Wednesday, November 16, 2016

A Very Good Comment Answered

                                                                                        בס"ד
I received this comment from my friend Anonymous and thought the answer should be seen by all my readers. First the comment:

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Progress Report":
We say three times a day, "Sound the great shofar for our freedom... and gather us together from the four corners of the earth."
Does "gather us together from the four corners of the earth" mean that Hashem, Himself, will transport us to Eretz Yisrael miraculously or does one need to go to an airport and board a plane for Israel?
My Response:

There is very interesting wording throughout scriptures the lets us know what is happening in the world today. The particular wording that you used, as we say in the Shemonah Esrei is from Isaiah 11:12. If we include verse 11 we get an interesting message:
11 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the     L-rd will set His hand again the second time to recover the remnant of His people, who will have remained from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.
12 And He will raise a banner for the nations, and will assemble the dispersed of Israel, and gather together the scattered of Judah from the four corners of the earth.
Jeremiah 23:3
3 And I will gather the remnant of My flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and will bring them back to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and multiply.
Micah 2:12
I will surely gather all of you, Jacob; I will surely bring together the remnant of Israel. I will bring them together like sheep in a pen, like a flock in its pasture; the place will throng with people.
One more, which also are verses that we say every day in our morning prayers.

Zephaniah 3:20
20 At that time will I bring you in, and at that time will I gather you; for I will set you up for renown and praise among all the peoples of the earth, when I bring back your captivity before your eyes, saith the L-RD.
The wording talks of the remnant being gathered, remnant meaning remaining, together with the rest of Israel. There is a redundancy when we see wording such as the Zephaniah: At that time will I bring you in, and at that time will I gather you. Why does it seem to be repeating itself? The answer is simple. Hashem told us thousands of years ago that there will be a great return of the children of Israel to our land, but not all of the children. But, on that day, the remaining Jews will be returned with renown and praise before the eyes of the world. The double wording in Zephaniah represents the two groups: the before Moshiach and the group that will return when Moshiach is announced.

There is no doubt that the prophets were told exactly what would happen in the end of days. That brings me to your question about whether it will be miraculous or El Al.

Isaiah 40:28 - 31
28 Do you not know? Have you not heard? That Hashem is the everlasting G-d, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.
29 He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.
30 Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;
31 but those who hope in Hashem will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
The commentary on these verses say: All the metaphors mean that when Hashem wills it, the return to Zion will be swift and without obstacle.

I always like to look at the first Geula when we left Egypt, since it is a prophecy for this Geula. It is brought down that the close to 3 million Israelites left Egypt almost instantly. How is it possible for that many people to walk out of the gates of Egypt instantly?

We see other examples in the Torah where teleportation was used. Kefitzat Haderech (Hebrew: קְפִיצַת הַדֶּרֶךְ) is a Jewish Kabbalistic term that literally means "contracting the path." When Avraham told his servant Eliezer to go to Ur Kasdim, Avraham’s birthplace where his family lived, and find a wife for Yitzchak, we are told he went there instantly, teleported. When Yaakov was in Jerusalem and went to Beit El and Shechem, we are told the ground folded beneath his feet and he took one step to be in these places instantly. I am bringing up all this since I have also heard that in the end of days the Jews of the world will be in Israel instantly – the return to Zion will be swift and without obstacle, and apparently in one day (Isaiah 11).

Does this mean that all who will return to Israel will be out of harm’s way from the devastation of Nibiru, war, terror, the agenda of the global elite, the wrath of Hillary, etc? Is it possible for a miraculous instant departure? With Hashem anything and everything is possible. Many miracles happened with the first Geula; the miracles will happen with the second and final Geula.

I should mention that even the resurrection of the dead will be miraculous. We are told in the Zohar that all the departed will travel in tunnels underground and rise up in Israel.

We are told that we shouldn’t rely on, or even ask for, miracles, but it is encouraging when we see the prophecies of the end of days, now, repeating the miracles of the first Geula. Miracles will happen and are already happening, but it is incumbent upon each of us to be as worthy as possible for the miraculous mercy of Hashem. That is our task, our instructions from Hashem. We need only to take advantage of it all, by continuing to turn to Hashem for everything. That is how we will return home on the wings of eagles, not El Al.

5 comments:

  1. I found myself struggling through tears to be able to see clearly enough to read the entirety of this post. May it be the will of Hashem that He lifts us out of here soon, for I am both tired and weary and running out of strength. I pray constantly, but all of my hishtadlus must be spiritual and not practical at this time, as it will take those kinds of miracles to get us to where we need to be. May it be soon. Ein Od Milevado.

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    1. Roy Neuberger states the following:
      In Tehillim (27:5) it says, "Indeed, He will hide me in His shelter on the day of evil." Dovid HaMelech chooses the word 'sukkah' to describe the shelter which will protect us on the day of evil.

      In Hebrew, the words for "on the day of evil" are b'yom ra'ah. Where else do we find the words b'yom ra'ah? Koheles (7:14) states, "but b'yom ra'ah, in a time of evil." The Ibn Ezra explains b'yom ra'ah to mean anticipate the inevitably of bad times, and act accordingly. However, Rashi explains that when evil comes upon the wicked, be among the observers only. As it states, "They will go out and see corpses of the men who rebelled against Me, for their decay will not cease and their fire will not be extinguished (Yeshayah 66:24). [Do not be] among the afflicted. As it states, "They will lie in disgrace before all of mankind" (ibid. 66:24).

      Regarding the End of Days, the Zohar (Shemos 6b or 7b) says, "The task is to remain with Emunah (Faith) during this time. We 're going to see things happening that we don't have any way of understanding. It's going to be things that are beyond belief. It 's going to make the Exodus from Egypt look like nothing. Every day it's going to be worse and we 're going to forget what it was like the day before. Whoever has Emunah (Faith) at this time will merit to see the end."

      This isn't just in the Zohar. The Gemara (Sanhedrin 98a) states, "When you see a generation overwhelmed by many troubles as by a river, await him" [i.e. Moshiach]. Why? Because, "Salvation is found in troubles"(Tehillim 46:2).

      Again, the Zohar says, "Whoever has Emunah (Faith) at this time will merit to see the end."

      Do we just need to have emunah?

      You're The Gemara (Sanhedrin 98b) advises us that if a person wants to saved from the birth-pangs of Moshiach, he should involve himself in Torah and acts of kindness." [See Berachos 5a, Tehillim 18:51, Sotah 14a and Nefesh HaChayim by Rabbi Avraham Finkel, page 160].

      Interestingly, the Gemara (Sotah 14a) says, "The Torah - its beginning is the performance of kindness and its end is the performance of kindness. The Shelah (cited in Be'er Moshe, Devarim 1, page 222) states the numerical value of Gemilus Chasadim, the performance of kindness, is equal to that of Torah.

      Note: Torah and Gemilus Chasadim go hand in hand!

      Are you a last minute person? G-d beats you without even trying. The Pesikta Zutra (on Esther 4:17) states, "Hashem's salvation can arrive in an instant" (i.e. the blink of an eye). Also the Novi says, "For my salvation is quick in coming (Yeshaya 56:1) suddenly, the L-rd Whom you seek will come to His sanctuary" (Malachi 3:1).

      With Hashem's help, let us fortify ourselves with Torah and Gemilus Chasadim. In this merit, we should witness very soon, to see the Beis HaMikdash descending from heaven!

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  2. I also have a question about moshiach. Is he somebody who is without sin all his life from birth or is he a regular man with common sins who makes tshuvah?

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    1. The individual that I know as Moshiach is a Baal Teshuvah. He spent many years of his life as a secular Jew before he became observant, just like Moshe Rabbeinu.

      We also know of famous Rabbis, such as Rabbi Akiva, who did not become a servant of Hashem until he was 40 years old.

      I can tell you from personal experience that it is so much easier to do Kiruv, outreach work, and bring people around to the ways of Hashem, if one was there before in a secular life before becoming observant. I was able to relate to the people I was trying to help much more having been in their shoes for decades.

      The man that I know as Moshiach did it all. Today he helps many, many people turn to Hashem and perfect their lives. It is all Hashem's design and it works.

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  3. Dear all
    G-ds miracles are in fact the creation of the State and the national airline El Al. Every human endeavour requires G-ds will - that does not take away the esssential hishtadlut. One has to do everything in ones power to fulfil the word of G-d and live in Israel. In other words you can sit in hitbodedut all day in New York or you can get on a plane that G-d has arranged for you. The hidden miracle of the ingathering since the late 19th century, is even more mind blowing and amazing than in Egypt where there were open miracles because the aliyah of today and the previous 3 or 4 generations requires a lot more free choice and therefore a lot of reward for those who do it. The same applies to the Third temple - it needs to be built by people but of course its spiritial essence comes from the Shechina

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