Part 3: The "Messianic Connection . . . "

6 Tevet 5785 

[Don't miss Part 1 and Part 2]

"Between Trump's Inauguration

and the 10th of Tevet Fast!  Chilling!"

Part 2: Transition to the Process of "ben David" Beginning?

6 Tevet 5785

IDF said on high alert for ‘extreme’ Iranian steps against Israel

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi has ordered the military on high alert in case Iran decides to take “extreme” steps against Israel in the coming days, the Walla news site reports.

The report, citing unnamed defense sources, says the caution comes as Iran faces multiple challenges following setbacks in Lebanon and Syria.  It also points to Iran’s plunging exchange rate, infrastructure problems and political unrest.

The sources also note the uncertainty for Iran ahead of the return of Donald Trump to the White House later this month.

All this has Israel concerned that Iran could lash out and has the IDF preparing for a variety of scenarios, the report says without elaborating.

Received from Israel Realtime Updates . . .

❗SENIOR LEBANESE SHI’ITE CLERIC WARNS - "Hezbollah is planning Operation Badr the Great 2 - a name referring to the historic battle.  The planned operation, according to al-Husseini, will include a large-scale military operation against the IDF and an attempt to kidnap soldiers for negotiation purposes.  "The organization took advantage of the unilateral ceasefire to reorganize," he wrote, "and it will return to military activity soon, in an attempt to restore its deterrent power and avenge the blow to its leadership."

🔹LEBANON - the Lebanese army is unable to fulfill the ceasefire agreement. The number of soldiers is lower than stated in the agreement, and the Lebanese army is concentrated on the Syrian border, having difficulty sending forces to the south.

.. Hezbollah leader Kassem: “We are not committed to the 60 days in the agreement with Israel.”

🔹IRAN THREATENS.. Representative of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Quds Force: "Let everyone know that the fulfillment of Just Promise 3 will come soon."

Received via Whatsapp . . .

Asked whether an ‘Operation True Promise III’ against the Zionist regime is on the agenda, Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi, a deputy commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, told reporters at the Sharif University of Tehran on 03 November 2024 that the operation will definitely be carried out.  Iran will certainly carry out a retaliatory military operation against the Israeli regime, he said.  “It is not possible to comment on its details,” the general stated.

In Islam, the concept of the "True Promise" refers to the Day of Judgment (Yawm al-Qiyamah). This day is a fundamental belief in Islamic eschatology, signifying the final judgment of all human beings by Allah (God).*  It is called the "True Promise" because it is a certainty that will inevitably occur, as promised by Allah in the Qur'an. [*See here if you missed it.]

Snowy Tevet A Sign?

This Winter Storm Just Got Worse

[See also: "Massive Winter Storm 2025: 62 Million at Risk | Snow, Ice, and Dangerous Weather Threaten U.S."; This Winter Storm Will Actually Be Intense...]

And it's not just the US. Its Eisavian partners are also affected: Europe / U.S Weather: Dangerous Multi-Hazard Snowstorms Imminent.

MICHA'EL, THE SNOW ANGEL

...the four archangels correspond to the four elements of nature and it is Michael who is the snow angel and also the guardian and defending angel of Israel.

...Michael is made up entirely of snow and Gabriel of fire, and though they stand near one another they do not injure one another, thus indicating the power of God to "make peace in His high places." According to the Aggadah, both Michael and Gabriel will be among those who will accompany the Messiah, and they will then contend with the wicked.

Michael is considered superior to Gabriel in rank and wherever he appears, the glory of the Shekhinah, the Holy Spirit, is also bound to be found. Each nation has its guardian angel, Michael being the guardian angel of Israel. He acts as the counsel for Israel's defense when the wicked bring charges against them before God. According to the midrash, Michael is the angel who prevented Abraham from offering up Isaac at the Akeida; informs Sarah that she will give birth to a boy; rescues Abraham from the furnace; instructs Moses; smites the army of Sancheriv; endeavors to prevent the exile by pleading on Israel's behalf to God; and defends the Jews of Persia when Haman plotted to destroy them.

...Malach Michael...in our time is the...defense attorney of Klal Yisrael. Michael is the one who is going to defend Klal Yisrael in the last moments prior to the geula as it says in Daniel 12:1... There'll be a terrible situation like there never was since Klal Yisrael became a nation....at that time Michael will stand in defense of Klal Yisrael.

...Michael is the one who stands opposite the Sar Malchus Paras, who is today...Iran. Sar Malchus Paras is the gematria of haster astir - that's the hester panim of now, like there was a hester panim in the time of Purim.

...There's an interesting medrash in Esther Rabbah and there it says clearly that Michael was the malach at that time. The medrash says that Haman, while he was being mekatreg on Klal Yisrael, at the same time, ...Michael is defending us....So Michael was [our defender] at that time and Michael will be [our defender] prior to the geula, where Klal Yisrael will be plunged into a hester panim like they were then, where it was Paras and now it's also Paras.

Daniel 12.1 . . .

Now at that time, Michael, the great prince, who stands over the children of your people, will be silent, and it will be a time of distress that never was since a nation existed until that time, and at that time, your people will escape, everyone who is found inscribed in the book.

[Rashi] Now at that time, Michael… will be silent. He will be silent like a mute person, for he will see the Holy One, blessed be He, judging by Himself and saying, “How will I destroy a great nation like this for the sake of Israel?”

and it will be a time of distress. in heaven there will be accusations against Torah scholars, [and there will be] plunderers and plunderers of plunderers, as our Rabbis said in the Aggadah in the last chapter of Kethuboth (112b).

your people will escape. The kingdom of Gog will be destroyed and Israel will escape.

Midrash Yalkut Shimoni . . .

In the year in which the King Moshiach is revealed, all the kings of the nations of the world are provoking one another, the king of Paras provokes an Arab king and the Arab king goes to Aram to take counsel from them […] and all the nations of the world are distressed and panicking […] and Israel are distressed and panicking […] and He says to them ‘My children, don’t be afraid, all that I have done I did not do except for your sake; What are you afraid of? Do not fear, the time of your redemption has arrived […] The Rabbis taught that in the hour in which the King Moshiach comes he stands on the roof of the Bais Hamikdash and he announces to Israel and says ‘humble ones, the time of your redemption has arrived… 

The Erev Rav regime, also known as the State of Israel, has taken us as far as it can go.  It has greatly weakened the enemy all over our ancestral land, but it just doesn't have what it takes to finish the job and claim all that land in the name of HKB"H.  It does not have enough yirat shamayim to deliver the killing blow.

Face it!  It was never going to annihilate the enemy and build the Third Temple!  That reality exists at a higher level than they can reach.  The level of the State is Mashiach ben Yosef and concerns itself mainly with the physical needs of the Am. The spiritual needs of the Am can only be addressed at the level of Kingdom!  This is Mashiach ben David.

Right now, we are at a sticking place where we cannot go forward, through lack of will and spiritual ability, but we also can't go backward due to the existential risk.  It would be the end of us.  Therefore, this is Mashiach ben David's moment to step up and take charge.  

From Rabbi Aryeh Carmell's "Who is Messiah?" . . .

...the first to predict the rise of a secular Jewish state as prelude to the coming of the Messiah is Rabbi Judah Loew ben Bezalel of Prague (1525-1609) known as "Maharal", in his discussion of the rise of "the Kingdom of the Messiah".

...Maharal affirms that the coming of the Messiah is not, as often thought a sudden event; it is a process. The "Holy kingdom of Israel" - Maharal's term for the reign of the Messiah - will emerge from an earlier, non-holy kingdom.

The Midrash states: Just as Moshe, who was destined to break the power of Pharaoh, was brought up in Pharaoh's palace, so the Messiah, who is destined to settle accounts with Edom, will live with them in their city. The ultimate failure of the empire of Edom will give rise to a new and different kingdom - the Kingdom of the Messiah . . . 

This is why Yaacov was born holding on to the heel of Esav (Bereshit 25:26).

Now, "the kingdom of Edom" refers to the last of the four empires of the world foreseen by Daniel (chapters 4-5): Babylonia, Media, Greece, and Rome. Rome, as world power, is long since dead and gone. But its heritage, Western Civilization, rules the world. Our Rabbis indicate that the kingdom of the Messiah will grow up in the context of Western civilization. Indeed, the parable of "the heel of Esav" signifies that the spiritual failure and moral bankruptcy of that civilization will be the catalyst for the coming of the Messiah.

So far Maharal - properly understood - has described how the kingdom of the Messiah emerges from the breakdown of Western civilization.

But this is not all. Maharal's vision is guided by veiled hints in the Midrash: the "Kingdom of Israel" itself undergoes development. In its immature stage it forms part of the Fourth Empire, and only when it reaches maturity does it throw off this attachment and emerge as "the holy kingdom of the Messiah".

Maharal continues:

So long as the kingdom of the Messiah has not yet reached perfection, the kingdom of the Messiah is attached to Edom (nigar el Edom) ...The holy kingdom of Israel... must grow out of the non-holy kingdom that preceded it.

Maharal, in a telling parable, describes the relationship between the embryonic "kingdom of Israel" and its "Edomite" environment: Fruit grows within a husk; when the fruit ripens the husks falls off... So it is with Israel. Their kingdom emerges and grows from within the kingdom of the nations i.e., from the existential power of the kingdom of the nations, and from their level, it raises itself to a higher level. And when the kingdom of Israel reaches complete maturity the kingdom of nations is removed, just as the husk is removed, and falls off when the fruit reaches its perfection.

May we all merit to see it very, very soon!!

Part 1: A Very Special Week Ahead

5 Tevet 5785

[In recognition of the 25th yahrtzeit of Rav Binyamin and Rabbanit Talya Kahane, may HKB"H avenge their blood and may their memories always be a blessing.]

~ ~ ~

Thursday night, January 2, 2025 - the end of Zot Hanukkah - officially closed out the judgment period for Rosh Hashanah 5785.  No more waiting.

Rabbi Yehudah Richter in recent lectures advised us to watch for the downfall of Eisav starting on Rosh Chodesh Tevet (traditionally a month when Eisav is strongest).  That so happened to coincide this year with Eisav's "New Year" and it was celebrated with a different kind of fireworks.

What will be next?

D.C. on high alert going into unprecedented period of prominent events

Local and federal law enforcement leaders in Washington said Friday they are on high alert heading into an unprecedented series of prominent events in D.C., after the New Year’s Day attack in New Orleans and a Cybertruck explosion in Las Vegas rattled the nation.

The city will see a heightened security posture as residents brace for a month packed with high-profile national events and the road closures, parking restrictions and potential protests that come with them.

In a span of 15 days, law enforcement will be providing security for three “national special security events,” the highest federal protective status, for the electoral count on Monday, former president Jimmy Carter’s state funeral on Thursday and the inauguration on Jan. 20. In between, there will also be demonstrations and other events, such as President-elect Donald Trump’s rally at Capital One Arena on Jan. 19.

“That has never happened before,” William “Matt” McCool, the special agent in charge for the Secret Service’s Washington Field Office, said at a news conference Friday, referring to hosting three national special security events so close together.  (Article continues here.)

Parashah Clues About What Is To Come

Parashat Vayigash (yesterday) commemorated the revelation of Yosef HaTzaddik to his brothers and Parashat Vayechi (this week) will see our forefather Ya'aqov attempt to reveal the time of The End.  

Rabbi Chaim Zimmerman, ztz"l, in his book Torah and Existence, wrote:  "...in the seventh year there will be wars, . . .  the war is already the beginning of the redemption."

It made me think of the Chofetz Chaim's predictions about three world wars:

"While in London I heard from the holy Rabbi Elchanan Wasserman, quoting the Chofetz Chaim, that Chazal say the War of Gog and Magog will be threefold. After the First World War, the Chofetz Chaim said that it was the first battle of Gog and Magog, and that in about 25 years there would be a second world war, which would make the first one seem insignificant. Then there would be a third battle …" (Leiv Eliyahu, Shemos, p. 172)

World War I officially began on 28 July 1914, but "the Ottoman entry into World War I began on 29 October 1914" (17 Cheshvan 5675).  They attacked Russian ports.  Russia declared war on the Ottoman Empire on Nov. 2 and their allies, Britain and France, followed suit on Nov. 5.

I think this was the official start of atchalta degeulah - the "beginning of the redemption" - the process of Mashiach ben Yosef.  The result of WWI was the transfer of Eretz Yisrael from the hands of Yishmael into the hands of Eisav.  Then, the result of WW2 was the transfer of power over Eretz Yisrael to the Erev Rav, albeit still under the control of Eisav.

This week's parashah recounts the deaths of Ya'aqov Avinu, as well as Yosef HaTzaddik himself.  As Yosef HaTzaddik lived 110 years, perhaps the process of "ben Yosef" also lasts for 110 years - 1914 to 2024. 

Logically, WW3 should see the handover of Eretz Yisrael to the righteous seed of Yisrael and begin the process of "ben David."

Secrets of the Redemption:  "Ramchal explains how there are two influences in the divine order of creation, and that they are revealed at two different times.  One corresponds to the Safeguarding [Pekidah], and Mashi'ach ben Yosef reveals it.  The other is the Recollection [Zechirah] which is revealed by Mashi'ach ben David. 

What is not explicitly stated in Parashat Vayechi, but which we know from other Torah sources, is that Eisav himself met his end at this same time.  He was killed at his brother Ya'aqov's funeral.  

Yom Shishi, Friday before Shabbat, we are meant to be fasting.  It will be the Tenth of Tevet - the beginning of exile.  We know it is destined to become a holiday in the future.  Perhaps something which marks the end of exile will occur this week.  The time appears to be ripe for it.   Ken yehi ratzon!

The Special Status of the Torah Learners/Teachers

3 Tevet 5785
Erev Shabbat Kodesh
Parashat Vayigash

Something to keep in mind while the anti-Torah forces of the State try to convince us that Torah is only for our spare time.

Excerpted from the Stone Edition Chumash Commentary on Bereishit 47.22 . . .

"Only the land of the priests he did not buy."  The verse explains that the priests had no need to sell their land for food because they received a stipend from Pharaoh, despite the famine.  Verse 26 reiterates that only the priestly lands did not become Pharaoh's. The Torah's stress on the royal provision for the priests is seen by the commentators as a lesson for future generations of Israel:  Jews should never be reluctant to give their tithes and contributions to the Kohanim, Levites, and the poor.  God says, "See how Pharaoh did not take the land of his idol-worshiping priests and he freed them from paying a fifth of their produce to the crown.  But to you, My children, I have given Eretz Yisrael as an outright gift - surely you, who are children of the living God, should graciously contribute a fifth" (Moshav Zekeinim).

Joseph prophetically established a precedent that would later benefit Israel while it was in Egypt.  By giving a privileged status to the clergy, Joseph established a precedent that made it possible for the tribe of Levi - the Jewish "clerics" - to be exempt from the servitude to which the Egyptians later subjected the other tribes, so that there would be a strong nucleus of people who kept alive the teachings of the Patriarchs (R' Yaakov Kaminetzky).

~ SHABBAT SHALOM ~

ZOT Hanukkah!

2 Tevet 5778

8th Candle of Hanukkah

Zot Chanukah

The "simple" explanation for this special name for the last day of Chanuka is the Torah reading from the end of Parshat Naso that emphatically announces ZOT CHANUKAT HA-MIZBEI'ACH (when the Torah is summing up the gifts of all the Tribal Leaders.

There is another, deeper meaning to the name. If you want to really know what Chanuka is all about, the answer is THIS, THE EIGHTH DAY OF CHANUKA - the fact that there are 8 days of Chanuka - ZOT CHANUKA, this is what Chanuka means. It means EIGHT. EIGHT is our answer to the Greek challenge. They said nature is perfect. They said it is a mutilation of the body to be circumcised. And they forbid us to fulfill that great mitzva of ours, under pain of death. EIGHT represents the step beyond TEVA, beyond nature. MILA on the 8th day represents our challenge to go beyond how we were created and take charge of the completion of our physical and spiritual form. The Mikdash began to function on its higher spiritual level on the EIGHTH day. The Greeks tried to take that away from us too. Torah was given to us on the day following seven sevens. It is an EIGHTH too. And the Greeks tried to take that from us also. With G-d's help, we prevailed over the Greeks and the triumph is celebrated with an 8 day holiday. This is Chanuka. ZOT CHANUKA.  

(Courtesy of OU.org)