Exile of Our Time

Current events weigh heavily on the heart.

The Nations are moving forward forcefully towards an UN-declaration splitting E”Y.

Regrettably, failing sufficient repentance, it seems we are headed for the Exile of Our Time (the final stages of the Yishmalite exile).

But Have Strength!

There is simple and clear divine purpose here.

I recently had a great conversation with Rabbi T. of New York, and he taught me a few things:

Indictment of the Nations

First, a key purpose of The Split is to ensure the Nations have no merit justifying their entry into the World to Come.  Any claim the Nations have that they “helped” the Jewish people by supporting Yishuv E”Y (via the State of Israel) will be belied by their actions.

The purpose of the UN is to give a single “voice” to the entire world – to all nations, even nations that have never physically hosted Jews – all voices will speak as one to split E”Y and take the Temple Mount away from the Jews.

(My son read this and asked about individual Gentiles. He has a point – individuals who support the Jews will still merit the World to Come; here, we are dealing with gentiles at the collective, “nation” level)

Sweeten the Birth Pangs

The coming of the Messiah is compared to a woman giving birth. The baby is going to be born and there is nothing you can do to stop it. Labor is painful and unavoidable. But it can be a short, easy labor, or a long, hard one. Our spiritual efforts, mitzvot and good deeds determine where on the “easy labor/hard labor continuum” the birth has to be.

The Tomer Devorah by the Ramak recommends ways to fix the sefirah of “Malcut”. He recommends above all for one to go into self-imposed exile.

For the Jewish people as a collective, withdrawing from Judea and Samaria due to threat of of force by the Nations is such an exile. It is the “exile of our time”, the final exile, the Yishmalite Exile.

Our Sages say that exile is an atonement – the atonement of the Yishmalite Exile is so substantial that only it has the power to prevent a Holocaust from happening in the E”Y as a result of our sins, G-d forbid.

By virtue of this exile, the Jews will continue to hold onto half the City and a connected Portion of E”Y, until the Day of Redemption, G-d willing.

Acts of Kindness

Things are happening.  In the short term we will need to support each other like never before. Thousands of exilees from Judea and Samaria will need places of refuge.

And many refugees will need solace and consolation as their deeply held imaginations of a “Greater Israel” in partnership with the secular SOI appear crushed forever.

We will all learn together the tremendous capacity for Jews to love one another and be there for each other.  The potential we all hope we have in terms of Jewish unity will be realized.

We should all be zoche to do conscious and planed acts of kindness to our brothers and sisters who are exiled in their own land.

Preview of What’s to Come?

The other night I had a dream that I was in E”Y and was standing outside a military checkpoint with a group of “settlers” who wanted to get to their homes in Judea and Samaria.  The guard was not Israeli, but rather was American, wearing a strange blue uniform. He told us that we could go “there” but we were responsible for our own lives, and that it was likely we’d get shot by roaming bands of Arabs.

I believe this dream is informative in that it highlights what is likely to happen under a UNilateral Declaration scenario – the Pals declare a State, which gives them the “right” to use force against any foreign enemy “invaders.”

Roaming bands of Arabs, in cahoots with the PA security forces, will launch a violent campaign against Jews living in the “new” Pal state. Thousands of Jews will be forced to flee the violence.  Those Jews who resist by force of arms will be met by US trained Pal forces with heavy weapons (heavy caliber machine guns, mortars, APC’s, etc.).

The SOI, cowered by “international opinion” that the Erev Rav mutates into “internal opinion”, will not shed Arab blood to protect the Settlers – after all, its fait accompli anyway – they will order the IDF to withdraw as in Lebanon, but it will be Jews, not Lebanese who are betrayed and left to defend themselves or flee.

By this means, i.e., Jewish flight in the face of Arab massacre, the SOI will accomplish a pullout from Judea and Samaria without having to engage in a Gush Katif type operation (which Israeli politicians know they could not pull off again).

So just before the End, the Jews are out, the Pals have a state, and the Pals did not have to make a single concession at the negotiating table. They will maintain all of their claim of Right of Return, and maintain the right to use force at their will to enforce this claim.  There will be no peace treaty, but rather a temporary armistice (such as that which exists between North and South Korea).

Once the Jews are “out”, a quasi-international/US force will be posted on the DMZ-border to piece keep. They will cynically taunt the Jews, “Sure, we’ll let you go back there, but we won’t let you go back there armed, so you’ll end up getting shot anyway.”  These are the folks I encountered in my dream.

In my dream I also had a vision of two men,  who appeared to be Judean and Samarian residents, clad in white and riding horse drawn chariots. They swooped down and around the checkpoint and into the territory. I remember being amazed by their countenance and boldness of action.

Of course, none of this is certain, just possible.  HaShem should bless and protect!

Time To Vote

Bibi proclaims today that “Unilateral actions will not advance the peace process.”  Correct, but they will advance the war process.

Measure for Measure

Regrettably, an Arab declaration of a Palestinian State is really just the chickens coming home to roost, and has a connected and clear historical precedent.

In 1947, faced with the choice of an American declared truce or declaring an independent state, secular leaders of Yishuv E”Y decided to declare a state:

. . . by virtue of “natural and historic right” and based on the United Nations resolution… Hereby declare the establishment of a Jewish state in the land of Israel to be known as the State of Israel. .

And so to, we can reasonably forsee an announcement in the upcoming months:

. . . by virtue of “natural and historic right” and based on the United Nations resolution… Hereby declare the establishment of a Palestinian state in the land of Palestine to be known as the State of Palestine. . .

Ladies and gentlemen, as predicted by our Holy Prophets, the split is coming (if we fail to sufficiently repent).

After the elections, PBO will be unrestrained and have only one place to vent his fury, HaShem should protect.

Time To Vote

During the internal negotiations about the wording of the Israeli Declaration of Independence, discussions focused on whether express reference to G-d would be included:

The second major issue was over the inclusion of God in the last section of the document, with the draft using the phrase “and placing our trust in the Almighty”. The two rabbis, Shapira and Yehuda Leib Maimon, argued for its inclusion, saying that it could not be omitted, with Shapira supporting the wording “God of Israel” or “the Almighty and Redeemer of Israel.”^[7] It was strongly opposed by Zisling, a member of the secularist Mapam. In the end the phrase “Rock of Israel” was used, which could be interpreted as either referring to God, or the land of Eretz Israel, Ben-Gurion saying “Each of us, in his own way, believes in the ‘Rock of Israel’ as he conceives it. I should like to make one request: Don’t let me put this phrase to a vote.” Although its use was still opposed by Zisling, the phrase was accepted without a vote.

The time is coming for the Jews living in Eretz Yisrael to vote.

Abbas Agrees To Jewish State!

The Palestinians Agree to recognize Israel as a Jewise State in exchange for pre-1967 borders with foreign troops providing  “security guarantees” for both states.

Not! . . . . . Yet!!

By focusing on recognition of the SOI as a Jewish state as the “key” core issue of negotiations, much more fundamental security needs get lost in the mix.   Thus, the SOI is setting itself up to get blindsided by a unilateral declaration of a State combined with a deceitfully vague and ambiguous “acceptance” of the SOI as a Jewish State.

What is the SOI going to say then?

Bottom line, a Jewish nation based on cultural, ethnic, and racial Jewishness is “form over substance.”  I love the Jewish people, but lets be honest – any claim of right to the land is based in the Torah; if the Torah is disregarded as the foundation point for Jewish self-government in Israel (at least an express reference to it in official policy and statements), there’s nothing real to stand on – except the UN/Nations’ good (or bad) will.

It is what it is.  Really, its time for each person to ask HaShem for guidance how to navigate and survive the birth pangs of Moshiach.  And, always, to pray that Moshiach ben Yosef does not die.

SOI Getting Played

Be careful what you ask for, ’cause you might just get it all.

This week, the State of Israel (SOI) tries to outsmart the Arabs by requiring recognition of Israel as a Jewish State in exchange for extending the building freeze.  The US backed the SOI, saying that recognition of the SOI as a Jewish State is a core issue. Many pundits smiled, “Thattaway Bibi, we showed them.”

Now, the Arabs fight back. “Ok SOI, we’ll recognize you as a “whatever you want”.  The media reports this statement as “The Pals willing to accept SOI as a Jewish State.”  Turns out, typically, the Arabs equivocate and deny making the statement.  Rather, they claim that they would “consider the possibility” if the US first gives them a border proposal in line with the 1967 borders.  Take that!  How’s that for negotiations?

And, immediately, the US supports the Arab position.

What is happening here is the Arabs are pushing to get a US-proposed border map so they can unilaterally declare their State on those borders.  They know that they will have good chances of gaining UN enforcement after the election, relying on post-November elections PBO to give them the green light in the UNSC.

We all need to get ready for the consequences!  HaShem should help!

Why all this in IMO?  Because you can’t have a Jewish nation based on race and ethnicity.  It must be based on belief in G-d and Torah values to stand.  I love the Jewish people, but the SOI must transform itself – hopefully peacefully.

Yishmael and Erev Rav

I traveled to Seattle with my family for Succot. On the plane, I was moved to calculate the gematria of erev rav, which is 480, the same gematria at Lilit – Satan’s wife, so to speak. Cool, I thought.

I arrived at my destination, and my brother in law has a set of R. Nachman’s Likutei Moran.  I grabbed a random book off the shelf, opened it randomly, and behold, right on that very page – Lilit is the mother of the erev rav!   How cool!

Rav Nachman explains that Hagar is the biblical manifestation of Lilit – thus, this begs for a deeper understanding of the connection between Ishmael and Erev Rav.

Fighting Ishmael and Erev Rav

For the past several weeks, I have been seeking to understand just exactly what the tshuva should be to counteract the power of Yishmael and the Erev Rav.  On Shabbat, I may have gotten an answer. . .

The gematria of Hagar is 208.  This is also the gematria of Yitzhak.   I believe this indicates an inverse relationship – to the extent the Jewish rectify act more Yitzhak-like, they will reduce the power of Hagar/Lilith/Yishmael/Erev Rav.

So what does this entail?  The character attribute of Yitzhak was Gevurah, which is best translated as “Self-Control and Restraint”, e.g., holding one’s self back from doing what one is naturally inclined to do in thought, speech, and deed, and channeling those natural impulses for use only in ways proscribed and permitted by the Torah.

The Tomer Devorah explains that allowing the Yetzer Hara to awaken for lust, money, honor, or anger arouses and strengthens Gevurah. The Ramak explains that the Yetzer Hara must be bound and controlled to direct these “awakenings” to the needs of one’s wife: 1) by giving her relations in the proper time for her sake and joy, and 2) by using ones’ money to provide for her clothing and to beautify her home. This, the Ramak explains, sweetens the attribute of Gevurah, and repairs the Shechina (who is compared to one’s “wife”).

Of course, the Ramak’s words could easily be extended to all things people can do to restrain ourselves for the sake of our spouses and loved ones.  After all, Yitzhak gladly gave his life in order for his father Abraham to do the will of Hashem.  How much more so can a person simply not kvetch when their spouse asks them to help put the kids to bed? (Now we’re talking!)

By imitating the attribute of Gevurah in our lives we imitate Yitzhak, which  serves to counter Hagar/Lilith and her progeny, Yishmael and the Erev Rav.

Big Boats

As an aside, recently my uncle was invited by a Jewish billionare friend of his for a one week Mediterranean cruise on the Jewish billionaire’s 250ft yaught. My uncle reported that his friends yaught was dwarfed by mega-yaught after mega-yaught owned by Yishmaelim.

Message to Jewish billionare – Jewish money is not on top – Arab money is.  We have squarely arrived in Yishmael’s time in history.

HaShem should give us true strength like our forefather Yitzak!!