What Happened to Am Yisrael?

What has happened to our nation? The glorious nation that witnessed a closer revelation of Hashem at the splitting of the Yam Suf than Yechezkel Hanavi; who received the Torah and heard the "voice" of Hashem; who ate the man in the desert; what has become of us?

I just look at myself and at the world and am utterly astonished. This is Galut. Yes, the nations of the world have affected us. 1940 years since our Second Bet Hamikdash was destroyed, and we are spread throughout the world. We have no concrete leadership. We have hundreds of factions divided on major issues. We seem to be unable to get along on anything.

Do we realize what has happened to us as a nation? We are like blind men groping in the darkness. We are so lost. So many of us believe 'our way is right', yet we often have no concept of what the path to Hashem truly is. So many of us have been lost to intermarriage, lo aleinu. Many of us are unrecognizable from the surrounding population. We want to blend in. We try to "kosher" the styles, music, thinking process and everything else and bring it into Judaism.

Ay! Look what the Goyim have done to us. Look how they have destroyed us physically, spiritually and separated us from Hashem. How many Jews don't believe in Hashem, (r"l) ?! And who is to blame? We may have sinned, but we were tempted. The snake tricked us and look at us now! Do we even realize this?

During this "late hour" in time, it is often easy to get caught up in the "politics". We see "Jewish" people, yet to us (and the Torah), they represent the antithesis of Jewishness. But we have a rule - even a Jew who sinned, is still as Jew. Hence, we are still responsible for them and must love them - they are still our brothers and sisters.

It is easy to feel anger towards certain groups, especially when their views differ tremendously. It is easy to fall into the trap of derogatory speech (and thought) about members of other factions or even feel intense anger (and hate) against people who are truly being Mechalel Shem Shamayim (and we may be justified in doing so). However, we need to pay close attention to what has brought this about. Being in Exile has brought about this destruction. Had we never been banished from our Holy Land, we would not be in this predicament. The Exile and the "kind" nations who provide us with the keys to our spiritual and physical destruction are truly at fault. How much can we fight? How much strength do we all have? 1940 years is a long, long time. Some got tricked and brought others with them - and now there are massive amounts of confused "Jews".

Why do I mention this? We need to stir up Divine Mercy on all of Am Yisrael. Yes, some "Jews" are truly from the Erev Rav and we need to distance ourselves appropriately. But we need to take a step back and realize the truth about the situation we find ourselves in. We need to become defense attorneys in our prayers and beg Hashem to have mercy on ourselves and ALL of Am Yisrael, no matter how unrecognizable they might be.

We are must reach a point where we love every Jew, in order to merit our Bet Hamikdash. We can use our intellect to overcome our emotion and realize what has truly made us so different, so mixed up and confused. We can love the true Jew hiding inside that tormented body. We can feel sadness and cry over the destitution of our Nation. And we can pray to Hashem to bring us closer together without mass tragedy or danger. It's up to us to make a difference...