The Eighth...

Tonight is Zot Chanukah.  It is the Eighth, the point in time where reality meets the divine.  The Maharaal in Tiferet Yisrael likens the Torah  to the Eighth.  The Torah is divine and it is that with which we refine ourselves and the world around us.  In a sense it is this that the Hashmonaim were fighting about.  The Yavanim (Greeks) believed in only what they saw and could rationalize. They believed in an intellect unguided by revelation.  The Torah is beyond that, it  represents the fusion between the divine and the physical.  It is our brit with the Creator which forces us to draw the divine light into reality through out actions. We believe in "Moshe K'Bal Torah M'Sinai." K'Bal...Receive.

Zot Chanukah is the culmination of the increasing kedushah.  It is one beyond the completion of 7 and yet that moment of moving beyond the natural order is more than just a digit, it is one that is complete change.  Ultimately that is the idea behind Moshiach.  He is like us, flesh and blood, but he is beyond.  In a sense his anointment with oil is our anointment, for he is "the heart of the Am."  One moment we are a nation with a heart of stone and the next moment we are one with a heart of flesh.  Redemption is about moving from the seventh to the eight.  We are still here, the natural order is unchanged, but inner clarity is complete and beyond.

The Midrash says points out while Moshe was the seventh, it was David who was the eighth and it is David who will reign at the end.  More than complete, a fusion of the divine and physical, a clarity of our covenant, and renewal of our Kingdom.

Our Land

It has begun.  Our Land yearns for the truth bound up within it.  It's holiness is unbounded, unfurled in front of the world.  With each new hill that is settled, claimed, the ancient Israeli returns.  No force can stop it and no power can subdue it. The argument and fight between a government that weakens in the face of world pressure and denies true Zionist heroes a house has now witnessed the children born after Oslo come of age.  No more flowers and no more hugs.  These are the children who witnessed Amona and saw that they must steer a different course. Is there a surprise?  The government knocks down homes of Jewish patriots and pours money into the modern Plishtim, the nation that is not a nation.

There is a force that is rising.  It is angry and in pain.  This is the force of the Supernal Mashiach ben Yosef imbued in the Land and that has fallen asleep in recent years.  However, the ancient Israeli has awakened, anew, alive.  "Shake yourself free, rise from the dust..."

The Final Act
Meanwhile the Kingdom of Gog U Magog is coming.  It is positioning itself on the East Side of the Jordan.  This is the Land of Gilead, the home of Eliyahu HaNavi and well inside the Land of Israel. Yet the real Israel is rising.  Authentic in spirit, free of the idolatry of Liberal Democracy.  The world will come because they cannot handle a Nation who returns to its true roots and source and does not bow tot he Bavel of Globalism.

These false leaders and peacemakers are trying to stop the final revelation of the Creator's light that comes with the rebuilding of the Beit Hamikdash and anointing of our true king and the reestablishment of the Sanhedrin.

We must settle new hills and build more houses and not let those forces who seek to prevent the complete Geulah and the full realization of the Creator's countenance from doing so.

Solutions to Our Conflict

The Nation of Israel has returned to its Land, yet we have been afraid to extend full control over our rightful inheritance.  Why is that? Essentially we lack belief/emunah.  We have long ceased to nurture the inner fire of our redemptive spirit that so pushed the founders of our nascent State.  Whether they believed in a "religious" sense isn't the point, they understood they were part of a profound change in the situation of the Jewish people.  Our generation fails to grasp that we are also part of an amazing historical current, which is flowing to a more perfect world.  We have lost sense of this so much that we are willing to part with areas of our inheritance and give it away to those who lack an historical, just, and most importantly G-dly claim.  There can never really be a two state solution, because a two state solution posits that our Land can be divided, which it cannot.

Thankfully there are those pushing for more than just the same peace slogans, and are getting the idea of one indivisible united Israel out on the table.  We must prepare in our minds and souls for a new approach. For believers in our cause there is only one solution: The One State Solution.

Is It Really Falling Apart or Getting Better?

The world is moving closer to something big and in a sense we are in the middle of the big moment already. The the divine light of the Creator, which drives our reality and pushes history has brought us to this point and yet there is a confusion as the mask falls from the faceless ruler of evil.

There is a covering through nature of the truth.  In the past it has been concentrated in evil and despotic rulers and yet now it is far worse, it is the machine bureaucracy and empty superlatives highlighting the benefit of Western thought and Democracy. The people vote and feel they have a say and so the old grievances feel less and over all connection to true ideology and the divine root of existence wanes.

This faceless ruler (the Memshelet Zadon according to Rav Wolbe in Alei Shur) is falling and with it the many things we hold dear.  Our comfortable world views are not so comfortable and we feel that things are spiralling out of control as the forces of globalization are stalled and shown to be broken.  Despite all of this, we see things are getting better, especially in Israel.  We are progressing and building and growing.  Is it perfect, no, but we are on an upward trajectory.  This is a direction towards something perfect, divine and true hidden in the world and covered by the faceless evil now becoming passe. This sublime truth of existence, the divine light and stream of G-dly consciousness is being revealed by us. 

The fall of Malchut Gog u Magog is not pretty.  It isn't supposed to be, but it is happening much more mercifully than we thought it would and that is the puzzle. We have imagined the end for centuries and this in many ways doesn't fit and yet when we learn Tanach and Gemorah and of course the writings of HaRav Kook and the Vilna Gaon we see, what is happening is exactly the way it should be.

Ruling From Above

לד  וַיָּגָר אַבְרָהָם בְּאֶרֶץ פְּלִשְׁתִּים, יָמִים רַבִּים.  {פ}

34 And Avraham sojourned in the land of the Philistines many days. {P}

In the midst of the tension and euphoria of the pending release of Gilad Shalit I want to move beyond the pros and cons of the deal since it appears to be a done deal.  We have a problem as a Nation a sickness if you will.  In a sense we have been dwelling for far too long in our Land which in irony is the same land of the Plishtim for our Lands are one and the same.  By the Torah telling us Avraham dwelt in the Land of the Plishtim it was informing us that there are times when even in our land it is not truly ours.

These Plishtim both modern and in the past are nothing more than a non nation, a mix of outcasts masquerading as an ancient clan deserving of a home land here in our Land. Gilad Shalit represents all of us for he has dwelled in the "Land of the Plishtim for many days" as we all have.  Our Nation is bound in many ways to the Palestinian struggle.  We are stuck and submerged in the lies and falsehoods of our enemies.  We know that each member of Am Yisrael is a microcosm of the whole Nation and so Gilad Shalit suffered in captivity within Israel and yet within the Land of the Plishtim at the same time.  His release is our release.  His return home is our return home

Returning A Captive

The sages teach us that the returning of a Jewish captive is greater than all other mitzvot. It is a strange mitzvah, because by redeeming a captive we are in  sense rewarding those that put the captive there, no matter the price. Yet we go forward with it anyhow.  It is dangerous!  Many are saying.  Yes it is, but we are implored in the second to last siman in Hoshen Mishpat to risk our lives to save our fellow Jew's life and/or property.  The collective Am Yisrael seems to be willing to do that.  The deal isn't fair; we all know that.  Then again life is often times not fair. The Shalits as much as we feel for them have put the nation in a tight position.  Not everyone would.  Others have sucked it up and dealt with their fate (i.e. Jonathan Pollard), because they did not want the nation to suffer like they had, but this really isn't about the Shalit family anymore, it is about us.  Are we up for the task?  Are we ready to move on in our Land and leave the land of the Plishtim behind?

Ruling Our Land

The name Gilad Shalit hints at a greater correlation between his release and the unfolding Geulah process. Shalit means ruler. Gilad is the place of Eretz Yisrael home to Eliyahu HaNavi.  We don't know the end of this story, for the story of Gilad Shalit as every captive Jew is really all of our stories.  We as a nation are a vessel for the divine light, which holds up the world.  It penetrates our being whether we are aware of it or not.  It is this role we play as a divine nation that puts us into this world as a partner in building it and nurturing it from a spiritual perspective. Gilad Shalit's release despite the emotional dilemma it causes us will help us to move forward as a Nation towards the complete redemption.  This is simply because, like Eliyahu HaNavi, we are a Nation which rules our Land from above and beyond nature. This is the very point and power behind Pidiyun HaShevuiim (redeeming a captive), it is above the intellect and forces us to believe in something bigger than ourselves. May Gilad Shalit's release be a sign for good things to come to our Nation and may it be the key which unlocks all of our captives as well as all of us.

Mozia

Just before Shabbat I took two of our kids along with a friend and his children to our Yishuv's long time defunct Givah, named Mozia.  The youth had started it years previously in response to Gush Katif, but it has since remained dormant of activity until recently.  My community's youth or at least some of them have gone away to Yeshivot and come back energized and ready to revive Mozia.  It might not be much, but it is a beginning and just like anything else, a beginning is better than nothing.

Here are the pictures...enjoy and Chag Somayach!

The kids on the way down (we are a few meters from the last house on the Yishuv)

Behind Us

One of our community's most fearless builders

Mozia's sign

Mozia and it's Succa

Doesn't look like much, but its a start

Starting a house!

"And the Lord was with Yehudah..."

יט  וַיְהִי יְהוָה אֶת-יְהוּדָה, וַיֹּרֶשׁ אֶת-הָהָר:  כִּי לֹא לְהוֹרִישׁ אֶת-יֹשְׁבֵי הָעֵמֶק, כִּי-רֶכֶב בַּרְזֶל לָהֶם.	19 And the LORD was with Yehuda; and he drove out the inhabitants of the hill-country; for he could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron.
כ  וַיִּתְּנוּ לְכָלֵב אֶת-חֶבְרוֹן, כַּאֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר מֹשֶׁה; וַיּוֹרֶשׁ מִשָּׁם, אֶת-שְׁלֹשָׁה בְּנֵי הָעֲנָק.	20 And they gave Hebron unto Caleb, as Moses had spoken; and he drove out thence the three sons of Anak.
כא  וְאֶת-הַיְבוּסִי יֹשֵׁב יְרוּשָׁלִַם, לֹא הוֹרִישׁוּ בְּנֵי בִנְיָמִן; וַיֵּשֶׁב הַיְבוּסִי אֶת-בְּנֵי בִנְיָמִן, בִּירוּשָׁלִַם, עַד, הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה.  {פ}	21 And the children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites that inhabited Jerusalem; but the Jebusites dwelt with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem, unto this day. {P}

When the HaShem is with us we are victorious.  We have come home to dwell in our ancient homeland...we have been victorious in expressing the divine will of the prophets and yet we fail to recognize it.  HaShem is with us, but we act like Binyamin and let our enemies dwell among us.  They throw rocks and kill and we do nothing. They live and prosper and grow and more of our Nation suffers.

Both the tribe of Yehudah (including Shimon) and Binyamin remained after the exile of the Northern Kingdom.  They in a sense merged together and so too these two aspects as well. There is part of our Nation which dwells alone, willing to fight for our Land and their are others who wish to have our enemies dwell among us.  This not a malicious desire, but one of misplaced focus.  We are not yet in final throes of the Geulah process where "the wolf will lie down with the lamb."  We have yet to conquer our Land fully and so we have a struggle within.

Interestingly when we returned from our first exile (both Yehudah and Binyamin) we united in vision and purpose against our internal adversaries and despite this unity we became weak and our building was frozen:

א  וַיִּשְׁמְעוּ, צָרֵי יְהוּדָה וּבִנְיָמִן:  כִּי-בְנֵי הַגּוֹלָה בּוֹנִים הֵיכָל, לַיהוָה אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל.	1 Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity were building a temple unto the LORD, the God of Israel;
ב  וַיִּגְּשׁוּ אֶל-זְרֻבָּבֶל וְאֶל-רָאשֵׁי הָאָבוֹת, וַיֹּאמְרוּ לָהֶם נִבְנֶה עִמָּכֶם--כִּי כָכֶם, נִדְרוֹשׁ לֵאלֹהֵיכֶם; ולא (וְלוֹ) אֲנַחְנוּ זֹבְחִים, מִימֵי אֵסַר חַדֹּן מֶלֶךְ אַשּׁוּר, הַמַּעֲלֶה אֹתָנוּ, פֹּה.	2 then they drew near to Zerubbabel, and to the heads of fathers' houses, and said unto them: 'Let us build with you; for we seek your God, as ye do; and we do sacrifice unto Him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us up hither.'
ג  וַיֹּאמֶר לָהֶם זְרֻבָּבֶל וְיֵשׁוּעַ, וּשְׁאָר רָאשֵׁי הָאָבוֹת לְיִשְׂרָאֵל--לֹא-לָכֶם וָלָנוּ, לִבְנוֹת בַּיִת לֵאלֹהֵינוּ:  כִּי אֲנַחְנוּ יַחַד נִבְנֶה, לַיהוָה אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל, כַּאֲשֶׁר צִוָּנוּ, הַמֶּלֶךְ כּוֹרֶשׁ מֶלֶךְ-פָּרָס.	3 But Zerubbabel, and Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of fathers' houses of Israel, said unto them: 'Ye have nothing to do with us to build a house unto our God; but we ourselves together will build unto the LORD, the God of Israel, as king Cyrus the king of Persia hath commanded us.'
ד  וַיְהִי, עַם-הָאָרֶץ--מְרַפִּים, יְדֵי עַם-יְהוּדָה; ומבלהים (וּמְבַהֲלִים) אוֹתָם, לִבְנוֹת.	4 Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and harried them while they were building,
ה  וְסֹכְרִים עֲלֵיהֶם יוֹעֲצִים, לְהָפֵר עֲצָתָם--כָּל-יְמֵי, כּוֹרֶשׁ מֶלֶךְ פָּרַס, וְעַד-מַלְכוּת, דָּרְיָוֶשׁ מֶלֶךְ-פָּרָס.	5 and hired counsellors against them, to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.
ו  וּבְמַלְכוּת, אֲחַשְׁוֵרוֹשׁ, בִּתְחִלַּת, מַלְכוּתוֹ--כָּתְבוּ שִׂטְנָה, עַל-יֹשְׁבֵי יְהוּדָה וִירוּשָׁלִָם.  {ס}	6 And in the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, wrote they an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem. {S}

This is where we are now.  We have returned under the auspices of International Agreement (Balfour Declaration) just like under Cyrus and we are surrounded by our adversaries (צָרֵי יְהוּדָה וּבִנְיָמִן). They are our enemies of old.  They have an aspect of the Plishtim and filled with the spirit of Amalek (who relishes attacking women and children).  After all we know that it was in fact Haman that was called צֹרֵר הַיְּהוּדִים.

י  וַיָּסַר הַמֶּלֶךְ אֶת-טַבַּעְתּוֹ, מֵעַל יָדוֹ; וַיִּתְּנָהּ, לְהָמָן בֶּן-הַמְּדָתָא הָאֲגָגִי--צֹרֵר הַיְּהוּדִים.

10 And the king took his ring from his hand, and gave it unto Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the Jews' enemy.

These are the only two places in the Tanach where this expression is used. Both were Amalek.

It is true that HaShem is with us and at the same time the Creator is hidden within the working of nature and geopolitics. It is hard to see how we will found our way out of this situation. We need to know one thing, one idea. Rosh Hoshanah is the time to crown HaShem the King of the world. This is not for us, but for the whole world. HaShem is guiding us to Geulah Sleima. There are enemies among us that believe we have no right to live here. They deny us our rightful place in our Ancient biblically mandated homeland. In doing so they deny the providence of the Creator and so they reveal their true hate for him and for us.

If we believe that the our G-d is the same G-d who took us out of Mitzrayim (Egypt) and is the same G-d who directs the Universe's historical forces then no matter how dark it looks and how many victims have fallen to the hands of our sworn enemies, we know that HaShem is King and he can and will bring Geulah in an instant. We just have to do our part.

...he went down to Ahab to Samaria

ב  וַיֵּרֶד לְקֵץ שָׁנִים אֶל-אַחְאָב, לְשֹׁמְרוֹן, וַיִּזְבַּח-לוֹ אַחְאָב צֹאן וּבָקָר לָרֹב, וְלָעָם אֲשֶׁר עִמּוֹ; וַיְסִיתֵהוּ, לַעֲלוֹת אֶל-רָמֹת גִּלְעָד.

2 And at the end of years he went down to Ahab to Samaria. And Ahab killed sheep and oxen for him in abundance, and for the people that were with him, and persuaded him to go up with him to Ramoth-gilead.

What was will be.  We know that the two kingdoms are destined to be reunited at the end of days.  More so in the beginning of our return Beit Yisrael will rule.  We learn from Rav Kook that the secular Zionists were activating the aspect of Beit Yisrael led by Achav from Beit Efraim and although their clinging to the Land was not based on Torah, they were still involved with a lofty enterprise.  Like Achav they were focused on the National structure, the vessel of our return.  Beit Yehuda was at the time of Achav led by a righteous king Yehoshephat.  Achav had the stronger army and in fact the pasukim referred to Achav as Melech even when Yehoshephat was next to him, referring to the latter by only his first name.  All homage despite his evil actions was given to Achav. There for it said that Yehoshephat descended to Achav for Achav was at a lower place spiritually.  Yet Yehoshephat still saw the need to attempt to help the King of Israel.

The first pasuk in the chapter uses the word לְקֵץ or at the end.  Now this could be taken simply like after a long time or it is like many things in the Tanach be giving us a hint to something else.  We know that the Torah and Nach uses a vav to switch the future tense to past tense.  This is the style of the grammar, but this is not by accident.  HaShem and the Anshei Knesset Gedolah are doing this to relate to the timeless nature of the events in both the Torah and Nach.  At "the End"  means both the simple meaning and the future meaning of the end of days as it is used in the Navi'em.

We find ourselves now at the cusp of the switch between the Malchut Yisrael led by Beit Efraim (the current political structure of the State of Israel) to the Malchut Yisrael led by Beit Yehuda and ultimately David.  Like Achav before who fell in war leading to the final downward trend of the Northern Kingdom, so to now, with the weight of the world upon it, the only way forward for Medinat Yisrael is to go the way of Malchut Beit Yehuda by reuniting both Kingdoms under the Creator or face a disintegration so perilous that Beit David will be forced to rise to save us all.  I pray for the former.

"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.

Default, Downgrade, and the Redemption (Part 3)

A Post Gog U Magog World

I have been of the opinion that George W. Bush was Gog.  Now you are going to ask: What about the invasion of Israel and division of Jerusalem as Yechezkel fortold?

It is very important to understand that Yechezkel’s timeline of events of the Redemption starting in the 36^th chapter are very allegorical.  It is clear they are written to convey deep points about the end of days and the process that unfolds.  In chapter 38 Gog leads the nations of the world against us in fact he is called Nasi (Prince or President). 

When one looks at the events surrounding George Bush he clearly fought wars against the Arabs and Muslim world as most commentators suggest will happen at the end.  These same commentators then say that at the end they will join forces against us. 

When was that you might ask.  That was at the Annapolis Conference on the 27^th of November in 2007.  The nations of the world gathered together to divide Jerusalem and Israel.  Our government was led by Ehud Olmert and Shimon Peres (with of course Livni and Barak in toe) probably the most revealed and public members of the Erev Rav.  Yet we made it through.  Even the Toldos Aharon Rebbe predicted that everything would fall apart from then on out.  He used the word Naphal because it is the root of the word Annapolis.  Nov. 27^th was right before the economic crash of the Western World and America.  George Bush came to Israel twice in 2008 and both time with a large entourage.  The economic collapse was well underway by his second trip and even more so after it. 

The Kingdom of G-d

The Kingdom of G-d comes not from the four kingdoms, but in place of them as Daniel describes it as a stone which comes smashing the statue of the four kingdoms to pieces.  Essentially what is happening is the fall of the New World Order and the Four Kingdoms.  This is happening financially and directly after the events against Israel in 2008.  The world has been in a tailspin since then and the world economy has been unraveling.  At the end of this process which is being sped up now with the very real possibility of a default and downgrade in the USA will be a world without the coverings and restraints and what we will see is a full revelation of HaShem’s light.

The Weapon of Moshiach

Rebbe Nachman states in the second Torah of Lekutei Mohran: “The essential Weapon of Moshiach will be prayer. “ All the events we are witnessing are coming about now because the Moshiach is here and is praying for the unraveling of the “Evil Empire” and the revelation of the Creator’s light.  He is fighting the “Wars of HaShem” with his mouth and we are witnessing the outcome in reality.  At the end of the break down he will be revealed and he will teach us how pray with nothing holding us back. We know that according to the Rambam that he goes in the way of Torah like King David his father.  King David was the master of prayer and that is the Torah and Weapon of the Moshiach.

Default, Downgrade, and the Redemption (Part 2)

Gog U Magog and the New World Order

In the introduction of Netzach Yisrael the Maharal titles Gog U Magog a kingdom.  To understand this point further and of course to acclimate ourselves with the identity of this Kingdom and its function at the end of days we can use the Arizal who points out that the Gematria of Gog UMagog is 70.  This mirrors the 70 nations of the world.  These 70 nations have sought for the entire world’s existence to control and run things, yet have failed due to their infighting. Rebbe Nachman in Torah 36 of the Lekutei Mohran points out that it is these 70 nations which our souls descend into as they are the dark side of the 70 souls of the collective “House of Israel.”  Rebbe Nachman points out that the primary weapon that the 70 nations use to pull us down is sexual indecency. To understand where we are in relationship to the events of Gog U Magog we must understand the concept of Exile and Redemption.

To Reveal G-d’s Light

The concept of Redemption is actually a lifting off or removal of the control of the 70 nations.  This control or covering has been ongoing since the exile into Bavel (translated as confusion).  Since then there has been 4 central Kingdoms in history as pointed out in the prophecy of Daniel.  These four Kingdoms are Bavel, Persia, Greece, and Rome.  Each was built on the ruins of the other and in prophesying on them Daniel uses the image of a giant statue. It is this statue and the apparatus that has been built around it which has smothered the light of the Creator in the World.  Redemption requires a removal of this statue and world control in order for HaShem’s light to shine forth.

As Rome in its current visage as the Western World has realized that it’s power is diminishing it has tried to set up what many have called the New World Order.  This began to come into existence shortly after the fall of the Soviet Union and the 1^st Persian Gulf War.  This New World Order has spread through the world by way of finances and humanistic global education.  Moral relativism and political correctness have reigned supreme in the ensuing years and with a rise in a lack of traditional morality and family. 

This is Gog U Magog and the goal is to cement the “statue of the four kingdoms” onto the Earth.  The midrash in Esther Rabbah says that the Kingodom of Gog U Magog tries to do what all the other enemies of the Nation of Israel failed to do and they do it by trying to cut our connection with the Creator. 

Yet, despite all the issues surround us, there is hope and oddly enough it rests with the obvious collapse of the New World Order and the Western hegemony over us.

Default, Downgrade, and the Redemption (Part 1)

There has been much clamor made on the many Geulah and Moshiach forums about the cosmic mincha gedolah.  Of course there seems to be some discrepancy on which date it is supposed to be.  Most gedolim have held that it is the first of Av of this year and a minority have suggested it is the 25^th of Tammuz.

I want to first say that I believe the date has significance, but that we shouldn’t be caught up with trying to find out what “climactic event” occurred on either of those two days.  Our emunah is based on HaShem running events the way he sees fit and not trying to impress on them what we want.  Meaning, trying to pigeon hole the tremendous and transformative events of our time period into predefined time frames can be a downer.

That being said I want to focus on what I believe is the significant event or series of events happening over this period of time.  Everyone has watched and seen how the real possibility of an American default and downgrade has increased in the past few days.  A seeming sense of insanity has rippled through Washington, D.C. as the divisions have only grown.  I for one have believed it was going to go this way for a few months, but it has grown apparent to all in the last few days.  Yet, what does this mean for Geulah/Redemption?

These are the issues I want to tackle in the coming posts:

•         Gog U Magog
•         The Four Kingdoms
•        New World Order
•         The Weapon of Moshiach

Each of these could be a post unto itself, but I will break it down into two posts following this one.  Before I close with this introductory post I want to reiterate what the Tzaddikim have said about what we are going through and that ultimately we need Emunah.  It will get scary for all of us but we must know that everything is for the best and for our own good!

Moshe-Mashiach: From the Dust I will Arise

Today is Gimmel Tammuz.  It is the day that HasShem stood the sun in its place for Yehoshua bin Nun and it is the day that the light of the world, the Moshe of the generation was "seemingly extinguished."   The Lubavitcher Rebbe's yartzheit is a very powerful day.  It signals in many ways a transitionary period between galut and geulah.  Yet, what is the connection between the Rebbe and Yehoshua bin Nun, and why is this connected to our redemption?


The role of the Moshe in every generation is to inject the Nation of Israel with the light of Torah.  The Moshe has what is called the "collective soul."  In other words he has a conscious interaction with our National soul called Knesset Yisrael.  It is through this interaction that he can see and direct the National enterprise.  As redemption has moved closer, the Moshe has become more and more revealed. According to the Ari there is a role at the end of Galut for the Moshe-Mashiach.  The Rebbe made this clear in many sichot and of course we understand his last ma'amer (dissertation) as a direct reference of his connection to this role.

The Rebbe's torah is the blue print or cosmic understanding of Mashiach and Geulah (similar to Rav Kook's Torah being connected to Eretz Yisrael and our National rebirth).  It is the pure potential Mashiach consciousness waiting to be expressed and actualized into reality.  This can and will happen in Eretz Yisrael.   As it says in Lecha Dodi: "I have awoken, from the dust I will arise."  The dust here is the life giving dirt of Eretz Yisrael, where the Torah of the Moshe-Mashiach will become actualized (Rav Yitzchak Ginsburgh - Malchut Yisrael Vol. 2).

Yehoshua the Actualizer

It is known that Yehoshua was compared to the moon and Moshe to the sun.  Moshe could have come into the Land of Israel if we had merited it, but we didn't and instead the Torah remained in potential only until we entered.  Yehoshua remained the servant of Moshe even after he entered the Land, and it was in this capacity that he began actualizing the Torah of Moshe.  In this sense it is the miracle of the sun which symbolizes the actualization process of the Torah of Moshe.

David the Builder

The process of Malchut Yisrael took 400 years from the redemption of Egypt to actualize and build.  It is this actualization process that Yehoshua started and David (and his son Shlomo) nearly finished with the building of the Beit HaMikdash. As we have begun the journey along the process of Geulah, the Torah of Mashiach and redemption has moved from potential to actualization, from the Moshe to the David.  Gimmel Tammuz represents that transition.  We are somewhere along that path and although we find ourselves home we have yet to fully begin our task of building our Malchut Yisrael.  May this Gimmel Tammuz remind us that it is not enough to live in the consciousness of the Mashiach, but we need to actively actualize it in order to witness its full revelation.

"...the Midianites came up..."

ג וְהָיָה, אִם-זָרַע יִשְׂרָאֵל--וְעָלָה מִדְיָן וַעֲמָלֵק וּבְנֵי-קֶדֶם, וְעָלוּ עָלָיו.

3 And it was, when Israel had planted, that the Midianites came up, and the Amalekites, and the children of the east; they came up against them;

(Shoftim 6:3)


The struggle over the Land of Israel is an intrinsic part of the furthering of the redemption of Israel and thus the entire world.  Every piece of Land we settle and inhabit draws light and life into the earth and infuses the particles with G-dliness. The inverse is also true...every piece of the Land of Israel that is taken away from us and settled by our enemies and those which seek to remove Israel from its Land draws impurity and darkness into the earth and stalls the redemptive process.

This is why the non-Jewish nations in the area of Israel in the time of Gideon sought to take our Land when we planted. It was this planting which restores the inherent G-dliness to the soil and in turn furthers the building of Malchut Yisrael (the Kingdom of Israel).  So too today we have a similar problem.  We have come home to settle and to live and whether subconsciously or consciously we are aware that we are building a Kingdom of G-d and yet our enemies close by with the help of those abroad and those among our Nation who have lost their way seek to take our Land from us.

Below are some pictures that I took just before Shabbat of new illegal Arab buildings 100 meters from the road descending to our community.  The attempt is clear and is a planned effort to choke our community of 62 families off from the main North South road between Beer Sheva and Jerusalem.

These are three of the 7 Arab Houses close to the turn off

Behind me are the above houses. Ahead is my car and the turn off to our Community to the left or to the right back to the main road.

Bani Nayim...the Main Arab village near us has expanded rapidly with help from Saudi, American, and European funding

To understand the significance of the juncture, the top of the hill is about 1000 meters above sea level.  Our community Pnei Hever/Maale Hever is located at 810 meters above sea level.  The top is believed to be the place where Avraham and Lot stood and gazed out at the Land, dividing it (Lot getting Ever HaYarden and Avraham getting Canaan.)  Although the Arabs call the top the Nebi...I would like to rename it Mitzpe Avraham and in truth when hiking or driving up to the top there is a beautiful area (the IDF has a pill box there) to look out and gaze out onto the Dead Sea Valley, the Moav Mountains, Karmel, Maon, and more.

With the help of the Almighty we can reclaim our Land and reset our redemptive course towards the full revelation of Mashiach.

Arresting the Torah

Rav Dov Lior

There is news today that the police have arrested Rav Dov Lior of Kiryat Arba.  By arresting one of the giants of Torah in our generation, the police are assuming they can constrain and restrict the Torah.  They cannot.  The opinions of Rav Lior are not his alone, but can be found throughout the Talmud and it's commentaries, most notably the Rambam.

Yet, this has always been the plan of those connected to the Erev Rav: to diminish the strength of the Torah in the Land of Israel.  It is the Torah and most importantly the Torah of Rav Kook that has the power to remove the impurities of our Land.  The Erev Rav knows this and so while they pay lip service to "Jewish Values" they do not tolerate the Torah of Truth, the Torah of the redemption to hold a presence in Israel.

The detention of Rav Lior is part of a wider strategy to play the National camp against itself, while allowing  a slow death and encirclement of the communities in Yehudah and the Shomron (more on that in the coming days).  For every move to the right the Prime Minister makes he has back tracked on other very important issues and so the battle for leadership continues and until then those Rabbis that dare speak the truth found within the unblemished supernal Torah are dragged through mud.

May the Children of Israel yearn for true teshuva on both a national and individual level. For "It is impossible to become attached to the foundation of Israel's Nationalism unless one's soul has become purified already..." (Orot HaTeshuva 13:1)


By purifying both our personal and national middot we can more clearly see the line between right and wrong; G-dliness and and the lack there of; unity and division.  When we eradicate the infection of Western thought within our minds and hearts, we will be able to disconnect the nation from the influences of the Erev Rav and walk in the straight path blazed by leaders like Rav Dov Lior.

"...let me go;"

 תְּנָה אֶת-נָשַׁי וְאֶת-יְלָדַי, אֲשֶׁר עָבַדְתִּי אֹתְךָ בָּהֵן--וְאֵלֵכָה:  כִּי אַתָּה יָדַעְתָּ, אֶת-עֲבֹדָתִי אֲשֶׁר עֲבַדְתִּיךָ.

30:26 Give me my wives and my children that I have served you for them, and let me go; for you know my service that I have served you.'

There are times when we must draw a line in the sand and cut our losses and walk away. America has given Israel a lot, but it is never out of direct love of the Jewish people or the State of Israel, rather it is mainly a type of giving which benefits its own interests. When Yaakov finished his time with Laban he had grown, both spiritually and in stature. He had two wives and their hand maidens and many children, yet he was trapped for he felt compelled to stay with Lavan, until he decided it was time to go.

Am Yisrael is afraid to walk away from America. We are nervous at the prospect of being on our own, of truly being independent, yet this need has never been more critical. We are facing a serious security situation as well as a political onslaught. America has benefited from our partnership and yet we, other than money that we are forced to spend on American weaponry have begun to suffer a great deal from this relationship.

We are reminded by America and their government how great of friends they are, yet they have crossed a line now and have decided to place a reset button on our relationship.

Pollard as the Paradigm

America tells the world that it is a freedom loving country. A nation of principles, yet it keeps Jonathan Pollard in jail. Now, when asked to simply allow Jonathan to spend time with his dying father, they have refused.

This has ceased to be a healthy relationship if it ever was. It is now time for Israel to walk away. America is falling and we have no need to be dragged down with it. We must say thank you and then walk away from America the way our father did with his uncle Lavan, after all years from now (or perhaps shorter the Beit Lavan (White House) and the Nation it leads will be long gone and we will continue on our way to live int he Land of our Fathers and to build it and extend it West and East; North and South as promised in the Torah Yaakov and his descendents.

"...and He came to Hevron"

Moshe commanded 12 spies to enter into the Land of Israel.  What should have been a fairly easy scouting mission turned into the biggest sin in Am Yisrael's history. The Nation had been promised by the Creator of the world, that they would dwell in their eternal inheritance as was sworn to Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov their forefathers. Yet, 10 out of the 12 spies reported negatively on the ability for the Nation of Israel to conquer the land.  As a punishment Am Yisrael would have to wander in the desert until a new generation would be ready, cleansed of the impurities of foreign lands to conquer what was rightfully theirs.

Only Yehoshua and Calev did not falter.  Yehoshua needed an additional letter (added to his name by Moshe) in order to hold strong against the Spies' faltering emunah (certain faith).  But what of Calev? 

כב  וַיַּעֲלוּ בַנֶּגֶב, וַיָּבֹא עַד-חֶבְרוֹן,
22 And they went up in the South and He came to Hevron

The verse indicates a change from plural to singular and it is Rashi that points out that this was indeed Calev who gathered strength from the Avot and Imahot buried in the Maarat HaMachpelah.  It was this connection that Calev drew upon to withstand the loss of Emunah from the other 10 spies.

Ben Gurion: Hebron is Jerusalem's Sister

In 1970 Ben Gurion wrote a letter in reflection of the return of Israel to Judea and Samaria. Here is a piece of the letter:

Before Jacob died in Egypt, after going down there to see his son Joseph, he made his sons promise to bury him with his fathers "in Hebron in the cave, in Ephron the Hittite's field, where were buried Abraham and his wife Sarah, Isaac and his wife Rebecca and where I buried Leah" (Genesis 49:29, 31). And that is what Joseph and his brothers did. It is thus clear that only the three Patriarchs and the three Matriarchs of the Jewish People were buried in the Cave of Machpela.

However, the importance of Hebron is not merely its role in the lives of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs of our nation. After Saul, the first King of Israel fell upon his sword in the war with the Philistines, so that he might not be taken captive, and David replaced him as King, David inquired of the Eternal: "Shall I go up to one of the cities of Judah?" And the Eternal answered: Go up!" And David said: "Unto where shall I go up?" And G-d answered" "To Hebron." And David went up there...and the men of Judah came and anointed David there as King of Judah" (Samuel II,2.4). Finally, after the death of Abner, commander of Saul's army, "and all the tribes of Israel came to David in Hebron and proclaimed: "Behold we are of the bone and flesh; and so it was yesterday and the day before, while Saul was King over us, it was you who were the leader of Israel; and the Almighty has said "You shall shepherd my people Israel and you shall be prince of Israel." And all the elders of Israel came to the king in Hebron, and King David made a covenant with them in Hebron over Israel" (Samuel II, 5:1-3). Thus arose in Hebron the greatest royal dynasty that Israel ever had. Read the whole letter...

We are living in a generation where the world is quick to forget its roots. It dismisses that which lies within everything, the divine root of Creation, the director of History, the one and true G-d. The sin of the spies is a continuous sin. It is the sin of forgetting where we came from and from that stems the loss of knowing where we are going and how to hold onto to who we are. The world wants to forget, to move into a new era. The world wants an era where rules are just there to make life a little easier and society just a bit better, but Am Yisrael is meant to be a reminder to the world, and Hevron is the source of that reminder.  Hevron and the Maarat Hamachpelah are the way back to our source, to our path.  If Jerusalem is our future, the center and heart of our Kingdom, then Hevron is our Nation's memory, the place of our fathers and mothers.  With it we can return and bring the world back to its true essence, the One G-d of Israel.

Yosef Still Lives

 אֲנִי יְשֵׁנָה, וְלִבִּי עֵר
"I am asleep, but my heart is awake..."
-Shir HaShirim 5:2

The whole process of redemption is like a person waking up from a long slumber.  When the nation of Israel is without its own Land, it has no hope of awakening from its slumber, yet it's heart still beats.  In the Land of Israel our National awakening begins to occur.  At times we wish to fall back asleep and other times the beating of our heart is loud enough to stir us awake.

"I am Yosef..."

When Yosef, could no longer contain himself and in reality conceal himself he wailed and told his brothers who he was.  He embraced his brother Binyamin, crying.  In a sense Yosef, who had all but turned Mitzri (Egyptian) in look and speech was representative of the concealed Jew, the Jew  whose heart beats deep down, but appears asleep to everyone else.  When the brothers told their father "Yosef still lives," it had a dual meaning.  In one sense they were relaying that Yosef was physically alive, but on a much deeper level they wanted their father to understand that despite Yosef's descent into the impure levels of Egypt, his heart beat alive as a member of Am Yisrael.

Netanyahu's Speech

The Prime Minister's speech given in the halls of Congress seemed to be something out of the ordinary.  Binyamin Netanyahu spoke in a way that few Prime Ministers before him had spoke. On the outside he appears asleep, almost in a daze, but when he spoke his heart beat aloud awakening the Nation from its slumber.  We know that the heart is connected to the faculty of speech and it is this faculty above all else that Netanyahu has mastered.

In many ways Bibi Netanyahu is playing the part of Yosef.  He appears Western and assimilated.  He speaks in modern terms, referring to democracy and ethical principles, yet he said what no other Prime Minister ever said before: Judea and Samaria is our historical homeland. He was adamant that this Land is ours.  "This is the Land where Abraham brought the idea of One G-d to the World."

After all, the Land of Israel was promised for all time to the children of Israel.  The heart of the Prime Minister could not forget this and by linking our connection to the Land with Abraham, the truth of that statement revealed where Netanyahu is at his core.

In a sense every Jew can come back.  We each have a beating heart, no matter how far we appear to have fallen asleep.We learn in Devarim 32:9:

כִּי חֵלֶק יְהוָה, עַמּוֹ:   יַעֲקֹב, חֶבֶל נַחֲלָתוֹ.
For part of Hashem is his Nation; Yaakov, is a cord of his inheritence.

We are told a cord is made up of three strands woven together.  These three strands represent the Avot (Avraham, Yitzhak, and Yaakov). Our eternal connection to the Land of Israel is by way of the Avot.  It is not something religious within us, but rather something innate and natural.  It is this connection that still beats with our Nation no matter how asleep we seem to be and it is by the way of the Avot that we awaken from our long slumber.  Just like Yosef so many years ago shrugged off the outward layers of assimilation to announce to all that he in fact still lived, so too Am Yisrael lives eternally as the Prime Minister confirmed in front of the entire world.

We must pray and hope the Prime Minister continues to awaken from his "sleep." 

"For Out of Jerusalem Shall Go a Remnant..."

Darkness surrounds us and yet we are asleep.  The world is closing in and we continue on with our lives.  There have been warnings and these warnings have fallen on deaf ears.  And now we are all awake.  "Just pull back," that man in the White House says.  "You are occupiers. The Palestinians deserve a State."  The game was fun until now.  Now it is no longer a game.  The world wants to take Jerusalem from us.  It wants to show the Jews a lesson yet.

"For Out of Jerusalem Shall Go a Remnant..." Melachim 19:31

The Nation of Israel is eternal.  We are the Hand of the Creator in the World.  Sometimes we forget,  but G-d reminds us.  The truth is, we have seen this play before.  Leader of the World, defeater of nations, decides to take Israel. First he is successful and then he tries to take Jerusalem.  He wants what he cannot have.  The Talmud tells us in Perek Helek of Sanhedrin that Sanherev was meant to be Gog and King Hezkiyahu was meant to be the Moshiach, yet after the defeat of Sanherev Am Yisrael stumbled.  We know there is nothing new under the sun and so today's Sanherev comes for our Land and our City.  Already the Prime Minister for all of his failings has grown a backbone and has said NO.

But no will not do it, for Obama has a role to play and he cannot help himself. Hezkiahu has already taught us the way out:

15 And Hezekiahu prayed before the LORD, and said: 'O LORD, the God of Israel, that sittest upon the cherubim, Thou art the God, even Thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; Thou hast made heaven and earth. 16 Incline Thine ear, O LORD, and hear; open Thine eyes, O LORD, and see; and hear the words of Sanherev, wherewith he hath sent him to taunt the living God. 17 Of a truth, LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands, 18 and have cast their gods into the fire; for they were no gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone; therefore they have destroyed them. 19 Now therefore, O LORD our God, save Thou us, I beseech Thee, out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that Thou art the LORD God, even Thou only.'

Our way out is to both be prepared to fight for our Land and even more important beseech the Creator to save us; not for us, but for his Holy Name.

...and He will deliver you out of the hand of the Plishtim/Palestinians

וַיֹּאמֶר שְׁמוּאֵל, אֶל-כָּל-בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל לֵאמֹר, אִם-בְּכָל-לְבַבְכֶם אַתֶּם שָׁבִים אֶל-יְהוָה, הָסִירוּ אֶת-אֱלֹהֵי הַנֵּכָר מִתּוֹכְכֶם וְהָעַשְׁתָּרוֹת; וְהָכִינוּ לְבַבְכֶם אֶל-יְהוָה וְעִבְדֻהוּ לְבַדּוֹ, וְיַצֵּל אֶתְכֶם מִיַּד פְּלִשְׁתִּים

And Samuel spoke unto all the house of Israel, saying: 'If ye do return unto the LORD with all your heart, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you, and direct your hearts unto the LORD, and serve Him only; and He will deliver you out of the hand of the Plishtim.'

 

Each Nation has a root and is a piece of the blueprint of Creation. Each of the 70 Nations found in Tanach and mapped out for us in Parshat Noach has a unique influence in today's world.  With the return Am Yisrael to its ancient heritage, the unfolding of the redemption has gained speed.  Yet, with this return many enemies of old found throughout the Tanach have returned as well.  After all, if Torah is the blueprint of the world, the Nach holds the key to understanding the mechanic expression of divine will in the Holy Land when we, the Nation of Israel gain sovereignty within it.

"...and the Plishtim went out from them..."

As we reach into the latter days the blueprint of the Land of Israel becomes more and more revealed in the world.  Once again there Assyrians (Syria), Babylonians (Iraq), Persians (Iran), Mitzrayim (Egypt), and of course Plishtim (Palestinians).   These are physical expressions of the upper spiritual dimension and not identified by physical genetics.  They are actors upon the larger holistic "play," fulfilling a role they are not conscious of.

So who are the Plishtim and what can they tell us about how we can handle the Palestinans today? The Torah lists in the 10th Perek at the end of Parshat Noach, the descendents of Noach's three sons: Yapeth, Shem. and Ham.  The Torah recounts the line leading to the Plishtim.

	יג  וּמִצְרַיִם יָלַד אֶת-לוּדִים וְאֶת-עֲנָמִים, וְאֶת-לְהָבִים--וְאֶת-נַפְתֻּחִים. 13 And Mizraim begot Ludim, and Anamim, and Lehabim, and Naphtuhim, יד  וְאֶת-פַּתְרֻסִים וְאֶת-כַּסְלֻחִים, אֲשֶׁר יָצְאוּ מִשָּׁם פְּלִשְׁתִּים--וְאֶת-כַּפְתֹּרִים.   14 and Pathrusim, and Casluhim--(and the Plishtim went from them)--and Caphtorim.

Rashi cites a Midrash recounting that Pathrusim and Casluhim exchanged wives and the product was the PLishtim.  In fact the wording "...and the Plishtim went from them..." is worded as such to indicate the Plishtim were taken out of the system of the 70 nations.  Their root is a non-root and so they resemble a Nation without being one. *

Throughout the Book of Shmuel, the Plishtim were the arch enemy of Am Yisrael.  They claimed they werre the rightful occupants of the Land of Israel.  At one point they were spread throughout the Land and held sway over the minds and hearts of many of the Children of Israel.  Some of Israel became co-conspirators and were known as Ivrim/Hebrews (the derogatory word the Egyptians used).  These members of Am Yisrael eventually returned to fight with Shaul and then David, but as long as the leadership of the Nation was mired in a lack of Emunah, much of the Nation was willing to sublimate themselves to the whims of the Plishtim.

נד   וַיִּקַּח דָּוִד אֶת-רֹאשׁ הַפְּלִשְׁתִּי, וַיְבִאֵהוּ יְרוּשָׁלִָם; וְאֶת-כֵּלָיו, שָׂם בְּאָהֳלוֹ.

54 And David took the head of the plishti, and brought it to Jerusalem; but he put his armour in his tent.

What is the significance of David taking Goliath's head? The head, symbolizes rulership, identity.  It is in fact this same struggle now that we are embroiled in with the Palestinians.  Who are the true rulers of the Land of Israel?

The head is about Da'at, applied or expressed knowledge.  We intellectually know we belong here, but we don't believe it, we don't see it with our own eyes and yet the Palestinians, believe it and they know that this is theirs.  After all they have a flag, a seat at the UN, a Prime Minister and President and many Israelis support their cultural and historical claims (like the Ivrim of old).

Yet, it is all false.   They have no reality other than the entrappings they have been given.  Like the Plishtim of old, the Palestinians are the Nation that is a non-nation.  They have never been one and despite what our eyes see, our hearts deep inside know they are deceivers, trying to take that which is not theirs.

...and slew of the Plishtim two hundred men; and David brought their foreskins...

Our sovereignty in the Land of Israel has opened up the redemptive process.  We have a government and an army.  The Land has come alive, yet there is no Beit Hamikdash and our enemies are strengthening for a final fight.  We have been promised victory, but will it be merciful or with strict divine judgement.  The answer to that questions lies with our battle with the Plishtim of today, the Palestinians.

If we decide that they do in fact belong here and do in fact have National rights to our Land then we will be lacking Da'at and true emunah in Hashem.  When we decide to follow the words of the Prophet Shmuel and return our hearts to the Creator, then we can reach true Da'at.  When we believe we are home and know that all we see are the G-d given vessels of the redemptive process then we can bring the "...foreskins" of our enemies to our King, the Almighty and he will give us Michal our Shechinah.  The choice is ours.

*Rav Zvi Tau

The Mashiach Within

יז כָּל-כְּלִי יוּצַר עָלַיִךְ, לֹא יִצְלָח, וְכָל-לָשׁוֹן תָּקוּם-אִתָּךְ לַמִּשְׁפָּט, תַּרְשִׁיעִי; זֹאת נַחֲלַת עַבְדֵי יְהוָה
וְצִדְקָתָם, מֵאִתִּי--נְאֻם-יְהוָה

54:17 No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their due reward from Me, saith the LORD. 

The prophet Isaiah describes the Nation of Israel as his servants.  We have a guarantee at the End of Days that the weapons of our enemies will not succeed in stopping us nor will their claims against us. The Christians believe that the word servant throughout Isaiah refer to Yeshu, yet it is clear from the above verse and others that the servant is the Nation of Israel itself (and that is the source of the Nations' hatred).  Yes, we are the servant of the Creator, his arm, his reflection in the Creation.

Medinat Yisrael, with all of its flaws is a vessel to build Messianic conscious on a National Level in the Land of Israel. According to Rav Kook in Orot Yisrael, "Knesset Yisrael, (which exists at the level of Throne of Glory) "is the essence of existence and in this world this essence flows into the Nation of Israel." To the degree the Nation of Israel connects to its supernal essence determines the level of the Creator's revealed light in the universe.

Expressing the Avot on A National Level

Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov were so connected to the divine that they were able to impart their middot (G-dly character traits) onto their children and children's children.  When Am Yisrael stood at Har Sinai they became a National entity that would be able to express the middot of the Avot using the divine tool of the Torah.

Avraham was the first person that reached the level of Messianic consciousness.  He passed this consciousness to the generations that followed and establishing this Messianic flow permanently in Creation is the purpose of the brit with the Almighty.

Mashiach as a National Goal

In the Laws of Kings the Rambam says that the king is the heart of the Nation.  When the Nation is on a lowly level, the king will reflect that and when the Nation of Israel rises above the mundane in a way that lifts up the world, the King will appear to be the King of Messianic caliber.

We the Nation of Israel have returned home to find our leaders without faith.  We stand in fear at their weakness and yet the answer lies within us.  We wait expectantly and yearn for Mashiach and yet he is no where to be found, but he is here.  We are him for he lies within waiting to be reflected on the faces of the Nation he is supposed to represent.  Each one of us is a "servant of the Almighty," and so we are a mini Mashiach within the daled amoth we live in.  We can rule, remove Amalek, and build a Mikdash within our personal lives.  We are the king of our reality.  Yet, we want others to do the work for us.

This week's parsha was   מְּצֹרָע Metzora where the Torah tells us:  

לד  כִּי תָבֹאוּ אֶל-אֶרֶץ כְּנַעַן, אֲשֶׁר אֲנִי נֹתֵן לָכֶם לַאֲחֻזָּה; וְנָתַתִּי
נֶגַע צָרַעַת, בְּבֵית אֶרֶץ אֲחֻזַּתְכֶם.

14:34 When ye are come into the land of Canaan, which I give to you for a possession, and I put the plague of leprosy in a house of the land of your possession; 

The word: צָרַעַת can be broken into two צָרַ עַת or in English the "time of pain/trouble." Am Yisrael has been brought back to its rightful Land, yet its house is full of pain, immersed in trouble.  There is a way out, a path forward to Mashiach, yet it is not in waiting expectantly.  The is to realize we are already here. We the collective Mashaich have come home. Despite its flaws we have returned to our house and when we realize that we are home the heart of the Nation, the true King will be revealed and we will have Geulah Shleimah.  May it be soon.

Google Maps for the IAF

Click on the map to enlarge. 

On a More Serious Note

Could this be the real reason for the strike in Port Sudan?

Only time will tell.  We need to remember that Nissan is the month of miracles and the beginning of the redemption.

Releasing Mashiach Ben Ephraim

With tonight's news of Shimon Peres asking President Obama to release Jonathan Pollard , one begs  the question on why Jonathan Pollard  has become so important that he has united Left and Right, Religious and Secular?  The answer is connected to the very nature of the redemption.

"And the Brothers Did Not Know it Was Yosef"

The original sin of the sons of Yaakov in selling their brother Yosef into slavery has haunted the Nation of Israel to this day.  We know that the selling of Yosef is the source of most of our calmities.  The Vilna Gaon makes it clear through his student Rav Mishkelov that Mashiach ben Yosef that upon our return to the Land of Israel Mashiach ben Yosef will rise in every generation, from the return onward.  This refers to a person and to a movement directed to the redemption of the physical Nation of Israel in its ancient homeland.  We also know that Mashiach ben Yosef will have the ability to remove Eisav's power or domination over us.  Yet with all of this Mashiach ben Yosef will not be recognized by his brothers and irn fact will be castigated by them, much like the original Yosef.

Mashiach ben Efraim Sits in Jail...

The Yalkut Shemoni tells us that the Mashiach ben Efraim, which is another name for Mashiach ben Yosef will be in jail at the end of days, suffering on behalf of all of Am Yisrael.  With his release the Yalkut tells us that the final redemption commences almost immediately.

Jonathan Pollard was thrown in jail over 25 years ago.  His crime? He acted to help the Nation of Israel empower itself with critical defense information and in so doing he saved countless lives during the Gulf War. He was willing to go to jail for his people and then the leaders of the State of Israel, the collective vessel for the Nation of Israel abandoned him.  Jonathan Pollard has suffered in jail and continues to do so.  His brothers abandoned him until now.  In fact Shimon Peres was the Prime Minister at the time of Jonathan Pollard's  initial imprisonment and was responsible for the Israeli government's implausible deniability.  Yet, now he has asked for his release. He  as come full circle, just like the brother's did so many years ago when they were finally willing to sacrifice  themselves to save Binyamin. In fact  it was Israeli PM Binyamin Netanyahu who acted as the catalyst initiating this final public push for Jonathan Pollard 's release.

The release of Jonathan Pollard will bring the final tikkun or correction for the initial sin of Yosef's brothers and with that a removal of the dominion of Eisav over Am Yisrael leading to the final redemption.

The Churva and Redemption

A few weeks ago I found myself sitting in the Old City of Jerusalem next to the rebuilt Churva shul.  It was an amazing feeling to sit next to the beit knesset that was built a third time.  I remember first coming to Israel and seeing the ruins and the arch that was all that was left from the original structure.  Seeing the building in all its glory reminded me of the tumult that was made upon its completion.  There was a known prediction made by students of the Vilna Gaon concerning the redemption beginning with the third building of the Churva.  This prediction was really made in connection from a dream they received from their master.

The Churva is Built Again and no Redemption

So the rebuilding and dedication took place and yet nothing happened.  Where is Mashiach?  Where is redemption?  One must understand that the Vilna Gaon was considered the light of MaShiach ben Yosef by his student Rav Mishkelov who was the author of Kol HaTor.   The redemption unfolds in a natural way and the building of our national sovereignty and the strengthening of our control of the Land of Israel and our capital Jerusalem not only furthers the redemptive process but is an expression of our National salvation and redemption in and of itself.  The Nation of Israel is a reflection of the Creator.  The more we succeed the more the Creator is revealed in the world.

Exerting Sovereignty Through the Churva

In Siman 150 of Orach Chaim, the Mehaber writes that we are obligated to make the beit knesset the tallest building in the city.  Both the Rem"ah and the Magen Avraham point out that if we are living in a city where we fear the non-Jews we are exempt from this. The Churva rests on the tallest hill in the Old City and so with its rebuilding it became the tallest structure (taller than any mosque not counting minerets or church) in the Old City.  By its very rebuilding it established and cemented the Nation's sovereignty over Jerusalem thus revealing the Geulah process is well under way.  This is perhaps what the Vilna Gaon and his students meant by the redemption will begin with the Churvah's third rebuilding.