Bilvavi on the War 5784
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- שלח דף במייל
QUESTION Something we have never heard before has happened- the sound of war on Simchas Torah, with the entire klal Yisrael plunged into a troubling time and with Jews being held captive. How can we hear the Voice of Hashem calling out to us from all this, how can we know what He wants from us now, and what is the avoda of every single individual now?
ANSWER Teshuvah! Teshuvah! Teshuvah!
Hashem has shown us that the amount of people who were killed and injured today, (May the Merciful One save us!) are even less that the amount of people today who have been killed and injured “spiritually.” Every day, tumah (impurity) dominates. Each person needs to remove all tumah in all its forms from his home, so that the home should be clean! The first external part of the sifting process (birur) needs to be done by separating from all impure devices, immodest clothing and newspapers.
Ever since corona began there will not be serenity in the world until Mashiach comes, as we wrote about several years ago.[1] Every person can see that different problems keep appearing, each time from a different direction. Now is the time of the great sifting process (birur) between good and evil and the mixture of influences from the Erev Rav (Mixed Multitude). More recently it is becoming clearer who among us are really against Hashem and His Torah and His nation, and who are prepared to uproot everything. That is the external part of sifting us out from the Erev Rav, and it is obvious to all who amongst us are not really part of the Jewish People (klal Yisrael).
Now a more inner sifting process has begun, and slowly it will become more and more subtle and refined. Therefore, it is upon every individual to remove from their home all forms of tumah (impurity) and that is the external part of our task which is obvious to everyone.
At the same time, each person also has to make an inner clarification- am I prepared for Mashiach’s arrival? For a world that will be entirely Torah and cleaving to Hashem and nothing else!!! Included in this is to separate from discussing “politics” and from being involved with anything that does not serve as a means to truly reach serenity (meuchas hanefesh). And, we should attach ourselves to Hashem and to His Torah!
QUESTION
What did the Rav mean in the recent response about how we should respond to the war that began on Simchas Torah 5784 which included “keeping a distance from bringing any kind of newspaper into the house” – did the Rav mean the secular papers or even the Chareidi newspapers?
ANSWER
Is there any tamim (simple G-d fearing Jew) today who really thinks that there is such a thing as a Chareidi paper?
There are papers that are completely chiloni/secular, and then there are papers which are halfway, a third, or a quarter of the way secular. Some of the papers today that are called “Chareidi newspapers” are not even owned by a Chareidi Jew, and even the ones that are owned by a Chareidi Jew are still not appropriate reading material for a Chareidi Jew. If someone doesn’t understand this, his eyes are blinded from seeing properly!!!
We are living in a generation where there are those who are dressed like religious Jews but they are not really religious Jews at all, owning completely non-kosher devices that’s open to the world, and the like. And in some cases, these are the writers of the articles of the newspapers that Chareidi Jews are reading – and it is these writers who are the ones responsible/overseeing the material.
We need to understand that we are living in a generation which Chazal called “a generation entirely guilty”. There are few tzaddikim in our generation, and of them Chazal said “Hashem saw that the tzaddikim will be few, so He spread them out all the generations – but these tzaddikim are not from the generation. It is only the writings of these tzaddikim that we should be reading and discussing – and nothing else!!!
And besides, the newspapers are filled with the products that are closely related to idol worship, denial of G-d, murdering others by shaming them publicly, and material about illicit relationships. They are all about spreading material that’s the opposite of kedushah (holiness) and tzniyus (modesty), as well as many other Torah prohibitions.
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[1] Editor’s clarification: The Rav used the same “language” in the sefer “Getting To Know Your Redemption” on page 193: We need to understand very well that until the year 5779, we still had another 221 years left until the end of the world which is the year 6000. From this year onward, 5780, the 221 years have now been shortened. The number 221 is equal to the word ארך, which hints to the middah of Hashem that is called אף מאריך, when Hashem slows down His anger. And now that the 221 years have been shortened, it has also minimized on some level Hashem’s conduct of slowing his anger. Therefore, from this year onward, the entire world is going through changes, especially in Eretz Yisrael and things will not become totally calm until the coming of Mashiach.
According to the non-Jewish calendar, the year is 2020, which is the number 20 twice. The number 20 is equal in gematria to the word כתר, keter. This is the revelation that is taking place now, the keter d’keter, the innermost level of the keter, which is keter twice, equal to 20 and 20. Therefore, a state of solitude has come into the world, an impaired kind of being alone, where nobody can come within the daled amos of another person. This is because the daled amos of a person, the space of a person, is hinting to the yechidah level of the soul and right now, nobody is allowed to interfere with another person’s space. It is also causing people to remain secluded in their homes. And as it is known, the nefesh level of the soul is in the liver, the ruach is in the heart, the neshamah is in the brain, the chaya is on the person’s clothing and the yechidah is in the house. Therefore, one has to be secluded in the house due to the yechidah revelation which is taking place in the world today.
Understand that Hakadosh Baruch Hu has now erased any connection to tumah, to all of the restaurants, to all of the mingling, all of the vacations, and the entire “world of falsity” that has been here for the last couple of years.
However, just as when we left Egypt, there was one remaining idol, called Baal Tzefon, which represented the root of all idolatry – so, too, are we remaining now with the very innermost level of tumah, the very core of the shaar hanun d’tumah (the 50th gate of defilement), which is otherwise known as The media and Internet. Now people have become secluded in their homes, but their connection to the entire world is still being enabled through the media and the Internet - which is the very shaar hanun d’tumah. It is the most difficult kelipah (shell) which has not yet been shattered. The innermost gate of this shaar hanun d’tumah, the “keter d’keter” on the side of evil, is dominant now without any restraint.
The way to get rid of this kelipah is by shining the light of Mashiach, which is found with us already now. This is the light of the keter d’keter on the side of kedushah. When the media will disappear, Mashiach will come. But until Mashiach comes, the innermost level of the shaar hanun d’tumah dominates in the world and it contains a mixture of kedushah and tumah, from the highest level of kedushah all the way down to the lowest level of tumah. That is why everything today has become mixed and confused in a disturbing way, in this generation in which our logic cannot comprehend. This will not change until the coming of Mashiach.
