"Return With Us...And You Shall Be the Head..."

In the first three pasukim in 6th chapter of Shoftim (Judges) it introduces Yiftach, the future leader of Israel, specifically of Gilead in the following way:

וְיִפְתָּח הַגִּלְעָדִי, הָיָה גִּבּוֹר חַיִל, וְהוּא, בֶּן-אִשָּׁה זוֹנָה; וַיּוֹלֶד גִּלְעָד, אֶת-יִפְתָּח.	1 Now Yiftach the Gileadite was a strong man of valour, and he was the son of a harlot; and Gilead begot Yiftach.
ב  וַתֵּלֶד אֵשֶׁת-גִּלְעָד לוֹ, בָּנִים; וַיִּגְדְּלוּ בְנֵי-הָאִשָּׁה וַיְגָרְשׁוּ אֶת-יִפְתָּח, וַיֹּאמְרוּ לוֹ לֹא-תִנְחַל בְּבֵית-אָבִינוּ--כִּי בֶּן-אִשָּׁה אַחֶרֶת, אָתָּה.	2 And Gilead's wife bore him sons; and when his wife's sons grew up, they drove out Yiftach, and said unto him: 'You shall not inherit in our father's house; for you are a son of another woman.'
ג  וַיִּבְרַח יִפְתָּח מִפְּנֵי אֶחָיו, וַיֵּשֶׁב בְּאֶרֶץ טוֹב; וַיִּתְלַקְּטוּ אֶל-יִפְתָּח אֲנָשִׁים רֵיקִים, וַיֵּצְאוּ עִמּוֹ.  {פ}	3 Then Yiftach fled from his brothers, and dwelt in the land of Tob; and empty men were gathered to Yiftach, and they went out with him. {P}

Eventually the elders of Gilead under threat from Ammon go to Yiftach and beg him to be their head and military leader.  He eventually agrees and rules Israel fro 6 years.  The question is, what was Yiftach's trait that attracted "empty men" to him and yet allowed him to be the type of leader Am Yisrael needed.

He Will Open

The word Yiftach in Hebrew means He Will Open.  The men that came to Yiftach were empty.  We learn in Perkei Avot in the 2nd Perek/5th Mishna that one who lacks fear of heaven is like a well.  The Rabbeinu Yonah points out that this is an "empty" well.  Later we learn that Rabbi Eliezer ben Horkunus is likened to a closed well that loses no water (i.e. Torah). By being filled up with the divine light a true chacham or leader has the ability to open the closed wells around him and fill them with the water of life or the Torah.

This was Yiftach's trait.  He drew those empty of Torah and Emunah and filled them with HaShem's light.  It was this trait that the elders of Gilead longed for in a leader and thus yearned for even when they saw it in  a lowly "son of a harlot."

We know that every Rosh Memshelah of Israel is an empty vessel that is still considered the head of our political system.  Just like the Medinah is an empty vessel void of the light of the Creator so to are its leaders. We need to pray that a true leader will arise and open our politicians eyes and all of Am Yisrael to the true light, the light of Emunah and Torah.  When this happens no force on Earth can take away what by Divine Right belongs to the people of Israel.

The Medinah when filled with the light of the Creator will become the Medinat Malchut Melech HaMoshiach.  This is the level where everyone and everything is reconnected to its true root, the pure divine light of the Creator. The light will be so strong it will cover the world.  With HaShem's help we will be led with proper leaders, filled with the divine light of Moshiach.

Earthquake, Hurricane, and Pollard

As I landed in Eretz Yisrael on Tuesday afternoon after a four day express visit to NYC to see my father and grandparents I heard news of an earthquake on the east coast of the USA.  We all know by now that the Washington Monument has been cracked.  This is an overt sign to all those who have open eyes that the USA is in fact crumbling. Read my posts on the downgrade to understand more. My boss pointed out that the obelisk was also the same shape prized by Rome and Egypt.  The crack, is a huge crack in the American Empire, yet we must understand why this is happening.

The earthquake spanned from its epicenter in Virginia North to Martha's Vineyard while the President was there vacationing and the South to North Carolina. Jonathan Pollard is being held in Butner, North Carolina.  By this weekend Hurricane Irene is set to hit the Carolinas and then go North through DC/Baltimore, NY, and smack into Cape Cod, once again where the President is vacationing. Another link between Pollard who rots in jail, barred from visiting his dying father and attending his funeral.

Let My Brother Go

The message is clear.  Jonathan is entrapped in jail, because we as a nation are entrapped by the klippot of the Western culture.  Our souls yearn to be free as Jonathan yearns to come home to his own land.  Our fates are entwined.

A friend of mine asked me why  this message is being sent now to the USA and to Obama and not all the years before. He wanted to know why this year was different.  This year was the first time a Prime Minister made an official request for Pollard's release.  When Bibi did that has the head of Medinat Yisrael it changed the dynamic.  No longer had we failed to undertake pidyon shevuyim. By actively embracing the all encompassing mitzvah we placed the onus and responsibility both morally and spiritually on the shoulders of the USA.  We have screamed: Let My Brother Go! And so now HaShem is sending messages to Obama and the US to let him go, because by letting Jonathan Pollard go free we will be let go as well.  So far Obama is not listening and the US is crumbling.  Like Pharoah before him his heart is hardened and the miracles will grow great until Jonathan and all of us are freed from our inner galut and able to experience the light of the Creator in an open and revealed way.

The Western Downgrade

The West is collapsing...tomorrow? No, but it is on a downward trend and forecast is it will get much worse.  China seems to be rising, but without desire to rule the world.  The 70 nations are trembling, because without their money they are powerless and so that is what is happening.  A part of us is going down with them.  We are connected somewhat with that world, a world physical pleasure and yet deep down inside we know that we want and need to be free.  Our Nation is the hand and sword of the Creator in the world and our weapons are the mitzvot and prayer.  The more we do and the more plead and connect with the One source of creation, the more we can will bring the redemptive light into the world.

The Nation of Israel is the collective Moshiach and it is with this light that we can will repair our world.  The Western crash is for our own good.  It releases us from our the captivity of physical prison and allows to achieve our true purpose.  Emunah is the light of the Creator and the true Tzaddik is the messenger and catalyst for the activation of this light in each one of us.  The more we connect and yearn for it the more we can express this light, this essential truth to the world.  In order to do this we must break free of our shackles, our constraints.  If we won't do that, then the Creator, the blessed holy one, the one source of being and creation will and is doing it for us.  Hold on to your seats, what ever crash the markets have had and what ever uneasiness about the world you have had...its only just beginning!

No More Sadness

From America to Afghanistan, China to Rothchild the world seems to be careening out of control.  The truth is we have been in this situation for a while now.  When the World Trade Center collapsed into a fiery inferno, the world shook and has been shaking ever since.

We are hours away from Tisha B'Av and we seem to be entering another level of chaos.  America "our friend" is in clear decline.  The Middle East is quaking and the disgruntled "masses" are making Woodstock Tel Aviv style.  With all of this going on fear and uncertainty are growing.  And despite all of this we are ignoring the simple solution to our problems and that solution is to know with perfect and complete belief that the Moshiach is here with us.  The answer to our problems is not QE3, government entitlement, better military, but the full and complete revelation of Moshiach and the rebuilding of the Beit Hamikdash.

Reb Nathan of Breslev points out that the purpose of the Beit HaMikdash was to remind Am Yisrael and the nations of the world what the true purpose of life is about.  We forget that this world is part of , many worlds above and that our spiritual galut is one where we are disconnected from birth with our source.  Geulah is the revelation of our true connection above.  The only thing that can guide us properly is a clear focus and goal in life.  The Beit HaMikdash reminds of that goal and with impending Geulah and the realization that all is for the best we will once again be sad no more because we and the whole world will know the truth and live by it.