I received an Email from a dear reader who had several concerns. Since they were not uncommon concerns that I haven’t heard before, I decided, with the reader’s permission, to post the Email and my response. First the Email:
Dear Rav: I know that Nibiru is going to destroy everything and Moshiach is going to be here very soon. And there is this feeling that is consuming me every day. I would want to feel happy about it, that finally Redemption is coming. But deep inside me I know that I don't deserve it. I know I am not enough for what Hashem expects of a Jew (I am not a bad person, but the best two things that I do is that I put on Tefillin every day, and follow basic kosher rules, nothing else). I cannot enjoy the moment and be excited about what is coming. Because every time you post something wonderful and deep, I read it as important news. But at the end I get super sad that I am not going to be part of the redemption. Sometimes I want to cry because I am not going to be selected by Hashem to enjoy His wonderful times of Moshiach. I know that you are probably going to reply to me saying that I should start being more religious and do Teshuvah, and you would be totally, totally right. But I don't know; I feel that if I do it, its purpose would be just to be part of the Redemption, the reward. I feel that my Teshuvah would not be true. It's like I am convinced that I am not a good Jew and that I am not what Hashem asks for. I feel really sad about it. I don't know if I have to be happy that Moshiach is coming, because I know I am not going to pass the Final Judgement.My response:
I feel the same way. I am not worthy of Hashem’s mercy. I am not a bad person, but I am still human and feel a void, a need to change, a need to improve. Why do I want to improve? Is it because I am trying to trick Hashem into thinking that I am better than I am, to get all the benefits? Absolutely not!!! Hashem knows me much better than I know myself. The reason that I want to improve is because I love Hashem, I love Judaism, I love Israel, I love Torah, I love doing the commandments and I love helping other people, especially my family, my loved ones, who are so dear to me.
Do I crave Moshiach and the worldwide redemption? Absolutely!!! Why? Because I don’t like this world the way it is; I don’t like evil, where people think they are so much better than others and want them as slaves; I don’t like hatred that happens just because I have different feelings about life than others; I don’t like hunger and suffering. I feel the pain of others. I know that the only solution to the world’s problems is Hashem changing the world. The final worldwide redemption is just that: the solution to all that is wrong with the world. Am I feeling greedy if I want to be part of the solution, if I want to help save the people whose pain I feel? I am human and Hashem made me exactly how He wanted me just so I would feel this need to help.
If I have an appliance that stopped working and I use it every day, am I greedy to want to fix it? I was put on Earth to help fix the world. My tools from my Employer are commandments to do. If I do what the Boss says, I am doing my job. Since doing my job results in me being raised higher in the organization (society), my rewards are probably well deserved and should never be thought of as taking what is not mine.
Anyone who is worried about not doing enough, like you and me, are the ones that Hashem wants to have in His new world. Your concern is exactly what tells me that you and your loved ones will be greatly taken care of. How much will you be taken care of? That is the system of measure for measure. Taking on new commandments to enhance your future is not a selfish act, it is Hashem’s will. If you can add the ingredients of love and awe of Hashem as your primary reason, you are much better off than you think. Doing Teshuvah is not just a tool to further our spiritual level, it is what our Creator wants from us. He wants us to be happy and have everything and to feel good about the effort we put forward to get it. We are only trying to live the Absolute Truth as Hashem designed it for us. Why think anything less?
One additional thought. Nibiru is only scary if one has bad intentions. 1/3rd of the world, 2.5 billion people will be saved. The evil that I said I disliked will be gone. The good people that I want to see helped will be healed and will thrive. Nibiru is a gift to solve the world’s problems. Once again, working closely with the Giver of the gift is not a selfish act, it is a desire to help the people who need it the most. It is all good news.
Keep up the good work; it is exactly what Hashem wants from you (and all of us).
If one feels that they are doing teshuvah for the wrong reason, keep doing that teshuvah and before long it will become a part of your life and you will be doing it for the proper reason. Now for a personal story. Many years ago I began giving tzedakah mainly because it brought me a bit of acknowledgement from people I respected. I kept giving even when that acknowledgement was not forth coming. Now, after all these years I am sad when I do not see a beggar on his usual street corner because I can not help him on that day. It has become a part of me now and I am doing it not for the acknowledgements but because it is helping people who need my help. If you start out because you want to "cheat" your way to a better future rest assured that what you change today will become a part of you tomorrow and you will be doing the proper thing for the proper reason... because it is the right thing to do.
ReplyDeleteI would agree with you if it weren't for the fact that Hashem judges our intentions on everything and how we are fulfilling His commandments. Is it true correction, if not done according to Hashem's will?
DeleteThere are so many things we do to make ourselves feel better, but if it isn't the way Hashem told us to do it, it is not true Teshuvah. Your example is a good one. The commandment is to help others, not to impress people and get acknowledgement. It is not Teshuvah for the wrong reasons, it is just not Teshuvah at all.
I may have started it for the incorrect reason, but as I continued my reasons for doing so shifted. It is now a part of me and I am doing it because it is the right and proper thing to do and part of what Hashem wants me to do. One must make that first step. If the first step in the right direction may be for the wrong reason, keep going in the right direction. As long as one is going in the right direction, one may soon find their reasons for going that way will change.
DeleteYou are correct. If our efforts eventually lead to good productive change, good productive Teshuvah, it is good, no matter how you got there. It is just more enjoyable to start with the right reasons and get there much faster.
DeleteI'm sorry but I have to agree with Stephen's 1st comment as the Gemara (Talmud) in Pesachim 50b clearly states: "Mitoch shelo lishmah bah lishmah" which literally means, "Doing a mitzvah without proper intent will lead to doing it with proper intent."
DeleteShalom E.
I totally agree, but let us talk human nature. Once someone develops a bad habit, it is very difficult to change. It is one of the biggest reasons that people need Teshuvah. They very often word it as "the way I do it is good enough."
DeleteGet into a good habit from the beginning, doing a mitzvah with total Kavanah, and life is much better. I have been giving Mussar for decades, and I guarantee a bad habit is hard to break. I therefore would not advocate on me blog, do it anyway you want and then improve, it doesn't happen.
Stop crying and start keeping Shabbat, as well as the other mitzvot. Do it now before it's too late. No Shabbat, no Torah, no Olam Haba, no nothing. Chazal says that even if you do 612 mitzvot but not Shabbat, everything is useless. The same says the written Torah (mechalel shabbat mot iumat, izur karet, the soul gets cut, etc), Rambam, Talmud, the Zohar,... pick a book if you don't believe me
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely!!!!!
DeleteThe problem with Shabbos is: the people who don't observe Shabbos, don't have a clue as to what it is. It's like a new dessert that you give to a child, and he says "I don't like it." The parent says: "but you haven't tried it." The child insists: "I don't like it." Eventually he tries it and it becomes his favorite dessert.
We give up the greatest gifts of life, because we haven't tried it to see how wonderful it is. After all, we know better, we have our flawed human logic to hurt us.
The Rambam writes that one who does not keep the mitzvot... he doesn't keep the mitzvot. But one who does not believe in the 13 Principles of Faith, he is not part of Am Yisrael.
ReplyDeleteThis has been a 2000 year old exile!
The most important thing is to DESIRE redemption and to DESIRE to be closer to Hashem even if you are limited in what you can do.
Start with refraining from anything that will cause Karet. Ask your Rabbi what these are. This is very important.
But if you desire redemption, you know the Torah is EMET (truth), you desire to be close to Hashem, you know this world is an Alma De Shikra (a world of lies), you know that the leadership of this world are corrupted, then B'H we will all be part of this redemption.
Afilu SheChata Yisrael Hu (??)... Even though a Jew is not holding to where he should, he is still a Jew.
And after 2000 years of exile, whoever wants in, BH will be part.
You are correct.
DeleteThe problem is most people don't have a clue as to how wonderful Redemption is. Most people think that this is the "best of all possible worlds." The fact is this world is terrible, but we have an opportunity to live in paradise.
But, we are stubborn and don't realize the tremendous world that is waiting for us, and is ours for the asking. A world of no sickness, a world of no death, a world of no evil, a world of pure pleasure (beyond our imagination), a world of no problems. What are we waiting for?
Turn to Hashem for everything and you are almost there.
Zachor (Shmot 20) and shamor (Devarim 5) were pronounced in a single utterance, - an utterance which the mouth cannot utter, nor the ear hear. (Talmud Bavli - Shevu'ot 20b)
ReplyDeleteIts all about Shabbat!
7 equals 8
We keep Shabbat
By remembering and preparing all week for the 7 and 8!
If we live the SHABBAT, we live.
To think 80 percent of jews looked at Moses as a dictator rather than liberator and they were at a slighter higher level of holiness then we are now, the burning furnace of slavery United them and they had no such concept shabbat or kosher Yet, God still redeemed them for they had unity and love for each other. It's sad the people do not explain mitzvahs as tools to national unity and identity.if we are family and not religion then we may have a chance to survive any colapse or impending doom.
ReplyDeleteWhat sadness me is how many of us have fallen to the concept of a democracy and have forgotten what a king is, and how it may be seen as dictatorial in the eyes of all nations when the moshiach kicks out all non Jewish people's from the land.how many of us will fight with him and how many against. Regardless one thing is clear just like In the times of Hanukkah the first blood spilled will be that of our fellow erev rav trying to preserve democracy in the Holy Land
We are not getting the worldwide redemption because we are worthy, it is because it is "in its time." Our mission on Earth is finished, and Hashem will clean up the rest and take us to the world of goodness. Also, remember that 80% of the Israelites did not want to follow Moses into the desert, and perished in the plague of darkness.
DeleteOne big difference about what is coming up. We are told in the Torah (Parashat Nitzavim) that the Yetzer Harah will be removed from the good people left on Earth. They will not rebel, but will only want Hashem, and to be as close to Him as possible. A very big difference to the first Geula in Egypt.
I feel so out of sorts when Shabbos is over. When I first started keeping Shabbos I couldn't wait for it to be over. Now I can't wait until it is Shabbos all the time! May Moshiach come now!
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean. My wife and I had one difference, we both were working full time jobs when we started to observe Shabbos. We appreciated right from the beginning that "the world went away, one day a week." We also discovered our children and how much we really like them. Instead of the four of us watching TV in four different worlds, we started to sing together, joke together, talk words of Torah, etc. We never knew how delightful our children are and how much enjoyment we can have together as a family until this thing called "Shabbos" came to our lives.
DeleteTalking about Moshiach, I read in your blogs that you've discredited the testimony of the 15 years old boy with clinical death because of inconsistencies and some questionable points, adding as an example that Gog is not Obama. I'm wondering about your claim that the battles of Gog Umagog were WWI, WWII and WWIII being a spiritual war. If this were so, what about the verse in Yechezkel 39:11 "It shall be on that day that I will assign Gog a burial site there in Israel..."?
ReplyDeleteShalom E.
The boy stated that Gog U Magog started 10 September 2015. What does that mean?
DeleteIt was not I, but the Chofetz Chaim who told us about the three battles of Gog U Magog after the Great War, which was renamed WW1. He said the second battle will begin 25 years after the first (1914, 1939). He stated the third battle will be a spiritual war, which it is. So far as Gog being buried in Israel, which Gog are we talking about? Gog means George. Are we talking about Gog Bush, Gog Soros, Gog the Pope, etc? That you will have to ask Yechezkel when he returns.
By the way, Gog of WW1 was King George the 5th; WW2 was King George the 6th. WW3 is King George the Bush. Obama works for Gog Bush, Sr in his cabal.
If you want the proof, go back and read my many blog posts on the subject including my YouTube video. I have spent thousands of hours researching this for decades. Give me about 10 hours and I can show you all my evidence.
Trying to figure out simple answers to very deep and complicated questions is beyond the scope of this blog and me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHhmpMYRYx4
ReplyDeleteThank you. It is a very interesting chart from Rav Glazerson.
DeleteSince I know the name of Moshiach, I just did a Torah Code search and found his name on that chart. I will say no more.
Thank you. It is a very interesting chart from Rav Glazerson.
DeleteSince I know the name of Moshiach, I just did a Torah Code search and found his name on that chart. I will say no more.
I received other comments that were full of flawed personal opinion with a lack of facts. It does not help my readers to see comments that are negative, non-productive and not true.
ReplyDeleteMy blog is here to help people, not debate whether Hashem is doing things according to your personal feelings. If you have such a negative statement to discuss, send me a private Email. Be nice to my readers and me.
If you think I have stated something that is incorrect, tell me in a personal Email where in scriptures it says otherwise. I will be so quick to apologize and do Teshuvah.
But, if you disagree with Hashem and only want to take it out on me, write it down on a piece of paper, and throw it in the trash.
Nibiru in 24 September 2016?
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ph7hWYyeAaU
I have been writing a blog post about this video since last week when I say it. My post is very involved with new research. I hope to have it done by early next week.
DeleteThank you, it is an interesting video, I don't believe accurate, but interesting.