America's 234th Birthday

Just happened to realize - today's celebration of America's 234th birthday may have brought America full circle. It is the same Gematria of what America lives and breathes for - the Dollar.
Dalet (4), Lamed (30), Resh (200) = 234.

The Declaration of Independence was signed on the 17th of Tamuz (July 4th 1776) - a day famously known for 5 harsh decrees being carried out against Am Yisrael. One of those was the walls of Yerushalayim being broken - beginning the end of the Bet Hamikdash and beginning of Galut. America, by beginning on that same day, is surely the beginning of the end of the Galut. But even more so, it may have a very big part in way things play out - being that it is the current leader of Esav - and as Jewish End of Days reminds us, Esav acting as our brother - all too often giving us the rope to hang ourselves.

Let's see...

Three Weeks for Who?

When the "Three Weeks" comes along, I often find that we all dread it. Nobody looks forward to a time in the middle of the summer, where we are supposed to limit our summer "fun", stop listening to music, try to stay as safe as possible, etc...We often just want it to be over- and after Tisha B'av is over we find ourselves relieved of a "burden".

I believe we have it all backwards. Are we "suffering" by limiting our enjoyment? Is that suffering? Did we think about Hashem? Hashem's Shechina is suffering. It's in Exile with us too. Hashem promises that His Shechina did not ascend to its "home" as long as we are in Exile. I'm pretty sure we've got it all wrong. For a mere three weeks a year we feel a little less excitement and fun - as if those are the most important things in life. Then we go about our merry way and forget about it all.

Hashem is the one suffering here. We may forget that, especially when times are good. But Hashem is constantly suffering that we are in Exile. He wants us to beg and plead for it to be over. Even if we'll lose our own free choice in the process (once Mashiach comes) - we still need to beg Hashem to end this Exile for HIS sake. We need to stop being selfish and thinking of ourselves. These three weeks are a perfect time for self-introspection...Shabbat Shalom

Statue of Liberty Beheaded...

According to the NY Post, a replica of the Statue of Liberty was beheaded after being stolen from a Brooklyn NY coffee shop.

This eerily reminds me of a previous post - Stimulus and Loss of Liberty, where we discussed the Statue of Liberty being destroyed right before Mashiach arrives. Being that nothing is a coincidence, I feel that Hashem is clearly sending us a message to foreshadow and remind us of what's up ahead....

As we begin the Three Weeks of mourning for our Bet Hamikdash and exile, we should realize that the cause of this exile was baseless hatred amongst Jews. Until this is rectified, we will remain in exile. Unfortunately for us, Hashem will have His way regardless. So when the time comes, we will either have rectified it or will be Chas VeShalom forced into a predicament where it comes somewhat automatically. It's not Elul yet, but it's definitely time to start waking up before we cross the point of no return.