Reb Neuberger: Shlach

“YES” TO THE KING!

Recently I attended a lecture on Torah topics. The participants spoke brilliantly and I marveled at the amazing fact that we, Am Yisroel, are still clinging to Hashem’s Torah after thousands of years of being tested in the fires of world hatred and jealousy.  

But something troubled me deeply. 

Why didn’t anyone speak about the meaning of the war that is going on around us?

Israel has just entered the Lion’s Den. We have confronted our most vicious enemy, attacked the arsenal of deadly weapons and cut off many of its leaders. I admire the fact that the government has the courage, despite its blunders and the conflict among its members, to pursue brilliant and awesome methods of defending Am Yisroel. I admire the fact that the war cabinet recited Tehillim. I admire the fact that the Prime Minister is willing to invoke the Name of Hashem. I admire the fact that he is not afraid to daven at the Kosel. One could call it a publicity ploy, but the fact is that he did it. 

The reaction was – predictably – savage. Iran, though apparently terribly crippled, has struck Israel repeatedly over the past few days with powerful missiles designed to inflict maximum damage to the civilian population. Israel takes every precaution against targeting civilians, but our enemies are barbarians. 

At the lecture, why did no one speak about this? 

Rabbi Moshe Wolfson zt”l saw Torah in the news. “Decades ago a bochur approached him with a calculation based on a certain Malbim proving that we are approaching the days of Moshiach, to which [he] replied, ‘I don’t need the Malbim to tell me this; I know from the headlines of the New York Times.’” (Hamodia Weekly Magazine)

My friends, we are living the pages of Torah. Torah is being written across the skies! The events of today are Torah prophecies unfolding! Why aren’t we speaking about it? How can someone get up today in front of Yidden and not speak out about the current situation? In Mitzraim, when Moshe Rabbeinu was telling Bnai Yisroel that Hashem was about to rescue them, was there any other subject to be discussed? 

“Rabbi Yochanan said: If you see a day when numerous troubles flow over us like a river, expect Moshiach.” (Sanhedrin 98a) These are the days in which we must hold on to the Torah for dear life!

This week we read Parshas Shelach. We have to rectify the terrible mistake of the miraglim, the mistake of believing that we are “chagavim …. grasshoppers!” We are not grasshoppers! We are the Children of Hashem, the Creator of heaven and earth! We are following His Torah and that means that His unlimited power is with us. “Do not fear sudden terror or the holocaust of the wicked … for Hashem is with us.”

Please listen to the powerful words of the Midrash: “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 (Iran) will quarrel with the king of Arabia … and the King of Persia will destroy the entire world. [Please take special note of these words!] 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 shall we do?....’ Hashem will say to them ‘My children, do not fear …. For the time of your redemption has come!” (Yalkut Shimomi, quoted in Book of Our Heritage)

How can one speak about anything else at a time like this? This is the countdown to Redemption. We are, with G-d’s help, going to see events unlike anything the world has seen since the day when Hashem took us out of Mitzraim, only greater! 

I have heard that Russia, China, Pakistan and other countries are now coming to the defense of Iran. What do you think will happen after that? Will the United States be docile and accept this? My friends, are our eyes closed? Do we not see what is going on here? 

“It shall be on that day, on the day that Gog comes on the soil of Israel -- the words of my L-rd Hashem/Elokim – My raging anger shall flare up …. And you, ben Adam, prophesy against Gog and say: Thus says my L-rd Hashem/Elokim …. I am against you Gog, prince, leader of Meshech and Tubal. I shall lead you astray and seduce you and I shall cause you to advance from the farthest north and bring you to the mountains of Israel. I will strike your bow from your left hand and I will cast down your arrows from your right hand. You shall fall upon Israel’s mountains, you and all your cohorts and the nations that are with you!” (Haftaras Shabbos Chol ha Moed Sukkos)

It is very possible that we are in the final act of history before the Great Redemption. The powers of the world are gathering for the confrontation. “Rav Elazar bar Avina said: If you see kingdoms engaging in conflict with one another, expect the footsteps of Moshiach.” (Beraishis Rabbah 42:4) How can we speak about other matters when the world is about to turn upside down? 

I am not making predictions. I am simply stating what should be obvious to anyone who observes the world and remembers what the Torah has said about Ikvos Hamoshicha. Hashem has promised to bless us. With clear eyes, we should hold tightly onto the Torah and prepare for a world in which “Hashem is One and His Name is One!” In America, they are chanting “No king!” In Israel, lehavdil, we chant “Yes!” to our King! 

“Avinu Malkeinu … be gracious to us and answer us though we have no worthy deeds. Treat us with charity and kindness and save us!”

Grasshopper

GLOSSARY

Aveinu Malkeinu: Our Father, our King 

Bnai Yisroel: The Children of Israel

Bochur: Young man, Torah student

Daven: Pray

Gog: Name used in prophetic literature for the archetypal enemy leader against Israel

Ikvos Hamoshicha: Birth pangs of the Messiah

Kosel: The Western Wall 

Miraglim: The Biblical spies who slandered the Land of Israel

Mitzraim: Ancient Egypt 

Tehillim: Psalms