent years.” (Jerusalem Post)

Why is this worrisome?

Because rainfall is a reliable indication of Hashem’s assessment of the spiritual state of Am Yisroel. It is written explicitly in the Shema that, if we allow our heart[s] to be “seduced” and “turn away and serve gods of others and bow to them,” then Hashem’s wrath will “blaze” against us and “He will restrain the heaven so there will be no rain …. And you will swiftly be banished from the goodly land which Hashem gives you.”

Oy! How frightening!

Clearly, the world is in a precarious state. Yes, we believe that we have a friend in the White House, but – as we have discussed recently – there is only One Friend upon Whom we can depend, and that is the Master of the Universe. President Trump is strong in word and action, but other world leaders are also determined. One erroneous move could provoke a world conflagration, G-d forbid.

And, in our own land, what are we doing?

I have heard that Kever Rochel is being closed to cars by the government; that kollelim located in Kever Rochel are being closed, and that yeshiva boys are being arrested as criminals for not cooperating with the military draft.

I want to speak from the depth of my heart. Let’s try to understand what Hashem may be telling us when He withholds rain from the Holy Land.

We all know that we need Hashem’s favor and compassion in order to survive, but we are not acting logically! We say in Tachanun, “Shuv mai charon apecha … Hashem … turn back from Your flaring anger and relent from the evil meant for Your people….”

Do we know what we are doing?

The following is a quote from my book, Hold On: Surviving the Days Before Moshiach: “We have to want the proper way of life. We have to daven for the proper way of life. We have to realize that the present system is not the Torah system of government and that, in the days of Moshiach, we will not have to endure elections any more, with one Jew fighting another Jew for power and dominance. This is true especially when Torah Itself is voted upon! This is a terrible chillul Hashem.”

How is it possible to vote on the Torah? I don’t understand! Who are we and what are we doing? Is it not a chillul Hashem that Jews vote whether or not the Torah should prevail! We have to daven that the Land of Israel should be run entirely by gadolim whose total immersion in Torah will govern the life of Israel.

Why do we tolerate living like the other nations? When Moshiach comes, it is going to be so different! Is this so impossible to imagine? My friends, what is really impossible is for us to continue the present way we are living!

I want to end with words I saw quoted by Rabbi Paysach Krohn, may he be well: “Dovid Hamelech writes, … ‘How good and pleasant is the dwelling of brothers … ‘gam yachad’ … in unity….’ (Tehillim 133) The Zohar explains that, when Jews get together in unison and harmony, then ‘gam Yachad,’ the One and Only [Hashem] joins them as well ….” (The Traveling Maggid, Artscroll/Mesorah)

Can you imagine how great this will be!

We are now living in a box that the other nations of the world have constructed. We have to think “out of the box.” We have to break the bonds of slavery which we have imposed upon ourselves. This week’s Parsha says that “the Children of Israel were very frightened!” They were surrounded by the sea on one side and the Mitzri’im on the other. How would they get out of the box? But Moshe Rabbeinu said to them, “Do not fear! Stand fast and see the salvation of Hashem that He will perform for you today….

On that day, Hashem saved Israel from the hand of Egypt …. Israel saw the great hand that Hashem inflicted upon Mitzraim, and the people revered Hashem and they had faith in Hashem and in Moshe, His servant.”

That’s all we need, my friends. Is it too much to ask? We can achieve it. We will achieve it! And soon, b’ezras Hashem, we will break out of the box and witness with our own eyes the Final and Complete Salvation!