A Rebbe Story at the Foot of the Kotel

At the floor of the Kotel, to the left, you see 
one of the largest stones that make up the 
wall.  It is said to weigh 570 tons! It is 
shaped like an upside-down "L". All stones 
were chiseled with perfection. Cement was 
never used.

During my recent trip to Israel, we participated in a tour along the "Minharot" (underground tunnels) at the base of the Kotel. In a prayer break, near an opening in the Western Wall that faced the Kodesh Kadashim, the tour guide took me aside and said, "Do you want to hear a personal story of The Rebbe?"

"My father", he said, "is a Ger Tzedek. He married my mom and they had no children for 6 years. They decided to go to New York and ask for a blessing from the Rebbe.

"They managed to get an appointment to go in and see the Rebbe. [This was when the Rebbe still made time to see people personally in his holy chamber, before he began distributing dollars in the "dollar line".]

"But when the Rebbe's secretary saw the many pages of questions my father prepared to ask the Rebbe, he told my father to rewrite the letter and make it much shorter. When my father returned the secretary again stopped my father and told him to further contract the size of his script. It was still too big.

"My father again rewrote the letter and this time my parents were allowed entry to the Rebbe's room.

"My father was a 'chevraman'. He knew that it was improper to record inside the Rebbe's room, so he hid his pocket recorder in his pocket and made sure to turn it on well before they entered the Rebbe's room.

"During the private meeting, the Rebbe answered ALL my father's questions, including those that were written down BEFORE my father contracted the size of the original letters!

"When my father left the Rebbe's room, and was able to remove the recorder, he noticed that all that transpired before and after the meeting with the Rebbe HAD been recorded - but nothing was recorded by the machine DURING the meeting!

"My parents then had 6 children, and I am the 2nd child."

The Symptom of Cancer

Most people when they hear news of the dreaded SYMPTOM called "cancer" run straight away into the waiting hands of the conventional ("allopathic") doctor, whose only means of "treatment" - not cure - is to attack the symptom, because he was taught, since medical school, that this symptom IS the disease. It never occurs to this blind-sighted doctor that this symptom is NOT the disease, which is why he leaves the cause of the disease undisturbed. This is why the symptom almost always returns and finally kills the patient. No matter what "greatest doctor" they turn to, or what "great oncological facility" they go to, the results are usually the same. And when he loses the patient, the doctor thinks he tried his best, because anyways against this "disease" there isn't anything else he can do more.

It's not just the doctor who knows no better. The patients, the population at large - know no better. Which is why they run to these medical practitioners and facilities in the first place.

Actually it should be the very LAST place to go for someone with the symptom of cancer.

Unfortunately this incorrect mode of thought runs deeply ingrained in most people. Most remain ignorant of the real truth because the medical establishment continues to push this fallacy - purposely - to push their hidden agenda, namely, of making money by pushing drugs, surgery and radiation. These 3 modes of "treatment", plus the fact that hospital beds can thus be occupied, make for a great system of squeezing the last dollar out of the sick, dying person.

Any method that comes along that can claim better results, especially if it promises to be a cheaper way to go, if not more humane and much more effective, will be branded taboo and the forces of this mafia will come down hard on he who dares buck the system.

Do you ever hear the advertisements for these oncology facilities? "Oh, our facility is kinder and gentler to the 'victim', and we know so much about how to do it, and we've been at this for so much longer that we've perfected it, and we have instruments of precision better than any other facility, yak yak yak ...." It's outright shameful! They commit this disaster upon elders and children alike.

Chemotherapy is the delivery of poisons into the body, as if there weren't enough of that already. It's what caused cancer in the first place. Radiation burns the body. Surgery mutilates it. At best the symptom passes away for a short time, but because the underlying cause hasn't been dealt with, it is bound to return. Plus there is also the not insignificant aspect of secondary side-effects of these methods which make the poor patient feel all that much worse in his final days.

That these methods ultimately end up killing patients also serves the industry very well. They can then therefore attach dread, fear and "poor prognosis" to this so-called "disease". They can also therefore make the patient feel he must act quickly, without much thought, as if time is the most urgent matter to consider. The time between diagnosis of the dreaded "disease" and the application of a "treatment protocol" is a very short period, therefore, which, of course, plays right into the hands of this evil quackery.

Little to people realize the cancer symptom is nothing more than many years of poor nutrition or accumulative toxicity, and because they do NOT know this, they also do not know that there is a CURE, and nothing less than a full cure, if only they knew where to look.

Here's an example of someone who knew better!

Love at 2nd Sight

How does Chassidic Jewry go about "getting married"? It follows the example of matrimony detailed in Torah between Isaac and Rivkah.

The lesson, and age-old custom, is:

1) Get a mediator to introduce the pair for the sake of marriage; Then

2) Upon mutual consent, get married; And then:

3) Fall in love.

Once the couple was introduced, it says of Isaac (Beraishis 24, 67), "... he married Rivkah, she became his, and he loved her." First came the marriage - then came the love.

Another priority we learn from the above event: Just before the couple's introduction it says, "... she covered herself." In other words, female modesty is proper etiquette.

This may surprise those whose culture puts stock in the pre-requisite of first "falling in love" ("falling" seems to be an appropriate coinage). Secular (or less than orthodox) behavior endorses the flaunting of skin, even promiscuity, before marriage. Torah, on the other hand, assumes both parties will suffer from lack of humility or reluctancy to commit themselves.

Yossele Rosenblatt with the Previous Rebbe

Reb Yossele Rosenblatt visited the Previous Rebbe in Warsaw in 5688 [1938] after the Rebbe had just left Russia. Those present expected that he would sing. However, he understood from the Rebbe’s facial expression that he did not want that.

When he left the Rebbe’s presence and went into a side room, he met the Rebbe’s daughters and sang something in front of them. He had a very strong voice and was heard in the next room where the Rebbe was. Afterwards, the Rebbe said, “Er hot mir aroisgenumen fun atzvus, er zugt gut, er ken pirush hamilos” (He took me out of depression. He says well. He knows the meaning of the words).

(I heard this from my good friend Reb Shneur Zalman Baumgarten, who heard it from his uncle Reb Sholom Ber Hacohen Eichorn, who witnessed the story.)

In the year 5690, the Previous Rebbe visited America and stayed in Brooklyn for Shmini Atzeres.

During the Yom Tov, the famous Chazan Reb Yossele Rosenblatt walked from the Bronx, where he lived, to visit the Rebbe. The walk took him many hours. When he arrived, the Rebbe honored him to sing several pieces of chazonus. When he finished, the Rebbe turned to Reb Zalman Havlin – who sang nigunim with Heavenly sweetness - and said, “vaizt vos ir kent” (demonstrate what you can do). Reb Zalman sang several niggunim.

When he concluded, Reb Yossele said, “Ir mit eire nigunim macht finster mayne chazonus” (You, with your nigunim, darken [comparatively] my chazonus.)

(Reb Shneur Zalman Baumgarten heard this story from the elder chasidim Reb Shlomo Aharon Kazarnovsky and Reb Eliyahu Nochum Sklar, of blessed memory.)

Reprinted from Vert-a-lach (43) by Eliezer Zalmanov

Letter of the Rebbe: No Conflict between Science and Torah

By the Grace of G-d

You write that although many apparent contradictions between religion and science have been explained to you in a way that they could be individually acceptable to you, you find it hard to accept them in total. You attribute this difficulty to your background, which taught you to think for yourself at every phase, having been brought up in a public school and high school, instead of in a Yeshiva atmosphere. But it is not your being trained to think for yourself that is your difficulty, but rather your inability to think straight in this manner, because of the prejudice which was acquired - consciously and even more subconsciously during these formative years, which you spent in an atmosphere which was alien to the point of view of the Torah, while the Torah viewpoint has come to you only recently.

It is therefore not surprising that whenever any detail comes up which apparently is in conflict with your former attitude, you find it difficult to accept, in the belief that everything must strictly conform to your former viewpoint, without stopping to examine what of that viewpoint represents truly scientific criteria.

I believe I once pointed out to you that the behavior of any individual is, in 90% or more of his actions, determined not by rational afterthought, but habit and faith in the authority of other people. Just consider your own actions, from the moment of your awakening in the morning until you go to sleep at night, and ask yourself which and how many of them you perform on the basis of scientific analysis or any kind of premeditation?

And here is another point to bear in mind. Precisely from the point of view of modern science - more than at any time in the past - it is clear that there can be no real conflict whatsoever between science and faith. Modern science upholds the view that there is no longer any immutable physical laws, that everything is relative, and that the so-called laws are no more than probabilities.

Modern science no longer claims absolute certainty in the physical world. The fact that a certain thing behaves in a certain way today, is no conclusive evidence that the same thing behaved in the same way 5,000 to 6,000 years ago, or that it will behave the same way a thousand years hence unless all other things are equal, including all external physical conditions of atmosphere, outer space, temperature, pressure, etc., not to mention human nature which is also changeable. And even then, all things being equal, modern science will say that the past behavior of a certain thing in a certain way offers us no certainty that it will behave that way, but only the "chances" are that it will.

Clearly, therefore, modern science cannot presume to judge with any degree of certainty the truths which our religion proclaims. The most science could say is that these truths are more or less probable. Obviously, there is no room here to speak of any conflict between science and faith.

Finally to refer to your statement that your attitude to Yiddishkeit is based on your faith in a certain person, let me say that in truth this is by no means the whole story. To illustrate:

If a spark sets off a powder keg, the resulting explosion in all its force cannot be attributed to the spark "exclusively", for the spark was no more than the immediate cause setting off the reaction. The energy released was already contained in the powder keg. Similarly, every Jew already contains a Divine soul and all the potential energy, except that it is sometimes inactive, or that it is only active in a limited way. When it comes in contact with a person, or with an event or an experience, which sets in motion a chain reaction releasing the potential energy already contained in the Divine soul, the reaction is indeed deep-rooted and by no means dependent on the external cause.

I send you my personal wishes for growing faith in G-d, Whose Divine Providence extends to everyone individually, and that you strengthen your bonds with the Source of all life and all good, that is G-d, through the daily observance of the Torah and Mitzvos, which will give you peace of mind, true happiness and success in all your undertakings.

With Blessing,

A 33-Year Story of the Rebbe

About 33 years ago, Rabbi Zalman Gafni was setting up a special Yeshiva in Kfar Chabad to draw Jews closer to religiosity. During a visit to New York, on Simchat Torah 5730, Gafni succeeded in bobbing his way inside the large and packed crowd in 770, to find a place next to where the Rebbe would be praying at his platform.

When the Rebbe began to descend the steps to make his way to accept the sefer Torah, to take the first round of Hakafot, a path among the congregants opened up and the Rebbe walked into it. When he was next to Gafni, the Rebbe stopped, and in a loud voice and with a very broad smile, the Rebbe said to him, "There should be a joyous occasion for the entire Kollel!"

"I thought I didn't hear correctly because of the overcrowding and excitement", said Gafni. "So I asked the people next to me and each one said, 'That's exactly what the Rebbe said.' I myself had no idea what the Rebbe was referring to. At that time I was extremely involved with building up my Yeshiva; I had no other plans at all to think about."

The Rebbe's statement became engraved in Rabbi Gafni's mind. For years he sought to decipher what the Rebbe meant with that mysterious statement.

Six years ago, changes in his life began to materialize. His son, Rabbi Yosef Yitschok, was picked to lead the well-respected Kollel "Ohel Moshe" in the ancient city of Tsfat. "Suddenly", said Rabbi Gafni, "it donned on me what the Rebbe meant." Nonetheless, Rabbi Gafni continued to work as usual in his Yeshiva in Kfar Chabad. Only a few weeks ago did Rabbi Gafni and his wife take their belongings and move to Tsfat. He was to take up the new position at his son's Kollel as a Mashpia there.

He told this story in the 1st celebration at his new post. Things finally came full circle after 33 years.

Story in Hebrew here.

A Story from Nepal

Bim, The Boy From Beit Chabad

A Nepalese Boy Finds a Home With Chabad of Kathmandu

He’s the good looking, buoyant 12 year old Nepalese boy who greets visitors to Katmandu’s Chabad House with a huge smile: “Hi I’m Bim, the boy from Beit Chabad," he offers. He's also quick to provide unsolicited bits of useful information, like candle-lighting time on Friday, or that Shabbos is not out until three stars are spotted in the sky.

Bim arrived at the Chabad House last year, naked but for a plastic bag that he used for some cover. One of hundreds of children exploited for profit on Kathmandu’s dangerous streets, he fixed his eyes on a Chabad rabbinical student, and asked for help. He wouldn’t leave go until the student brought him back to the Chabad House.

Chezki and Chani Lifshitz, Chabad representatives here have become beloved figures in Kathmandu, especially to thousands of Israeli backpackers who flock to the Himalayas after completing their service in the IDF. (The Lifshitzs were the inspiration for Kathmandu, a popular Israeli TV series based on their day-to-day lives as Chabad Shluchim in this third-world backwater.)

After 13 years of living here, the Lifshitzs have not become hardened to the poverty and the human suffering that are everywhere in this slum city. “My grandmother is a Holocaust survivor,” Chani says. “I learned from her not to ignore the pleading eyes of a child in need. Bim was not going to survive—that much was obvious,” she says.

Saving the Life of A Child Beggar

The boy screamed in pain as Chani and Chezki gently washed his lacerated, severely malnourished body. Scars and bruises—from beatings by his traffickers disappointed in his take home after a day on the streets—were raw. They brought a doctor in to administer first aid. They cut his long, matted hair and uncovered a beautiful face. They fed him, clothed him and made him comfortable.

What made Bim know to ask for the Chabad House?

Read the rest here.

On Replacement of The Moses of the Generation

When Harav Hagaon Pinhas Hirschprung, a"h, was asked by a non-Lubavitcher why Chabad did not see fit to nominate another rabbi to replace The Rebbe after Gimmel Tammuz, he pointed to the Torah portion of Ki Tisa, where it relates the sad story of the Golden Calf (Eigel Hazahav). When the nation reckoned Moshe had not returned after 40 days as they expected, some Jews began worshipping the Golden Calf.

But a question arises, he said; If Moshe had left behind two sons and a most esteemed brother, each of whom could serve as a natural successor, why did they need to turn to the Calf?

Said Rabbi Hirshsprung, “Whoever thinks he could be a replacement to the Rebbe is like the Eigel Hazahav!”

Apropos, Rabbi Hirshsprung also wrote a letter encouraging the proclamation of "Yechi" (Long Live the Rebbe!). Here is an approximate translation of his words: “I wish to clearly state my opinion in this matter. The entire matter of singing, printing and the very issue of Yechi Adoneinu Moreinu Verabbeinu Melech Hamoshiach Le’olam Voed and everything connected with it does not have a shadow of uncertainty in Jewish law. There are clear sources for this in Shas, Zohar, and from the greatest mekubalim upon whom we depend on for halachic rulings. Besides this, the Lubavitcher Rebbe himself also used these words in regard to his father-in-law, OBM, and did this hundreds of times. This in and of itself is reliable proof.”

[My thanks for this to Eliezer Zalmanov, author of Vert 'a 'lach.]

The Unfolding Process of Redemption

The last Israel-Hezbollah war years ago honed the Lebanese enemy's military skills and therefore, because they also had resupplied their armaments and potential reach ten-fold, they posed a formidable threat at Israel's Northern front.

But because Israel has divine providence that guards her, that threat had to effectively be eliminated. So it now happens that Hezbollah turn its back on Israel, to train its sights on the "Syrian Rebels". In their effort to support dictator Assad, the Hezbollah terrorists are emptying out of their cavernous bunkers in Lebanon and spilling over into Syria.

How does Hashem's divine providence manifest in mundane affairs to cause this about-face? Syria had been a direct supplier of Hezbollah as well as a territorial conduit for military influx from Iran. Now that the "Syrian Rebels" posed a serious threat - to cut off this vital flow across the Lebanon-Syria border, Hezbollah was forced into action for "self-preservation".

These Iranian-backed henchmen now have their hands full fighting a war against Al-Queida. The latter are not yet as well organized or as strong as the Lebanese contingent but soon enough too, with backing from their coreligionists, will prove to be a formidable force, especially because their troops will have greater numbers.

We spoke earlier (here and here) of this feature, where we just "sit back and watch as the enemies go at each others' throats". We have as a model the exodus from Egypt in the year 2448, the epitome of Jewish Redemption, to compare with to anticipate parallel events. Just as back then kin fought kin, while Jews remained spectators, the same is happening now too, as we progress quickly into this Era of the Final and Ultimate Redemption of the Jewish people.

This is a great miracle we must be thankful for. Just as when this first happened in Egypt, Jews were making ready their preparations to leave exile, we too should be preparing in earnest to enter the divine utopia that awaits every Jew - just around the corner.

Dov Hikind's Masquerading as a Black Man

Here's a quote from a news site 3 days ago concerning NY Assemblyman Dov Hikind's Purim mask: "Assemblyman Karim Camara of the state Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic & Asian Legislative Caucus had called Hikind's actions at the party 'callous and repugnant'."

Karim Camara (KC) heaped derision on Dov Hikind (DH) for masquerading at a Purim festivity as a black man. Said KC, "It brings back the memories of African-Americans being reduced to buffoonery just to gain access to the entertainment industry".

KC's taking offense and denouncement of DH's capricious costume reveals a hidden truth in the offended one's psychology. It shows KC secretly believes being black is an inferiority, as if being black, of itself, is demeaning! No proud black man would have taken offense any more than would a Jew take offense of a black man masquerading as a Jew or chassid on Halloween.

Had a black man dressed up as a Nazi - a most offensive and provocative sight for a Jew to behold, the Jew would have good reason to protest. Similarly, had DH masqueraded as a Ku Klux Klan member, KC would have had good reason to be offended.

But for a white Jew to dress up as a black man - so what! At worst, KC should have been amused. At best, he could have been elated.

That KC took offense that DH dressed up as a black man tells much more about KC's psychology that meets the superficial eye. It definitely says something about the protester who "doth protest too much". Probably KC dislikes Jews and itches to pick a fight where he can - taking an opportunity to cut down a Jew from his high place.

If I'm wrong, I challenge KC (or, for that matter, any member of the Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic & Asian Legislative Caucus) to show where he really stands on this issue. If he could meet the challenge, KC would regain respect from his own circle of society as well as show he holds no malice to the Jewish element. Let him stand up for a Jew in distress so all can see. Just one small favor that could go a long way - one that will buy him fame for life, from Jews and righteous Gentiles alike; Let him go to Obama and seek reprieve for Jonathan Pollard. Or, if that's asking too much, let him just visit the man who sits in prison now for nearly 3 decades.

A small gesture of rapprochement with the Jewish people, whom he insulted by digging up some fault to initiate a new campaign of hate over some harmless whim by a well-intentioned Jew will, like nothing else, boost his feelings of self-worth too. If he fails to follow through such a simple test, and instead persists with the baseless repugnant attack, we'll know who masquerades on Purim - and who masquerades every day of his life.

Zero-Hour for Pollard Approaching

Esther - his wfe

Jews should do something for a Jew very much in need, and most especially if he sits behind bars nearly 30 years - unfairly! We should all try to do something earnestly, something worthwhile, to get Pollard out of jail.

Obama is scheduled to go to Israel. He always has his nose high. He will keep it there because he regards Jews and Israel with virulent contempt. (Don't let some of his appointments throw you to think otherwise). Have you not seen how he personally mistreated Netanyahu? Going to Israel is a political necessity he managed to avoid and now no longer can push off.

A few Knesset members already suggested Obama free Pollard. But suggestions by themselves do nothing. We must contrive something to force his hand. Bibi could easily do so - by conditioning these upcoming talks with Pollard's release. I doubt he'd think of it, much less do it.

My Jewish traffic averages less than 100 per day. Hardly a broad base or a good launchpad for an urgent appeal. Does someone have a good idea; Can we not help Pollard somehow?

At least on Mondays, Thursdays and Shabbatot let's initiate for him, יהונתן בן מלכה, a מי שברך.

Purim 5773 - Where Did It Leave Us?

Living in exile is no easy feat. We progress every day nearer to the Era of Redemption, but, as night approaches daybreak, the night only appears darker and darker. Unfortunately, unlike roosters, we cannot yet see the pending daybreak behind the darkest moment of darkness.

The holiest day of the year just passed us by. Where have we advanced therefrom? It seems we got nowhere, as if nothing changed from the day before. Still today, after almost two thousand years without the Temple and without the monarch of the House of David to connect us to Hashem, for that is his sole purpose - to facilitate our devotion to Hashem, we seem to have gained not even one step forward from where we stood before Purim.

We know in our minds we did advance, but it pains the heart to feel bereft of evidence, to soothe us as we pine for Redemption. The Jewish people today, even though they suffer nothing like their parents or grandparents suffered through the iniquities of WWII, and come nowhere near knowing the horror their forebears had to suffer, suffer nonetheless simply by seeing that nothing real seems to have changed to at least make it superficially apparent we progress to the final and ultimate Era of Redemption.

Purim, after all, is not just another holiday. In fact, even Yom Kippur only RESEMBLES Purim and cannot get close to its sanctity. The ostensibly holiest day of the year, wherein Jews cannot eat, drink or transgress Sabbath laws, have Purim to celebrate almost in any way they please WITHOUT restrictions - because this day is so holy, so over and above the holiness of Yom Kippur - that restrictions cannot even touch it or relate to it. The day, far and beyond Yom Kippur, reverberates with utter holiness.

But as long as the Jewish people remain in exile, no matter what holiness this day attains, in reality, in experiential terms, it seems, God forbid, as if nothing had been gained.

May we Jews finally and forever reach the point where all these Jewish abstractions of holiness need no longer apply and that we palpably touch and feel the reality of the Era of Redemption and that the exile finally be rendered behind us like a bad dream we are thankful to have been done with.

Organic Chabad Food in Deliverable Doses

Of all the Rebbe's campaigns, the last one he discharged proves to be the hardest to execute. Realizing the heavy burden he imposed on his emissaries, the Rebbe offered assistive advice. He told them to:
"Wrap the incredulous in digestible form!"
אורות דתהו בכלים דתיקון

The chassidim knew exactly what the "incredulous" entailed. They knew they had to persuade non-Chabad people to accept the sovereignty of the Rebbe, King Moshiach.

What they did NOT know was - to what extent this incredulity would jump in intensity. For, on the 3rd of Tammuz 1994, their burden encountered a liability they never expected. Only then did it dawn on them what the Rebbe really meant by that term (אורות דתהו). For, not only was the Rebbe's sovereignty an issue, but now, his apparent death complicated the issue one hundred-fold.

The chassidim also had understood the original requirement - to deliver a heavy message to unknowing folk - in "digestible form" (בכלים דתיקון). After all, the Jewish people would find the idea of accepting a monarch quite bizarre. Emissaries therefore would have to explain a whole chunk of information, bit by bit, making each bit by itself readily absorbable.

But suddenly, on Tammuz 3, even plenty of Chabadniks themselves would choke on what they were meant to now feed their counterparts.

Suddenly, both phrases used by the Rebbe, namely, "Mold the incredulous", "in palatable format", acquired new, prodigious proportions. The task at hand for the Rebbe's soldier now required introspection, more learning, tact - in short, a new basic training course for the infantry before they can go out and execute the Rebbe's orders.

Note, that regarding the message of Moshiach, the Rebbe said, "in digestible form" - and did NOT say, "something digestible". His emissaries have no permission to improvise their own message; Only the Rebbe's message can be delivered. The emissary has room for originality strictly in the MANNER of delivery of the message, each delivery as per his targeted "vessel".

A Chabad chassid can decide he won't open his mouth to tell someone of Moshiach's identity. However, were someone to turn the question on him, he has no right to deny the pure faith that springs forth from the Rebbe's own words. If he feels he cannot clearly and decisively declare "the incredulous", it is better he not respond at all.

The only, single authority upon whom the responsibility of Chabad rests - is the Rebbe himself. Whatever the Rebbe said or wrote to the public, a chassid may repeat and can repeat without any reservation. But he mustn't mix in his own interpretations or try to dilute "the incredulous".

Just as Hashem communicated to Jews through Moses, Hashem communicated to this Jewish generation through the Rebbe's mouth. The Rebbe leads the generation. The Rebbe's words are holy. The Rebbe's message is wholesome organic food for Jewish souls to thrive on. The Shulchan Aruch warns that good food taken in oversized measure is detrimental. So let's feed on the Rebbe's words, bit by bit, and the Jewish people will again see the glory they so much deserve - very soon, please God!

A Weird Breed of Jew Opposes Moshiach

The Rebbe Rashab

The draft of a cold wind can be felt on many Torah blogs that pay lip service to the topic of Moshiach.

Rather than bring you the warmth of this new era as it now unfolds, they seek to thwart its advance. Instead of accepting Moshiach, they chill the unsuspecting Jew. They say, "It's not him - so sit back and wait!" If it were up to these self-professed experts, they could sit back another 2,000 years before accepting Moshiach.

Meanwhile Moshiach waits behind the curtain of Nature for Jews to embrace him on faith. A Jewish king cannot become king of the Jews unless most Jews accept him. These "pundits", therefore, cast Moshiach as a contemporary irrelevance - as some far-off if not far-fetched concern. Rather than being heartened by a faith to accept, they rationalize to reject.

Like Korach, who, well-equipped with titles, pedigree, wealth, self-professed wisdom and supposed justification - attacked Moses, these prolific Torah bloggers also wage war on the Moses of our generation.

Moshiach wants to be accepted - not outwitted!

Just as Korach mocked the announcements of Moses, these bloggers mock the proclamations of the Lubavitcher Rebbe. These "Misnagdim", this new, strange breed of religious Jew, vent contempt for Moshiach, when they ought to fixate on it, it being the crux of Judaism. Instead, they take up battle lines where the earlier "Misnagdim", those supplanted by Chassidus, left off. They want to win a war of intellectual ideas rather than submit to an emancipation by a vibrant Yiddishkeit. So they fight in the name of Torah - against Torah and the purpose of Chassidus.

They dress their blogs with tons of Torah. After all, nothing is sweeter than Torah. But as sure as the delicious doughnut is bad food, they seek to entice readers with spiritual counterparts of worthless dough, adulterated sugar and toxic oil. Some Jews find nourishment in this pernicious tactic, like children who know no better drawn to sweets.

This is not so much an attack against their Torah. It is a condemnation of their hypocrisy. On the one hand, they pray and invoke Moshiach with every 5th or 6th phrase therein, then they take duck down and take cover behind highfalutin constructs uncommitted to their words of prayer. They are spiritual cowards, unwilling to submit to a higher authority.

They'll even construe the Maimonideic qualifications to deliberately misconstrue the public. They even compare the Moshiach phenomenon with a base Gentile connotation, because the Rebbe, though he invoked himself in no uncertain terms as King Moshiach, and qualifies illustriously according to all criteria enumerated by Maimonides, now cannot be seen. Suddenly the supernatural dimension that abounds in Talmud, Midrash and stories of tzaddikim can no longer permeate Jewish essence, even one that is the crux of Judaism.

What they DO NOT DO is more telling than what they do do. Knowing a man supposedly qualifies as Moshiach, knowing scores of rabbis signed a declaration that sanctions the Rebbe as Moshiach, knowing the Rebbe encouraged singing Yechi for over a year, knowing the Rebbe over 100 times referred to himself as Moshiach, knowing the entire essence of the Rebbe epitomized Moshiachism, knowing the Rebbe succeeded in bringing hundreds of thousands of Jews to Messianic orthodoxy - from a life of spiritual nudity, these antagonists will never bother to read any of the Rebbe's articles, talks or letters - even just to inspect what the Rebbe really said. They'll deal with the subject at arm's length. Once they close their prayerbooks, Moshiach remains in the pages. They wish to remain orthodox without anticipating, let alone accepting, Moshiach.

The 5th Lubavitcher Rebbe prophesied, in 1888, that two consecutive generations would precede the Era of Redemption. Both generations would unleash significant forces to try and vanquish Judaism and Chassidus. The first of the two generations, the "Maskilim", were a blatant anti-Torah force. In the next generation, a more dangerous, pernicious force would arise! The Rebbe Rashab backed his prophesy with a verse by King David (Psalm 89:52). The first part of this verse, said the Rashab, refers to the anti-Torah foe; The second clause of this verse refers to the poisonous, internecine anti-Moshiach foe.

אשר חרפו אויביך יהוה
אשר חרפו עקבות משיחך

Those who besmirch, are Your enemies God;
Those who besmirch the arrival of Your Moshiach!

To defeat these two foes, the Tomchei Temimim Lubavitch Yeshiva was deliberately established. Its students would be the counterweight against those who would deny God and Moshiach - in that order. He called these Yeshiva students "The Soldiers of the House of David" (חיילי בית דוד)(acronym = Chabad). This was not some gimic to try and retain youth. It was a divinely inspired strategy to undermine the oppressors, to preserve the survival and purity of Messianic Judaism, which Chabad Chassidus constitutes.

The European Maskilim waged the first war. Then broke out WWII and out of the inferno religious Jews trickled out to begin with a fresh, traditional resurgence. Gentiles in the Soviet Union also had their crosshairs aimed at what to them was considered "Enemy Number One" - religious Jewry. The last remnant of Jews there held tightly to their ancient tradition with utter self-sacrifice as well as devotion to the Lubavitcher Rebbeim. In the end, the Soviet Union crumbled, and the force that tried to extinguish the light of Judaism faded like a puff of smoke into oblivion.

The antagonistic Jews and Gentiles of that generation lost. Now wages the war against the next and last barrier.

Because of this aberrant phenomenon, namely, that orthodox Jews at the outset of the Era of Redemption could oppose Moshiach, even as they hinge their identity with orthodoxy, the Rebbe Rashab referred to them as "this strange breed of Jew"; An orthodox Jew who opposed emancipation.

Chassidus prevailed against the Maskilim and against the mighty Soviet Union. Soon enough Moshiach's soldiers will fly the flag of victory against this last shred of resistance.

Herman Wouk and the Rebbe

Here's a segment out of a young chassid's diary, who at the time was a "bochur" learning in 770, relating an incident that happened in 1971 (Sunday, Teves 5731).


Today, the popular, secular writer and novelist, Mr. Herman Wouk, was in yechidus [personal appearance with the Rebbe].

When he came out, we asked him if he would repeat anything he had heard from the Rebbe.

He told us the Rebbe had discussed with him the situation of the American youth, the "hippies".

The Rebbe said they are ready to hear, so we must provide them with Yiddishkeit. He told the Rebbe they would not be interested because they are impatient and only go for things which are immediate, like ‘instant coffee'.

To this the Rebbe replied, “That’s perfect! The 'Shulchan Aruch' means "a ready table"!

Mr. Wouk was very inspired by the yechidus and expressed great admiration for the Rebbe's insightful ideas.

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IN RESPONSE TO A COMMENTER re: My "Secular" characterization:
You're 100% right -- I stand corrected.
Here's a brief biography of this outstanding personality: LINK