Lots going on right now, and very few understand what’s happening. Very few. My colleagues are asking me to write something from my unique vantage point. My forte is in investigative archaeology and as a Rabbi I have a tendency of researching what’s behind the scenes from a spiritual perspective.
The Corona virus has been with us for just about a year now. I wrote a previous article about the lessons we can learn from it at the onset of the pandemic. And now it’s apparently about time for Part II. This is the second wave that we’re now experiencing almost a year later.
Let’s talk about those spiritual reasons behind what’s happening. The more people think about what’s going on, the more they realize that all the effects can only be from God Himself. There’s a transformation happening in the world. God is preparing His world for the future, a future that contains the culmination of human purpose. Why now? Because time’s running out. God has a calendar too, replete with a To-Do list, and when push comes to shove and we humans aren’t doing what we’re supposed to do, He has no choice but to act and force upon us a new situation where we must adapt and change. There’s a cosmic calendar and we’re almost at the turning point, which would be the 7 th Millennium, aka the Hebrew year 6000. We are now holding in the year 5781 (plus 6 days) from Creation and there’s still so much to be done! After all, the Erev Rav (aka the spiritual descendants of the Mixed Multitude that left Egypt with the Jews) must fall out of power, the ingathering of the Jewish exiles must pick up speed, the Third Temple has to be built, and the evil Amalek nation (Iranian leaders, Hezbollah, etc.) must be destroyed. All that and the Messiah has to come with it! These events must take place within the framework of a ‘natural’ course of action, as Maimonides says at the end of his monumental work, the Mishnah Torah.
There’s another thing I’ve noticed. Since the onset of Corona, there has been no real leadership, spiritually speaking. There are almost no big “gedolim” (pious Jewish sages) left in this generation to lead. Even 30-40 years ago there were still remnants of the last generation of tzaddikim (righteous men) coming from Europe on the Ashkenazi side, and Morocco from the Sephardic side. They would have known the spiritual reasons behind what is happening now, and therefore how to deal with this pandemic, rectify the problem and consequently rid ourselves of it. Now however, it’s the little guy like you and me that have to be the righteous ones. One of the lessons we can garner from this state we’re in is that it’s up to us to rise to the occasion. There’s no religious leaders left to rely on. The Pope last week stated that gay people should have equal rights, for God’s sake! And indeed, this too is part of the Divine Plan. We must see the good and the bad, and make hard choices ourselves about which path to follow.
What we’re seeing is a world moving in the direction where there won’t be any choice but to rely on each other. We’re all in the same boat. And after that, at the end of the day here in Israel there will be nobody to rely upon except God Himself. It’s His world isn’t it, and He’s slowly taking it back now along with all those that are loyal to Him.
Having said that, it’s very important to note that the election impasse in America today is closely tied to all this. Confusion abounds, and nobody knows what’s going to happen next! While the mainstream media has forced the issue down everyone’s throat that Senator Joe Biden is now the President Elect, apparently the election results are anything but over. President Trump has almost a dozen court cases ongoing that accuse the Democrats of fraudulent activity in a number of swing states that will surely alter the results, at least in the Electoral College arena. I can only hope that the Biden wave of “healing the wounds” will continue AFTER Trump wins back those areas. But don’t bet the barn!
There is a famous Jewish commentary on the Talmud (Rabeinu Asher – the ‘ROSH’) who lived hundreds of years ago. In his elucidation on Tractate Baba Metziah (see opening page of first chapter), he writes that when two people claim ownership of the same item, one can tell which person has the law on his side (“hadin imo”) by seeing which one is ready to carry out the most self-sacrifice (“mosrah nafsho”) for keeping the object in his possession, as compared to the one who has intended to steal it. The reason behind this is that the one who would like to steal the item is figuring: why should I go all out, when it might eventually come to light, whether today or tomorrow, proofs that my claim is a fraud, and then it will be taken from me at any rate. It’s not worth all the effort! This is along the same lines as probably the most famous case of all time, i.e., where two women come up to King Solomon on his throne (who was a teenager at the time), each claiming that the newborn baby was their own. One was jealous, as she gave birth to a baby at the same time but it died, and this one belonging to the other woman, lived. Everyone knows the story from here. What does the king say in his great wisdom? Bring me my royal sword! He then raises it and proclaims that he will now cut the baby in half, and give one half to each of the women. “Any objections?” Seems fair, no? One woman then agrees and is satisfied by the king’s decree, and the other one screams and says: “No, I was wrong, it is her baby, just let the child live!” Ahhhh, the King says (pointing): “This is the true mother.” The rest is history.
Indeed! Now THAT is understanding human nature. In the same way, we see Biden and the Democrats trying to steal away a presidency that seemed to be in the bag only 6 hours before Election Day was over. And who do we see fighting with all his might, both in court and outside court, with a tremendous amount of self-sacrifice? Donald Trump! The Biden side has chosen to simply ignore the claims of voter fraud, votes being illegally counted, malfunctioning machinery, software glitches, etc. and instead publicly state that these things just don’t exist and were simply made up by the Trump administration.
Frankly, it can only be that God is giving President Trump strength to endure all this humiliation, seeing how Washington seems to have thrown him under the bus. It’s so out of place though, as there’s no question that when you look at what Trump has done, it is obviously unprecedented (as I have indicated in my previous piece) and noteworthy on a bunch of levels. He may actually be the greatest president in history vis-à-vis Israel and the Jewish People. If the President happens to be reading this, my message to him is: DO NOT CONCEDE. No concession speech please, because as the saying goes, ‘it ain’t over ‘till the fat lady sings’ (of course, I would also tell him how much I’d like to be his advisor re: the holy places of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount)!
Fasten your seatbelts folks, we’re in for quite a ride.
