Parashat & Current Events

With every new year we draw closer to the final redemption of our nation as we return to our holy land, as promised by our prophets.

The Torah states (Devarim 22:1-2):

If you see your brother’s (fellow Jew) ox or sheep straying, do not ignore it but return it to its owner. If your brother (the owner) is not close to you or if you do not know who owns it, take it into your home to be with you until your brother seeks it out, then return it (after receiving convincing signs of description).

What is HaShem planning for His people in Eretz Yisrael?

In our unpredictable, erratic world one immutable principle has stood the test of millennia, with no sign that it will ever change – that nothing of significance has ever evolved or will evolve without implicit or covert implications for the Jewish people!

A LETTER TO HASHEM

It’s that time of year, when Your children withdraw a bit from the distractions of this life in order to introspect on what we have or have not done properly this past year.

I will skip the formalities of asking how You are because You are absolute perfection.

The following is my yearly E-mail (Elokim Mail) to report to You on the state of Your people as perceived from this virtual world, which of course is quite different from what is perceived from Your world of absolute truth.

HaShem creates conditions to encourage introspection and change; COVID-19 is one such condition.

The virus is not going away. Difficulties in life are Hashem’s messages to improve our ways. It is our responsibility to decipher the messages and act upon them.

We must correct our faults in 6 major areas; our behavior in synagogues and yeshivot, the economy, the security situation, permissiveness, education, and divisiveness. And then come before the Almighty in teshuvah to request compassion.

If in the eyes of the United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC), the Security Council, the International Court of Justice in the Hague, and the Quartet, etc., we are the BAD BOY of the world. The UN’s blatant anti-Israel, pro-Arab and pro-Muslim stance has within it the potential to consolidate the international anti-Semitic powers into a potent force against our Jewish State. The UN wishes to forge the “BIG GANG”.

The rabbis explained why HaShem elevates the leaders of the enemies of Am Yisrael to high positions. It is analogous to a king who wished to punish a disloyal soldier but felt that it was beneath his dignity to deal with a person of such low rank. So, the king appointed the soldier to the position of army chief, and then afterwards had him hanged in the city square. Throughout our history, we see that HaShem took evil-minded criminals and endowed them with great authority in order to degrade, demean, and disgrace them in this world and in the next.

Can you guess the author of each of these 8 quotes? Within them you’ll find the secret to success in defeating every enemy of Israel.

Do you understand the significance of the pandemic in the overall scheme of Jewish history and our future?

The agreement with the UAE joins with those previously signed with Egypt and Jordan, and soon possibly with Sudan, Saudi Arabia, and the Maghreb states. It is a breakthrough of historic proportions, reversing the obstinate refusal of all the Arab states to recognize the Jewish state in the midst of what they believe to be the Arab part of the world.

Is it good for Israel or bad – and if bad, how bad?

This week’s parasha introduces the new generation of Am Yisrael to the calamitous City of Shechem. There they would participate in a ceremony marking the nation’s confirmation of being Hashem’s chosen people. Even though the confirmation was first done in chutz la’aretz in the Sinai desert, it had to be repeated in Eretz Yisrael, its predetermined natural habitat, because the confirmation in chutz la’aretz did not have the same spiritual energy as the holy land.

Our acquittance with the city of Shechem leaves a bitter taste.