During these trying times preceding Mashiach, my heart is telling me there is a strong connection between the "settlements" and our Achdut. The reason these things are coming to the forefront of world politics, is to raise OUR awareness of it. It is to threaten the very fabric of Am Yisrael's achdut and oneness.
The Gush Katif expulsion was most likely alluded to in the Gemara when discussing the days preceding Mashiach. Again, a test of Achdut. Jews against Jews. Even the bracelets made to protest the "disengagement" said it clearly 'A Jew does not throw out a Jew'. A pretty clear message from Hashem. By deduction, if one does throw out a Jew, he may be an "Erev Rav" and possibly not a real Jew.
As we approach the holiday of Shavuot, where it says the word "Vayichan" - literally and he camped and Rashi explains - 'as one man, with one heart', we need to pay extra special attention to our level of Achdut. We are all different, there were after all 12 Shevatim as well as the Kohanim and Leviim. Each of us do different things and approach Hashem differently. We are unable to judge what is right and wrong by ourselves, rather we need to look to the "eyes" of the nation - our Rabbis. Hopefully we are sane enough to pick true Rabbis who will guide us. As long as that's what we are doing, we should be ok.
Let's stay as far away from fighting, arguing, bickering, Lashon Hara, etc. no matter what! During the time of Ahab, the wicked king of Israel, where most of the nation worshiped idols, nobody died in war. They did not speak Lashon Hara about one another.
Hashem is testing us. We are being polarized for a reason. Hashem wants to separate the true Am Yisrael and bring them close to Him and protect them. Maybe Hashem will make miracles to help everyone else pick their side too. But once the battle lines are drawn, it is quite hard to switch sides.
'The Son of David (Mashiach) will not come until the entire nation is completely guilty or completely meritorious' - This means every individual needs to be completely on one side. Not teetering or "fence-sitting" as Rabbi Pinchas Winston calls it. It's time to choose our sides. I hope we all realize the ramifications....
Concentration
1 day ago
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ReplyDelete...How much longer will we keep our eyes closed to the reality that now threatens the entire nation?
The line of causation which connects the abandonment of Jonathan Pollard to all abandonments which followed and to all of the abandonments now occurring - up to and including the threat to the very integrity of the Holy City of Jerusalem - is so obvious that it is blinding!
When the Jewish people permitted our so-called leadership to abandon Jonathan Pollard, Heaven responded by amplifying the message for us, to try to wake us up.
On the heels of Jonathan's abandonment, came the abandonment of our MIAs and captives in the field; followed by the abandonment of the SLA collaborators; and the abandonment of Mudhat Yousef, a soldier who was left to bleed to death at Kever Yosef. Then came the abandonment of the People of Gush Katif and the Northern Shomron (most of whom remain in dire straits today); and then abandonment of the soldiers and the people of the North during the Second Lebanon War (which itself began with the abandonment of the 3 kidnapped soldiers –Regev Goldwasser and Shalit); and of course the long, on-going abandonment of the people of Sderot, who are still taking a daily pounding by rockets and missiles while we go on with our own day to day lives!
How much longer can we keep saying, "What a shame, but what can you do?" How much longer will we try the patience of Heaven? How many more miracles can we expect, without reaping the rewards of our own pitiful response to this life and death situation?
I believe that Jonathan is the key to the fundamental moral rectification of which Israel is sorely in need. His abandonment lies at the heart of all of the abandonments that followed and of all of the abandonments which are on-going today. His abandonment is the root cause of all the others, and it is the place where the tikun (rectification) has to start...
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EXCERPTED FROM ESTHER POLLARD'S SPEECH at "Women of Courage" Awards Ceremony January 27, 2008 B"H
Full Text of Speech can be viewed at http://www.jonathanpollard.org/2008/012708.htm