A Home at the Center of the Universe

Jewish law has some “basic” laws. What makes basic laws basic? I suppose because without grasping these at first, knowledge of the rest of Jewish law may not be appreciated. For this reason, Maimonides, in scoping out all of Torah’s laws in his great 14-volume compendium, begins his treatise with 10 chapters called:
“Torah’s Most Basic Laws”. (LINK)

Curiously enough, one of these most fundamental Torah laws is a lesson in astronomy. We are taught, of all things, the shape of the universe! “It’s round”, says the Rambam. And to be sure we understand just what round means, he qualifies his description as “round like a ball”. This extra phrase “like a ball” is deliberate. It pays to know that the Rambam scrupulously paid heed to being exceptionally concise, never using extra words unless they were necessary. I suppose therefore that adding "like a ball", therefore, means to exclude ovoid or elliptical shapes.

So right from the start, the student of Jewish Law learns that Torah rejects the scientific theories of modern astronomy, whose theories invoke elliptical orbits.

Then we learn that this huge spherical universe is made up of 8 concentric spheres, one within the other, layered like an onion. Each sphere whirls or rotates in its own autonomous direction, irrespective of its neighboring inner or outer sphere's direction, although the direction or velocity of a neighboring sphere does have influence on an adjacent sphere.

Outside the 8th sphere, is the 9th dimensionless, starless, empty expanse that rotates the entire universe contained within it one full revolution every 24 hours.

In the middle of this concentrically layered universe of stacked, orbiting spheres, one inside the other, the lowermost or innermost sphere has, at its core -- an empty space. That is, the 1st or innermost sphere has within it a hollow core. It is inside this core where Earth and its atmosphere were placed. Although all spheres around the Earth's space are in constant rotation, the Earth itself remains stationary!

Here too the Torah's perspective differs from modern science. Astronomy subscribes to a heliocentric universe, with the sun at its core; Torah, on the other hand, teaches us that the universe is geocentric, with the Earth at the center of the universe. Modern science claims the Earth rotates; Torah, to the contrary, tells us the Earth is still.

Each sphere has a thickness, is transparent and intangible. Each sphere abuts with its adjacent spheres. Each of the 1st 7 contain a main planet. The 8th sphere contains all the other stars of the universe.

Now -- you might ask -- why would this shape and configuration of the universe constitute a "most basic law of Torah"? Among the thousands of laws in Judaism, why does this one deserve such an important status? Is it even relevant to religious conduct?

Maimonides tells why. Pondering the incredible organization, beauty and grace built into the universe, he says, inspires us to “Love your God!” and “Fear your God!”. Without this basic law’s knowledge, the laws of loving and fearing Hashem involved in many other Torah commandments may not otherwise be satisfied.

One can also draw a simple conclusion from knowing the above shape-of-the-world facts. The whole world revolves around us down here at the center of it all. We small creatures live in this huge universe, all of which was obviously meant to benefit us down here. We are the focus of it all. Obviously this gives man a sense of awe and, at the same time, a sense of responsibility, which implies dedicating oneself to a commitment, knowing he is the centerpiece of all of creation.

Parenthetically, now that NASA has 3 times sent antennas to outer space to map cosmic background radiation, 3 times they've confirmed that the pattern found cannot support a random distribution. Rather, their finding implies a source of intelligence! Cosmologists belied their anger at these findings by dubbing the plotted axis, which points to the Earth as being the center of the universe, "the axis of evil". Why evil? Evil because they did not expect an alignment of all that surrounds the universe (the outermost "sphere") with what they supposed was an insignificant Earth. If anything, it now shows that the earth is indeed at the center of the grand architect's master plan. Their findings, to their own surprise and dismay, point to a one God of the universe!

Chabad Chassidus is based on a most interesting axiom, which originates from one Midrashic quote, or a few at most; Namely, that the Creator of the universe desires to make this nethermost world of ours into His "home". That is, if all Jews were to behave according to Jewish law, this world would be a fitting place for God's Presence to manifest in its full glory. The above basic laws of Torah certainly support this exalted mission of the Jewish people.

The Key to Bringing Moshiach Now!

23 years ago, the Rebbe shook his audience of thousands to the core. He dispatched his emissaries with a new set of marching orders. He called this new mission "the gate through which all outreach activity must pass through from now on!” (ספר השיחות ה'תשנ''ב, pp. 110-111).

He recalled a previous, long-standing mission, that of disseminating chassidic wellsprings, and said it was a mission accomplished! This in itself was newsworthy and significant.

But now, said he, there remains one last mission to see through, and that is to accept the countenance of Moshiach (לקבל פני משיח). He said this key mission will enable Moshiach to redeem all Jews from exile!

To put this mission in better perspective, consider what Maimonides asked of the Jew. He wrote, a Jew must "... believe in Moshiach ... he will come any day, and even if he tarries, … will still await him.” 

But now the Rebbe ratcheted up this preparedness from a dormant, inactive “waiting" state to one that calls for action. The Rebbe said, "Your task is to accept the countenance of Moshiach"!

Accepting is a far cry from just waiting. Moreover, he thereby effectively told Jewish people it was up to them to bring Moshiach! If Jews wanted Moshiach - it was their responsibility to bring him! They could not be passive observers! As for what Maimonides said, that waiting was over with. He had come. So waiting for him was over with. Now - said the Rebbe - they must “accept him!”

As the Rebbe said to Chief Rabbi of Israel, Mordechai Eliyahu, ע''ה, in 1992, "The redemption is at the door's threshold and awaits for every Jew to open the door and drag the redemption in!” 

In other words, there's no more “waiting”; Jews now have to “drag” Redemption into becoming a reality. Jews were now given an active role to play in the phenomenon! 

And just what did the Rebbe mean by “to accept the countenance of Moshiach!"”?

To this Chabad chassid it means to say - acknowledge that the Rebbe is Moshiach! As if to say, “Accept me!"

(Had the Rebbe simply said our task is "to receive Moshiach" (לקבל משיח), omitting the word "countenance" (פני), there would have been no point to that. How can we "accept" someone we don't know? To just say "receive Moshiach" removes the identity factor! It makes no sense to accept someone who remains unidentified. The action expected of the Jew from now on would then fall flat on its face.)

Some ask, especially to skirt commitment, then why didn’t the Rebbe just come out and simply say, “I am Moshiach”?

For one thing, the responsibility for having a king rests on the Jewish people themselves! It is up to them! There is no Jewish king unless Jews grant the king his sovereignty. (See here regarding the lesson David learned from Avigayil.)

Another reason the Rebbe could never just come out and say "I am Moshiach” is here explained. In his essence, Moshiach is the most humble of all people on the face of the earth.

This new responsibility we Jews were given recalls a similar episode in the past, when David was anointed as the new king of Israel by the prophet Shmuel. At the time King Saul had not yet been dethroned. In fact, David ended up with no more than some 600 “followers”. Not until 7 years later did David finally become king over all of Israel proper. 

Jews have been squandering this opportunity to crown for themselves a King Moshiach! It’s now been 23 years. How much longer must we wait?

All We Have are the Words of בן עמרם

Jews are believers and children of believers.

There exist moments in a chassid’s life when reminders help him stand firm about a supernatural belief inspired by his rabbi, one that otherwise would fly in the face of reality were we to measure reality simply with our fleshy receptors. Such reminders keep us separate from non-believers who would consider things strictly from Nature’s perspective. A Jew, after all, wears supernatural lenses.

That this rabbi happens to be the Rebbe of Lubavitch is not insignificant, for he is the Moses of OUR Generation!

We have such a reminder in this week’s Korach portion of the Torah.

During an argument between Aaron and the Angel of Death, we overhear Aaron say to the Angel something that ought not escape our attention. He said (see Rashi, Num. 17:13),

אין משה אומר כלום מלבו אלא מפי הגבורה

"Moses (of the generation) does not say anything of his own but that which he hears from God!”

Note how Aaron does not simply make a positive statement. Rather, he makes his point more emphatically. Note his assertion's incisive, unequivocal and resolute tenor - “does not say anything but”!

You can see the difference when you compare these two statements:
I drink tea.
I drink nothing but tea.
The latter uses the assertive language of exclusivity.

Similarly in our case. The Rebbe’s words continue to resonate with his chassidim (much more so than with those who were distant from him). We know the Rebbe spoke only that which the divine wanted him to say, to the point of excluding anything else!

He told us we are beyond the threshold of the Era of Redemption! Do we SEE Redemption? What we see or don’t see does not change the facts.

He also implored us to “open our eyes” to see the Redemptive events unfold - at least with our mind’s eye! He wanted us to believe him even though the world did not SEEM to be in the state he said it was in.

The Rebbe never gave false forecasts. And with regard to such a grand assertion - that we have entered the Era of Redemption - only a fool can think the Rebbe did not know what he was speaking about, or that he made a mistake, or that he was really just praying.

All the Rebbe said will happen will happen. If only things were more clearly visible for us already now!

(The Rambam too spoke of the first phase of Geulah as proceeding under the guise of "normalcy" - "עולם כמנהגו נוהג" [Melachim 12:1]. Thus we hear sad news too, such as the kidnapping of Jewish boys by scum of the earth. Apparently, while the view among the trees remains painful, the view from above the jungle delivers a rosy picture nevertheless and tells an altogether different story.)

Binyomin's Gift of Millions

After Joseph reveals his true identity to his brothers, he gives each brother two suits of garments, but to his brother Binyomin he offers 5 suits of garments and  - an enormous amount of money, an amount that is 75% of what Abraham paid to purchase the overpriced real estate of the Mearat Hamachpelah in Chevron. Joseph's gift, if you make the calculations, translates into a liter of gold, today's equivalent of many millions of dollars. How's that for unusual?

It is not the immensity of this amount that is unusual (after all, Joseph was 2nd to emperor Pharoah). It is the fact that money itself was offered as a gift. Nowhere in Tanach is money offered explicitly as a gift. Money we find serves to set a fine or pay a penalty, or tax, to bribe, and for making a purchase or paying a wage, but nowhere do we find money given as a gift. Yet with Joseph and Binyomin it seems to be a gift.

An enormous gift to be sure, which far outweighs what the other brothers received.

So what really is behind this offering that appears at first glance as a gift?

Remember that Joseph had studied Torah with his father Yakov before he was kidnapped and sold by his 10 older brothers. We know the last topic they learned together was the Eglah Arufah. Once Joseph was gone, Yakov now studied Torah with Binyomin.

Imagine what you would give to sit and learn Torah with Moses for one day. God gave Adam Torah knowledge. Adam taught it to Abraham. Abraham taught Isaac. And Isaac taught Yakov. Now, here he was, the most illustrious of all our forefathers, sitting with Binyomin studying Torah - one-on-one - for 22 years! By any account we could consider Binyomin to be a Torah sage, a veritable Talmid Chacham.

Now consider what happened when Joseph tested his brothers' resolve to protect Binyomin, by hiding his royal cup Binyomin's sack. He sent Menashe to accuse them of theft, which they, of course, resented and denied. "Go ahead and check for yourself!", they said. Menashe started with the oldest, and ended his search with the youngest. When he finally got to Binyomin's sack, behold, there he finds the "stolen" royal goblet.

The brother's, of course, were shocked, to say the least. After all, they were honorable men, sons of the great Yakov, grandchildren of great men. Now they stood profoundly shamed by the youngest among them.

Most probably they verbally abused him all the way back to Egypt. Most probably they accused him and said something like, "Son of a thief, and grandson of a thief! Everything about your genes is intimately involved with theft!". After all, Rachel stole the miniature idols of her father, and her father stole from Yakov's possessions one hundred times over, even stealing Yakov's first wife from under his nose for later barter. Imagine the humiliation poor Binyomin, innocent of all charges, must have suffered among them.

The Jerusalem Talmud tells us, "the penalty for insulting a Torah sage is one liter of gold." (Bava Kamma 8:6). From here the Rambam apparently derives his ruling, "He who shames a Talmid Chacham receives no share in the world-to-come ... even if only verbally ... he is fined a liter of gold." (Talmud Torah 6:12)

Now we can understand why Joseph paid Binyomin this huge sum. It was in part to redeem himself for having brought upon a giant of Torah, his younger brother Binyomin, public disgrace.

The Rising of the Fallen House of David

So begins the laws of Moshiach: "King Moshiach will rise and restore the Kingdom of David ...."

Precisely then, Moshiach's 1st mission is - to rise!  But why the ostensibly superfluous words "to rise"? What would we miss had it just said "King Moshiach will restore the Kingdom ...."? What means "to rise"?

The question is even more pronounced. Kingship, if anything, expresses itself by "sitting" rather than "standing"! For example, "And Solomon sat on the throne of Hashem" (Melachim 1:12:23), or, as we pray on Shabbat, "The King, who sits on a lofty, sublime throne". (המלך היושב על כסא רם ונשא)

(Later in this chapter we again find the term "to rise", where signs of Moshiach's identity are listed, but there it intuitively means Moshiach will "prove himself"; But here, where general goals of Moshiach are presented, the term remains enigmatic.)

Is there a source from our sages to support Rambam's assessment "Moshiach will rise"? He states, in fact, this "rising" must precede restoration of the Kingdom of David to its original state! So what does this "rising" mean?

Rabbi Shalom Dov Wolpo (in his sefer "יחי המלך") says Rambam's source comes from the following dialogue (Sanhedrin 96b):
"Rav Nachman said to Rav Yitzchak, 'Had you heard when arrives the son of Nefillim (of those who fell)?'
"Said he to him, 'Who is the son of Nefillim?'
"Said he, 'Moshiach'.
"'You call Moshiach son of Nefillim?!'
"'Yes, for it says, 'On that day I will raise the Sukkah of David that fell'" (Amos 9:11).
And Rashi explains "The Sukkah of David that fell" means, "because the Kingdom of David fell, Moshiach is called the son of Nefillim."

This must be why Moshiach is initially destined "to rise". Only by first reversing the prior fall will the Kingdom finally be restored!

Rabbi Wolpo probes deeper into this insight, relying on the Malbim (Amos 9:11): "The House of David (the Temple) was a permanent fixture in all its glory, passed from generation to generation. During the Second Temple, once the Kingdom of David was voided, it became a temporary structure. .. Because rulers of the seed of David sometimes ruled, the structure now resembles a temporary structure (Sukkah). Then that Sukkah too fell.. Eventually Hashem shall raise the Sukkah of David."

The Maharsha, in a similar vein, explains what Rabbi Chiya says to Rabbeinu Hakadosh (Sanhedrin 38a): "The son of David will not come until two Houses of Fathers (the position of Prince and the position of Chief of Beit Din) will be destroyed, etc. .. The intention relates to the secret of the new moon to which the Kingdom of David compares. Just as the moon after the 15th begins to lessen, so with the Kingdom of David ... On the one hand it is a good sign, for King David of Israel lives eternally ... for just as the new moon will manifest ... the Kingdom of David will again renew, as will the greatness of the rulers' families."

Both the Malbim and Maharsha speak of the nullification of the rulers (נשיאים) during the Gemora era, but thereafter the rulership of the House of David will again rise and remain steadfast, and that rising of the ancestry began when the holy Ba'al Shem Tov revealed himself, who was a spark of Moshiach - and thereby the Sukkah of David was re-established. (Rabbi Wolpo notes: "The Sukkah of David" in gematria = 494, the year in this millennium when the BS"T revealed himself.)

Our holy Rebbeim explained "The fall of the Sukkah of David" does not mean, God forbid, the nullification of the rulership ("ביטול הנשיאות"), because "David, the King of Israel, lives forever" - as an eternal king. Moreover, the Rebbe explains, and this is important to note - the "falling" is only from the aspect of the observers ("המקבלים"). The fall does not affect the eternal house of David. Every generation has a king from the House of David, but he is a concealed king. As sure as the moon always receives sunlight, the eternal status always characterizes the House of David. Only, it needs to again start shining - so WE can see it again! This illumination began its incremental emergence (= "rising"), starting with the Ba'al Shem Tov.

This is the meaning of Psalms (89:37-38): "His seed will endure forever; His throne like the sun before Me." God testifies that above, in heaven, David's throne is always complete. And if you'll ask, but below, on earth, this kingdom is not revealed, the next verse explains: "Like the moon it is ready in concealment;" Although the kingdom of David is not revealed yet below, it remains alive and existent in concealed state (בהעלם). When the moon is concealed below, it does not mean it lost any of its essence. And who testifies this is the truth? Eternal God! "And the Witness in heaven is forever faithful."

Why the Qualifications to Verify Moshiach?

Moses, the first Redeemer, had to submit verification he was Redeemer of the Jews. Otherwise, he would not be believed. His passwords were "פקד פקדתי", the alert sign Jacob and Joseph handed their offspring a few generations earlier (Rashi Ex.3:18). Moses still felt it inadequate and so God put 3 tricks up his sleeve to prove, with these miracles, he was the authentic Redeemer.

Moshiach, the final Redeemer, also has to pass muster with a screening test. What are his SIGNS? Maimonides lists them specifically (Kings 11:4). And because no other codifier ever took issue with them, Maimonides' laws remain absolute.

"And when a king rises from the House of David, immersed in Torah and heeds the commandments as David his forefather, as per the written Torah and as per the Oral Torah, and will coax Jews to conform to these ways or and enhance their commitment, and he'll fight for Hashem's sake, this person thereby is sanctioned as Moshiach. If so he did and succeeds, and builds the Temple in its place and gathers in the Jews from exile, he thereby is Moshich with certitude."

He gives two sets of identification signs; One set must precede the other. The first set confirms the candidate as "sanctioned as Moshiach"; The second set removes all doubt.

But who needs these signs, you might ask? Why bother expressing them? What difference does it make if someone passes the test Maimonides calls "sanctioned as Moshiach" ("בחזקת משיח")? Suppose things happen or work out differently?

But this is exactly the point! Precisely these signs, and no others, will determine the identity of Moshiach, and precisely in this two-step identification process! These laws are not there as an "in case" scenario - "in case" he requires a further background check. No. This is Jewish law and precisely according to these particulates the process will unfold!

THE PEOPLE - MUST ACCEPT HIM ACCORDING TO THESE SPECIFIC Maimonideic CRITERIA. People must determine and accept a personage, first as a Moshiach in assumption, and finally as being that person in certitude.

The first set of identity factors transpire under normal, natural - as opposed to supernatural - signs. Only thereafter will wonders and miracles supercede the natural order.

These laws are for the Jewish people. It is incumbent upon Jewish people to crown their potential king of certitude before he ever attains that final rank. The Jewish people must accept the personality who is "sanctioned as Moshiach".

Moses was determined one way, and none took issue with that way; Moshiach needs to fulfill another protocol, and none take issue with it either. Moses was elected because according to tradition he had to fulfil the passwords "פקד פקדתי". Similarly, Maimonides lists those laws he derived from Jewish tradition. These the Jewish people must conform with to elect Moshiach.

The mindset that figures Moshiach will appear in some miraculous fashion, whereby he will be immediately noticeable to the entire Jewish population - does NOT accord with Jewish law as a necessary condition!

(See also - Extraordinarily Ordinary.)

Extraordinarily Ordinary

The blogoshpere runs rife with speculation about Moshiach; Scholars even dig into the nitty-gritty of his forerunners, such as Moshiach ben Yosef.

It's as if they live on another planet. Moshiach was here, said so, said his name is Menachem, said he is a prophet, interpreted a Midrash to support his cause, said our generation is the generation of Moshiach, said "770" is the house of Moshiach, spoke about his predecessor, who by Nature's rules passed away, as "being alive and nothing changed" implying the same for himself,
... but - no matter what he said or wrote, people keep digging bottomless pits in search of another Moshiach! They'll look everywhere but where it counts.

That the Rebbe can be Moshiach is a farce for them; A fiction that some insane "followers" dreamed up or misinterpreted. They can't be bothered with so simplistic and naive notion. They expect drama to unfold when Moshiach arrives, not this boring, childish Rebbe stuff.

The answer to this age-old puzzle is right in front of their noses, but they choose to shut their eyes and ponder that which must be yonder. God forbid the Rebbe should be Moshiach! How heretical! Just because he was a great man doesn't make him Moshiach! This is idol worship!

"But he said he was a 100 different times!"

"Stop hallucinating. You didn't hear right. You didn't know what he meant!"

Moshiach will come in a way where everybody will recognize at once that he is Moshiach, right? When he makes his dramatic debut into the world, everyone will instantly know he is Moshiach, right?

Wrong! Moshiach will come under the most ordinary circumstances, says the Rambam.

Will he dazzle all Jews with miracles so everyone will see that, wow, this guy must be Moshiach? Will he turn a staff into a serpent, or water into blood, or his skin to lepromatous, to get people's attention?

No! He won't perform even one miracle to prove he's Moshiach because the Rambam says he doesn't need to.

So how in the world will he convince the Satmerers, the Litvaks, the Shassniks, the Bnei Akiva, the Young Israelites, the Bobovers, Gerers, Breslovers, Viszniters, Spinkerers, Kloisenbergers, Stoliners, Skolenners, et al?

Will he land his drone during a football or baseball game in midfield and jump out with a portable microphone in his hand? Will he break into a radio studio during an Israeli broadcast and yell, "I'm here!"? Will he parachute from a plane onto Jerusalem's Kotel wall in a Moshiach suit and deliver a fine speech?

Does the reader really believe Moshiach will turn everyone on to him in the blink of an eye?

Don't you see, dear friends, he's been here, and now disappeared for a while, because he wants to be acknowledged for what he's been talking about for over 40 years! We must withstand a final challenge, as did the Jews before they got the Torah at Mount Sinai, before we get our Redemption.

We're not talking about a normal person here! We're talking about someone who at the age of two and a half years old concerned himself with how the Jewish people will be emancipated by Moshiach (see letter). He knew Isaiah  (12:1) and wondered how the thanks we'll offer God for having made us suffer all these years in exile - will manifest. At two years old he didn't feel the pain of a missing toy; He felt the pain of the collective Jewish people still stuck in exile!

Who among us adults preoccupy ourselves with such thoughts? Did we know what a Jew meant at 2 or 3 years old? Never mind contemplating Isaiah or appreciating the hurt for our collective people.

This man lived and breathed the Rambam, the only codifier of Jewish Messianic law, and acts accordingly.

He came already as Moshiach and said so. He came under the most ordinary circumstances!

What ordinary circumstances did he come in? He told us to look at the gemora where Yeshiva boys in several Yeshivot claimed their Rosh Yeshiva was Moshiach (Sanhedrin 98b). The Rebbe pointed out that these students took their cue for their conclusion from their own Rosh Yeshiva! That is, after the Rosh Yeshiva so indicated, the students followed through to proclaim their discovery (Rashi, ibid). In other words, it was not on their initiative that such identity was first made.

Get it? That's exactly what happened down here on earth, in Brooklyn NY, inside the Chabad community!

"But maybe they won't believe me?", said Moses, when promoted to the role of emancipator.

Well this time, said God, you get no magic tricks to convince them with. Tough it out. They must now withstand their last test. A nicer job couldn't have fallen to a better guy.

So what do pundits who won't read the Rebbe's words, or take the word of his chassidim, do? They'll keep investigating words from everywhere else - that's what.

They'll cook up their messianic cholent and spin a tale, while they go in circles chasing their tails, round and round. But there, right in their midst, right before their eyes, they could find Moshiach anxiously waiting for them to stop spinning - and just look.

Jews are no stooges. Some are awfully bright. They hear the hearsay and say,
"So what he said that; You don't get it, that's all!
"So what we're 7th generation, big deal!
"So what we're 1st generation Redemption; Does this look like Redemption?
"So what he said the gematria of 770 equals House of Moshiach; Lucky finding!
"So what he encouraged singing "Yechi" for years; He was stroke-ridden!
"So what his prophesies never failed; The Messianic one sure did; What good would it do reading his stuff today?
"So what he said burial of Moshiach was irrelevant.
"So what he wanted us to accept him as King. There will be another candidate - that's all!"

Personally, I don't mind antagonism to the fact the Rebbe is Moshiach. But, that those Jews reject reading the works of the Rebbe - that is what I take issue with. If they claim to be anticipating Moshiach, and rumor has it a great man claims he's Moshiach, it behooves that Jew to look into that man's words for himself. Then, and only then, can this Jew be taken seriously. If he does not scrutinize the Rebbe's own words, this clearly shows his disdain for Moshiach, let alone his anticipation for him!

These pseudo-Messianic pundits should pardon me, but they are like ostriches digging their heads deep into the sands of Talmud and Midrash, only to see nothing, and to expose their rear ends. They can claim from here to Kingdom-Come they yearn for Moshiach but how convinced are you if they never open a sefer written by someone great who says he's Moshiach; No matter who reported this fact to them, should they not at least "check it out"?!

Interestingly, the Rebbe spoke of how the gemora alludes to Moshiach - calling him "Caesar" (Sanhedrin 98b). The Rebbe explains that this means Moshiach's arrival will be a "Caesarian birth", in an unexpected, "off the wall" manner (Caeserian in Hebrew means "יוצא דופן"). After all, he comes from his ancestor Peretz, which means "bursts through".

Well, how can you have Moshiach come in an ordinary way and, at the same time, in an extraordinary way?

Simple. He came - ordinarily. He'll reveal himself again - extraordinarily.

And, by the way, the next time the Rebbe shows up in 770 in an "ordinary way", the world will appreciate just how extraordinary that really is.

And it could happen in the time it took to yank Yosef out of a miserable dungeon and turn him into the surrogate king of the world's superpower.

The end of a 1956 letter to Yitzchak ben Tzvi (Prime Minister of Israel);
The Rebbe apologizes for not calling him "נשיא".  Igrot Kodesh 12:412

The Zebra and the Horse

Chapter 32 in "The Code of Jewish Law" ("קצור שלחן ערוך") formulates Torah's directives regarding illness. It pinpoints the main cause for disease:

רוב החלאים הבאים על האדם, אינם אלא או מפני מאכלים רעים, או מפני, שהוא ממלא בטנו ואוכל אכילה גסה, אפילו ממאכלים טובים

"Most illnesses visited upon man is for no reason other than from bad foods; Or, because one fills his gut beyond moderation even with good foods." (In Halachah 3)

Note this assertion's incisive, unequivocal and emphatic tenor -
"is for no reason other than"!

Similarly, Maimonides states categorically, "Most illnesses originate from what man ingests." (Mada 4:15).

(Maimonides was a doctor of sultans and princes. Even gentiles know of him; In Archives of Internal Medicine (Sep. 1999), it says, "Fittingly, the great physician and father of modern medicine Sir William Osler wrote that Maimonides was 'not only the Physician of Princes but also the Prince of Physicians.'")

Although the above law does not explain the word "most", we can reasonably assume at least 95% of illnesses have as their primary cause for culpability the above canon, otherwise the term would have been qualified.

"Ingestion" of course includes prescribed drugs, drinking fluoridated water, skin absorption of cosmetics, or of chlorine during swimming, inhaling deodorant spray, laundry gases, engine exhaust, etc., or taking into your body anything unnatural. Although environmental toxins can debilitate under high exposure, most exposure remains less than traumatic, although it certainly augments toxicity. 

Nonetheless, according to Torah, the single most important cause of illness is improper food intake. Either what is ingested is bad food ("toxic"), or, what's worse, believe it or not, eating good food beyond moderation. However, because our present culture is so far removed from the soil and fresh organic produce, the most common cause for illness has probably become - eating bad food beyond moderation.

This means people knowingly or, more likely, unknowingly, have themselves to blame for diseases they acquire! Similarly, knowingly or unknowingly, grown-ups are to blame for a child's onset of disease.

One might argue, how can that be; We hear about diseases of the liver, of the eyes, of the nerves, of blood sugar, blood pressure, the digestive tract, the joints, migraines, asthma, cancer, etc., so how can the simple, unitary act of food ingestion give rise to such a wide variety of sicknesses? This question, however, does not negate the truth of the aforementioned singular, main cause of illness. It is a good question and there is a good answer, but the question does not change the fact, which lays the blame for disease squarely on the individual himself - for eating improperly.

(But to answer the question briefly: The body's "weakest link" in the body's myriad networks of physiological functionalities breaks first. It's a locus where acidity has its primary deleterious consequences.)

In Western culture, when a person becomes sick, his first thought usually is - "Which doctor or hospital do I go to?" Given that contemporary society regards medicine diametrically opposed to Torah view, one where pill-taking is the norm rather than an exception, it's a shame. Only in case of emergency is that approach understandable. But for an illness that crept up, or for one that's long chronic, the very best way to think should be - not what doctor do I go to, but rather - How do I change my diet? Such thinking and subsequent corrective dietary action are what conform to Torah's prescription for how to deal with at least 95% of illnesses.

You would think doctors themselves know the main cause of disease. Unfortunately most do not. For the last century or so, becoming a doctor meant following educational guidelines fixed by the pharmaceutical industry. Since then, this industry aggressively affiliated itself with many more industries that fell in line with it, or were bought out. Today, therefore, everything from medical education's curriculum, admission requirements, provision of licenses, the number of practice slots available, administration of graduate tests, medical publishing, insurance claims, research funding, laws against alternative persuasions, pesticide regulation, artificial fertilization, hormonal supplements, genetic seed modification, cancer charities, etc. brainwash and enforce today's medical perspective and "knowledge". Which is why today's medical approach evolved into attacking symptoms rather than their root cause - in order to push patentable drugs and advance invasive treatment. For example, a woman would be denied insurance for osteoporosis, unless - and only if - she got it from radiation treatments!

That the body can take care of itself given an adequate supply of nutrients, while eliminating toxicity, makes no sense to today's medical practitioners. There's no money to be made going this natural way. What's worse, they also try to destroy practitioners lives who dare cure via alternative methods or with unpatentable herbs and diets.

There seems no way out of this anti-Torah attitude because "Big-Pharma" controls governmental regulation; Bribed overseers of medical practice sit in key governmental seats. The medical mafia is now huge, well-entrenched and outright ruthless. Any deviation from their declared policies invites harsh retribution.

Remember back to the time you last visited a doctor's office. Did he ever ask you what foods you eat? (At least some do ask about exercise, another important Maimonidic principle of health). In fact, when the doctor prescribes a pill, he knows full well you'll be eating the same things you've been eating up until now. In his mind, there's no connection between food intake and disease. Walking out of a doctor's office without a prescription in hand is today practically unheard of. 

Doctors know very little about nutrition and diet; These topics are not taught in medical school. They were taught to follow blindly. For example, that fluoride in the water is "good for the teeth", that vaccinations help boost the response against future microbial attacks, or that you need prescribed pills, they accept with no good science behind these claims. Doctors are indoctrinated the moment they get into medical school. 

Even shopping for organic food has become a problem. Over 90% of the supermarket foods are canned, jarred, frozen, pickled, colored, preserved, flavored, heated, processed, cleansed, filled with additives, etc. Good foods are hard to come by.

Back in the days of Dr. Semmelweis, they mocked him (until he became insane) when he urged the washing of hands between patients. And until today they continue to mock, legislate to death, or actually poison practitioners who fight disease in an "unorthodox" manner. This list of abused practitioners is very long indeed and even contains Nobel Prize laureates and prominent caregivers.

The public still gets to hear advertisements from Big-Pharma, like the importance of taking vaccines. It is almost impossible to avoid their barrage of disinformation, on radio, TV, print media, billboards, etc. Society is being brain-washed by this propaganda. And, if you hadn't yet noticed, they've gone after "diagnosing" and "treating" many of our youngsters too, effectively hooking these children on drugs for their lifetimes. We now even hear of new diseases kids have, like ADHD or the like. And were a youngster labeled as "psychotic", he is forever at the mercy of abusive psychiatry (talk about quackery).

The cruelty of medicine today is palpable. If a person comes down with cancer, the policy is to FRIGHTEN the victim into immediate action, because time, they say, is of the essence. The real reason for the medical push for early "treatment" is because the sooner the patient can be labelled and started on "treatment", the better his chances of lasting 5 years in life. Modern medicine has managed to legislate into definition a new value for "cure". A patient who lasts 5 years from diagnosis is considered "cured". Truth is, taking no cancer treatment in 98% of cases yields better results than taking them.

The only 3 legal ways to treat cancer in America today are by chemotherapy (poisoning), radiation (burning) and surgery (mutilation). They've been at it now for nearly 100 years.

Another reason to frighten the patient into quick action is to prevent the patient from seeking alternative forms of therapy. 

People should realize the body has enormous resourcefulness to correct illness given a correct diet and detoxification. Just as sure as a skin bruise, or broken bone, can heal with correct management, so too can cancer or most any other chronic degenerative disease. There are many great people who came up with brilliant strategies and simple means to CURE degenerative diseases who have been wiped clean from historical journals, let alone practice, because of the medical mafia.

The Redemptive Era - Phase One

The Rebbe told us Moshiach's era has dawned. But many of us detect no change from how it was years ago. So what gives?

The Rebbe told us to "open our eyes", that is, to see that, in fact, we passed the threshold from the old world into the new one. This prefatory scene, however, despite its momentous significanace, appears to have affected the world with no fundamental change. We must conclude, therefore, the process has to incrementally progress to full-fledged completion, at least from the outset. So, despite what the surface reveals, we are nevertheless in the early stages of the Redemptive Era's development.

This is what Maimonides said about the first phase of Moshiach's era;

עולם כמנהגו נוהג

The world will proceed as usual.

This means the current events unfolding before our eyes spell "The Redemptive Era". If you see Israel being surrounded by more and larger threats than before, you hear the dog barking but he doesn't bite. If you fear for Israel's future, realize Arabs may well end up devouring each other instead, just as Egyptian first-borns of yesteryear murdered fellow Egyptians and freed the Jewish nation. If Jews seem threatened for being Jewish around the world, notice also how a protective glass shields them. If Israel seems inundated with foreigners and Gentiles, notice too the Jewish population remains strong and safe, and leave future concerns for God to handle. If some Jews suffer poverty, notice it is merely relative to an imagined wealth that isn't necessary. If you find many Jews remain far beyond the call of Torah duty, notice too a great wave of new oncomers has joined the Torah fold, against all odds - if judging by the strict code they are yielding to. And if most of Israelis remain as yet unorthodox, see nevertheless how the majority now believe in God and in Torah's holiness, despite the incessant bias from the media and government policies, and therefore have but a thin line that separates them from true Torah convictions.

Appearances remain nothing more than appearances. Jewish faith can change appearances and effectively cancel the apparent threats. The Jewish thought process has powerful ramifications; It can now actually nullify threats from transpiring. This is now how the redemption unfolds before our eyes - it looks like it will be bad, but it is, in fact, the concealed way of actually being fantastic.

"Opening your eyes" includes UNDERSTANDING that it is up to you to change the world with YOUR THOUGHTS because YOU CAN CHANGE THE WORLD. A Gentile cannot. Jews are God's representative people. Jews therefore have the inherent power to change the world faster by GOOD THOUGHTS and GOOD DEEDS. This is the power intrinsic in contemporary Jewry.

Hail the Rebbe King Moshiach who has left us with this legacy of power to bring on the Redemption. Will it and it will come to be - via you! Think good - and it therefore will be good!

Who else can change it? Gentiles? Like those who mouth rap "music" with angry, stupid rhyming? Who can change it, a culture where youngsters walk around with their pants below their waists, exposing their underwear? Can you expect a people that allow abortive killing in the millions to bring goodness to the world? Can a society of loose morals bring about this sublime change? This Gentile generation and its decadent culture is quickly dying, taking America down to a decrepit state. Once God was its central platform, as in "In God we trust" or as in "endowed by the Creator", but that has been gradually chiseled away since the country's inception.

Look at pictures of city dwellers or even Hollywood films of a few decades ago. You immediately detect the change in modesty and nobility. Like Germany of 60 years ago, Americans profess to be on the right track but you can see brutish character wherever you turn; Any polish is only skin deep. The sanctity of family, once the lynchpin of a healthy society, has withered into perverse "relationships" - like "same-sex marriage". The medical institution has become a legitimatized industry of drug-pushers. Racial tensions are rising. Anti-Semitism again simmers. The dollar has been purposely brought to ruin. Fascists have taken control of the White House.

The god worshipped as "Democracy" is dead.

Only the orthodox Jew has the power to think good to make things better. Only the orthodox Jew can enable the Gentile to regain some of his power by teaching him to conform with the 7 Noahide laws as sanctioned by Moses. If he conforms, this remains his only avenue of hope - to align with Jewish interests. America is tailspinning irreversibly into an abyss of misery! Only God's overt lifeline can now be summoned by the Gentile for direct help! Woe to the blind who seek salvation from false gods and plodding the dogma of spurious faiths.

(I say the "orthodox" Jew because only orthodoxy is valid. The likes of "conservative" or "reform" or "reconstructive" or other "plastic surgical" types of reformists have no steel anchor embedded in Torah; All they have is some malleable romanticism with but no committment or proper respect for Torah's dictates or its origin. Reformist Jews more likely act against the better interests of society by seeking to appease or conform with the decadent Gentile element. Reformist Jews are Jewish quacks!

They fear being genuine Jews. They fear to pray as Jews prayed for millennia, as dictated by our sages. They lack faith in God - in His eternal providence. They seek to be "modern", as if contemporary lifestyle holds an advantage over that of previous era, as if our sages had no idea of what the future held. So they improvise their own nonsense and rules of conduct, like forbidding the wearing of kipahs in their "temple", or to have mixed seating, or creating lady rabbis, or calling up couples to the Torah reading, or to replace cantors with tape recorders. They desecrate the Sabbath and desecrate holy tradition. They fear to offend the Gentile, thinking - wrongly - the Gentile prefers a "modern", assimilated Jew over an "ultra" orthodox Jew whose ways could only stultify them with ancient customs. In other words, these reformists are birds of the same feather, no matter to what extent they deviate, because any deviation leads to appalling results - like, for example, the "conservative rabbis'" recent consensus in support of "same-sex marriage" - an outright abomination! These quacks all lack pride in authentic God-given Judaism, or, simply no nothing at all about it.)

The orthodox Jew is the cog of society's wheel. Whereas before the Redemptive Era that fact hadn't been obvious, but now, if we "open our eyes", we can readily sense the divine providence that follows this Jew's every breath, thought and step.

The Format of Moshiach's Emergence

The Talmud (Shabbos 89a) describes the inner conflict of Jews who sinned with the Golden Calf. In their eagerness to find a replacement for Moses, the leader of their generation, an optical illusion they saw in the clouds above, a man on his death bed, finally convinced them Moses had died and could now be replaced. They had but a few more hours to wait for the completion of a full 40-day-hiatus, but their impatience tripped them up.

The essence of their sin was that they relied on their visual perception rather than abide by the words of the leader of the generation, who told them "At the end of 40 days I will arrive, before noon" (Rashi Ex.32:1).

This episode of the past, says the Arizal, bears significantly upon the future (Sha'ar Hagilgulim, Preface). He explains, that the last generation of exile, that which immediately precedes the Era of Redemption [ours!], will be a recycling of the first generation, the generation of Moses that sinned by the Golden Calf. (The souls of the former generation will be recycled into the bodies of the latter generation.) Why? In order to amend the sin of the Golden Calf, those Jewish souls will have to withstand the same test a second time, but this time succeed. In that which they failed the previous time they must pass the next time. Which means those souls of the first generation will receive the very same trial, for only a triumph over the very same trial can rectify the sin that discredited them in the first place. Only a passing of this trial can uproot and eliminate the sin they bore since (Maimonides; Rules of Repentance, Chpt 2, Law 1).

And just like they dropped from so high a level, as when they tangibly experienced the divinity of God during the event of the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai, to so low a level as worshipping an idol, so too rectification by this same trial will reverse their low state and allow them to regain the high ground, in fact to be launched to an even higher level of experiential holiness than ever before, namely, into that of the Era of the Final and Ultimate Redemption.

What then is that same trial? They will perceive the death of the leader of their generation and the test will be to heed his words without letting their physical perceptions draw them to run afoul of his exhortations. The Rebbe told us we are the last generation of exile and the first generation of redemption (many scores of references, beginning with Bosi Legani, 1951). He expects us to believe this, despite what apparently seems as the disappearance of the leader of this generation, as if to signal the dawning of a new generation.

The same trial indeed manifests today. The Rebbe they say is dead and buried; That nature had taken its unwavering course and our perceptions, those of fleshy eyes, concur with this assessment. We saw the Rebbe shrivel with age, become ill and finally, after a hospital stay, interred at the Montefiore Cemetery.

Are we to believe the Rebbe's words now, when before he said, "Whereas for the leader of this generation - interment is inapplicable, any more than it is applicable to the Rock of the Shtiya [in Jerusalem's Temple in the Holy of Holies]" (Shoftim, Elul 7, 5752), or who said, "There is a reality of Moses, the first redeemer is the last redeemer - a soul in an eternal body." (Ha'Azinu, Shabbat Shuva 5750), (and many dozens more such pronouncements)?

And if the Rebbe said "A Rebbe's response is after all 'The words of God He spoke to me and His words are on my tongue' (quoting Shmuel the Prophet 2:23:2)", should we not listen to him, even if it conflicts with our senses?

Thankfully we have plenty of Torah sources to support us in this last period of our struggle. Rashi told us what to expect, "In the future, our Moshiach will conceal himself after he will have revealed himself, only to again reveal himself" (Daniel 12:12).

Said Rabbi Brachya, in the name of Rabbi Levi, "Just as what happened to the first redeemer will happen to the last redeemer - just as the first redeemer revealed himself to them and then goes and is concealed from them, so too the final redeemer reveals himself to them and goes on to conceal himself from them" (Midrash Rabba: Bamidbar 11:2, Ruth 5:6; Psikta Rabati 15; Psikta of Rav Kahana5:8).

"His sovereignty was temporarily placed in limbo, regarding the first redeemer, so too the last redeemer will be concealed, then return and be revealed." (Yalkut Shimoni Ruth 2:603).

"My beloved resembles a deer, just as a deer is spotted and then disappears, is spotted and then disappears, so too the first redeemer is seen, disappears, and then reappears ... Yehuda in the name of Rabi says to Kirsin, so too the last redeemer is revealed to them and, in turn, is concealed from them." (Midrash Rabba Shir Hashirim 2, 9:3)

Chassam Sofer (שמות ד‫'‬ה למה זה שלחתני): "And this was a great trial that he [Moses] disappeared for 6 months, and so will be in the days of Moshiach our Righteous, he will disappear after his revelation, as the Midrash tells us."

Sfas Emes (Rosh Hashana 11) writes, "It is rudimentary that the arrival of the son of David is separate from the redemption, for after all Moses arrived to Egypt before the redemption and could thus be revealed and be concealed, etc., similarly with the last redeemer, etc."

Rabbeinu Bechaye (Exodus 5:22): "And know that the issues of the first exile resemble issues we will face in the last exile ... and so the future redeemer will be revealed and, in turn, will be concealed, for this redemption will resemble the Egyptian redemption in many ways ... and once the threshold time nears, plenty of troubles will befall and wax - and this is the sign for Israel's salvation."

Midrash Pirkei Haychalot (Rabati 35:6): "At that time Jewry will change their minds; They will scoff Moshiach and say, 'Woe for us that we mistakened him for Moshiach'. God said to them, 'Now you will see his light ... and all who believed in him cannot be wiped from the book of life."

Ramban (ראה באור הרמב‫'‬ן על פרשת הנה ישכיל עבדי):
He says, initially Moshiach will reveal himself only to "that sect that yearns for him" [his chassidim, I suppose]. "And scripture relates concerning Moshiach, 'When many will put you to waste, etc.' that is to say when they lay you to waste - by mocking you in your first stage of arrival...."

The Holy Arizal (Sefer Gilgulim, preface, chpt 13) [NOT Sha'ar Hagilgulim]: "Moshiach will reveal himself and he will be recognized by few people, whereas others will not yet recognize him. Afterwards Moshiach will recede from view, as body and soul ... after which Moshiach will be revealed completely, then they will recognize him and all of Jewry will gather to him."

Joab 19:25: "And I knew my redeemer lives".

Midrash Raba, Shir Hashirim 2:25: "And he who believes him and follows him and awaits him - lives".

Psikta Rabati 35: "And your King Moshiach will come ... and God proclaims to the righteous of the generation and says to them 'Righteous of the world! Even though words of Torah endear you, it isn't nice of you that you waited for my Torah but did not wait for my kingdom."

See too here what Rabbi Nachman of Breslov had to say about this precursor era.

Religions of the World - How Many?

Judaism does not promote missionary activity; There's no allure in accumulating converts. In fact, Jewish law enjoins the rabbi to "chase away", or discourage, a Gentile seeking to convert. If that person persists after 3 rejections, the rabbi can begin to take this person seriously.

One good reason for this discouragement is obvious: God created the Jew and He created the Gentile. The Jew has his destiny to carve out, and the Gentile, his, so why assume persuading someone to convert to your way is a fitting pursuit? And why seek to dissuade another person's convictions, if each can thrive in their own domain?

Jews are not instructed to convert. They are, instead, mandated to illuminate to Gentiles what the Jewish perspective is that Gentiles ought to conform with, as per God's requirements, so at least the Gentile should know the Jewish perspective.

A law in the Jewish Code of Law states that Jews must convey to their Gentile peers the requisite for fulfilling the "7 Noahide Laws". (Maimonides: The Strong Hand, Division:Judges, Sect. Kings; Chpt. 8; Rule 10). Then why haven't Jews been promoting these laws for centuries? Because until the last century or so it was outright dangerous for a Jew to obey this law. Which is why Jews ignored it for nearly two millennia.

For a Gentile with no faith in God, feeling free to behave as he wishes, especially in a free country, with hardly any plans for devout activities from when he gets up, the 7 Noahide Laws may come as a rude awakening. 

A religious Gentile, on the other hand, may find it less traumatic to learn of the yoke he must bear to the Almighty, but he too will probably resist this religious commitment that he never knew about.

As for the Jew who must impart this information to his Gentile peer, this responsibility is extremely distasteful. The Jews, as one family, never had in their tradition to proselytize; It's not in his blood to talk religion with a Gentile.

The Jew who lacks faith in God, would probably scorn this task as being ridiculous. This degrading chore, to convince others of seemingly fairy-tale machinations, he wouldn't wish even on his enemy.

The religious Jew too, after centuries under Gentile rule, is not accustomed nor does he relish this now-feasible calling. He'd rather be shackled or stay home than actively proselytize. For him to promote the Noahide laws to Gentile peers is tantamount to being perceived as some sleazy salesman.

So we end up with Jews who shirk their responsibility to enlighten, and with Gentiles who may well rebuff new religious liabilities.

A horse and buggy metaphor is here apt. No matter if the passenger is smart or stupid, king or pauper, the horse does not care as it trots along.

Similarly, for a person with obligations who would reject or dismiss the Noahide laws - the fact of the matter will not change. The world trots along its temporal course from one day to the next. One of these days divine reckoning shall ask each of us if we fulfilled our duty on earth. We won't be able to feign ignorance or cast judgement aside. We were created in God's image, which means we have the ability to think and reason, unlike other species. We'll be held accountable.

Here's why the 7 Noahide laws are an imperative:

Suppose you host a guest in your home. Wouldn't you expect him to show appropriate manners? Wouldn't it annoy you were he to sit on your dinner table, or carelessly break a crystal, or muddy the carpet? And wouldn't it offend you if he were mindless of your presence?

This anecdote symbolizes our lifetime on earth. We are guests in this world, given an incredible opportunity to live a life, thanks to God our host. Should we disrespect the master of this domain and be ungrateful?

You might ask, "But what constitutes 'appropriate behavior'? How is one to distinguish between what's really right from wrong?"

It stands to reason the creator of a complicated gadget would leave a set of instructions how to correctly operate his machination. The same is true of the created universe. 

We too have been given a manual of instructions. Hint: It's the most widely read book in the world and the most popular in human history, to this very day. Hardly a home exists in the whole world without one, or at least without the ability to get one immediately!

The book God gave the Jewish people is called "Torah", which means "a book of instruction". That name is deliberate. The Torah, as it was gifted to the Jewish people 3,327 years ago, in its original Hebrew language, provides all the answers. Torah is your source for truth! 

But take care. For, as long as you allow non-observant Jews to teach you what Torah says, or, as long as you find reason to follow those who shun the opinion of these Jews, you will never know the truth!

Not one letter has ever been added or removed from Torah since its inception in 1312 BC. It suffered no revisions or modifications, and never will because divine perfection gets it right the first time. It is eternally perfect. No translation can do justice to its original language. Unlike every other language that is artificial, Hebrew is God's language.

As to what constitutes appropriate behavior, only observant rabbis profoundly intimate with Torah and Talmud (oral Torah tradition) can provide answers. Only the orthodox rabbi can be relied on because he embodies Torah's Oral Tradition of 3 millennia.

The Torah prescribes two modes of appropriate behavior in God's domain. One prescription is for the Jew, and the other for the Gentile. The Jew has 613 commandments (plus ramifications thereof) he must follow. The Gentile has 7 (with its own ramifications); These are the so-called Seven Noahide Laws.

So, what constitutes proper conduct in God Almighty's abode? What behavior befits the King's palace? There are two, depending on who you are. One protocol applies for Jewish people, and one for Gentile people. Each group has its own role in the world. The Jew is the Torah's beacon. The Gentile is the world's colonizer. Each has his own relevant set of commandments. Anything other than these requirements lacks divine sanction!

So, how many religions exist in the world? Who knows; There ought to be none! Torah endorses only two modes of proper conduct, one for Jew and one for Gentile, no more, no less. You can't beat this elegant simplicity, nor its inherent synergy.

As for the payoff - righteous Gentiles in this world earn their future ticket into the world of truth.

How Many Religions Are There in the World? Jew & Gentile: Two Modes of Proper Conduct

Jews must convey to their Gentile peers the requisite for fulfilling the "7 Noahide Laws". We find this statute in Maimonides' paramount compendium of Jewish law, "The Strong Hand" (division "Judges", section "Kings", chapter 8, rule 10).

Regarding a Gentile with no faith in God, who feels free to behave as he wishes, especially in a free country, from the moment he arises in the morning, he has no plans for devout activities. For such a person, the 7 Noahide Laws may come as a rude awakening, for suddenly he's saddled with a new set of responsibilities he never would have imagined.

A religious Gentile may find it less traumatic to learn of the yoke he must bear to the Almighty, but he too will certainly be taken aback by this religious commitment he needs undertake, "a set of 7" he never knew about.

As for the Jew who must impart this information to his Gentile peer, this responsibility is extremely distasteful. A Jew never had it in his tradition to proselytize; It's not in his blood to talk religion with a Gentile.

The Jew who lacks faith in God would scorn this task as being ridiculous. So degrading a chore as this - to convince others of fairy-tale machinations - he wouldn't even wish for his enemy.

As for the religious Jew, after a millenial-long tradition of being under Gentile rule, always in fear of being downtrodden and on the defensive, when only recently the phenomenon of racial equality becoming socially palatable, he is not accustomed nor does he relish this now-feasible calling. He must go out among Gentiles and proclaim to them their charge of the 7 Noahide Laws. He'd rather be shackled and told to stay home than actively mimic the Gentile proselytizers he so despises, knowing they want to sell him on pennies so he give up his gold. For him to have to spread this set of laws to Gentile peers will make him feel like some sleazy insurance or used-car salesman.

So - we end up with Jews who shrink back from their responsibility to enlighten, and Gentiles who may well rebuff any new religious liabilities they will learn about.

The metaphor for this situation is the horse and buggy, with a passenger. The horse gallops along, and no matter if the passenger is smart or stupid, king or pauper, the horse, as far as it is concerned, could care less.

Similarly, that a person with obligations may reject or dismiss them - will not change the fact of the matter. The world gallops along its temporal course from one day to the next. One of these days, divine reckoning shall ask each of us if we fulfilled our duty on earth, and, by then, we will not be able to feign ignorance nor cast judgement aside. We'll be held accountable for our deeds.

We were created in God's image, which means we have the ability to think and reason, unlike other species.

So, to understand why disseminating, on the one hand, and accepting, on the other, the 7 Noahide laws is imperative, let's think and reason:

Suppose you host a guest in your home. Wouldn't you expect him to show appropriate manners? Would it not annoy you if he sits on your dinner table, carelessly breaks a crystal, or spits on the carpet? Would it not also offend you if such crass behavior were to occur mindless of your presence?

This anecdote symbolizes our lifetime on earth. We are the world's guests, given this incredible opportunity to live a life, by God our host. Do we disrespect the master of this domain and behave ungratefully?

You might ask, "But what constitutes 'appropriate behavior'? How is one to distinguish between what's really right from wrong?"

Think and reason again. The creator of any complicated gadget always leaves a set of instructions how to correctly operate his creation.

The same is true of the created universe. We creatures too have been given a manual of instructions. It happens to be the most widely read book in the world and the most popular in human history, until this very day! In the whole world, hardly a home exists without one, or at least without the ability to get one immediately!

Thought and reason should also lead you to understand and conclude that this fact is no mere happenstance. It's God's way to make sure we all have access to Him and His expectations of us. God also wants you to fill in the dots of so many more happenings around the world, especially events concerning His representative people, who have always been believers of His monotheistic presence, for that too will reveal important points in the mosaic of truth God wants people of thought and reason to realize and appreciate.

The very existence of the Jewish people is a phenomenon that transcends nature. It is the equivalent of a sheep that survives among 70 hungry wolves. The Torah is the glue that keeps the Jewish people true to their faith and miraculously assures their collective, if not individual, survival.

The book God gave the Jewish people is called Torah. The word means "a book of instruction". That name is deliberate.

The Torah, as it was gifted to the Jewish people 3,323 years ago, in its original Hebrew language, provides all the answers. Torah is your source for truth! As long as you allow others - other than observant Jews - to teach you what Torah says, or, as long as you find reason to follow those who shun the opinion of such Jews, you will never know the truth!

Not one letter has ever been added or removed from Torah since its inception, in 1312 B.C.. It suffered no revisions or modifications, and never will, because divine perfection gets it right the first time and remains eternally perfect. No translation of it can do justice to the original language. Unlike every other language, which is artificial, Hebrew is God's language.

Only observant rabbis profoundly intimate with Torah and Talmud (oral Torah tradition) can provide answers to questions of appropriate behavior.

The Torah prescribes two modes of appropriate behavior in this domain of God; One prescription is for the Jew; The other, for the Gentile. The Jew has 613 commandments (plus ramifications thereof) he must follow. The Gentile has 7 (with its own ramifications); These are the so-called Seven Noahide Laws.

So, what constitutes proper conduct in God Almighty's abode? What behavior befits the King's palace? There are two, depending on who you are. One protocol applies for Jewish people, and one for Gentile people. Each group has its own role in the world. The Jew is the Torah's beacon. The Gentile is the world's colonizer. Each has his own related set of commandments. Anything else falls short of these requirements and lacks divine sanction!

So, how many religions exist in the world? Who knows; There ought to be none! Torah endorses only two modes of proper conduct, one for Jew and one for Gentile, no more, no less. You can't beat this elegant simplicity, nor the inherent synergy.

As for the payoff - righteous Gentiles in this world earn their future ticket into the world of truth.

The Secret of Exercise

Praise Hashem with All Your Soul (and Every Breath)

בראשית רבה יד, ט. על כל נשימה ונשימה שאדם נושם

צריך לקלס לבורא. מה טעם, כל הנשמה תהלל יה, כל נשימה ...

Maimonides writes that every morning one should rise early and exercise. How much exercise? Until the body begins to heat up.

Why early in the day? Probably because that's when it's best to do so; Perhaps because the muscles, which were totally relaxed all night, will thereby achieve proper tone for the rest of the day. Also, much of the blood can now stream to the musculature, because little remains in the now-empty, upper alimentary tract that would compete for the supply. (Which is why before the morning's food intake one should wait after the exercise until a state of rest is achieved, when blood can again be allocated to the alimentary tract, to take care of digestion).

Why until the body heats up, and not any more? Because, I believe, a heated state is harmful; Whereas an aerobic state - that maintains itself until that heated state is reached, is best, and here's why:

I think the key to exercise's efficiency is the deep breath! The deep breath serves to propel the lymphatic streams. Increased flow of lymph promotes:

1) Recirculation of protein that escaped from vascular capillaries;

2) Washing microbes away from tissue and into the lymph nodes where they can be neutralized;

3) A good "dry-state", where excess lymph within tissues is removed.

4) It also provides a generous dose of oxygen.

Exercise, by virtue of muscle contractions and stretches, press on the lymphatics and thus advance the stream along its one-way direction. While this is an important result, a much more significant propeller is the act of deep breathing. Under sedentary conditions, the shallow breath uses but a minor portion of the lung's capacity. The deep breath, on the other hand, mobilizes a larger than average capacity and this, in turn, draws a larger than average volume of blood into the lung parenchyma, which induces a larger than average lymphatic exudate.

This is the key point - the secret! For deep breathing does something that even general muscle movements cannot do, and that is, to rapidly advance the flow. At the peak of exhalation you create the greatest rush of lymph, and the deeper the breath at the peak of inhalation, the greater the rush will be.

"Deep diaphragmatic breathing stimulates the cleansing of the lymph system. Exhaling is more important than inhaling because when you exhale the vacuum produced in the lungs will exert a drawing force that pulls poisons from the blood into the lungs for elimination. This increases the rate of toxic elimination by as much as 15 times the normal rate" - Dr. J.W. Shields, MD, LYMPH, "Lymph Glands, and Homeostasis." Lymphology, v25, n4 Dec. 1992, p 147.

Mind you, I don't think Maimonides said, "Don't sweat". He said, "... until the body heats up." By this I think he means anaerobic exercise, which can induce pain, if not tissue damage.

It goes without saying deep breathing even without exercise also provides benefit.