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BS”D Sukkot 5774

Part A:

At the onset of this new year 5774, my personal prayer is that Hashem should bless us to see the realization of what He revealed to His prophets regarding the future.

Read the following carefully, and you will realize that the newspapers are, in fact, merely elaborating on the prophecies.

Yeshayahu 17,1:

משא דמשק הנה דמשק מוסר מעיר והיתה מעי מפלה:

A prophecy against Damascus:

“See, Damascus will no longer be a city but will become a heap of ruins.”

Yirmiyahu 49,23-27

לדמשק בושה חמת וארפד כי שמעה רעה שמעו נמגו בים דאגה השקט לא יוכל:

רפתה דמשק הפנתה לנוס ורטט החזיקה צרה וחבלים אחזתה כיולדה:

איך לא עזבה עיר תהלה תהלת קרית משושי:

לכן יפלו בחוריה ברחבתיה וכל אנשי המלחמה ידמו ביום ההוא נאם ה’ צבאות:

והצתי אש בחומת דמשק ואכלה ארמנות בן הדד

Concerning Damascus:

“Hamath and Arpad (cities in Syria) are dismayed, for they have heard bad news.

They are disheartened, troubled like the restless sea.

Damascus has become feeble, she has turned to flee and panic has gripped her; anguish and pain have seized her, pain like that of a woman in labor.

Why has the city of renown not been abandoned, the town in which I delight?

Surely, her young men will fall in the streets; all her soldiers will be silenced in that day,” declares the Lord Almighty.

I will set fire to the walls of Damascus; it will consume the fortresses of Ben-Hadad.

Yechezkel 30,4-8

ובאה חרב במצרים והיתה חלחלה בכוש בנפל חלל במצרים ולקחו המונה ונהרסו יסודתיה:

כוש ופוט ולוד וכל הערב וכוב ובני ארץ הברית אתם בחרב יפלו: פ

כה אמר ה’ ונפלו סמכי מצרים וירד גאון עזה ממגדל סונה בחרב יפלו בה נאם אדני ה’:

ונשמו בתוך ארצות נשמות ועריו בתוך ערים נחרבות תהיינה:

וידעו כי אני ה’ בתתי אש במצרים ונשברו כל עזריה:

A sword will come against Egypt, and anguish will come upon Cush.[a]

When the slain fall in Egypt, her wealth will be carried away and her foundations torn down.

Cush and Libya, Lydia and all Arabia, Kub and the people of the covenant land will fall by the sword along with Egypt.

This is what the Lord says: The allies of Egypt will fall and her proud strength will fail.

From Migdol to Aswan they will fall by the sword within her, declares the Sovereign Lord.

They will be desolate among desolate lands, and their cities will lie among ruined cities.

Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I set fire to Egypt and all her helpers are crushed.

Chronicles 2 20,29

ויהי פחד א-להים על כל ממלכות הארצות בשמעם כי נלחם ה’ עם אויבי ישראל:

The fear of God came on all the surrounding kingdoms when they heard how the Lord had fought against the enemies of Israel

Zecharya 14,11

וישבו בה וחרם לא יהיה עוד וישבה ירושלם לבטח:

It (Yerushalayim) will be inhabited; never again will it be destroyed. Jerusalem will be secure.

Part B:

The following is from my recent book, “With All Your MightThe three volume work is an effort (I hope which is not in vain) to encourage the return of our people to the land promised by the Creator solely to us. To return home not only because the Jewish communities of the galut (exile) are being condemned to extinction, but because it is the desire and command of HaShem that His chosen people be here.

An Allegory

Reb Yisrael and his sons erected their sukkah adjacent to the kitchen door of their palatial home in one of the Five Towns, as they had done for many years, in the past. But this year was different. Reb Yisrael had just learned from his rabbi that one of the reasons for residing temporarily in a sukkah is in case one’s destiny was decided on Rosh HaShana to be expulsion into galut, the departure from the comforts of home into the sukkah could be considered to be that galut.

Reb Yisrael, his wife and children left the warm comfort of their beautiful house and entered the sukkah with the knowledge that by taking up temporary residence therein, they would be absolved of any galut-related sins.

As the family continued to reside in the sukkah, they got quite used to the pleasant smell of the schach (branches used to roof the Sukkah) and the pretty pictures on the walls and the overhanging decorations, and were content to remain there even after the chag!

They were able to peer into their permanent home with its luxurious amenities, electrical gadgets, and state-of-the-art under-floor heating units, thick hanging drapes, lush carpets and much more, but entertained no interest in returning there.

As odd as it may seem, the family became accustomed to the crowded cold interior of the sukkah. Their relatives and neighbors tried to point out the irrationality of what they were doing, but the very idea that this was galut did little to encourage the family to return home.

When their rabbi came to visit, it was surprising that he encouraged them to remain in the sukkah rather than to return home, because it was in the sukkah that the family felt comfortable and closely knit.

In the meantime, several strangers noticed that the previously brightly-lit home was vacant, and they decided to move in as if it was indeed their own!

Reb Yisrael and his wife and children saw the strangers living in the house; but in veneration for the sukkah, they stubbornly bonded with the thin walls and dried-out schach and refused to leave.

The whole thing was so absurd. To leave such a beautiful home for the feeble, fallible construction of the sukkah, despite the fact that their beautiful home was beckoning them to return was beyond the understanding of any rational person.

Then came the stones thrown by the local anti-Semites who wanted to rid the neighborhood of this sukkah eye-sore. But Reb Yisrael and his family dodged them one by one and steadfastly remained in their fragile dwelling, rationalizing these acts as irrelevant nuisances.

Then came the terrible night when one-third of the sukkah was torched by the local bullies. Reb Yisrael and his family were aware of what was happening, but their minds had become so warped that no amount of reasoning could move them.

To them the sukkah was home and their home was galut. Eventually the sukkah came crashing down, killing Reb Yisrael and his entire family in their beloved galut!

I trust that it would be superfluous to explain that in this allegory the “home” is Eretz Yisrael, the “sukkah ” is the galut, and the “rabbi” is one of many who do not encourage their flock to return to Eretz Yisrael.

Chag Samayach

Nachman Kahana

Copyright © 5774/2013 Nachman Kahana

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