Last Steps Preceding Moshiach's Revelation - 5781

It would be a big mistake to think a great or greater America is the final episode of this world's transformation now taking place. We realize, of course, such a step, great as it is, does not qualify as the Jewish utopia, namely, the "Era of Ultimate Redemption", G-d forbid. 

But we cannot deny the obvious; On the way to transforming the world into ultimate goodness, a world in which G-d Himself feels "at home", one in which a Jewish King descended from David and Solomon shall make his presence, this step, being that it is along the way, must of course be a good one. 

In fact, even during the previous administration's tenure, those who were attuned to Moshiach felt, despite what portended as ominous developments from a Jewish perspective, that this period served as a "descent" for the purpose of a subsequent "ascent".

Just as the Jews were made to suffer the treachery of Egyptian exile and slavery for 4 generations, as a means to become "refined" in preparation for the ascent thereafter of receiving the Torah and becoming God's Jewish nation, a similar "descent for the purpose of a loftier ascent", to a level even higher in elevation than a prior definition of "good" could imagine, was taking place.

A miraculous turnaround happened in 2016. Suddenly, when the world was expecting H. Clinton to win, which would've taken rampant radical Islam to its next level of terror, a Purim-like miracle happened, and in a matter of 12 hours a Jewish maidele was sitting in the White House instead. 

The backbone of evil had to be exposed in full relief, before being trashed and replaced with a framework of goodness. 

We will all rejoice after the Trump election, a week away, and it will be a stunning landslide! But then we'll still remain one step or two from our final destination. As of now, as the gemorrah says:

אכתי עבדי אחשוורוש אנן 

“We are still servants of Achashverosh” (Megillah 14a) 

i.e., we haven't yet reached the apex of that most glorious period. Jews will still remain under foreign sway. In Israel too Moshiach's paradise has yet to transpire for the collective. 

The Era of Redemption continues to blossom at a quick pace. 5781 is already beyond midday of the Friday millennium, with only 219 years left before Saturday's millennium arrives. 

So how close are we to that blessed period beyond? Tzephania the prophet describes that period. Notice how his description reflects our present period. The Jewish demographic is no longer looked down on, generally speaking. Jewish People are again being recognized as meriting praise, finding grace in the eyes of America and among the other nations.

Here's Tzefaniah's last verse (3:20), as he describes God's promise of that era:
"'At that time, I will bring you to the land, ingathering you to there, and give you a reputation of praise among all peoples of the earth as I restore you from exile before your eyes', said God."

בעת ההיא אביא אתכם ובעת קבצי אתכם כי אתן אתכם לשם ולתהלה  בכל עמי הארץ בשובי את שבותיכם לעיניכם אמר ה׳

The Downfall of Israel's Enemies

See today's headline from Debka.com:

What do you read between the lines?

We can see clearly that our wars against our enemies are being done for us, without us having to lift a finger. The unseen hand is fighting our wars for us, as we sit idly and watch arm in arm. 

One of Moshiach's qualifications is, he fights for the Jews the wars they would otherwise have to fight by themselves. The Rebbe said in 1980 that the Gog and Magog War was underway (LINK).

The Rebbe, explaining King David's Psalms 2 and 3, shows that this war of Gog and Magog, as it is ongoing, will leave the Jewish people totally immune from destructive conflict. 

And indeed, Amalek will finally be destroyed, as we, the last generation of the Diaspora, and thus the first generation of Geulah, watch our enemy's demise plays itself out. Not one Israeli soldier is needed to beat the enemy into oblivion, b"H.

Have a great month of Elul!

Chassidic Countdown to Redemption: 5780

חצות

Today is Friday, the 6th day, God's 6th millennium since He created Earth, after the night has passed, the time at 5780 being 12:43 pm.

If, as Moses explains,

כי אלף שנים בעיניך כיום אתמול כי יעבר

"For a thousand years are in Your eyes like yesterday, which passed ...." (Tehillim (90:4)

then we've passed from nightime, the first 500 years of that millennium, which began in year 5000, and have already entered daylight hours. If 500 years equals 12 hours, and we are 280 years since morning, and morning was at 6:00 am - let's say - then the time right now is 12:43 pm, 43 minutes after חצות!  

עלות השחר

The year the Ba'al Shem Tov went public was at 6:00 am, at dawn of the 6th day. The Alter Rebbe of Chabad became the 3rd generation thereafter to expose Chassidut, in the year 5550.

The light of Chassidus was lost from most Jews for 1,950 years; Since the 2nd Temple's destruction in the 4th millennium. Jews stuck with Torah, to be sure, but only to the well known 4 layers of Torah. The 5th layer of depth was an entirely new perspective of Torah that only Chassidus now brought to the public's cognitive grasp. 

This was a taste of the new light of Moshaich. This made for Jews for Moshiach to again become a valid topic of discussion. This new insight would have been shunned by Jews before that had they learned about it then because this topic brought about sorrowful memories. It had been a taboo subject earlier. The Jewish mind back then was unprepared to entertain the concept of Moshiach having been deeply frustrated over the years with fake candidates and, instead, met only with severe oppression by host countries.

The Wellsprings of Chassidus Opening Up

Kabballah, which preceded the exposure of Chassidus, began the reawakening of this secretive aspect of Torah, but only to a limited extent. Some secrets were then revealed, but kept under low profile because not everybody was "suited" in mindset to accept these. Kaballah opened the gates, so to speak, for Chasidus to begin trickling out.

Dawn arrived with the Ba'al ShemTov in 5500, and especially after sunrise the Alter Rebbe, in the year 5550, began to spread the word widely. By then all Jews were cognitively equipped by God to better digest this new light, this new spiritualism, of Chassidus.

These dates are significant from a Jewish Halachic perspective! How so?

We know that Chassidus will be learned during the Sabbatical Era in the 6th millennium. We will then be immersed in it, learning the most inner secrets of the infinite Torah. That will be the entire purpose of Jewish existence. This is what is meant by the metaphor, that in Moshiach's time we will partake in the festive "feast of the Leviathan and the Wild Bull" (סעודת שור הבר והלווייתן). That food is Chassidus.

Halachically, on Friday, once daytime arrives, it is a Mitzvah - a commandment for every Jew - to taste of the food being prepared for the Sabbath (טועמיה חיים זכו). That Mitzvah is time-dependent, sanctioned only starting at daybreak. Thus since the year 5500, we are obliged to taste some of that food in anticipation of what it'll be like.

Had you learned some Chassidus before 1740, it would have meant little to you because the command to learn Chassidus, that is -- to taste the future food of Shabbat -- only took effect in the year 1740, with the exposition of the Ba'al Shem Tov.

Other halachic aspects concern the times when formal prayer services begin or end. So, for example, the time of Tefillah, the  Shmoneh Esrei morning prayer, is a time that Chassidus regards as a fight -- as a struggle to keep well concentrated in prayer, doing our best to keep from being distracted. These times may well translate into what happened to the Jewish people during the progroms and then the holocaust.

Anyhow, those time of day aspects, as to how and when they occurred, are now well behind us. For us Jews today, we only await the Ultimate Redemption that's about to happen any day now. Surely God won't wait until the last minute to debut Shabbat aspects, as if Friday hours were as secular as before. Rather, along the lines of the אחישנה possibility, which is one way Moshiach can come, aside from the other inevitable way (בעתו), the blessings will shower down a lot sooner than expected.

 
[Gleaned form a Maamar (להבין הקושיא הידוע) of the 5th Lubavitcher Rebbe, the Rebbe Rashab, who founded the first officially Chassidic Yeshivah, said in 1903.]

"Garments" - And of Redemption - 5780

Think good; Will be good!

God gave us "Freedom of Choice". We express this freedom in 3 ways:
Free to think thoughts of one thing or another;
Free to speak words of one sort or another;
And free to do, one way or another.

In 3 ways we can align with, or misalign with, a given perspective.

You can think good thoughts or bad thoughts.
You can say good things or bad things, and
you can do either good or bad.

Thinking, saying and doing are referred to in chassidus as "garments". Just as you can choose which garment to wear or shed, so too you can decide to "wear" new thoughts and thereby abandon ("shed") your former thoughts; As you can say words that please in place of words that displease; And you can do favors and avoid crime, instead of proceeding otherwise.

Can emotions also be referred to as "garments"? No! There's no "free choice" for emotions. Emotions pursue thought, and not the other way around. Thoughts evoke emotions.

However, because emotions follow reflexively from thoughts, the garment of thought can be changed. This change of thoughts will trigger new emotions to supplant those that preceded.

Free choice, in light of chassidus, subdivides into thoughts, speech and behavior.

That bit of chassidus also sheds light on how to control emotions.

The Lubavitcher Rebbe wanted us well-versed in the topic of Moshiach because that's the Era we've entered, according to him. And if you think of it, thinking about Moshiach, whose revelation is approaching rather swiftly, will lead -- if you trust the Rebbe -- to good feelings during Moshiach's Eras.

The Rebbe so instructed us because he wanted us to see spectacles we'd otherwise never sense. Our panoramas are vast and exactly what to look for in this broad landscape to discern a moving target, among lots of activity, needs special attentiveness.

Learning about Moshiach and speaking and doing about Moshiach grows spiritual antennas. There are things happening locally and globally and to feel good amid these swirling events -- to be able to connect the dots of all these events in a refreshing light, they must be identified in proper context.

In other words, if we believe the Rebbe and do as he wishes, we'll discover that worldly events, which happen beyond our control, are actually benefiting us. We can begin to appreciate the good the Rebbe wants us to experience these days, much as father wants to impart his love to his child.

For those who think thoughts devoid of Moshiach, or have an entirely different perspective, the lesson of the Rebbe will be missed by them. Here's an example of this phenomenon today: What might appear to one person as a political fluke, as it might concern a politically-immersed person of the Democrat party, say regarding president Trump's election win in 2016, and he's expecting that already in 2020 Trump will be replaced by a "suitable" candidate -- to another person is a laughing joke. This other person, well-versed in Torah's views on Moshiach, sees that event as a palpable marker of a new era in history. This event was not at all a fluke. Rather, it was a sharp upturn in Moshiach's momentum.

This is an example of how "garments" of thought give one person agony for 4 long years, and to the other sheer ecstasy, under the same circumstances, seeing an altogether different pattern in the mosaic developing before him.

One will wallow while the other will thrive under the same circumstances. Think good; Will be good. Think Moshiach; Will sense Moshiach's imminence!

Redemption - From Counter-Intuitive to Intuitive

The prophet Tzefania says something that would have seemed incredulous only a few decades ago. It's a passage we say most every day in our morning prayers. His last verse quotes God's promise to the Jewish People in Moshiach's era:

"At that time I will bring them, and at that time I will gather you, for I will make you a name and a praise among all the peoples of the earth when I restore your captivities before your eyes, said the Lord."

How in the world could a Jew have comprehended that verse a few decades ago. "... among all the peoples of the earth ...". Really? How could billions of people, across 7 continents, in some 200 countries, discover about the Jewish People so the latter become a household name?

When newspapers became common, one could already imagine that they would carry the news, but even then, not all places could readily have gotten the information, certainly not at one time.

Of course today this question has its obvious answer, especially with the technological leap of the last 20 years that gave us the smartphone and the internet.

But back in days of the prophet, and thereafter for a good 1,700 years, the above verse could hardly have made much sense. How could they even have imagined such a global recognition? Maybe back then people figured the news could spread much like Indians "spoke" to one another with "smoke signals" from the hilltops, as Jews in fact did in ancient times to signal the day of "Rosh Chodesh" from the hilltops, the message originating from Jerusalem.

Another verse in our prayers is from Psalms (106:47):
"Save us, Lord our God, and gather us from the nations, to give thanks to Your holy name, to boast with Your praise."

Gather us from the nations? Or as we say daily, "And gather us from the 4 corners of the world". How could these verses make sense back then, or even understood? Surely an ancient Jew could hardly have figured this would mean we'd be travelling back to Israel using the airways! More likely, early on, Jews figured God meant we'd be taking long voyages by ship to get to the Holy Land.

Of course Jews always trust Hashem and any promise He made could happen as miraculously as the splitting of the Reed Sea. But we also know Hashem doesn't perform miracles unnecessarily. So the miracles of the airplane, the internet and the computer were made in order that by Moshiach's time it would all appear so natural.

Bolting Towards the Finish Line

Nearly 30 years ago, the Rebbe declared 1991 as the year to which the ancient Midrash (Yalkut Shimoni, Isaiah:499) was referring to, that is, "The year Moshiach is first revealed".

What significant events have occurred since then? We'll just mention 3 strides in the homestretch to the finish line.

1) In order that the whole world be able to connect to news of universal importance, the internet became connected to everyone's phone. In the last 20 years, the smartphone had been invented for this reason. Today this handheld device is everybody's newspaper.

2) The political upheaval that occurred overnight in 2016, with Trump's triumph, which brought a miraculous turnaround, from an administration bound to become a miserable hotbed of Jewish hatred under Muslim influence, to become, overnight, an administration that is the most benevolent ever to Jewish and Israeli aspirations.

3) The Chinese Corona virus caused a universal shakeup to demonstrate that even an invisible force can transmit to the whole world an earthshaking phenomenon. Even a person who cannot leave his home can get the message, an epoch-making news item to be sure, right in the palm of his hand.

Of course there were many other events as well, such as the Persian Gulf War, when Israel was struck with 39 Scud missiles (each the size of a bus), yet none were killed; Israel becoming a stellar technological giant and center of world trade, even selling military equipment to Arab countries; etc. But here we just mentioned 3 of global scope.

A Reminder to Boost the Jewish Spirit

Purim and Adar are behind us now, for us to begin a new monthly countdown. We transition from Adar, a month of miracles camouflaged in natural events for the Jewish People, to Nissan, a month of miracles for the Jewish People in a revealed manner.

But because there's some gloom in the atmosphere today, I want to remind you all that we are inside of a new era, as The Rebbe had declared back in 1991. This was emphasized some 4 years ago when a major turnaround happened in world events. That event was a stark reminder, and we need reminders if only to confirm our otherwise absurd beliefs, that indeed we Jews, as well as the world at large, is inside of the new and final Era of Redemption.

The new viral phenomenon these days, instead of spelling gloom, ought to be understood as the new panorama wherein the whole world begins to gel into one communicable complex.**

The new technology of recent years, with the internet, computers and mobile gadgets, came into being so today the whole world can be embraced at one time. This viral episode, as yet another phase, serves much as a testing phase, if you will, in further preparing the world audience to become instantly in touch. The virus, like God, is invisible, the tiniest organism known to mankind, one that fits the bill perfectly.

The goal, of course, is that any day now we will - all - experience a most significant time of our lives, which will indeed draw wordwide focus on Moshiach himself.

The turnaround that happened in 2016 ought to have opened our eyes real wide. Until Trump's election, the prospects for the Jewish People, as well as the whole world, looked horrible. At the helm of the most powerful and influential country in the world was a serpent of hate and moral degradation. In his stead, the mainstream media had their polls predicting a major win for yet another monster, whose ever-present right-hand advisor was an Arab woman with ties to terror and Arab influence. Clinton was believed to have had a 90% chance of taking over. Anti-semitism was breathing heavily down the necks of Jewry and Israel, and corrupt oligarchies were threatening to impoverish and subdue the the world.

Then, suddenly, in a matter of hours, rather than days, the miraculous turnaround happened. Just as when Haman had been close to annihilating world Jewry, the turnaround happened in a matter of days after Esther had walked into the king's palatial quarters without being summoned. Suddenly the head of the treacherous Haman was hung by a noose and the Jewish people were given instant relief.

On election day in 2016, a similar "Purim miracle" happened. Instead of an Arab lady being held in esteem inside the White House, suddenly a lovely Jewish girl was sitting in her place.

We had gone from this ... :







... to this:











And, just in case people hadn't yet figured it out, or didn't take the change to heart, Trump had become Israel's great friend, had returned Yerushalayim to its age-old status, had sanctioned retaking historical Jewish territory, had inspired the world's peoples to believe in God, and had given us believers a welcome infusion of confidence that our dreams are not for naught.

Today is Rosh Codesh Nissan. Its the timely month of Spring. We know Torah is truth. We know that the Moshe Rabbeinu of our generation spoke truth. We trust in Hashem, despite unbelievable events that make no constructive sense to us. Still, any day soon will yet come the greatest miracle of all, when the Ultimate Era of Redemption will shake the world to its core with new light and blessings we cannot even yet imagine.

------------------

** I write this with a sad heart because close friends passed away during this so-called pandemic. But I surrender to my madness of thought because it's not for us to understand how this is all for the good.

Another Rebbe Footprint

Wow; Just found another footprint while tracking the unfolding of the Era of Redemption! It's the footprint of the Rebbe, MH"M, the general running the show from abstentia. Didan Notzach is a holiday specially connected to Chabad. These dates are appropriate for registering knockout blows to sources of evil, in these last days in diaspora.

The era that is backdrop to this new, universal transformation is characterized by Good being revealed and promoted, while Evil is revealed for eventual elimination. The audience these days is the entire world, connected by internet. 

In these times, when you can access an entire world from the palm of your hand, Good and Evil are paraded over many screens for all to see. People can thus pick sides. The populace has free choice to align with either side. Of course soon enough Good will have the final triumph, while Evil is marked for extinction.

And, as usual, focus is always on the Jews and Eretz Yisrael. 

Because it's for their sake the world exists and because of them that the world is now in a state of metamorphosis into a utopic era illuminated with divine presence. Souls will have to decide either to hop onto this eternal, holy Messianic bandwagon, or squander the opportunity with poor choice, relegating themselves to the dust bin of history.

It was this Hei Tevet 5780 (דידן נצח) that Trump eliminated the top Iranian general, Q. S., who represented the pinnacle of that terror system. (Our time is 8 hours prior to Baghdad's).

(This "footprint" series was earlier broached here.)

Anti-Semitism in Moshiach's Times

The previous post (Rating the Trump Miracle) posed the seeming contradiction of anti-Semitism prevalent in an era imminently leading to a utopian Redemption. The explanation given there was the standard answer that applies to all eras.

But here's a more apt reason from a Moshichist's perspective. The looming anti-Semitism in Moshiach times serves as a backdrop to portray the sharp contrast between good and evil. How so?

The present era, being the prelude of Moshiach's times, is depicted by the prophet Tzefaniah. In his last verse (3:20) he describes this era:

"'At that time, I will bring you to the land, ingathering you to there, and give you a reputation of praise among all peoples of the earth as I restore you from exile before your eyes',
said God."

בעת ההיא אביא אתכם ובעת קבצי אתכם כי אתן אתכם לשם ולתהלה  בכל עמי הארץ בשובי את שבותיכם לעיניכם
אמר ה׳

How can "all peoples of the earth" recognize Jewish merit? Until 100 years ago this could have been a very hard question to answer. How could people from Afghanistan to Zambia, from all continents and walks of life, know up close what's happening with Jews and who these people are, to recognize them, let alone praise them? Even television a few decades ago wasn't sufficiently widespread to capture the ongoing fluidity of events. But this phenomenon today can easily be appreciated. Today's modern technology is designed to capture everybody's attention on a whim. Hardly a person today, wherever on the globe, is prevented from seeing and hearing worldwide events - right in front of his nose.

For merit to be grasped, for good to take on tangibility, a backdrop of blatant evil makes it stand out in bold relief. Are not people who have for decades been aborting live fetuses today starting to turn around? Are not perverts and corrupt politicians running for office for all to see? Are not good people like judge Kavanaugh being paraded before the public to show how evil seeks to destroy what's good? And let's not forget, as the previous post emphasizes, that we have a role model of goodness leading the most powerful of all countries, having trumped (pun intended) what could have been the most wicked of administrations.

People the world over see who Jew-haters are. Their evil is starkly visible. The more people see this, the more they come to appreciate the value of goodness, the more they'll align with good against evil. And indeed, is not the world stage being set, as the entire world somehow always seems to focus on tiny Israel? And although evil will finally be eradicated only by Moshiach himself, by then those who chose the side of evil will easily be identified and vanquished.

Even the ingathering of Jews can now also be felt, as the screws mildly tighten across Europe, where they may need more convincing to make aliyah. However things pans out, it will always remain mild for Jews, no matter from where, and when; This is, after all, Moshiach's times. Be that as it may, in fact, the other main task that will be Moshiach's, besides destroying the last remnants of evil, will be the ingathering to Israel of all his brethren.

Rating the Trump Miracle

The election of President Trump in 2016 may well appear to the general public as a "natural" event that was just a happenstance, because long-shots on occasion win as they do in horse races.

Judging from his opposition's view of things still today, despite his convincing majority, they think his win was a fluke.

But those of us in the know, those who ride on to the coattails of the prophet and leader of this generation, know better. More than that, with our keenly honed perspective, we can even rate Trump's victory -- not just as a simple miracle that happened, but as a huge miracle of the highest proportions.

Of course to see it this way, you'd have to familiarize yourself with a good "miracle barometer".

To learn what this miracle barometer is based on, you can go to this LINK to find out. But for here, briefly, the difference between a "big" miracle and a "small" one is -- the extent of its concealment from the natural landscape. The more that nature's framework of laws and constraints is breached, the smaller the miracle is; And the greater its concealment within the natural environment, thus making it practically undetectable, the greater the miracle.

For example, consider events as they unfold before us in the present. As Jews, do we not sense a greater fear because of a rise in antisemitism the world over, and in America too, where it never existed to such a degree? Still, that would seem natural enough because Jew-hatred has been around for ages and now it's just escalating even over here. This phenomenon would assuredly cancel out any talk of living today under miraculous conditions, would it not?

Or, consider today's Democrats who have consolidated behind their "never Trump" posture, with full backing by the "deep state" or "establishment swamp", together with their Republican (in name only), university, mainstream media and Hollywood cohorts in full support. These have the strong impression they have simply encountered a bump in the old road, which will again smoothen itself out once they obliterate or trash their nemesis often enough. With such folk around, does today's scenario suggest a miracle is in progress?

Even good folk, even Trump lovers, without the spectacles that align us with the vision of the Rebbe MH"M, they too cannot see the great miracle that took on tangible form the day of Trump's election. They too would fail to see the momentous transformation occurring in real time, right now, and only growing stronger.

How so? Doesn't the virulent antisemitism and the disgusting politics of the left negate this view of the imminence of an era of ultimate Jewish and world redemption? On the contrary, does it not portend a slippery slope into an abyss of socialism, divisiveness and hate?

It would -- unless you see the present trend in motion from the Rebbe's angle. Consider the miracle of Purim. It all looked frightfully bleak for world Jewry then. They were destined for demise. That is, until that night when the Persian king was unable to sleep. At the crack of dawn, he welcomed into his palace the nemesis of the Jewish people. That's when events quickly revealed that a grander plan had actually been in effect already 9 years in the making. Sure enough, Jewish prospects suddenly took a turnaround. Less than a year later, Jews would breathe a deep sigh of relief and rejoiced. That was the Purim miracle, one that rates extremely high according to the aforementioned barometer. These events and the turnaround all became apparent when, metaphorically, "on that night the King [of the universe] had his sleep perturbed." (Esther 6:1) - בלילה ההוא נדדה שנת המלך
[The halacha is that this possuk must be read by the megillah-reader a bit louder because here the main part of the miracle is about to happen.]

There's a major transformation going on in our natural landscape and another huge step took place during the few hours polling booths were open across America. In that short span of time another giant leap to advance the Era of Ultimate Redemption happened.

Just before the election, the Hillary witch was destined to be the next leader, with some polls predicting her victory with 90% probability. And who was this dame? The wife of a crook, awash in Arab money, hateful of Jews, and having for two decades as her deputy chief of staff the daughter of a Muslim Brotherhood key figure. She was expected to take over the reins from the incumbent, Muslim, Jew-hating president, may his memory be wiped out. Until that election day, Jews certainly, if not most of America, had little hope for a good future had she won. This country would have quickly become a 3rd world country.

But behold, the election results betrayed the forecasts. In a matter of hours the outcome had cast aside a gloomy situation. It was the bright light of Moshiach dissipating darkness. The new Era of Ultimate Redemption can no longer be turned back.

Instead of a Muslim girl in the White House steering Hillary, we now have where a Jewish girl can comfortably sit in the White House. Instead of greed, hate, immorality, disgrace and ugliness spewing from the world's highest office, we now sense beneficence, love, moral integrity, grace and beauty exuding therefrom.

The election result was an obvious turnaround moment. Of course another such obvious turnaround event was wrought 70 years earlier when the United Nations (of all organizations) granted the Jews their right to return to their Jewish homeland.

As for the Jew-hatred, I suppose it's a way to keep our opponents busy so they can wallow in their evil as a world of goodness lying dormant is reshaping the natural terrain. It's a slow process, apparently for the purpose of still allowing the individual free choice, allowing him to consider which side he wants to be on, to weigh matters on his own and have bearing. To paint everything blatantly rosy would rob the individual of his free choice.

But besides for appearances, Israel and the Jewish people will thrive and only wax in prosperity.

The Rebbe MH"M told us, nay -- bombarded us daily, for years, from around 1991, trying his darnedest to get us to see the great miracle in its making. There were, to be sure, plenty of other significant events that pointed to the truth of his prophecy, before then and after then. And in 2016, Trump's election has clearly solidified the Rebbe's stance.

That Mr. Donald J. Trump will be a shoo-in in 2020 is a sure thing. May God grant him and his family good health and disposition. Thereafter too the golden path will be open to us, leading us to the utopian era. There's no turning back. May it happen that we dance with all Jews and with King Moshiach in Jerusalem sooner than we expect.

Ukraine Connection to Moshiach Times

Volodymyr Zelensky

Ukraine connection. Today (18 Nissan) is the Birthday of the father of the Lubavitcher Rebbe! Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Schneerson born (1878), one of the greatest Kabbalists in the last 500 years, and the former chief Rabbi of Yekatrinoslav, Ukraine (today, Dnepropetrovsk). It was announced yesterday (just hours before the birthday of the Rebbe's father commenced on the Jewish calendar) that Ukraine just elected a Jewish comedian as its President, in a massive 73% landslide victory! And the new President is from near Dnipro, where the Rebbe's father was the head Rabbi and where the Rebbe grew up as a boy.

The Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, MH"M, was born in Nikolaev, Ukraine; and raised much of his childhood in Dnipro -- where today the largest Jewish Center in the world, operated by Chabad, was constructed in the past 10 years.

About the new president of Ukraine, it was written:
“Imagine, a pure-blooded Jew with the appearance of a Sholom Aleichem protagonist wins by a landslide in a country where the glorification of Nazi criminals is enacted into law,” Avigdor Eskin, a Russian-Israeli columnist, wrote in an analysis published earlier this month by the Regnum news agency.

The French-Jewish philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy also referenced Ukrainian Jews’ bloody history in an interview with Zelensky, the 41-year-old son of scientists who lived near major Soviet army bases in Ukraine.

“His Judaism. It’s extraordinary that the possible future president of the country of the Shoah by Bullets and Babi Yar is a self-affirmed Jew from a family of survivors from Kryvy Rih near Dnipro – the land of pogrom if ever there was one,” Levy wrote in an article published earlier this month in Le Point.

Ukraine to become first country outside Israel whose president and PM are both Jewish

Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Schneerson (1878-1944), was born on the 18th of Nissan in the town of Podrovnah (near Gomel) to his parents, Rabbi Baruch Schneur and Rebbetzin Zelda Rachel Schneerson; his great-great grandfather was the 3rd Chabad Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Lubavitch.

In 1900 Rabbi Levi Yitzchak married Rebbetzin Chanah Yanovski, whose father, Rabbi Meir Shlomo, was the rabbi of the Russian city of Nikolaiyev. In 1902, their eldest son, Menachem Mendel, later to be known as The Lubavitcher Rebbe, was born. Rabbi Levi Yitzchak lived in Nikolaiyev until 1909, when he was appointed to serve as the Rabbi of Yekatrinoslav (today, Dnepropetrovsk). In 1939 he was arrested by the communist regime for his fearless stance against the Party's efforts to eradicate Jewish learning and practice in the Soviet Union. After more than a year of torture and interrogations in Stalin's notorious prisons, he was sentenced to exile to the interior of Russia, where he died in 1944.

For more on Rabbi Levi Yitzchak, including the story of his valiant battle for Yiddishkeit, his arrest and exile, see Rebbetzin Chana's biography

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Also today in Jewish History, Lubavitcher Rebbe's Brit (1902)
On the eighth day following his birth on the 11th of Nissan, the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, MH"M, was entered into the covenant of our Patriarch Abraham.

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The new president of Ukraine, Mr. Volodymyr Zelensky, is in close contact with Chabad in Ukraine, is proud of his Jewishness and participates in the events of the Chabad House. On the eve of the Passover holiday, he met with Chabad emissaries and received a Shmurah Matzah for the Seder. Am Yisrael Chai!

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The world’s largest Jewish center opened in Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine several years ago, in the town where the Lubavitcher Rebbe's father was the Chief Rabbi, and one of the towns where the Rebbe grew up in his childhood. Built at a main intersection between the left and right banks of the Dnepr River, the 22-story, seven-towered, 538,000 square foot "Menorah Center" now sits, under the direction of of Chabad-Lubavitch Rabbi Shmuel Kamenetzki. As airplanes fly across the Ukraine sky at night, they can see what looks like a giant Menorah from a distance.

Kamenetzki, director of Chabad of Dnepropetrovsk, said that while in the past the city had been associated with suffering and persecution – the Rebbe’s father, Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Schneerson, of righteous memory, was arrested and the Rebbe’s brother and tens of thousands of other Jews were shot during a mass slaughter by Nazi forces – the whole world can witness a resurgence of the city’s Jewish life.

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"Reb Levik" Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Schneerson (father of the Lubavitcher Rebbe) was considered one of the greatest Talmudic and Kabbalistic scholars of his generation. He served as the chief rabbi of the city of Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine, during the bloody Bolshevik revolution and the subsequent Communist oppression. Despite terrible persecution directed at religious leaders in those days, he remained fearlessly defiant in strengthening Jewish learning and practice in his city and throughout the Soviet Union. Rabbi Levi Yitzchak was eventually arrested, tortured, and subsequently banished to exile in a remote village in Kazakhstan. His spirit, however, was not extinguished, even while his body was broken and eventually gave way to his early passing.

His selfless efforts for Jews and Judaism even in the face of a sadistic superpower regime determined to leave no trace of them were later tenderly nurtured by his son and disciple, the Rebbe. The Rebbe conducted Soviet Jewry’s affairs clandestinely from afar, and eventually saw the decades of his father’s effort blossom into full bloom upon the fall of the Iron Curtain and the public resurgence of Jewish life there.

Soviet Jewry, however, is not alone in the debt of gratitude it owes to Rabbi Levi Yitzchak. His personal example, demonstrating how Judaism will survive against all odds and how we must adhere steadfastly and proudly to its ideals, serves as a shining beacon of inspiration for all of us today, and for all generations to come.

We are likewise collectively indebted to Rabbi Levi Yitzchak and his life’s partner, Rebbetzin Chana, of righteous memory, for giving us the Rebbe, whose application of their teachings and way of life to all the rest of us changed the very course of world Jewry.

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After her husband had been imprisoned, tortured and interrogated for nearly a year, Rebbetzin Chana, the Rebbe's mother, was informed that her husband and one of the great kabbalists of the generation, Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Schneerson, had been tried in Moscow for his “criminal activity” of spreading Judaism, and sentenced to five years of exile in the far-flung village of Chi'ili in Central Asia. There he would be completely isolated from other Jews. He was 61, and after his horrendous prison experiences his health was in such a dreadful state that he was nearly unrecognizable.

Rebbetzin Chana, then 59, could have stayed home and tried her best to get food sent to her husband. Instead she decided to go into exile to be with her husband and support him, no matter what that entailed. Upon arrival, she realized just how dismal the situation was. She arrived early spring, “when the ground turns into deep mud, making it difficult to walk in the street. But to obtain life’s most basic necessities, it was necessary to walk a long distance, although it was virtually impossible to get out of the quagmire. When you put your foot down, it became bogged down in the sticky morass, and you needed the strength of Samson for every step you took.” The moisture and warmer weather brought swarms of fleas, mosquitoes and other biting insects. Clothing would become covered in black dots within hours, soiled by the fleas. Rebbetzin Chana burned a type of fuel made from mud, dried-out grass and straw she had gathered, which didn’t provide light or fire, but a thick black smoke to keep the insects away. Often, the strong night winds blew that awful smoke in their faces.

Every season was extreme. Summer brought unbearable heat that forced everyone indoors for cover, and winters were beyond frigid. It wasn’t uncommon for people to freeze to death. Rebbetzin Chana gathered assorted types of “bricks” and fashioned a crude furnace to help keep warm.

Rebbetzin Chana and her husband moved to a few different shacks while in exile, each place with its own challenges. The shacks were made of clay, with muddy floors, and were often darkened by swarms of mosquitoes. They were damp, moist and small, often without dividing doors between the rooms, offering no privacy. Bigger shacks with the luxury of a wooden floor meant more people with whom to share the space. In one place, they had only roach-infested cots to sleep on.

It was forbidden to purchase food; everything was government-regulated with ration cards and quotas, requiring long daily treks and endless lines. Throughout their years in exile, the Rebbetzin and her husband suffered severe hunger, at one point going without any bread for a month! Their health deteriorated, and Rabbi Levi Yitzchak became extremely weak and frail.

These were the conditions of exile. Yet Rebbetzin Chana was there to take care of her husband and keep up his spirits. It was due to her resourcefulness and determination that she was able to get food whenever possible and physically care for her husband, literally saving his life. She knew that more than bread for survival, he urgently needed materials to write down his copious thoughts of Torah and Kabbalah. She was determined to obtain such supplies. She taught herself how to make ink from various herbs and grasses, and presented her homemade ink to her overjoyed husband. He wrote along the margins of the few holy books and notebooks she had brought him.

When Passover neared, she spent days traveling to find a utensil for Passover, knowing Rabbi Levi Yitzhak would not eat otherwise. She successfully obtained a tin-plated pail made from new materials.

Once, to their surprise and joy, they received a package with white flour, and she set some aside to make two hamantashen for the holiday of Purim. Rebbetzin Chana expressed how important and meaningful it was for them to be able to observe even a minor custom. She exerted tremendous effort to enable herself and her husband to celebrate any and every observance.

Israeli Expansion towards the Geulah

What a pleasant Purim surprise we got today from President Trump!

Today, Purim 5779, I read in Arutz 7 news that this good man announced his support for Israel's annexation of the Golan Heights. He did, in the U.S., what some Israeli government should long ago have suggested or done, in Israel.

For this Mr. Trump deserves a huge thank you. Of course he's not operating in a vacuum so the thanks also goes to his whole family and affiliates.

Today, the 14th of Adar-B, the Israelis have been provided sanction for all to see to call their own territory their own (As the first Rashi in Torah implores us to do vis-s-vis Israel naysayers!). The Rebbe, King Moshiach, however he wants to elude his believers physically, is behind all these telling moments as more and more of the imminent Era of Ultimate Redemption unfolds before our very eyes towards the tail end of the current 6th millennium of world history.

The Golan is but a small part of the territory promised Avraham Avinu, but it's the first step to the long mile.

And because this apparent small step occurred on such an auspicious occasion, arguably the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, for Yom Kippur only resembles the holiness of Purim but doesn't come close to it, as the Hebrew word itself suggests ("Ki-ppur"), it's a significant step.

HAPPY PURIM !!!


UPDATE: Nov. 20, 2019

On CHOF MARCHESHVAN, 5780, was the birthday of the "Rebbe Rashab", the 5th Chabad Rebbe, Rabbi Sholom DovBer of Lubavitch. It happened that on this day Mr. Trump announced that (the international court notwithstanding) USA policy no longer considers the Jordan Valley illegally occupied by Israel. This would encourage its annexation and due recognition as part of Eretz Yisroel, in effect. Another giant step to Geulah taken on another commemorative chassidic day.

From HaModia: On Monday, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reversed a policy that had been proclaimed by the State Department decades ago, saying that the U.S. would no longer view Jewish towns in Yehudah and Shomron as illegal. “Calling the establishment of civilian settlements inconsistent with international law has not advanced the cause of peace,” Pompeo said. “The hard truth is that there will never be a judicial resolution to the conflict, and arguments about who is right and who is wrong as a matter of international law will not bring peace. The establishment of Israeli civilian settlements in the West Bank is not, per se, inconsistent with international law.”

Unless you're attuned to a Chabad Moshiach-times perspective, you might miss the footprints the Rebbe leaves behind, at opportune chassidic moments, leaving you in the dark even while all around you erupts a new dawn of supernal light.

Following the Footsteps of Moshiach in 5778

Some footprints of the Rebbe in action are easy to spot.

Today’s deserves mention. Today is
י׳׳ט כסלו תשע׳׳ח.

World events after all stem from Torah - the blueprint of the world. So let's look at secular developments to see how Torah life renders a refreshing perspective.

Today President Trump announced that Jerusalem is the eternal capital of the Jewish People! As far as America and most of the world was concerned, Israel was a country without a capital until now.

Today is Yud-Tes Kislev! Yud-Tes Kislev is a rather new chassidic holiday. An ancient primordial brightness, unbearable for mankind to have seen over the course of most of its history, until recently, is now finally becoming easy to behold. Chabad had turned this day into a Rosh Hashanna of Chassidus. This holiday is in commemoration of the Alter Rebbe's emancipation from certain death at the hands of the KGB in Soviet Russia. His freedom had vindicated his efforts to further disseminate the wellsprings of Chassidus.

That is, permission was granted from on high to spread these hidden aspects of Torah wholesale worldwide. Thereafter, with every Chabad Rebbe, these teachings gushed forth and burgeoned even more. That primordial bright light they were disseminating - is the new light of Moshiach!

The Alter Rebbe spurred his chassidim to “live with the times!”. He meant, put your heart into study of Torah as apportioned by the week and by day of the week.

Under the Rebbe MH”M this idiom transformed to mean that all you see, feel, hear and interact with should consider the imminence of Moshiach or his presence as its backdrop; The Rebbe urged us to always “think Moshiach!”

So, let's think Moshiach. Today is Yud-Tes Kislev. What does the industrious talmid find in today’s portion of Chumash (parshas Vayeishev, in the 4th section, being that today is Wednesday)? He learns the segment about Yehuda and Tamar.

In perek 38, possuk 15, says the Baal Haturim:

לזונה. ב' במסורה. ויחשבה לזונה. איכה היתה לזונה (ישעיה א, כא). מה תמר בבזיון ולבסוף בכבוד אף ירושלים סופה בכבוד, כדכתיב (זכריה ב, ט) ולכבוד אהיה בתוכה. וזהו זאת קומתך דמתה לתמר  (שה"ש ז, ח

Translation: Just as Tamar had to compromise herself (for the sake of lawful progeny) stooping to apparent humiliation in order to serve a future glorious cause, so too Jerusalem must first suffer disgrace before it can exult in its return to dominion.

This the Baal Haturim learns from a 5-letter word that repeats itself only twice in all of Tanach (see image of search results - 2 "hits" in all of Tanach), once in reference to Tamar; the other in reference to Jerusalem. This same word in both places suggests an association can be made between Tamar and Jerusalem.

(This connection, between Tamar and Jerusalem, is also alluded to by King Solomon in Shir Hashirim (7:8) - זאת קומתך דמתה לתמר.)

By coinciding Yud-Tes Kislev with the day Trump made his epic announcement, the Rebbe shows the association is operative for the era of Moshiach. If we "live with the times", then today’s Baal Haturim bespeaks of worldly events -- happening today in our times!

Here’s another "living with the times" nuance:

This week's days are among the shortest of the year. Midday is therefore close to noon, unlike the midday on any other summer day. Were we to make the Jewish calculation where each of "God's day" counts as 1,000 human years, then we are presently already into Friday, or Erev Shabbos. That means by the year 5778 we are plenty past 12 noon already (ie, past 5500)! The timing of glorifying Jerusalem on a day when Shabbat enters earliest seems significant. It suggests the rapid advance of The Era of Ultimate Redemption, the days of eternal Shabbat.

Hope to dance with you all in Yerushalayim, very soon, in our days!

UPDATE (12/24/17):
Just discovered too that last year on this day, on Yud-Tes Kislev 5777, Monday, December 19, 2016, Donald Trump won the electoral college vote (-- which counts -- as opposed to the popular vote, which doesn't count) and became President of the USA! So here we have yet another of the Rebbe's imprints.

Footprints to the Era of Redemption - 5777

Not only can Jews practice their religion freely today in most of the world (when in most of Jewish history that was hardly the case), not only are two superpowers aligning today with Israel, not only does Israel thrive as a tiny country of its own with enormous physical and intellectual resources, not only have most Jews heard of the forthcoming so-called Era of Moshiach, and not only is the World War of Gog & Magog now raging, but notice how Jews and Israel remain immune to all the bloodthirsty infighting among Israel’s enemies. (The Rebbe’s 1980 Striking Prophecy)

Yes, were you to follow the standards of Nature, you might want to wallow in reasons for fear. For example, you might worry that Enemy X is destabilizing Jordan to the East of Israel, or that Enemy Y can menace from the North or that Enemy Z is tunneling from the South. But Nature too, is a divine facade meant to conceal the obvious. In fact, not only is the worrying needless, says the Rebbe, worse yet, it provides extra energy to the impure forces, in effect slowing the enemy’s quick demise, much like adding fuel to an enemy vehicle low on gas (Feeding Klipah at Sanctity's Expense).

Scanning the political\social panorama, it looks like it’s coming down to a matter of Jewish versus Muslim. Jewish versus Muslim serves to contrast between good and truth versus lies and bloodthirsty culture. Both cannot coexist. The Jewish nation, now that it’s long exile is coming to a close, waxes in glory while Muslim forces for the world to see wane into disrepute.

The verb that well depicts this final phase of Jewish exile, with the Era of Redemption’s full blown glory around the corner, is “to be pitted against”. For evil to be vanquished among people, it first must be highlighted, to delineate itself clearly from its foe, the good. And what constitutes good, and bad, for that matter? Truth of Torah, God and the Jewish family will be pitted in sharp contrast to the Muslim creed and tradition, or to any other identity that abhors Judaism.

Will such cognizance spread across the whole world? After all, Moshiach will reach out to every Jew no matter where he\she is. Will therefore the whole world’s populace have their radars tuned to this one particular issue, of all that’s out there?

If Redemption is in the wings, then that’s exactly what must happen, no? How then will the whole world be drawn in to one focal point of contention? Mankind will have to choose sides; Would everyone know what two sides are pit against each other?

You see it happening right under our noses right now. The world is at war with evil, which translates from the confrontation between Klipah and Sanctity, in its final duel. The Rebbe is taking and leading the charge, by himself! (The Wars of Hashem)

We recognize this general’s silent orchestration of local and world events because he leaves footprints on his trail. One such footprint we found earlier (The Hidden Hand of the Rebbe).

Putin too is part of the show. Is not the scene where Putin honorably presents a Chabad rabbi common, well in the open?

A 3rd footprint we noted is that Trump’s daughter and son-in-law bought a home next to a Chabad shul in Washington DC (Arutz7).

Trump is not just a locally popular name being bandied about; He’s being telecast worldwide! The whole world will soon know everything Trump says or does. The whole world must know this because all of mankind will be involved. The internet sprung up for this very reason, no doubt.

Perhaps Trump and Putin will forge a victorious flank that will subdue the evil counterforce that Muslims now represent, with all the terror they are fomenting. The actual logistics we can only guess, the alliances of pro or anti, who will topple who, etc. We could do well not to speculate, because the more Torah light we shed and the more Mitzvos we do, the calmer will be the final waves of exile.

Redemption Unfolding in 5777

Just before "Yishmael" rose to ultimate prominence, a day or two before he could get into highest office and start World War III, God sent a messenger to depose him.

The Muslims gained tremendous power with their huge wealth hard at work for a good 30 years. This power wound all the way up to effect, no less, the commander-in-chief of the United States Forces. Muslim countries "invested" in America's political, educational and judicial infrastructure to seed devastation and propaganda as the preamble and fertile soil for Islamizing the West. They finally got what they wanted -- the Democratic establishment's leadership as their puppet. With money they could operate by remote control. If it's upheaval they wanted, upheaval they almost got. They had groomed Hillary as their surrogate.

Just then the Islamic juggernaut fell over the precipice!

For all it would have taken at this point was a win by Hillary Clinton. Clinton was the puppet remotely controlled for her greed and her disinterest in America’s welfare. To be sure she would toe the Muslim line, Hillary needed a chaperone. Hillary, in full cognizance of the game she was meant to play, in accordance with her greed for money and power, had the Saudi Arabian mole Huma Abedin as her right-hand advisor.

The Muslim Abedin grew up in the Clinton machine. But meanwhile another woman was growing up in the Trump family. She, it turns out, is Jewish. Thus, instead of some Muslim countries gaining choke-hold advantage, the Muslim gambit failed, and failed big -- with the election of Donald Trump.

A Jewish girl took the place of the Arab girl. Evil had almost arrived at its pinnacle. The country would have become 3rd-world. At the last moment Good vanquished the Evil.

By the way, it’s not for nothing God chose Trump for leadership of the USA. Like his father, who donated a significant sum (some 50 years ago) to allow a Jewish school to rise on new ground, Donald too contributed (in 2005 about) to help the Israelis who were kicked out of their homes and land, forced to resettle elsewhere. These Jewish families were tossed out their homes, lands and livelihoods, some after 3 generations, for the sake of their worst enemy, by a foolish government gesture of appeasement. (link - witness)(link - press)(Hebrew blog post)

Just as God told Abraham the first Jew, “and all those who bless you I will bless” (Genesis 12:3), God blessed the Trump family too -- the dad with business success, and the son with that plus the presidency too.

Hillary needed war on a grand scale to keep herself socially afloat, without all her criminality bogging her down. This way she could run a war, sitting high at the helm of some “important” battle, and thus weather the criticism coming from internal policies. This is probably what Putin was thinking when he had to face an effeminate Obama who could get into a frenzy to call upon his dogs to attack, when he said the Democratic party leader (either Obama or Hillary) was likely to start a World War.

Soon is Purim. And real soon is Kislev. Kislev is a time for many miracles. Purim had Esther in the royal palace. This Purim we’ll have an “Esther” of our own. Haman the evil one was destroyed, and thankfully the evil Democrat party and the "establishment" too has been toppled.

By the way, Cheshvan too fits into this one big scheme of miracles transpiring to take Jews into their Torah-true Redemption era. We saw in Cheshvan that Trump’s daughter and son-in-law went to the grave site of the Lubavitcher Rebbe to ask for a brachah. This aspect of the world-in-transformation happened revealed the hidden hand of the one in charge of the fighting the wars for the sake of God and His Jewish People -- the Rebbe (link).

But all aspects of world events fit well in the scheme of the unfolding redemption. The Muslim must fall before the Jew can rise (Ba'al Haturim Genesis 25:18); Damascus must fall before Jerusalem is free of foreign entanglements (link); The Jewish people collectively swing to the right and swing to the belief in the One God and respect the Torah and Jewish tradition (over reformist attempts to dilute the belief); That Jews wherever they are can now practise their religion without governmental interference, without the Jew having to feel like a second-class citizen; That the whole world remains focused on that little plot of land called Israel in the Middle East; That good and evil are being blatantly touted for what they are and people eventually must take one side, the side the Jews are on, or the other; And that the USA will now take, when Trump enters office, the side of Israel (unlike the evil incumbent's).

The United States has a rosy future because it was founded on the belief in God and the freedom to practise your religion. (These traits would have disintegrated had the Democratic party won.) This is a charitable nation and a charitable people, and probably will remain that way until Moshiach.

The distinction between good and evil must be clearly identified so people can take sides and only then, with evil now separated out, can it be wiped away. Evil is being exposed for the whole world to see wherever it is.

For example, Castro just dropped dead. We now find out he demanded Israel withdraw from "the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem." He took the side that foists the false “Palestine” concept. The whole world will realize this ruthless dictator was on the (bad) Muslim side.

The world sees, now on a daily basis, just how brutally Arabs or Muslims behave. This is the War of Gog & Magog -- now ongoing! They watch while Muslims or of their ilk kill each other. Meanwhile, Jews are sitting pretty watching the spectacle without being actively involved, much like spectators (link). Instead of eating up the Jews, Arabs eat each other up.

The world sees too how Germany, Sweden and much of Europe now are in deep turmoil. Jewish blood had drenched European soil. The irony is that Germans now have Arabs as their bedfellows. Arabs, after all, had strongly supported the annihilative attempt of Germany against the Jewish people. Other European countries too now suffer for their "political correctness" they keep trying to impose upon the Jewish country. Like a boomerang effect. Now the world sees that just as God blesses those who bless the Jews, so too God curses the nations that demean the Jews (Genesis 12:3).

The world sees how fires rage across Israel, more than hundreds started, by Arabs living inside Israel. The world thus needs to realize that the internal Arab population is just as ominous as those surrounding the small country. Those empathetic to Israel will recognize Muslims could never have it so good under any other nation’s auspices -- and that the Arabs are ingrates. It is by the grace of God that gave us no deaths, God forbid, from this broad arson-terror attack.

Let's not forget we saw God’s grace getting back our Holy Land 70 years ago. Then with every single war Israel saw tremendous miracles. Israel today thrives, its desert blooms and everything in Israel is on the up and up. This despite the inferno that surrounds it every which way you look.

The biggest miracle, the true and final Era of Redemption for the Jewish People, the one now only seen by connecting the dots of this vast mosaic that lingers in the background, should soon be brought to the foreground for us to see in full glory with our own fleshy eyes, amen.

The Hidden Hand of the Rebbe

It’s hard to see The Redemption unfolding unless you know where to connect the dots of innumerable scattered world-wide events. Yet for those imbued with the dream of Geulah as the Rebbe promulgated, his followers and chassidim, it’s rather easy to decipher.

The hand of the Lubavitcher Rebbe could easily spotted, when, on the Motzei Shabbos just days before the 2016 presidential election, Trump’s daughter and his son-in-law visited the Rebbe’s Ohel. They obviously went to ask for a brachah for her father’s victory.

This event may have passed under most people’s radar, or it drew undue short shrift, but a Lubavitcher recognizes his Rebbe’s imprint. This event broadcast to the Jewish people this rabbi’s influence, for one thing.

But more importantly, it broadcasts the continuing involvement of the Rebbe to finally bring us the divine revelations that will transform existentialism. The world is about to embark on a new, Messianic journey and the pieces are being put in place. Trump's victory is one such cog in the mechanism.

The daughter is not a Chabadnik, nor is her husband, so it must be they recognize the Rebbe’s exalted influence, even as he “rests in peace”, as many would deem it; Or, as those keyed in on Moshiach note (we "Moshichists"), he continues to fight “the wars of Hashem” for us, without even our, or Israel’s, involvement.

Fighting the wars of Hashem and winning, by the way, is the precursor phenomenon that qualifies as a step before Moshiach's revelation. For, as the Rambam asserts, it is only thereafter that Moshiach will build the Beit Hamikdash and ingather the Jewish exiled.

(Step one was getting most Jews cognizant of their being Jewish and recognizing the significance thereof. The Rebbe has seen to that quite well, what with many thousands of Beit Chabad emissaries, appointed or self-appointed, all working as soldiers of the Rebbe with self-sacrifice, disseminated world-wide. Never mind that Lubavitch heritage from all 7 Rebbes has bred an immense library of Chassidus and spawned thousands of volumes of current, moshichist Judaic studies.)

Step two -- “He will fight the wars of Hashem. If he does so and succeeds ... he's presumed to be Moshiach!”.

If he succeeds, steps 3 and 4 will then follow.

It's spelled out right here:
The Laws of Kings and Wars 11:8

ויכוף כל ישראל לילך בה ולחזק בדקה

ויילחם מלחמות ה' -- הרי זה בחזקת שהוא משיח

  אם עשה והצליח  וניצח כל האומות שסביביו

 ובנה מקדש במקומו  וקיבץ נדחי ישראל -- הרי זה משיח בוודאי

)

The war of Gog and Magog, now raging among the enemies of Israel, as they swallow each other up, as yet the Jewish people remain on the sidelines as spectators, had been foretold by the Rebbe. In 1980 he explained, based on our sages, that the Jewish people during this war of nations will remain immune during the ongoing internecine destruction! {LINK}

The Rebbe alone, the general and chief-of-staff, is alive and well, albeit invisibly handling the show; He leads the war and, as well, solely fights it for the Jewish people.

May he be revealed in the full glory that soon awaits the Jewish People, who will take the world to a higher transcendent view of God and His world, to experience how all that exists really is ONE.

Balak & Moshiach - Since 1991

The “times of Moshiach” is a term that resonates well with most Jews today. Many, to be sure, like many of our secularly-based Jewish friends from academia, see world affairs and divine scripture as unrelated. Orthodox Jewry, on the other hand, aware that Torah commandments have eternal, practical value, feels the imminence of Moshiach in the air.

The Era of Redemption no longer is some quaint, quackish topic for back-room conversation. Jews tuned to Moshiach feel a shift in the winds of history gripping the world and, however things play out dynamically, the world is moving closer to the betterment of the Jewish people and their prophesied cozy utopia.

A particular Midrash tells us what it’ll be like when Moshiach arrives. Well, that scenario, inscribed as prophecy since this Midrash was written, has begun to unfold -- when the Rebbe declared it, in 1991.

This is, by now well-known, the prophecy of the sage Rabi Yitzchok (Yalkut Shimoni, Isaiah:499), namely, “During the year Moshiach is first revealed, all leaders of the world’s nations are inflamed by each other. The King of Persia provokes the Arab King, and an Arab King goes to Aram to seek their advice ... fear not ... for ... I only did all this for your sake, so why are you afraid? Stop being afraid -- your Era of Redemption has arrived!”

The Rebbe in 1991 invoked this Midrash not as a repetition of a prophecy for the future but rather as a prophecy that is currently actualizing. The time line of demarcation from past to present has been crossed.

We’ve crossed over the threshold of this important milestone. The Era we are in now has a quality that went missing two thousands years. What Jews accomplished throughout these two millennia of exile, by keeping Torah and mitzvot, is in this present period being vindicated and redeemed!

Of course we can see the half-filled glass as half-full or as half-empty.

The Rebbe wants us to see it as half-full because a positive perspective reveals that other unexpected lights, though they may appear as random, fit in as pieces of a greater puzzle. A positive view helps you connect the dots of light of the unfolding, underlying Messianic mosaic. A negative perspective robs you of this encompassing view; You remain blind to the cohesiveness that binds the scattered events into the unique phenomenon we are now able to palpably feel happening -- to the world, to the collective Jewish People and to Israel.

It’s no longer a prophecy. It was a prophecy; Actually a sage's prophecy of some details that depict and debut as the Torah's prophecy of a Moshiach era. It is now ongoing -- before our very eyes. If you look, you can see how everything is preparing the Jewish People for their huge crowning state of glory and eternity.

The Torah portion of Balak in particular hoists high the idea of Moshiach who will show up as the King of all the Jews. This end-of-times period is one that waxes honor on Jewish folk. Even though Bilaam hated Jews, he could foresee nothing but praise for the Jewish people, praise for that nation’s matriarchs and patriarchs and praise for their good nature and noble humility.

Bilaam had remarkable prophetic power, at least of the same caliber as had Moses (the sages tell us)! So important was this prophecy, our sages considered including this portion in the daily prayer of the Shema. A mere technicality kept them from including it.

So important is this scriptural portion that even before any praise of God is mentioned in morning prayer, even before quotations from the Torah and Talmud, the very first verse of prayer, the very opening verse of Jewish morning prayer in the synagogue is -- a quote from this Torah portion of Balak (24:5) (“How goodly your tents, of Jacob, your dwellings, of Israel”)!

This prophecy's main end point is clear: In the "Days of Moshiach" the Jewish Nation will rise to supernal glory. During these times they will climb from strength to strength! This is the meaning of the words near the end of this divine prophecy (Balak 24:18):

" ... and the Jews wax in triumph”
וְיִשְׂרָאֵל עֹשֶׂה חָיִל