I don’t usually comment on current news, but this week’s headlines cry out to us.
Rabbi Frand wrote recently about Golus Yishmoel, the last and most difficult golus: “There is no nation in the world who hates the Children of Israel more than the descendants of Yishmoel.” (Rabbeinu Bechaye)
Here is a quote from my book, Hold On: Surviving the Days Before Moshiach: “In recent years, an ominous change has come over the lands of our exile. Violence and hatred of Jews, Judaism and the Land of Israel are increasing dramatically. The hand of our enemies is reaching out to strangle us. There is almost certainly going to come a time, possibly very soon when, like Bnai Yisroel at Yam Suf, we are literally surrounded, and we must face the fact that we have no logical hope for survival. What will we do then?”
What is the answer? The words of Dovid Hamelech: “All the nations surround me. In the Name of Hashem I cut them down.” (Tehillim 118)
“The Name of Hashem.” There is no other hope.
No political system or strategy will save us. No election will bring relief. This is the end of embracing the goyish culture. All our strategems have failed. “Ain od milvado …. There is nothing but Hashem.” The idea is to beg Hashem to send the Redeemer. We have to know that Hashem will solve all our problems and guide us to where we need to go. Hashem has not forgotten us.
The prototype for our situation is written in the Torah. In the words of Reb Elchonen Wasserman zt”l, “Several times I heard from the holy Chofetz Chaim, that we can learn about the end of our exile from what happened at the end of our exile in Egypt, as it says (Micah 7:15), ‘As in the days of your leaving Egypt, I will show wonders [in the Final Redemption].’” The wonders will be vast and beyond what we can imagine.
In Mitzraim, the majority of Bnai Yisroel did not listen to Moshe Rabbeinu and they perished in the downfall of Egypt. G-d forbid that this should happen in our own days, but the signs are ominous. In the city with the largest Jewish population in the world, a hater of Jews has been elected mayor, and someone told me that one-third of Jewish voters cast their ballot for him. My own childhood friends, all Jewish, are almost all enemies of Torah and Yiddishkeit. Many Jewish public officials, all over the world, are enemies of Torah and Yiddishkeit! There is terrible sinas chinom among us, with Yidden expressing hatred toward each other and toward the Torah.
Now we can understand why the Bnai Yisroel who did not choose to follow Moshe Rabbeinu died during the Plague of Darkness, because those Yidden who close their eyes to the Light of Torah are literally living in darkness. Great darkness is descending upon the world. I am reminded of the words of Sir Edward Grey at the outset of the First World War, "The lamps are going out all over Europe. We shall not see them lit again in our lifetime."
It’s all clearly written: “Beware lest your heart be seduced and you turn astray and serve gods of others and bow to them. Then the wrath of Hashem will blaze against you…. And you will be swiftly banished from the goodly land which Hashem gives you.” We have been living that banishment now for thousands of years. Now we have returned to our own Land, but we need merit to retain it.
“Keep His statutes and His commandments that I command today … so that you may long remain on the soil that … your G-d is giving you for all time….” (Dvarim 4:40). On these words, Rabbi Hirsch comments, “This is the one condition under which you will be able to remain in the Land. G-d is giving you the Land for all time … but you will be permitted to posses it only as long as you will prove yourself faithful to that calling.”
Hashem will save us, but the burden is on us. The Yeshua will be the greatest moment in history and evil will be vanquished forever, but we must be very strong for the present. The key is in the words, “All the nations surround me. In the Name of Hashem I cut them down.” (Tehillim 118)
The Name of Hashem is our weapon. The nations surround us, but they are walking into the ultimate trap. The end of history is approaching, when the world will be filled with the Light of Torah and Yerushalayim will be capital of the world. But we have to hold on tight.
“Before Moshiach comes, Hashem will stretch a rope from one end of the world to the other and shake it vigorously. Those who hold on tightly will survive. Those who let go, won’t. These turbulent times are testing us in our faith in Hashem. We must hold on tightly until the end.” (The Chofetz Chaim)
May we see the Geulah Shelemah with our own eyes soon in our days!
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| European Park at Dusk |
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| London at Dusk |
GLOSSARY
Bnai Yisroel: the Children of Israel
Dovid Hamelech: King David
Geulah shelemah: the Final Redemption
Golus Yishmoel: the final exile of the Jewish People
Mitzraim: Ancient Egypt
Sinas chinom: unwarranted hatred between Jews
Tehillim: the Psalms
Yam Suf: The Red Sea
Yeshua: redemption
Yishmoel: the Arab nations, descendants of Yishmoel
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