21st Century & The Coming of Messiah (II)

“Midah keneged Midah” (“Measure for Measure”) or: President Trump, Esau and Christianity. A spiritual view.

➔ See also related article Understanding the Messianic Process
➔ See also Part III 21st Century & The Coming of Messiah (III)
➔ See also Part I 21st Century & The Coming of Messiah (I)
➔ Go to Kabbalah Glossary to view terms and definitions often used by R.Kessin.

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Rabbi Mendel Kessin Schiurim (Teachings) (on YouTube Channel “torahthinking”):

For more teachings of R. Mendel Kessin go to torahthinking.com.

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(Video published 31-AUG-2020) 21st Century #58 | America’s Role in the Messianic Process:

A Deeper, elaborate understanding of America’s identity, its relationship with the Jews and its role in the Messianic process.
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An absolutely amazing discussion from Kessin about a relationship between a Jew and U.S. President (then General) George Washington at the battle of Valley Forge, a pivotal battle in the US revolutionary war.
A truly stunning history. Kessin then relates it to current events in the US and President Trump.

The story of George Washington and the Jew who lightened the general’s face.
Copied from shemayisrael.com: Chanukah-1775 (5537)
Quote:

(The following story is recounted in the Sefer, Pardes Chanukah. Before his untimely passing, Rabbi Yehuda Mandelcorn, z”l, Menahel of Neveh Zion, had it translated and requested that it be typed. Today it appears on the Neveh website as follows:)

A difficult winter. Terrible cold. We are sitting in Valley Forge and waiting. Why? I don’t know. Perhaps for better days than these. I am the only Jew here. Perhaps there are other Jews among us, but I haven’t seen any. We hunger for bread. We have no warm clothing or shoes to protect our feet. Most of the soldiers curse George Washington for going to war against Britain.

There are those who hope for his downfall, but I believe that his cause is just. We must expel Britain from America. She wants to put her hands in everything her eyes see. Although we are suffering here terribly, I am loyal with all my heart to George Washington. More than once I see him at night, passing through the camp, between the rows of sleeping soldiers. He gazes with compassion upon the soldiers who are suffering from the cold. And sometimes he approaches one of the sleeping soldiers and covers him, as a father would cover his son.

There are times when the hunger and the freezing cold torture me to death. But I don’t curse General Washington who is fighting for the freedom of America. At moments like this I think of my father in Poland. I think about all that he suffers at the hand of the cruel Poritz. I remember: I was a child then and I saw my father dancing before the Poritz. What an awful thing to see! My father was wearing the skin of a Polar bear – and danced like a bear before the Poritz and his guests.

What terrible pain! What great shame! My father dancing like a bear – and the Poritzim laughing and rejoicing at the sight. I decided then and there that I will never dance like my father before the Poritz. Afterwards, I escaped to America.

And now I am lying in Valley Forge and shivering from cold. They say that Washington is losing and that he can’t win this war. But I don’t believe all that. I lie at night and pray for him.

The first night of Chanukah arrives. On this night, years ago, I left my father’s house. My father gave us this Chanukah menorah and said to me, “My son, when you light the Chanukah candles, they will illuminate the way for you.”

Since then, the menorah has been like a charm for me. Wherever I go, I take it with me. I didn’t know what to do – to light the Chanukah candles here, among the goyim, or not. I decided to wait until they were all asleep, and then I took out my father’s menorah. I made the berachah and lit the first candle. I gazed at the light and remembered my parents’ home. I saw my father dancing like a bear before the Poritz and I saw my mother’s eyes filled with tears. My heart was filled with pain and I burst out crying like a small child. And I decided then in my heart, that for the sake of my father and mother, for my brothers and sisters in Poland, I must help George Washington make America a free country, a land of refuge for my parents and brothers who are subjected to the cruelty of the Poritz.

Suddenly I felt a gentle hand touching my head. I lifted my eyes and it was he – he himself was standing over me and he asked, “Why are you crying, soldier? Are you cold?”

Pain and compassion were in his voice. I couldn’t bear to see him suffer. I jumped up, forgot that I was a soldier standing before a General, and said what came from my heart, like a son speaking to his father:

“General Washington,” I said, “I am crying and praying for your victory. And I know that with the help of G-d we will win. Today they are strong, but tomorrow they will fall because justice is with us. We want to be free in this land. We want to build a home here for all those who flee from the hands of Poritzim; for all who suffer across the ocean. The Poritzim will not rule over us! They will fall and you will rise!” General Washington pressed my hand.

“Thank you, soldier,” he said. He sat next to me on the ground, in front of the menorah.

“What is this candlestick?” he asked.

I told him, “I brought it from my father’s house. The Jews all over the world light candles tonight, on Chanukah, the holiday of the great miracle.”

The Chanukah candles lit up Washington’s eyes, and he asked joyfully, “You are a Jew from the nation of Prophets and you say we will be victorious?”

“Yes sir,” I answered with conviction. “We will win just like the Maccabees won, for ourselves and for all those who come here after us to build a new land and new lives.”

The General got up and his face was shining. He shook my hand and disappeared in the darkness.

My faith prevailed. Washington’s victory was complete. The land was quiet. My General became the first President of the United States and I was one of its citizens. I soon forgot the terrible days and nights in Valley Forge. But I kept the memory of that first night of Chanukah in my heart like a precious dream. I did not relate it to anyone because I said to myself: Who will believe me? I was certain that the General forgot it completely. But that was not the case. He didn’t forget.

The first night of Chanukah (1776) 5538.

I was sitting in my apartment in New York, on Broome Street, and the Chanukah candles were burning in my window. Suddenly, I heard a knock at my door. I opened the door and was shocked: my General, President George Washington, was standing in the doorway, there himself, in all his glory. “Behold the wonderful candle. The candle of hope of the Jewish People,” he proclaimed joyously when he saw the Chanukah candles in my window.

He put his hand on my shoulder and said, “This candle and your beautiful words ignited a light in my heart that night. Soon you will receive a Medal of Honor from the United States of America, together with all of the brave men of Valley Forge. But tonight, please accept this token from me.”

He hung a golden medallion on my chest and shook my hand. Tears filled my eyes and I couldn’t speak. The President shook my hand again and departed.…

I came to, as if from a wonderful dream, then I looked at the medallion and saw an etching of a beautiful Chanukah menorah. Under it was written: “A token of gratitude for the light of your candle – George Washington.”

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Credit goes to Robin Diamond of Blogs.TimesOfIsrael.com!
Copied from Blogs.TimesOfIsrael.com: The Blogs – Robin DiamondRabbi M. Kessin: America’s Role in the Messianic Process “:
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This lecture is somewhat of a departure from the track the rabbi usually takes, he tells us from the start. He doesn’t usually tell stories. “I’m an idea man—a concept man.” Indeed, the rabbi’s general approach is to explain current events in the context of the messianic process of the Divine Agenda using excerpts from sacred texts and exegeses of Jewish sages. But this lecture benefits greatly from the extraordinary impact lent it by this magical, and purportedly true, tale entitled, “The Chanukah Candle that Inspired George Washington.” It embodies the theme of the reciprocal and miraculous relationship the Jews have had with America as seen in the trajectory of history. To what extent the story is factual may never be known. Much research has gone into confirming its validity and, in spite of the assiduous efforts of several scholars, the original text has not been discovered and is probably irretrievably lost. In any case, the story dramatizes a truth nonetheless, as the rabbi explains. What follows is the story with his commentary emboldened:

A difficult winter. Terrible cold. We are sitting in Valley Forge and waiting. (We all know what Valley Forge was, one of the places that Washington was stuck in before he fought the British.) Why? I don’t know. Perhaps for better days than these. I am the only Jew here. Perhaps there are other Jews among us, but I haven’t seen any. We hunger for bread. We have no warm clothing or shoes to protect our feet. Most of the soldiers curse George Washington for going to war against Britain.

There are those who hope for his downfall, but I believe that his cause is just. We must expel Britain from America. She wants to put her hands in everything her eyes see. Although we are suffering here terribly, I am loyal with all my heart to George Washington. More than once I see him at night, passing through the camp, between the rows of sleeping soldiers. He gazes with compassion upon the soldiers who are suffering from the cold. And sometimes he approaches one of the sleeping soldiers and covers him, as a father would cover his son. (That’s a display of compassion.)

There are times when the hunger and the freezing cold torture me to death. But I don’t curse General Washington who is fighting for the freedom of America. At moments like this I think of my father in Poland. I think about all that he suffers at the hand of the cruel poretz. (A poretz was a lord of sorts, the lord of the manor; owned the town, and everyone had to give him loyalty, allegiance. He controlled everything.) I remember: I was a child then and I saw my father dancing before the poretz (degraded and disgraced). What an awful thing to see! My father was wearing the skin of a Polar bear and danced like a bear before the poretz and his guests. (And they were laughing; it was mockery. That is really what it was because this was the situation of Jews in Poland.)

What terrible pain! What great shame! My father dancing like a bear – and the poritzimthe poretz’s cronies laughing and rejoicing at the sight (at the tremendous degradation of this Jew). I decided then and there that I will never dance like my father before the poretz. Afterwards, I escaped to America. (So this Jew escaped to America. Why? Because this Jew could not tolerate the galus—exile because the exile at that point was rife with degradation and disgrace.)

And now I am lying in Valley Forge and shivering from cold. They say that Washington is losing (he was!) and that he can’t win this war. But I don’t believe all that. I lie at night and pray for him. (which is interesting….Britain at that time was a tremendous empire and Washington didn’t believe they would win. So this Jew lies awake and prays for Washington, which is significant.)

The first night of Chanukah arrives. (must be December—freezing—chaf-heh Kislev—the 25th of the Hebrew month of Kislev) On this night, years ago, (on Chanukah) I left my father’s house. My father gave us this Chanukah menorah and said to me, ‘My son, when. you light the Chanukah candles, they will illuminate the way for you’ (reminding him he is Jewish, and to always remember to light the Chanukah candles and do the mitzvos–commandments).

Since then, the menorah has been like a charm for me. Wherever I go, I take it with me. (it reminds me who I am.) I didn’t know what to do – to light the Chanukah candles here, among the goyim, or not. (The army is essentially all goyim–gentiles. Will they laugh at him?) I decided to wait until they were all asleep, and then I took out my father’s menorah. I made the brocha-blessing and lit the first candle. (We don’t understand the merit of that, what that means. It’s freezing. The guy is exposed to the cold, insufficient clothing, among goyim. He’s in America, non-assimilated, so he strengthens himself by lighting the Chanukah light. He made the blessing on the candle-lighting so, obviously, he’s a frummer guy, a religious Jew.) I gazed at the light and remembered my parents’ home. I saw my father dancing like a bear before the poretz and I saw my mother’s eyes filled with tears (because she realized the disgrace of a Jew in the costume of a bear dancing before the lord of the manor, being made a mockery). My heart was filled with pain and I burst out crying like a small child. (He felt the pain of the exile. Chanukah in many ways is a re-dedication of the Jews to their avodah—Divine service, to the Beis ha’Mikdash—the Holy Temple. They fought off the Greeks and, as a result they were victorious, found the oil that should have kept the menorah alight for one day, but, instead, a miracle provided light for eight days. But one of the essential ideas, among many, is that this represents the re-dedication of the Jews to G-d. That is what it is all about!) And I decided then in my heart, that for the sake of my father and mother, for my brothers and sisters in Poland (that he left behind), I must help George Washington make America a free country, a land of refuge for my parents and brothers who are subjected to the cruelty of the poretz. (He wants to make America a free country, not just for himself but for Jews in the Europe. It is bad enough they are in exile, but they are degraded and disgraced. His resolve to help Washington at Valley Forge was strengthened because he wants to make America free for all.

Suddenly I felt a gentle hand touching my head. I lifted my eyes and it was he, he himself was standing over me and he asked, “Why are you crying, soldier? Are you cold?” (How many generals are compassionate? More likely they are cold-hearted….take orders! We begin to see the greatness of this man, Washington.) Pain and compassion were in his voice. I couldn’t bear to see him suffer. (The suffering is reciprocal: they both acknowledge the suffering of the other and suffer themselves as a result). I jumped up, forgot that I was a soldier standing before a general, and said what came from my heart, like a son speaking to his father: (So, picture Washington, the general of the US army fighting the British—a losing battle—and you have a regular soldier, a Jew, who just lit a Chanukah light. Despite what we might assume, a Jew is greater than a general. A Jew can rectify Creation and even though this Jew didn’t understand this–what the hashkofa of a Jew is–he acted upon that concept. I don’t know if he saluted or not, but he stood before Washington as an equal and told him what was in his heart. What did he say?)

“General Washington,” I said, “I am crying and praying for your victory. (Amazing! He didn’t say he was crying because he was freezing or afraid to die tomorrow. He wasn’t crying for himself. This is a very important idea: crying for Washington and the future of the United States. We don’t know what the koach-the power of that is.) And I know that with the help of G-d we will win. Today they are strong (the British), but tomorrow they will fall because justice is with us. We want to be free in this land. We want to build a home here for all those who flee from the hands of poritzim, for all who suffer across the ocean. (The victory is not just for us but for all those who need a refuge from suffering.) The poritzim will not rule over us! They will fall and you will rise!” (That’s a nevuah—prophecy! He didn’t say ‘maybe we’ll win.’) General Washington pressed my hand. (Who can know what Washington was thinking. He knew the odds of winning against the mighty British army of battle-hardened soldiers. Odds are they were finished! It is only human that Washington would have felt dejected.)

“Thank you, soldier,” he said. He sat next to me on the ground, in front of the menorah.  What is this candlestick?’ he asked.

I told him, “I brought it from my father’s house. The Jews all over the world light candles tonight, on Chanukah, the holiday of the great miracle.” (The Jew would have explained the miracle of the freedom that was won but it’s not just freedom just to do what you want; it’s the freedom from oppression—exile, from being constrained from doing what you wish that brings meaning to life.)

The Chanukah candles lit up Washington’s eyes, and he asked joyfully, “You are a Jew from the nation of prophets (amazing!) and you say we will be victorious?” (Washington knew in some way that the Jew’s yichus—genealogical lineage is what?–prophecy!)

“Yes sir,” I answered with conviction. (The Jew answered in the name of his ancestors, prophets, the greatest people in spirituality and closeness to G-d.) “We will win just like the Maccabees won, for ourselves and for all those who come here after us to build a new land and new lives.” (For everyone who needs a yeshua—salvation.) The General got up and his face was shining. He shook my hand and disappeared in the darkness. (Imagine the impact this had on Washington in what was probably the darkest moment in his life, about to face an insurmountable challenge, certain that defeat is the most likely outcome when here comes this Jew with his Chanukah light saying that victory would be theirs because it’s what G-d wants. This is why Washington’s face was “shining.”)

My faith prevailed. Washington’s victory was complete. (You should know this is a nes niglah—an apparent miracle. Don’t kid yourself! Washington’s army was a rag-tag bunch of colonists, ill-equipped. Sounds like Chanukah, when 10,000 Maccabees won against the 110,000-strong of Greece. Of course, it was a miracle!) The land was quiet. My general became the first President of the United States and I was one of its citizens. I soon forgot the terrible days and nights in Valley Forge. But I kept the memory of that first night of Chanukah in my heart like a precious dream. (Here is George Washington, the Commander-and-Chief of the entire army, now the president, and the Jew had a personal encounter with him on a most depressing night.) I did not relate it to anyone because I said to myself: Who will believe me? I was certain that the General forgot it completely. But that was not the case. He didn’t forget.

The first night of Chanukah (1776) 5538 (a year later). I was sitting in my apartment in New York, on Broome Street, and the Chanukah candles were burning in my window. Suddenly, I heard a knock at my door. I opened the door and was shocked: my General, President George Washington, was standing in the doorway  in all his glory. “Behold the wonderful candle, (He remembered the date; he remembered the Jew) the candle of hope of the Jewish People,” he proclaimed joyously when he saw the Chanukah candles in my window. (This is not just the light of this Chanukah or even of 2000 years ago. This is the light of the geula—Redemption! This is the future.) He put his hand on my shoulder and said, “This candle and your beautiful words ignited a light in my heart that night. (Obviously, this light in his heart was what he desperately needed. Who knows the despair Washington was suffering that point when the Jew strengthened him?) Soon you will receive a Medal of Honor from the United States of America, together with all of the brave men of Valley Forge. But tonight, please accept this token from me.” He hung a golden medallion on my chest and shook my hand. Tears filled my eyes and I couldn’t speak. (The tears reveal how overcome he was by the realization that Washington not only remembered his deed, but that he fully understood the significance of what he was told about impending victory and the concept of redemption.) The President shook my hand again and departed.…

I came to, as if from a wonderful dream, then I looked at the medallion and saw an etching of a beautiful Chanukah menorah. Under it was written: “A token of gratitude for the light of your candle — George Washington.”

This is a true story.

The rabbi poses the challenge as a question: “How do we interpret this story, a story about the founding of America, hashkofa-wise—in terms of Jewish philosophical principles, particularly regarding the Divine Plan?”

He begins the answer by explaining the value of a Jew’s prayer: “The prayer of a Jew is incredible! We don’t realize the power of a Jew’s prayer.” Even Washington recognized that Jews are descendants of prophets, the rabbi says. At that moment in time, the rabbi declares, the tremendous merit of lighting that candle in such a foreboding and dreadful place and saying the bracha–blessing  bestowed upon that Jew ruach ha’kodesh—Divine inspiration enabling him to tell Washington that G-d intends for America to become that refuge, that bastion of justice. “Since it was ruach ha’kodesh, it instilled a great deal of faith in Washington because that is what ruach ha’kodesh does,” the rabbi says. There is something about ruach ha’kodesh that causes something in the mind to “click.” What is conveyed from someone so endowed inspires faith in its truth. Washington had a metamorphosis, a chizuk–strengthening in emuna—faith in the Providence of G-d.

Why did G-d perform this miracle for America? G-d willed America to transform from the ra’she’b’Esav—the evil aspect of Esav to the tov she’b’Esav—the good aspect. But there were kitrugim—prosecutions in the Heavenly Court where the Satan argues, as he must, that the sins of mankind make it unworthy of redemption. The Satan wants America to be under the British, that power-driven bulwark of conquest and domination, later in history to restrain survivors of the Holocaust from entering what was then Palestine (the “White Paper”) while allowing unrestricted entry for Arabs, a practice which caused so much trouble. So the transformation of America was a requirement of the Divine Agenda and G-d needed George Washington to know it and to hear it from the mouth of a Jew, a descendant of prophets.

The rabbi has discussed many times over the past five years the prophecy that Jacob and Esav’s mother received during her pregnancy. In the context of Trump’s role as president, it takes on stupendous relevance. The prophecy has two parts: the first part foretells of two mighty nations within her, two entities that would contribute to the tikkun—rectification of Creation, but in two different ways. Jacob, the Jewish nation, would do it by performing commandments or acts of repentance, or suffering when the first two “devices” weren’t employed. . Esav, who became Edom, which, ultimately, became Western Civilization, would contribute to the rectification by persecuting the Jews when they failed. He would provide the suffering. These twin brothers were in opposition (though on the same mission) also in that they would never progress equally. When Edom was mighty, Israel was weak and stricken. When the Jews served G-d and deserved the kedusha—holiness that sustains Creation, Edom would be compromised. History demonstrates this. And, of course, the persecution of the Jews by Edom was in lock-step with the Satan’s interest to survive and empower himself. As the rabbi has explained before, the holiness that sustains existence goes either to the Jews or their chief adversary, the Satan. The power is on one side or the other and Edom has, historically, been one of the Satan’s chief allies.

The second aspect of the prophecy says that Esav, who became an evil-doer, the firstborn who lost his birthright, will repent at the End of Time. The prophet says that the elder, Esav, will serve the younger, Jacob, meaning that Edom’s role as persecutorial agent will end. “There you are!” the rabbi says.

America would embody that assistance. America becomes the good part of Esav to assist Israel. It not only completes the rectification of Creation but becomes a global power to fight against tyranny. As the rabbi has explained in depth elsewhere, The Torah refers to Esav as the “man of the field.” Esav’s original task, before he thwarted it, was to go out into the world and prevail against and eradicate evil. According to this hashkofa, America  is to embody that mission as an ally of the Jews and help bring redemption to all mankind.

This is why the 17th of (the Hebrew month) of Tammuz coincides with July 4th 1776. Both those dates commemorate when the real exile of Jerusalem began with the breaching of the walls culminating in the destruction of the Holy Temple. That this date on the Jewish calendar coincides with 4th of July demonstrates that the downfall of Jerusalem would be reversed when the evil of Esav—Rome–would be transformed into a penitent and redeemed Esav—America.

Returning to the theme of Esav’s redemption, it isn’t only the Jewish people who require a redemption. Esav’s status as an evil-doer dooms mankind; they too are at risk of being deprived of olam ha’ba—the Future World. They too are in exile. Just like G-d deigns it necessary for the Jew to tell G. Washington that the land they were liberating would become the hope of mankind,  Esav’s exile too will end. Freed from their exile, they can support the Jews thereby earning them, namely Esav, the merit to “get an unbelievable chelek—portion of the Future World.”

The rabbi now considers the “Founding Fathers:”—George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, James Madison…..”G-d sent out a tremendous shefa—Divine influence of chochma—Divine Wisdom, to create those documents whereby America could be preserved: the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, documents that are the greatest expressions of justice and righteousness of law” the world has ever seen. This is the tov she’b’Esav required at the End of Time and it must be preserved. G-d sent the “right shluchim—emissaries” to ensure that the rectification of Creation would be fulfilled;  He Divinely inspired them.

And G-d has, since then, sent America what it needed. For example: America sinned by participating in slavery. Even though Americans didn’t do the actual kidnapping, they participated in the purchase and the retention of people against their wills. The punishment for that, according to Torah, is chayav misa—death penalty. “Since America must be preserved as the tov she’b’Esav, G-d has to correct that,” adding that Lincoln was the “right guy” for the job. Most presidents might have accepted secession from the union for those southern states that wouldn’t comply with doctrine to free the slaves. But G-d would not allow that split. So, for the survival of America as the tov she’b’Esav, G-d chose as emissary Lincoln, even though he really had no credentials to recommend him. He was born into very modest circumstances in Kentucky, practiced law there—”who was this guy? No one knew who he was and he became president. Why? Because G-d said that he must preserve the union.” To preserve the tov she’b’Esav, G-d needed to deliver an atonement to America under the penalty of the shadow of death. What was that?–the Civil War. The 700,000 deaths and strife caused by that war allowed America to survive. In addition, the freeing of the slaves in America was a sufficient atonement for their sin.

Elucidating further on the scriptural and exegetical evidence for the repentance of Esav, the rabbi notes that Esav’s head lies at the foot of his brother Jacob in the Me’aras ha’Machpela—the Cave of the Patriarchs—located in Hebron. His head is buried in that honorable place because it was only his body that was defiled by tumah—impurity, his taiva—hedonism that wrought the evil. The head is pure.

Another example has to do with chazir—pork. The “Gemara” says that this food forbidden to Jews, and which represents Esav, will one day be kosher, indicative of Esav’s purification.

Furthermore, there is a midrash—exegesis in the “Yalkut Reuveni” which says that G-d turns Esav’s clothing red as punishment for his evil-doing to which Esav reacts saying, “I cannot bear this.” So G-d turns his garments white, indicating purification.

As we approach the geula—Redemption, the exile becomes less severe because the Jews no longer bear the enormity of as many sins as formerly. The Jews no longer bear the intense brutality that they once did for example in Russia, in the Arab lands, or Europe. Their lot improved upon escaping to America and, today, Jewish life is relatively secure, even with the recent escalation of anti-Semitism. The kapporah—atonement required for past sins has significantly waned. The exile is waning and the signs are not just in America but world-wide. Putin’s treatment of Jews, his attitude toward Israel, is benign and, at times, warm. The rabbi has spoken about Putin’s relationship to Jews and his own personal regard for them.

Therefore, G-d will not “end America.” The problem is that, “America slips” and needs atonement just like they did for the sin of slavery. America is guilty even today, despite the great good America has done in the world, of gross immorality which the rabbi has described in other lectures: sexual immorality and perversion, hedonism, immersion in materialism. This gives a dying Satan the ammunition he needs to prosecute America in the Heavenly Court and condemn it restoring it to its status as the evil of Esav. What the Satan demands is the destruction of that country the Founding Fathers instituted—the good aspect of Esav. What is the instrument of that destruction?—”Joe Biden…and his crew.” The rabbi maintains that his election would be an expression of that judgement. One proof of this occurred during the Democratic Convention when the phrase “under G-d” was expunged from wherever it had traditionally been intoned because, “they hate religion.”

At this point, the rabbi insists that listeners must not mistake him for a campaigner for or against either Trump or Biden. “I’m not on anyone’s payroll nor have I been assigned to do anything,” the rabbi makes clear. His perspective, he says, is not based on the character profile of any candidate. His perspective is formed solely by hashkofa, those Jewish philosophical principles regarding the Divine Agenda. He admits to being a “Trump guy” because he thinks Trump has done a “fabulous job” and he admits to liking him for his competence and honesty.

The next of G-d’s objectives is to destroy the Democratic Party because they have contributed significantly to the destruction of the moral fabric of America, says the rabbi. The unfortunate death of George Floyd unleashed the turmoil that most freedom-loving Americans recoil from. The rabbi reasons that even those who don’t particularly like Trump will shudder to think what the alternative is—a country wracked with lawlessness and contempt for the Constitution. It would be an America where they could find no security, financially or otherwise. Most people, regardless of their political leanings, want simply to raise their kids, earn a living, live in safety. They see clearly how America would be debased, their lives compromised or destroyed, were Biden to win.

At the core is the question: Does G-d intend to retain the tov she’b’Esav or not? The rabbi contends that the outcome has nothing to do with Trump or Biden per se. “Don’t focus on Trump or Biden; it isn’t about them,” the rabbi maintains. “Those guys are just puppets. The key concept is the Divine Plan. You need to understand that…G-d isn’t concerned with what America thinks. Like I said a long time ago, ‘The only vote that counts (on November 3rd) is G-d’s;’ Everything else is irrelevant.”

The sum of all this is the rabbi’s conclusion that G-d does not will the destruction of this nation that was founded for greatness and righteousness. “America is the greatest nation that ever lived,” he extols, but with the caveat that it is the greatest among nations of gentiles. G-d’s will to bolster its status is a reasonable assumption particularly in its destined role to assist Israel, as the prophecy shows. As the representative of that tov—good, Trump is fulfilling his mission, particularly as it pertains to Israel. The rabbi has spoken at length about the good Trump has done for Israel and will continue to do. “Trump is the tov she’b’Esav. He doesn’t know that; I wish I could tell him that but he doesn’t understand who he is based on the messianic process. What other president moved the embassy to Jerusalem, declaring it to be the capital of Israel, recognized the Golan”…and the latest efforts of his administration to revolutionize the relations between Sunni Arab nations and Israel, fostering trade and, perhaps, an alliance against Iran.

In terms of hashkofa, the rabbi reminds us that, like Esav, Ishmael too will repent based on Ishmael’s having given Isaac the first privileged position in the burial of Abraham, their father. The Gemara says that Ishmael repents. This is why it was possible to have a rabbi among the tannaim (sages who lived in the Mishnaic period 10-220 CE) named Rabbi Ishmael! Though it will take time, the rabbi maintains that the return of Ishmael is underway and only Donald Trump could have “pulled this off; we know that!”

With ever-improving relations with the Sunni world and eventual sovereignty, Israel will benefit also from the economic advantage of not having to divert so much money to the military. Additionally, better relations with countries like Bahrain, Oman, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, means the end of the “Palestinian cause which, of course, is absurd!” The right of the Jews to the land, “biblically, historically, and legally” has always made their claim absurd.

What is the gift bestowed on the Jews? They are tifferes and ozbeauty and might, gifts mentioned in the morning prayers: G-d “girds us with might” and “crowns Israel with splendor.” What is the mystical understanding of these traits? The splendor is chochma—wisdom. And oz doesn’t pertain only to military might. It refers to success in all areas of endeavor.

Returning to the turmoil between Jacob and Esav and the imbalance of power that characterizes their relations, the rabbi asks, “Where is that beauty and might?” If you want to see the beauty of America, the splendor, it has been New York, the showcase of Edom’s wealth, power, sophistication, elegance, and success. Manhattan now is a “ghost town… people moving out in droves. What does it mean?” The might is being transferred to the Jewish nation. “It’s hard to believe… N.Y., the great city of civilization… is dying.” Here, the rabbi almost gets into a tirade denouncing DeBlasio but simply sums it up saying, “I don’t even want to talk about…..what this guy is, ” nor about Cuomo who is “not far behind,” but noting that G-d appointed DeBlasio as the perfect emissary for the job of demoting, perhaps dismantling, the glorious stature of the once gleaming Big Apple. And here the rabbi notes the fate of the great centers of education: MIT, Harvard which don’t even have populations on campuses; they are all “home on Zoom.” This is evidence of Edom’s splendor being compromised. And as it drains, “where does it go? It goes to Jacob.”

This is a strong sign of the Redemption.

The merit of America, as expressed in its success and global importance, is due to its long-standing benevolence toward Jews that allowed them to grow spiritually via Torah-learning. The rabbi points out another example of this principle of benevolence to Jews resulting in material success. He sees it in the example of Japan which became an economic powerhouse despite its lack of natural resources and the damage it suffered in WW2. Before China supplanted it, Japan had the second greatest economy in the world because it enabled the Jews to survive when they escaped Nazi Europe to Shanghai and, because Japan governed Shanghai, enabled Jews to establish the Mir Yeshiva. By virtue of Japan’s benevolent sponsorship, “the angel of Japan appeared before the Heavenly Court,” rightfully demanding compensation for its kindness. Because of Japan’s gifts of refuge and support, Jews eventually emigrated to Israel and America where the merit of Torah learning continued to all who acted as sponsors. The reward for those who support Jews in their performance of commandments and Torah-learning is difficult to calculate, the rabbi points out, but certainly it amounts to the presumption that G-d has an interest in ensuring that America prevails.

But there must also be a metamorphosis of the Jewish people. “While the The Eirev Rav—mixed multitude are in power, the Jews cannot repent.” Who are these enemies of spirituality? They are that segment of Jews identifiable as leaders and influencers who would sever the connection between Judaism and G-d and His Torah, sever the connection of the covenant, and reduce Judaism to “kugel.” Their control must end in order for the Jews to become spiritually elevated. The rabbi has described this process as a kind of rehabilitation, similar to that which the messiah experiences just prior to his appearance. The Jews must be spiritually rehabilitated and, under the current governance and its climate, the Jews cannot be spiritually elevated yet, for Redemption, they must be! “Once Redemption starts,” the rabbi pronounces with great emphasis, “it is unstoppable and irreversible.”

“Who knows what this Rosh ha’Shana will be—5781,” the rabbi asks. “If all this is true, then this will be the greatest Rosh ha’Shana we’ve ever seen, when G-d will decree that the Redemption will begin.” It doesn’t mean we will see the mashiach–messiah himself, necessarily, because there are many “precursors” to the mashiach actually being revealed. Consciousness must be elevated and it may begin with this year. It is not only the Jewish people who will be redeemed; Esav too will be redeemed. He wants to repent. “The entire world is in exile, in the dark!”

The rabbi recommends we “just stand back and watch; we are far closer than most of you think.”

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(Video published 9-JUL-2020) 21st Century #56 | What Could the End of the American Exile Be?:

Jump to minute 60 to watch the two scenarios a) The Fall of America when Joe Biden is elected and b) Donald Trump re-elected for another four years.
[TM: Video Content: The end of America as we know it today / The two scenarios of the American Exile.]
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Credit goes to Robin Diamond of Blogs.TimesOfIsrael.com!
Copied from Blogs.TimesOfIsrael.com: The Blogs – Robin DiamondRabbi Mendel Kessin: End of the American Exile “:
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This edited transcription is composed in honor of the second yahrzeit of my mother, Devorah bat Shoshana, 22nd of Tammuz. The merit of this transcription which might elevate the spirituality of a reader should elevate my mother’s neshama in Gan Eden.

The rabbi begins his lecture with basic questions in order to erect a foundation of his analysis upon the firm ground of the Divine Agenda. The topic is the American exile which is galus—exile, the final exile. How will it end?

The questions are asked in the context of two catastrophic events: the Covid-19 pandemic that has “erased or halted achievements of Trump” and the eruption of chaos and insurrection which has given power and recognition to the liberal Democrats and their allies, ANTIFA, Black Lives Matter, etc.

Question #1: Why would G-d do this now and not after Trump’s re-election? Why create an atmosphere which could foster doubt as to Trump’s electibility?

Question #2: What is the significance of America as the last exile?

Rabbi Chaim Volozhin—the greatest student of the Vilna Gaon—said that America is the last galus, “the last stop.” From this we conclude that America is, in fact, an exile and that it is the last one. The Redemption will happen once this exile ends. In order to answer these questions, the rabbi first explains what “galus” means. Despite what many think, it is far more profound than the popular notion that it is about sociopolitical and/or economic domination. In order to understand the task of man and how galus impedes it, we have to review the primordial story.

The Primordial Story: The Tasks of Man

Primordial Adam was commanded not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge. Adam’s task was merely to avoid evil, to avoid going against the Will of G-d. In the form of the snake, “the mouthpiece of the Satan,” Adam is told he can rival the power of G-d if he eats from the tree. Had Adam resisted the snake and obeyed G-d, “hispashtus kedusha—proliferaton of holiness would have occurred….and ushered in the messianic era” with Adam as messiah, had he “held out” until Friday evening. Prior to Adam’s rebellion, the Satan had no power over the physicality of Adam, over his body, due to Adam’s physical nature existing in a dimension beyond the Satan’s power to affect it. At that stage, man’s interaction with the Satan was one in which he could realize his potential fully as the Satan had no influence because primordial Adam was not, essentially, physical. Of course, that changed.

Now we enter a second stage when “Adam fell from his lofty level in the Garden into a different dimension of reality” and, as a predominantly physical being, became subject to the defilement of physicality, the zeomah—disintegration, entropy over which the Satan had command. Man became mortal, and physicality itself became subject to defilement and dissolution. Existence entered a different dimension called olam asiyah, world of action. In this fallen state, the task is no longer was to avoid temptation but to “deal with the zoamah.” The substance of defilement and disintegration was no longer outside man but inside him.

“Dealing with the zoamah,” the task at this second stage, is to take back the holy energy from the Satan which he gets from our sins. In so doing, the Satan is weakened and the holy energy he gleaned from our sins is wrested from him and returned to the side of holiness. In this stage, man’s task is to engage in kefias ha’ra—subduing evil to and restoring holiness to serve the good thereby activating his own potential and enjoying the realization of it. If mankind can avoid “being ensnared in the advice of the Satan,” avoiding Satanic urges, man’s potential can be actualized. This is the second interaction man has with the Satan.

But “now, we carry the snake around in our minds, in our psyches.” With this, we begin to see the concept of galus, a state when a person must now, more than ever, “contend with enormous obstacles and forces to try to achieve some aspect of holiness.” In this stage of exile, man struggles, and his struggles are impeded greatly and he cannot be all he can be. Exile is not merely that we are “not in our place, are not in Eretz Yisrael,” not able to sacrifice in the Holy Temple, not able to have the presence of the Shekhina—Divine Presence. This third interaction with the Satan is fraught with, and defined by, struggle often perceived as futile or unproductive. Mankind is frustrated by his disability to achieve his full potential.

Galus: What is it?

“The concept of galus is much worse; we are exiled from ourselves.” We struggle and achieve so little. Our task is stymied constantly. When we consider the students of Hillel who were so great that the Divine spirit could have rested upon them, as it did Joshua who suspended the progress of the sun because he had the consciousness of Moses, we sense the tragic limitations of gifts denied that generation. The problem of this lack “will be solved in the messianic era when every Jew will be able to access holiness with incredible ease.” Zoamah will have been destroyed.

Now that we understand the true nature of exile, the rabbi enumerates the eight nations that comprised exile. The exiles of the ancient world were:

1 Egypt
2 Babylon
3 Persia
4 Greece
5 Edom/Rome/Christianity/Western Civilization

The more recent are:

6 Ishmael/Islam
7 Amalek
8 Eirev Rav (Jews in positions of authority or influence who seek to supplant the authentic covenant with mere culture)

The primary four which occurred after the giving of the Torah and the emergence of nationhood (Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome) are referred to in the Torah in Genesis as four aspects of the states of Creation. In the description of its formation, the verse relates that the earth was “tohu”—chaotic, “vohu” –astonishingly empty, “v’choshech al pnei tehom”with darkness upon the surface of the deep. Exegesis explains that this alludes to the four exiles; “tohu” refers to the exile in Babylon, “vohu” refers to the exile in Persia, “choshech” refers to the exile in Greece, and “tehom” refers to the exile of Rome/Edom.

How each exile is associated with each term of formation is described in greater depth in another lecture but, for example, Babylon was a mixture of good and evil in one environment and so embodied chaos. It had spirituality but in the form of idol worship. Persia was devoid of spirituality so it was “empty.” Greece, which illuminated the world with new sciences and philosophies, is characterized, ironically, as “darkness” because, for all of their advancements, they were bereft of spirituality and their rational philosophy was an attempt to replace spirituality with secular, rational systems and eradicate the last vestiges of spirituality from the Jews. Rome was the manifestation of Greece’s systems spread far and wide becoming the dominant global culture.

The exile of Rome, of Western Civilization, is rooted in Edom, Esav. It has been the most enduring and treacherous. The rabbi has described many, many times in previous lectures, how Western Civilization has reflected the three dominant characteristics of Esav: his arrogance, his fraudulence, his hedonism. His arrogance was reflected in Russia, particularly the Soviet Union. His fraudulence is Europe with its pretensions of enlightenment while instigating treachery. The most benevolent of Esav’s faults, his hedonism, is America steeped as it is in pleasure-seeking and materiality.

But Esav has a redeemable side as prophesied to his mother Rivkah when she is told that he will serve his younger brother, Jacob, eventually. The unresolved feud between Esav and Jacob, the repentance that Esav couldn’t quite complete, his failed patriarchy, all these were temporarily reconciled. How and when? Rome’s governor in Tiberias, Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, who later became emperor, governed during the time of Yehuda Ha’Nasi, better known as “Rebbe.” The treachery of Rome notwithstanding, Marcus Aurelius assisted and supported the Jews, demonstrating acts of repentance on behalf of Esav via his relationship with Rebbe who was a spiritual surrogate for Jacob. This topic is covered in greater depth here: https://www.jerusalem-herald.com/single-post/2018/01/29/Divine-Contingency-Plans-From-Antoninus-to-Trump

Marcus Aurelius recognized and acknowledged the value of the Jews and the Torah by, among other things, assisting Rebbe in his endeavor to compile the Mishna. Fearing that the oral tradition might be forgotten when exile seemed inevitable and imminent, Rebbe undertook the mission of convening a conference of the tannaim–rabbinic sages for the purpose of consolidating the various opinions of the oral tradition into one body of law that could be taken into exile, a standardized text — the “Mishnah.”

Antoninus also fostered Torah scholarship through cultivating peace and serenity in occupied Judea. This propitious environment was enhanced by the affectionate and brotherly relationship that developed between Antoninus and Rebbe.

Tov she’b’Esav: The Final Exile

This relationship establishes what the rabbi deems the “tov she’b’Esav”–the good aspect of Esav, We know that Esav attempts to repent upon meeting Jacob enroute to Cana’an from the house of Laban, his father-in-law. For whatever reason, Jacob failed to recognize Esav’s overture when Esav said to him, “Let that which is yours be yours” essentially renouncing all claims to the blessings. Because he tried, G-d would enable him to complete his repentance near the End of Time in the form of the tov she’b’Esav before the messiah comes. It will come by assisting the Jews, his “brother” to complete the tikkun–rectification of Creation. As a result, his reward will be immeasurable.

The rabbi points out that this lecture, being given on the eve of the 17th day of Tammuz, is particularly propitious. Aside from its association with many Jewish catastrophic events, the 17th of Tammuz coincides with the date of the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. Why would America “rise” on that date? This is the beginning of the tov she’b’Esav. How is America the embodiment of the benevolent aspect of Edom, of Esav?

First one can contrast it with other Edomic manifestations, with Russia and Europe. Both “slaughtered” the Jews. In contrast, America has been benevolent both to Jews and others in terms of religious freedom. For the Jews, this has meant freedom to study and practice Torah and continue their mission to rectify Creation.

There is another connection between the “rise” of the tov she’b’Esav with that date. Our sages tell us that the messiah will born on the 9th day of the month of Av. “This would seem to mean,” says the rabbi, “that such a day of churban—destruction is to become a day of unbelievable glory” because the Redemption will begin on 9th of Av, the very date of the culmination of the strife begun on the 17th of Tammuz. So, both dates are intimately affiliated with the messianic process, a birth from struggle and destruction to redemption and actualization. That Jews were able to abide in a country like America where they could strive and flourish “is redemptive.” As exiles go, America’s was “gentle.”

Another connection between America’s founding at that time in the mid-18th century can be ascertained by looking at that date on the Creation Calendar and its reckoning with the Creation Clock. King David stated that one day in G-d’s Eyes is as a thousand years in man’s. Based on that proportionality, the 6,000 years of existence of olam ha’ze–this world coincides with the six days of the week. By that calculation, the year 1740 is equivalent to 5500 which, on the Creation Clock, is equivalent to 06:00 Friday morning, “the dawn of the last day of this world.” Only a few decades later, America is founded and the tov she’b’Esav advances from being embodied in one man, Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, to being a country, America. Also at that time, other events explicate the diminution of the suffering of Jewish exile: the French Revolution and the growth of democracy in Europe.

Additional evidence for America being the good aspect of Esav, is the Divine Providence with which it has been treated. The rabbi has discussed this and other examples before so he offers but one example here which is, ironically, the Civil War. The destruction America deserved by Divine decree as retribution for engaging in the commerce of slavery was supplanted with a Civil War which, though devastating, enabled America to survive. The war removed America’s culpability for that sin. The rabbi touches too on the prosperity of America which is also evidence for its preferment, of it being the tov—good.

The end of this last, most benign, exile, has been brought about by Jewish observance and service enabled by, and in conjunction with, the good part of Esav. The end of this exile is an expression of the completion of the rectification mission and the ushering in of the messianic era when the interaction between man and the Satan reverts back to what it should have been had Adam not rebelled.

The exile must end, and so must the Jewish presence in America. G-d says that no matter that Jews are at the farthest ends of the heavens, He will gather them and take them to Himself. There is a Divine decree that, at the end of time, the Jews will leave the exile, return to G-d and Israel and be rehabilitated. So how does the American exile end?

Scenarios 1 and 2:

The rabbi offers two possible scenarios: Normally, an exile ended when the environment was rife with anti-Semitism and its attendant threats of violence. The Jews are expelled forcibly or they are compelled to flee. The “classic” is Spain. Could this happen in America, the rabbi asks. Yes.

In reviewing the options between a Biden presidency vs. a Trump re-election, a Biden victory would mean that the unrest we’ve been seeing, the incitement of racial divide, the continuing incentivization of forces bent on destroying Trump’s America, the anti-Semitism, all could be further stimulated, and Jews would have to flee. Biden’s “cognitive challenge” suggests that those currently orchestrating and fomenting unrest would be the actual power brokers and Biden would be a mere “puppet.” Also, the pandemic’s having compromised so much of Trump’s success would seem to threaten a Trump victory. Could G-d have unleashed the pandemic for the purpose of putting an end to Trump’s job which has been, from a spiritual point of view, to assist the Jewish people? Is Trump’s mission done? Is the final exile terminated in a climate of fear and dread? Does America become the ra she’b’Esav”—the evil of Esav?

The rabbi believes, on the contrary, that a second possibility is more likely, that the pandemic and the resultant unrest has revealed to the “silent majority” of prospective voters, just what the result of Democratic Party leadership would mean: insecurity, crime, lawlessness, economic dysfunction. This exposure would seem to assure the election of Trump.

How will this last exile end? With Egypt as a model, (although that redemption was achishena—hastened in its appointed time, merited through suffering despite not all Jews being saved, as opposed to this redemption which is b’ita—in its appointed time and, therefore, irrevocable with all Jews being saved) Moses, as Mashiach ben Yosef, simply takes them out. Indications are that Mashiach ben Yosef is being “released from whatever impediments tie him down and he will grow to be an awesome spiritual individual…and he is in America.” As the Gemara says, “Messiah stands at the gates of Rome,” meaning he resides in that land which he overthrows. He will, like Moses who grew up in the palace of Pharoah, overthrow the hold that America has had on the Jewish imagination and reveal that light which was invested in him via the yechida—the highest aspect of the soul that is in direct contact with G-d an aspect shared with him from primordial Adam, thereby allowing the entry of the messianic light, the comprehension of G-d’s rulership over all Creation. This light will imbue the Jewish people with a higher consciousness that inspires Jews to return home.

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(Video published 18-JUN-2020) 21st Century #55 | The American Upheaval, the Widespread Protests, and the Messianic Process:

[TM: Video Content: 1) The Trump/Russia Collusion, 2) Robert Muller, 3) Impeachment Trial, 4) COVID-19, 5) Black Uprising | Satan’s Tools: Gay Marriage Legalization, LGBTQ, The coming US elections on 3rd Nov. 2020: Trump vs. Biden, God’s Restart of Civilisation through the Messianic Process]
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Credit goes to Robin Diamond of Blogs.TimesOfIsrael.com!
Copied from Blogs.TimesOfIsrael.com: The Blogs – Robin DiamondRabbi Mendel Kessin: The American Upheaval“:
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Continuing his lectures on current events based on hashkofa, this one, given June 19, 2020, addresses the “eruptions, upheavals and catastrophes” in America. Lest we think the rabbi refers only to the most recent events, he reminds us that these upheavals began when Trump announced his candidacy.

The Vendettas

The vendettas began with accusations of Russian collusion and repeated suppositions of treason. Despite being a “hoax,” such accusations and the encumbrances to government function that they created set the tone of Trump’s presidency. These distractions prevented him both from being his most effective and, ultimately, hurt the country’s advance toward the promise of greatness.

The second upheaval was the Mueller investigation which “prolonged the agony” for two years and wasted thirty-five million dollars. Despite this second assault, Trump was still able to achieve impressive feats both domestic and foreign.

Then came the third upheaval—the impeachment trial, a spectacle which only happened twice before in American history. This created tremendous turmoil. Of course, he was acquitted demonstrating the absurdity of the endeavor but not before spending millions of dollars and continuing to handicap Trump’s freedom to perform.

Then came the fourth upheaval—the pandemic which “mopped up America with people dying all over the place” under horrific conditions of isolation, without families being able to provide solace or support. Add to that the economic upheaval and the threat of the dissolution of the American economy.

Coming on the heels of all this, with scarcely the ability to “draw a breath,” insurrection instigated by Black Lives Matter and Antifa rocks the nation. Its fundamental nature stems from a segment of a protesting population being manipulated into rioting, looting, murdering while an incredulous population wonder what is going on.

The Hashkofa

We know none of this is by accident; we know everything is decreed by G-d. The question is, how do we understand this ongoing turbulence in terms of the Divine Agenda? What does this lead to, particularly for the Jewish people? “What are we watching, an aberration of history? Of course not!”

Turning to the Torah where all answers reside, the rabbi refers to events of four thousand year ago, to the story of Noah. “We know that mankind had corrupted itself” to the point of G-d’s termination of mankind’s life on the entire planet. As in previous lectures, he reminds us that this corruption was caused primarily by sexually-related depraved behaviors. An exegesis from “Midrash Raba” teaches that the decree against the destruction of the Earth was “sealed” when contracts were created to legalize and normalize behaviors such as same-sex marriage and even relationships between humans and animals. “That was the straw that broke the camel’s back,” the rabbi says. “What G-d wants is tikkun—rectification of Creation” which cannot be accomplished if procreation is inhibited by aberrant behavior. “Pru u’rvu”—be fruitful and mulitiply is a commandment to all mankind in the beginning of Genesis. “Perversion of reproduction is the beginning of the end.” G-d will not permit this. It is a “deal-breaker.”

But why a flood? The Kabbalistic understanding of this particular method makes plain what is happening today. G-d intended that the ten generations after the rebellion of primordial Adam should rectify the ten sephiros—spiritual forces damaged by that rebellion. These forces create the realities of existence. Ten generations, ten sephiros. But those ten generations failed. The hopelessness of the situation required a “restart” and Noah became a second Adam. Kabbalistically speaking, water is the analogue for the Messianic Light. Had mankind succeeded to rectify Creation and bring Redemption, the Messianic Light would have “flooded” the world, restoring man’s knowledge of G-d as “water covers the seabed.” Since G-d’s actions are expressed, as per His established legacy, according to mida k’neged mida—measure for measure, it is logical that, rather than a “flood” of enlightenment and spiritual transformation, the earth was flooded by water.

“Now we can understand what is happening today,” how sexual perversion’s normalization is epidemic and sufficient for G-d to determine, as in the time of Noah, a state of hopelessness. A “restart” is in order. But this time, the planet won’t drown in water but in the Redemptive Light itself. Creation is being restarted but in a qualitatively different way.

Anticipating a question of why a re-start as opposed to interference, the rabbi explains that G-d doesn’t “operate” like that. He desires that man rectify Creation “willingly, using free will, being responsible and accountable” to merit the rewards of his efforts. As the rabbi pointed out in previous lectures, without man being the cause of his own actions, of rectification, he would be incapable of experiencing the infinite goodness, the dveikus—attachment to G-d, that awaits him.

In the “Talmud Yerushalmi”—Jerusalem Talmud, it says that when asked what causes earthquakes, the prophet Eliyahu, rather than answer about techtonic plates rubbing against each other or some other scientific explanation, he blamed sexual deviancy. This shows how disruptive this behavior is and how intolerable a sin to G-d. What is a basic foundation to man’s survival? — the stability of the ground he walks on, lives on, builds on. The threat to man’s survival due to sexual deviance is akin to an earthquake. The foundations are shaken and everything constructed is destroyed.

Current Events

In July of 2015, the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage. This ruling was a distortion of the Constitution and normalized a perversion of marriage. Reversing such a decision is highly unlikely, if not impossible, requiring a constitutional amendment. “That’s not going to happen!” the rabbi exclaims. It is near to “hopeless as in the time of Noah.” This similar condition will prompt a similar response from G-d—a restart.

How do we recognize this restart in progress? At the same time that this amendment occurred, Donald Trump announced his candidacy. The rabbi has lectured at length about the nature of Trump’s presidency and his mission to accelerate the messianic process. In summary, Trump is a reincarnation of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus whose spiritual root in Esav, the progenitor of Edom which became Rome, Christianity, and Western Civilization. Trump’s mission to enact the teshuva of Esav has been laid out as the rabbi’s thesis since 2015. Briefly, Esav’s statement to Ya’akov to “let that which is yours be yours,” is a stunning admission that the blessings Ya’akov “stole” were deserved and rightfully bestowed. Such is a confession prompting penance, an acknowledgment that the entire “spiritual heritage, the Land of Israel, is ‘yours’.” Esav relinquished everything. Unfortunately, Ya’akov did not acknowledge this gesture and so Esav “returned to Seir” which, emblematically speaking, means that Esav returned to his wicked ways. But G-d says that because Esav atoned, G-d promises that Esav will return to complete his teshuva–repentance in order to fulfil the prophecy that he, as the elder brother, will “serve the younger”—his brother Ya’akov, the Jewish people, in their final push to complete the rectification.

The rabbi emphasizes the miraculous nature of Trump’s election, a victory against so many political “heavyweights” and reiterates that Trump is a messianic figure although not the Jewish messiah. Trump contributes enormously to the messianic process as a messiah of Edom. As such, Trump has several “assignments”:

1- protect the Jewish people and Israel i.e. applying sanctions upon Iran, defunding the U.N., shuttering the Palestinian office in America, cutting aid to UNRWA
2- return the land of Israel to the Jews (as Esav said, “Let that which is yours, be yours”) as he has been doing by recognizing Israel’s claim to the Golan and moving the American embassy to Jerusalem in recognition of it being the capital
3- make America great in order to prompt nations to curry favor with it which prompts deference to Israel as one means of achieving such favor

The situation has worsened when, just a few weeks ago, Neil Gorsuch, the first conservative judge and Trump nominee to the Supreme Court, enacted a stunning and dangerous ruling. It reinterprets and broadens the law against sexual discrimination to include protections for the heretofore nonexistent rights of those who self-identify by gender. Any person can claim to be of any gender-related orientation and, on that basis, claim discrimination and demand legal protection.

A brief reiteration from past lectures on the current status of G-d’s prime persecutory agent and fool, the Satan (please refer to previous three lectures for more on this subject), reminds us he is “dying.” That desperate condition results in a heightening of the stakes in this war between the good and bad of Esav. The evil aspect of Esav is represented by the forces currently wreaking havoc on the streets of America and those who support them whether they be corporate entities, the political establishment, the Democratic Party, and liberal democrats, etc. These are the Satan’s front-line soldiers. The Satan’s chief adversary is Trump and Trump’s America, the America which will bolster Israel’s status and help the Jews finish the tikkun. “Of course,” says the rabbi, “the Satan doesn’t want that! It would end his dominion.” Trump is an existential threat to the evil aspect of Esav and the Satan’s prevalence. The struggle between them appears supernatural. That is how we know it is messianic, says the rabbi. “It never happened before,” particularly, the uncanny and virulent hatred of Trump. The “gut hatred” resembles a national neurosis despite the good that he’s done. Not only will his adversaries never acknowledge the good, they will deny it!

The rabbi expresses his incredulity at yet another expression of Trump Derangement Syndrome, as it has been termed, the propulsion of Joe Biden the role of Democratic candidate despite his senility. The hatred of Trump is so great that “it exceeds the welfare of the United States.” It isn’t just historic, “it’s tragic…it’s abnormal…it’s extraordinary. It’s satanic.”

The rabbi then explains America’s history of racism and slavery in the context of hashkofa. America’s crime, and for which it paid dearly during the Civil War, was the crime of kidnapping. According to Torah, kidnapping makes one liable to the death penalty. Rather than destroy America, G-d decreed that there be the Civil War. The atonement America garnered through the suffering of that war permitted it to survive and, since then, America has succeeded in purging institutional racism. Again, the charges of racism are mostly manufactured, the result of manipulation by forces out to destroy Trump. From a Divine perspective, G-d has allowed the upheaval to take the form of racial struggle, having “commissioned the blacks to rebel because it conforms to His agenda.” America is being punished for its acceptance and comfort with sexually deviant conduct. A history of racial injustice and remnants of such make the ignorant among the black population and liberal whites prone to claim victimhood for themselves and instill guilt in others based on what they deem to be unjust privilege. This hostility prompts G-d’s agenda to be furthered.

The rabbi clarifies the erroneous beliefs about slavery which many believe the Torah condones. The Torah describes a system which has been mischaracterized and defined as “slavery.” It is, more precisely, “indentured servitude” which is voluntary. A destitute person can sell himself into such servitude in order to save himself from dire poverty’s threat to his survival. His servitude is governed by strict rules to ensure his dignity and survival, stipulating limitations and boundaries to his treatment.

The rabbi reviews other examples of Divine responses to sexually deviant behavior and society’s acceptance of it: There is a convergence between the leap forward in the progress of the gay struggle in 1968 and the assassination of Martin Luther King which unleashed tremendous upheaval. Also, as the rabbi has discussed before, Hurricane Katrina overwhelmed New Orleans just two days before the city’s annual “Southern Decadence Day” was slated to allow rampant promiscuity and lewd activity in places it would normally be outlawed. In 2005, G-d prevented the festivities from occurring because the government would not.

The US is now in a makom sacana—life and death situation as when someone is on trial and the outcome is life or death. Either Trump wins to restore America and help Israel, or Biden wins and government would be ruled by those who have been trying to destroy Trump all along. The evil aspect of Esav, the power of the Satan, would endure. They would dismantle the traditions and values of America: independence, freedom, self-determination, free-market economics, and would redirect its course to create bloated government with all its attendant regulations and constraints and restricting the freedoms of all who oppose them.

The rabbi offers his expectation of a Trump victory and the aversion of destruction. He bases this expectation on the value of America’s merits, historically. America’s charity both domestically and internationally is well-known and documented. Its treatment of the Jews and other immigrant groups has endowed it with a reputation for tolerance and generosity. Relatively, its judicial system is fair.

In terms of the Divine Agenda, it can be assumed that G-d wants Trump to continue his “messianic contribution” and Trump will have a powerful victory. How might G-d guarantee this? As the rabbi discussed in the lecture given prior to this one, the nature of the relationship between G-d and the Satan is the key. The Satan thinks that he has the upper hand with American cities rife with violent confrontation, crime, and lawlessness. But it is ironic that the more complacent the Satan is made to feel, the more he is being undermined. The terror being struck in America will produce a backlash against these forces who are actually a minority but whose power is being artificially magnified by the media. What appears to be a win for the rebels will appear differently come November when massive numbers of Trump supporters vote.

The Future

The abiding idea is that the exile must end. As such, we know that G-d’s oath to gather the Jewish nation to Him in Israel is imminently pending. The obstacle is still an Israeli government incompetent to deal with the absorption of millions of Jews. With its copious bureaucracy, overbearing regulations and cost-of-living, insufficient residential real estate, and suppression of creativity, something momentous must happen. The numbers of those wishing to emigrate is, reportedly, beginning to swell. Jews in America have been given a glimpse of an America where safety and stability are no longer a given, not even for the non-Jew. The “love affair” between the Jew and America is fading. Can we expect that G-d will “chase” Jews from places of escalating anti-Semitism to Israel with no prospects for livelihood and residence? The dissolution of the current Israeli government is necessary and imminent, the rabbi believes.

If Trump wins, is the future assured? The rabbi proposes that the future is not assured because academia in America has been inculcating the youth in values contrary to traditional American values, be they economic or sociopolitical. Post second-term, there could be a resurgence of what we are seeing now, particularly if the moral degradation isn’t reversed. “I want to tell you something” the rabbi says forebodingly. “G-d is mad” because America has decided, via the Supreme Court, to legalize that which is forbidden. In the Torah, the punishment for homosexuality is death. It is not what I say; the Torah says it.”

The main thing is that the future is an unknown in terms of how the Redemption will unfold. The rabbi leaves us with an idea he has shared many times over the years, his contention that a spiritual rehabilitation must happen. The Redemption is not just a material one relieving mankind of injustice and tyranny. It is a spiritual transformation in which each person, particularly each Jew long estranged from Judaism, can realize his full potential and a more intimate relationship with G-d.

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(Video published 19-MAY-2020) 21st Century #54 | How Coronavirus Accelerates the Redemption Process / RaMCHaL’s Yahrzeit 5780:

[TM: Video Content: RaMCHaL’s Yahrzeit 5780, How Coronavirus Accelerates the Redemption Process]
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Credit goes to Robin Diamond of Blogs.TimesOfIsrael.com!
Copied from Blogs.TimesOfIsrael.com: The Blogs – Robin DiamondRabbi Mendel Kessin: How Coronavirus Accelerates the Redemption Process“:
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The rabbi begins his lecture honoring the memory of Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzato, the RaMCHaL, and dedicating the lecture to the aliyus neshama of Rabbi Moshe Chaim ben Yakov Chai.

We are to note that RaMCHaL was one of the masters of Kabbalah, in fact, one of the greatest in the past 500 years. “Even the Vilna Gaon said that, had the RaMCHaL been alive at that time (the time in which the Vilna Gaon himself lived), he would have walked from Vilna, Lithuania to Padua, Italy” to have met with him to learn from him. Furthermore, the rabbi points out that RaMCHaL was a master in many fields: logic, poetry and drama, grammar, ethics, hashkofa, a scholar whose unique intellect inspired the rabbi to devote himself to the study of the RaMCHaL’s Torah. “I owe him a tremendous debt….so he is obviously one of my major rebbes.”

The rabbi establishes the yahrzeit—commemoration of passing as the date chaf-vav Iyar—26th of the month of Iyar of which the sephira count is “yesod, she’b’yesod—the secret of the ‘foundation of the foundation’,” which is indicative of foundational ideas of Judaism that the RaMCHaL helped illuminate.

To address the ongoing “confusion” that so many people continue to experience during this period of pandemic and its aftermath, the rabbi lays a foundation for showing the “inscrutable ways that G-d brings the Redemption.” The context for understanding events is the system G-d “instituted” in the form of three categories of actions called hanhagas:

1- Hanhagas ha’Kium: actions that “set-up” Creation, assigning characteristics to its spiritual and physical domains: The construct’s ultimate objective is for mankind to bring about its tikkun–rectification so that a “nation,” a population, will exist in olam ha’ba– Future World.

2- Hanhagas ha’Mishpat: the justified actions G-d takes in response to the acts of man based on man’s freedom of choice: Cause and effect is the dynamic. Consequences are the effect of G-d’s judgement caused by man’s decisions.

3- Hanhagas ha’Yichud: actions to ensure that, despite the inclination of mankind to exercise his choice to sin excessively, there will be an ultimate rectification and existence in the Future World.

Were it not for this last system of Hanhagas ha’Yichud, the entire journey of life—a life more likely to be rooted in sin than in serving G-d–would not only be wasteful, but frustrate G-d’s ultimate purpose. So, Hanhagas ha’Yichud can be thought of as a “back-up system” guaranteeing that “G-d’s Will cannot be frustrated, cannot fail.” Though these actions of Hanhagas ha’Yichud are rooted in justice, in cause and effect, they are, nevertheless, inscrutable. The Gemara recognizes this when it says, “rasha v’tov lo,” that an evil person can have much good fortune and that “tzaddik, v’ra lo,” a righteous person is dealt what seems to be a terrible hand.. To us, it doesn’t seem to make sense. These outcomes that seem counterintuitive are those of Hanhagas ha’Yichud.

Why are these actions so mysterious? There is a famous story by our sages of the execution of Rabbi Akiva that took place on Yom Kippur in Caesaria when it was part of the Roman Empire. Rabbi Akiva, considered one of the greatest rabbis who ever lived, responsible for the transmission of the Oral Law to future generations, a scholar knowledgeable of an “astounding amount of chochma—wisdom of Torah” was being executed in a most horrible way. He was flayed so that his death was torturous and protracted. Before he died, he uttered the famous words “Shema Yisroel” (Hear O Israel) and the sages tell us that the angels exclaimed incredulously to G-d asking how could this be the just reward for such devotion to Torah and service?

G-d’s response establishes the mysterious nature of Hanhagas ha’Yichud. G-d warns the angels to desist from asking why this fate should befall Rabbi Akiva. When they refuse, G-d warns that their persistence would result in the annihilation of Creation, returning it to its state of “tohu v’vohu”—unformed and void as described in the beginning of Genesis.

The angels were right. Why such a response from G-d? It seems like a threat. There is a powerful explanation for this: The agonizing death of Rabbi Akiva, though appearing to be contrary to G-d’s system of justice, happened to ensure Creation’s rectification. The inexplicable events that seem to invert justice are part of Hanhagas ha’Yichud—somehow.

Why not explain this to the angels? Such information would inevitably come to the attention of the Satan, the chief prosecuting agent in the Holy Tribunal. The Satan doesn’t want a rectification. He will claim, prosecute, accuse—do whatever is within his purview—to prevent this mysterious, inexplicable system from culminating in outcomes contrary to his desire, a desire for an unredeemed world thwarting G-d’s Plan to bestow the ultimate good upon mankind during the messianic era and in the Future World.

Who is this extraordinary angel G-d created, the Satan? He has three “jobs”: He is a tempter, known as the “yetzer ha’ra”—the evil inclination. He is the “mekatreg”– accuser, the heavenly chief district attorney. He is the “malach ha’mavet”—the Angel of Death who executes the judgement of the Heavenly Tribunal should that be its verdict. Given these three tasks, we might anticipate the problem. Throughout history, Jews have sinned and the Satan, based on the demands of his jobs, is authorized to prosecute and carry out the justified consequence. But, G-d does not always want to abide by the justice system He created as required. Perhaps He wants to delay the consequence. G-d must somehow “get around” his own system. So, what does G-d do to dissuade the Satan from bringing a case? He “gives” the Satan the trait of yielding to self-interest that he may be biased. If he is biased, he can be bribed! So how is this bias instilled so that the Satan can be thwarted from his G-d-given task?

The rabbi describes it as a dictate issued to the Satan by G-d in which G-d tells the Satan that his survival, like that of all Creation, is sustained by a “Divine Flow.” But, after the sin of Primordial Adam, the Satan’s existence will now be sustained and empowered by holy energy diverted from the Jews when they sin, and this, principally, from the Satan’s efforts to tempt them.

The Satan now has two reasons to prosecute: Primarily, it’s his “job,” but, more provocatively, and exceeding his assignment, the Satan’s motivation is to recognize and realize his self-interest. To do so both nourishes and tremendously empowers him each time he wins a case bestowing upon him, rather than the Jew, the energy of kedusha—holiness that enables him to continue as tempter and executor.

But G-d can exploit this bias too by persuading the Satan to refrain from some particular accusation because, to refrain will result in even greater profit. What does G-d gains from this? Should G-d want to give the Jews something that justice would terminate, G-d can “get around” this and the Jews get what G-d deems necessary for them to have.

This has occurred throughout history. And here, the rabbi offers two examples of this shochad–bribery: G-d approaches the Heavenly Tribunal in 1898 issuing a directive for the return of Israel to the Jewish people. Immediately, the Satan rightfully argues that the Jews don’t merit it. So, G-d makes a deal. He tells the Satan that his efforts to promote sin will be eventually boosted when those at the forefront of the establishment effort—those prime targets of the Satan’s subversion–will be installed and in control. G-d will allow them to be the rulers of the fledgling state. In exchange for the Satan’s agreement to a Jewish state, G-d agrees to give initial control of the state to rulers who will compel Jews to sin. G-d makes his case for “those guys (the Eirev Rav)” from whom the Satan has been successfully siphoning off holiness for quite some time. So, with the prospect of even more holiness coming his way, he agrees. Who founds the state? Theodore Herzl. So, despite the Jews’ lack of deservedness, the Jewish state is established.

Another example occurs in the 1960’s-70’s when it is G-d’s judgement that then was a propitious time to bring the beginning of the study of the messianic Light—Kabbalah. And true to his calling, the Satan says, “You cannot give them this hasaga—ultimate understanding! They’re undeserving!” And, justice is correct. G-d wants to appease him, as per the system He Himself set up. “You can’t quiet the guy!” So, G-d says, “I’ll bring the concept of Kaballah to the world and you can get your guys (sinful gentiles) to degrade it.” The Satan figures this to be a “great idea” because if it is degraded, the Jews are apt to dismiss it and he profits. And that is what happened. The Kabbalah gets “mixed up with all that New Age stuff, crystals, all that stuff “ and Kabbalah becomes commercialized, trendy, and oh-so-chic. The Satan says, “This is great!”

The ultimate strategy G-d employs to hide his intent is, using his infinite intellect, His use of the Satan himself to be the instrument of Redemption. While the Satan thinks he’s getting the better part of the deal, he is being made the fool. He is the “vehicle” to bring the Redemption. In fact, the gematria of Hanhagas ha’Yichud is 496. That is the exact numerical value as in the phrase “b’yad sitra achra”—in the hand of the “other side,” referring to the other side of holiness, the kingdom of the Satan. So, the hanhagas ha’Yichud progresses, expressing itself tactically, in the hands of the Satan! In the end, we will recognize this. “And the one who is going to have a heart attack is the Satan!” says the rabbi. He thought he was furthering the cause of justice and would enhance his own power, but he was actually bringing the Redemption closer.

This is not unlike Moses being raised in the palace of Pharoah. “But that’s ridiculous!” the rabbi exclaims in light of Pharoah having ordered the murder of all the firstborn of Israel because he’d been told that a redeemer had been born. Ironically, Pharoah raises the redeemer in his own house, being responsible for the education and nurture of he who Pharoah most feared and tried to do away with. “That,” the rabbi emphasizes, “is how G-d works.” What we assume is happening is seldom so. The paradoxical nature of events is disguised.

“Now we can begin to understand what is happening today. You are looking at the actions of Htoanhagas ha’Yichud.” A question arises, and has been brought to the rabbi’s attention regarding the extraordinary fulfillment of the completion of the Daf Yomi cycle by hundreds of thousands of diligent Jews who have studied, and completed “Shas,” the Gemara, “and celebrated it!” How can it be, the rabbi has been asked, that such a luminous accomplishment, conferring so much merit on the Jewish people, culminates in the Torah being “taken away”? Due to the pandemic, shuls and yeshivas are closed and there are no Daf Yomi lessons taking place. And if this were not enough, so many teachers, so many Torah scholars have died! A second question arises: since the time from Purim through Passover is regarded, traditionally, as redemptive, and we know that the final Redemption will follow traditionally, how can it be that the pandemic comes at such an auspicious time? Every expectation is dashed. That which is logical to predict, to hope for, is inverted to its opposite—or so it appears.

“So, what are we looking at? It is absolutely a paradox. You are looking at the actions G-d must take to further the Redemption….In fact, you are looking at what is identical to the death of Rabbi Akiva,” the rabbi says, a torturous execution conferred upon a person so undeserving of it, an outcome that is “unintelligible based on what we know is the justice and the goodness and the kindness of G-d.”

“Is it possible,” the rabbi asks, “to figure this out, to get some insight into how G-d works—the depth of the intellect of G-d? And the answer is yes!”

Referring to the two previous installments of lectures about the pandemic, the rabbi reminds us of the idea of the Messianic Light entering Creation through a Gate which is “vast” but which closes as the Jews sin. At this point, an alternate access for the Light, the holiness, a Window within that Gate, opens. It is an aperture to ensure that Creation doesn’t completely cease though this inferior Light differs markedly from the past when the world was infused with more holiness. As this Window continues to close due to ongoing rejection of holiness, “that’s very bad!” But the rabbi mitigates our anxiety with the idea that final closure of the Window prompts the final re-opening of the Gate—the Redemption. This is Hanhagas ha’Yichud.

“Think about those things that are enormously threatening to the Satan. First of all, we know that Torah is the greatest antidote to the satanic influence,…a cure,” as the rabbi terms it. Torah gives a person kedusha because Torah and the soul “are one” so that studying Torah changes the individual. Chazal–our sages, record G-d’s pronouncement that, should the Jews abandon Him, they will, inevitably, be restored to Him by retaining their study of Torah. The Torah is, among other things, a compendium of His Will, the mitzvahs, the knowledge of His Will. This is the “cure” to the infirmity of the satanic enterprise that confers decrepitude when “we don’t know anything.”

The rabbi’s next question: “Why is the world ‘caught up’ in smartphones?” Since the greatest threat to a person is his ignorance, The Satan knows that people are more apt to think about their lives, be introspective, if they have fewer distractions and more contemplative time—“Who am I? What am I? What have I done? Where am I going? What is my purpose? Who is G-d? What is a Jew?” So, the strategy is to distract with smartphones, compulsively so. The hyperavailability of the internet by means of the smartphone has become a means to deliver dangerous content, fake news, constant distraction. “These devices are satanic” particularly in that they are a component of another deal forged between G-d and the Satan. G-d directs the invention of a device to ultimately enable the transmission of Torah. The global connectivity this device offers will enable the messiah “to give a shiurlecture to seven billion people!” But then, typically, the Satan provides evidence for mankind’s lack of deservedness. So, G-d assures him saying, “OK. You can have it first. You can have all the shmutz, all the filth, all the time-wasters you want!” That’s the bribe taking advantage of the Satan’s bias, his self-interest.

The Satan realizes that, since Torah is the antidote to ignorance surrounding the meaning of existence and Who G-d is, the Torah is the most dangerous adversary the Satan has. “So, guess what? Daf Yomi! The….greatest ensemble of the Jews in the history of the world…..becomes the greatest threat” to the Satan. He realizes he must stop it.

After ignorance, the second threat to the Satan is Trump, a messianic figure and the embodiment of the tov she’beEsav—the good aspects of Esav fighting the ra she’b’Esav—the evil aspect of Esav. The rabbi has spoken about this at great length in many video lectures since 2015. The entire establishment: Democrats, the Deep State, Trumps adversaries, “are the Satan’s main guys.” Their defeat will be cataclysmic to the Satan’s survival.

The adjunct threat of Trump is his assistance to Israel. The reunification of territory that is in the offing is not something the Satan can allow. Despite Trump’s untrammeled electability, this pandemic has cast a shadow on a landslide success that would have cinched the unleashing of Trump’s unencumbered power to do even more on behalf of Israel. The Satan has to stop this “at all costs.”

So, again, the Satan brings a prosecutorial case to stop the Torah and Trump. How? The pandemic: closure of Torah academies, synagogues, deaths of Jewish educators and Torah leaders. Additionally, the destruction of economies creates a chalisha—weakening of faith. “Where is G-d?” many Jews will ask. The unprecedented success of the economic revival in America under Trump is undermined, that selling-point and impetus for a landslide victory.

How could G-d allow this? The Satan doesn’t know about the Gate; he only knows of the Window. His presumption is that the holiness he has usurped will ensure his survival even though the Window closes and existence itself is nullified. But it is G-d’s intent that the Satan shall himself be destroyed. How? By this pandemic! the darkness for a closing Window has been accelerated but, paradoxically, it has also accelerated the opening of the Gate! The Satan is the agent of the Redemption by hastening the darkness he expects will certify his continuity even as the world is destroyed. The Satan is unaware of Hanhagas ha’Yichud, its principle, its mechanisms. This is why our sages interpret that part of the liturgy stating that, about G-d’s ways, the fool cannot understand. Who is this “fool”?—the Satan.

There’s an argument in the Gemara as to whether or not the Torah will be forgotten by the Jewish people. The chachamim—scholars maintain that, yes, it will be forgotten. We know that the Redemption can come in one of two ways: as “kulam chayavim”—all are sinful, or “kulam zakaim”—all are righteous. Will the Gate open before or after the Window shuts? The scholars maintain that it will come when the fullness of Jewish iniquity is marked by being devoid of Torah, forcing the utter closure of the Window. But Rav Shimon bar Yochai says, “G-d-forbid; the Torah will never be forgotten.” What is Rav Shimon alluding to?—to what is happening today. The Torah has not been forgotten, abandoned. The proof? Daf Yomi. But, it did become enough of a threat to the Satan to compel him to stop it and, paradoxically, hasten the Redemption he sought to prevent. Rav Shimon was right—not only that the loss of Torah is unthinkable, but that its maintenance, even its celebration, would become the Satan’s motivation to step up efforts to oppose it and, thereby, hasten the Satan’s greatest nightmare—his end.

With this presentation, this culmination of the two previous lectures on the meaning of the Covid-19 pandemic, it is hoped that we have become more adept at resolving paradox, at uncovering irony, more able to grasp that within contradiction, in the sardonic, in the tragic, and even in the tragic-comic there is, most clearly, the Hand of G-d.

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(Video published 23-APR-2020) 21st Century #53 | The Coronavirus Pandemic as a Pivotal Part of the Messianic Process:

[TM: Video Content: The Divine Plan | Actions caused by sin | Why Tzaddikim don’t want to see Messiah coming | Sheffa and the Sefiros | The power of sin and the power of Satan | Pekida and Sechira – Windows shutting and Gate reopening | The reason for the Mabul (Flood) | Why is the Light diminishing | The global effects of the Corona Virus | Pakod Pakadti | Gog and Magog | The Evil will be destroyed | The Tasks of Moshiach Ben Yosef (MBY) and Moshiach Ben David (MBD) | One of the main reasons for COVID-19: The Legalization of gay marriage (go to 1:14:00 on the video time scale) | Erev Rav – the Israeli Government under Netanyahu and Gantz.
Please note that I, TM, do not agree with the superiority of the Jewish soul and it is not only the Jews, who do the Tikkun, but goyim assist in Tikkun, too!]
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Credit goes to Robin Diamond of Blogs.TimesOfIsrael.com!
Copied from Blogs.TimesOfIsrael.com: The Blogs – Robin DiamondR.M. Kessin: Pandemic as Pivotal Part of Messianic Process Part2“:
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For those who prefer to read, rather than watch, the rabbi’s lecture content, here is an edited transcription of his latest. Thrilling and epic. — Rabbi Mendel Kessin begins part two of his lecture “The Coronavirus Pandemic as a Pivotal Part of the Messianic Process” (given April 22nd 2020) by summarizing part one, the pandemic’s three causes: prevalence of corruption and immorality, frequency and vehemence of loshon hara—denigrating speech which contributes to sinas chinam—baseless hatred, and the world’s obsessive preoccupation with material acquisition and pursuit of pleasure.

Then, he tells us to prepare for a much more profound understanding, one which goes beyond enumeration and consequences of sin. It veers toward understanding the mechanisms of the Divine Agenda itself and how sin affects it. We are also promised the “good news” in terms of how close we are to the Redemption.

He begins with a chazal—scholarly reference within the Meseches Sanhedrin. These revered sages responsible for writing the Talmud, possessed ruach ha’kodesh— prophetic discernment, particularly about the Divine Plan. One of them, Rabbi Yochanan, who wrote the Talmud Yerushalmi says that when the messiah comes, “Let him come, but I don’t want to see him.” That statement, and one not confined to R. Yochanan, refers to the chevlai ha’mashiach— Birthpangs of the Messiah, an era marked by travail and suffering. Most readers presume he refers to predominantly physical sufferings such as persecutions, political upheaval, bankruptcies, even plagues. But that is not what the sages feared.

Someone who aspires to very lofty spiritual fulfillment has a greater fear—that of being seriously deprived of spirituality. They feared me’at ohr—diminishment of spiritual light, justice, righteousness, holiness. Those sensitive to the tenor of the times, noting lacks in goodness, righteousness, and holiness are particularly pained. This warns us what happens at the end of time. It is a time of profound choshech – darkness, an environment they cannot tolerate.
What is it about the Divine Agenda that brings such an era about? The RaMCHaL,—Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto—in his essay on the Redemption, writes that there is such a thing as a shefa—Divine flow of holiness, a Divine energy. It is one of many non-material emanations from what are called the sephiros-—the mechanism that dispenses Divine energy creating realities. If that energy were to cease, were blocked, the entire universe would cease to exist.
In the beginning and through early history, these flows were ample, even luxurious, so much so that the flow can be said to have come through a sha’ar—gate. This Gate was open for a long time, particularly during the time of Moses and the Temple eras. The rectification of Creation that is the mission of the Jew, was being achieved through their performance of G-d’s commandments. What can cause, and did cause, the flow to be diminished, to be blocked?
The first inhibitor is sin. As the sins of the Jewish nation accumulated, the Divine “light” dimmed and the Gate contracted. This has consequences for all of Creation, not just the Jews. Sin has three impacts that deprive the Creation of the sustaining Divine light.
The mechanisms for this inhibition is as follows: First, the angel, the Satan, is given access to Divine energy because his job is to “balance the books” between sin and the retribution that brings atonement. He regulates the extent to which justice prevails. As an operative overseeing Creation, the Satan is the prosecuting attorney responsible for bringing sin to the attention of the Heavenly Court, particularly when a person engages in defamatory speech. Until then, his misdeeds are unlikely to be examined. So, when Jews sin, the Divine energy which would have gone to the Jews goes, instead, to the Satan upon which he is yoneg—nourished and grows more powerful. If the Jews repent, they “take back” that Divine flow. Likewise, if they suffer. Both suffering and teshuva—repentance restore the holy energy to the Jews.
What are the consequences historically? The Jews speaking defamatory speech destroyed the achdus—unity of the nation, their access to the energy, and the Temples themselves. Lack of love of one Jew for another is the “killer.” If the Jews have this kind of power to block or diminish this Divine energy, then they have the power to literally destroy Creation. So, what does G-d do?
He opens up chalonos—windows! The Gate is closed but the Windows are open so the Creation can sustain itself because the Divine energy can get in. But once the energy is restricted, “the Jews begin to suffer terribly.” They go into exile, and their holiness, their mazal–fortune is diminished, and the Satan still has access to it. The Jews first went into exile in their own land under the domination of Rome but, later, were “evicted” geographically after the destruction of the second Temple. As the windows began to close due to their sins, not only were they in exile, but the parade of misery from pogroms, crusades, persecutions, inquisitions escalated and what little was coming through went to the Satan.
How far can the windows close? According to the RaMCHaL, the Window will close almost entirely, until the opening is a mere “nanometer” allowing a “slit” of light only. Then comes the time when the Window too will shut. But G-d will not allow total closure. So, at the moment that the Window shuts, the Gate re-opens and that is the beginning of the messianic era, a time referred to as “peckida.” The subsequent opening of the Gate allowing that luxurious flow to resume is referred to as the “zechira.” Both terms mean, literally, “remembrance.” This flow brings the Josephic messiah, the Mashiach ben Yosef, and the beginning of the rehabilitation of the Jews and the restoration of righteousness and holiness to the world.
What we see is the “scheme” about which R. Yochanan knew. The Jews can bring the Redemption–the restoration of the Divine Light–through teshuva, repentance. If not accomplished by repentance, then by suffering. Now we understand why these holy sages did not want to live at this time.
The rabbi briefly mentions, for those who are interested in a Kabbalistic understanding, that the sephira—Divine energy of Yesod—foundation merges with Malchut–kingship. That merger constitutes the pekida, the restoration of Divine flow and the revelation of Mashiach ben Yosef and the start of the rehabilitation of the Jews. “That’s the plan,” the rabbi says, and now we can understand the agony of those who knew it would be a time of spiritual darkness and didn’t want to experience it.
This situation is similar to the Flood. After ten generations, mankind sinned terribly and the Gate shut, and the Windows also were closing. But just at that ignominious threshold of utter annihilation, G-d said, “No” and rather brought the Flood that killed most of mankind but retained the Creation. The rabbi points out that mankind was destroyed not through the deluge but through the asphyxiation of drowning, not unlike the obvious feature of morbidity of Covid-19. Afterward, G-d “swore” that mankind would never again be given the opportunity to shut the Window through grievous sin without the Gate opening, despite having the free will to sin. The Flood was the only time that man’s free will almost brought complete destruction to the entire Creation were it not for a few righteous people. The rainbow, that symbol associated with the aftermath of the Flood, represents that oath that G-d made to never again give mankind the ability to close both the Gate and the Window. Thus, there was made an alteration in the Divine Agenda.
“Where are we at today?” the rabbi asks. Mankind’s current status is corrupt, the corruption of his nature. “Everyone is into physicality, materialism. Who thinks about G-d, serving G-d, submitting to G-d’s commandments? How many people repent? The amount of loshon ha’ra—defamatory speech is stupendous!” So is the depravity and the corruption of man’s nature—the homosexuality (a topic which he returns to later in his talk)! And what of the devices that make this proliferation much easier? What about the internet and smartphones allowing easy access to the defamation, fake news, and pornography!
When did the severity of darkness really begin? It began with the Holocaust. We don’t know exactly why the Holocaust was the method, “but what I can tell you is what resulted” and that outcome has several notable features:
First, six million Jews died but the number in itself does not reveal the real tragedy. “Every Jewish soul is kodosh— holy. The Jew is a holy being. A Gentile is spiritual in that he has a soul but only a Jew’s soul can affect the spiritual worlds to effect the tikkun—rectification of Creation. As we see from the verse, G-d says ‘I will build them a Temple and I will dwell in their midst,’,” so from this we know that when a group of Jews get together, i.e. when Jewish men pray in a minyan—a quorum of ten participants, the shekhina–Divine Presence, is in their midst and so prayer is augmented, enhanced. When a congregation forms, the Divine Presence intensifies. So, when six million were killed, G-d eradicated the Divine Presence of six million Jews from the world. This he called “extinguishing the Divine Light itself.”
Second, the places that the nazis destroyed were centers of Torah scholarship. Strongholds and places of proliferation such as Poland, Germany, Ukraine, Russia, were wiped out. By doing away with the “cream of Torah,” G-d accelerated the process because “the Windows are closing.”
Why would G-d do this? G-d wants to bring the Redemption but there is a massive debt incurred by the sins of the Jews, a debt which must be paid according to the justice system G-d Himself established. The Holocaust satisfied a great deal of that debt. Whereas such payment would normally have taken five hundred years, it was accomplished in six, from 1939-1945.
Third, we recognize the gradual nature of the closing Window in the many epochs of Jewish life and scholarship and we note the tapering achievements: the era of the Tano’im, one of approximately 300-400 years, the era of the Amara’im 300-400 years, then the eras of the Gaon’im and Achron’im….through these successive levels we see the very gradual nature of waning scholarship.
A fourth and terrible diminution that the Holocaust perpetuated was that G-d Himself was degraded. It was naturally inferred from the deaths of so many Jews that G-d was helpless to protect and save His “princes and princesses” of the Torah, the Chosen People. He must be weak if He can’t save His people.
Fifth: Assimilation, whether by intermarriage, neglect, or lack of affiliation with any sect or stream of Judaism has caused Jews to “disappear.” The Eirev Rav, those leaders wittingly or not, reduce Judaism to a mere culture thereby does away with Judaism as a covenant between the Jew and G-d. Add to that the Conservative, Reform, and Reconstructionist movements in America and “the Darkness intensifies tremendously.”
Yet another result of the lack of Divine Light is today’s lack of Gedolim—Torah masters or Poskim—adjudicators of Jewish law. “Think about that,” the rabbi tells us. “There are thousands and thousands of students learning in yeshivas but how many are Gedolim? We don’t have any the way we saw even thirty years ago.” Jews no longer have multitudes who are masters of the Torah.
So, G-d wants to intensify the darkness and balance the books, bring the Window down, intensifying the darkness to unparalleled historic levels–and not just for the Jews but for all mankind. What is the device He uses to accomplish this? The Corona Virus.
This virus has many different features: It’s global. It has “invaded the entire planet.” Every synagogue, every yeshiva, every minyan is forbidden to function. A global shut-down of these activities is “bizarre.” G-d has stopped the intermingling of Jews with other Jews. He has shut down the source of kedusha—holiness. Was there ever a Passover when people were alone, or confined to commemorating the greatest event in Jewish history, the Exodus from Egypt, as just a couple or the immediate family present? No communal seders? No extended family get-togethers? In many cases, a person was totally alone.
Another feature is the unusual prevalence of death of many rabbis and Jewish leaders. Tragically, holiness is not only found in a place or even in learning and worship but also in Jewish leaders and teachers. Also, the virus tends to attack and kill the elderly. Elderly Jews are closer to the era of traditional Jewish practice and their loss contributes to the encroaching darkness as per the g’zera—Heavenly decree.
Despite the intensification, mercifully, this virus has spread to 194 countries in less than two months whereas the Spanish Flu, for example, lingered for a year. G-d seems to wish to accomplish His objectives quickly. Another expression of G-d’s benevolence is its relatively low morbidity, particularly compared to the Bubonic Plague or the Spanish Flu. Death doesn’t seem to be the primary objective. It is pachad maves–fear of death that satisfies the judgment because fear of death is a “death-sentence equivalency.”
We know that the last Redemption will be as the first. Let’s compare: The Window nearly closed when the Hebrew nation was redeemed by Moses. The Window was closing when their suffering intensified, when Pharoah decreed they must gather their own straw with which they worked; it would no longer be provided. This virus, for the Jews, is like Pharoah’s decree that Jews will no longer be provided straw. They must gather it all night long and, sleepless, toil. The Window is almost totally shut and G-d says, “Pokod pakaditi”—surely I have remembered you.
Similarly, they were quarantined in their homes when the plague of the death of the firstborn swept through Egypt. That is when the Gate opened and the exodus ensued. But evil resurged when Egypt’s army pursued them to the banks of the Reed Sea. There is always, despite the open Gate, an attempt by evil to resurge and recapture its dominance. But as the Divine Light flowed stronger, the devastation to Egypt’s forces was realized. That was the pekida. The zechira followed with the giving of the Torah at Sinai, that spectacular event stemming from the incremental increases in the Divine flow through an open Gate.
The last resurgence will be the war of Gog u’Magog, a messianic war against the Josephic messiah and a final resurgence of evil to destroy Jerusalem. And just like Egypt, evil will be utterly vanquished and Mashiach ben Yosef will be revealed and he has four “jobs”:
He will bring the Jews back from galus—exile. The rabbi asks how could G-d do that considering the extent to which many Jews are wedded to physicality in whatever countries they live in. “There is a fascinating Gemara,” the rabbi cites, “in which Rav Acha says that the Beit Ha’Mikdash ha’Shlishi—the Third Temple will be built by Mashiach ben Yosef. Imagine if you knew that the Temple just descended from Heaven ‘as a fire’ and the Divine Presence has been restored! Imagine knowing there is now access to an entirely different way of seeing reality!” That consciousness will be revealed as his fourth “job.” Last, Mashiach ben Yosef vanquishes the last remnants of evil within the Gentile world, ushering in the era of the Davidic messiah who reigns as G-d’s representative. it can finally be acknowledged that the Jews have long-suffered for the redemption of all mankind and are the supreme nation for having fulfilled that.
The bad news is that the Window is about to shut. The good news is that it cannot shut without the Gate opening.
“Pokod pokaditi,”–I have surely remembered my people says G-d to Moses in the Torah portion “Vayera” just before Moses demands Pharaoh release his Jewish slaves. The gematria–numerology of that phrase is 780 and we are in the year of the Hebrew calendar 5780. The word “pakod,” has a letter “vav” which is pronounced but not written. Its value is “6,” representing the 6th millennium. “Guess what? That is this year!” says the rabbi excitedly. But for that to happen, the virus has to disappear. And here the rabbi poses a fantastic, yet possible marvel:
“So wouldn’t it be incredible if, on seder night, the 15th day of Nisan, when everybody sat alone–in fact in Israel they said you cannot go out of the house!–Can you imagine? For the first time in history (since ancient Egypt) in Israel and around the world, it is just like what it says in the Torah!” There was a decree to stay indoors as if to avoid the plague of the makas bechoros—plague of death of the first-born. “It is an exact replication of Egypt. So wouldn’t it be amazing, if at chatzos– around midnight, that exact moment that every Jew was in his house–which is the greatest darkness that Jews have ever seen–the Gate opened? Yes! And a half hour later, the Window shut!” In fact, he added, “T’hiye shnas pedkida—it will be the year of pekida, and the Hebrew letters of ‘pekida’ are the numerical values: taf-shin-peh: תשפ (780).”
The rabbi cautions, “One other idea that I must mention and which some people will not like, but it is not I who say this; it is contained in “Medrash Rabah”: The decree to destroy the world was sealed (cannot be overturned) right before the Flood.” Why? A man could marry a man or an animal. True, homosexuality carries a death sentence, but why would it destroy the world? The sin as committed was not simply the abominable behavior (as the Torah describes it); it was its legalization and promotion. Homosexuality and other forbidden unions got a seal of approval through contractual validation. Homosexuality was legalized and made normative. G-d said, “That cannot be.”
What about now? Why is America suffering? Why is the world suffering? According to that medrash, the legitimization of same-sex marriages is being compounded and aggravated by that proud homosexual contender who ran for president until a few months ago. The rabbi is reluctant to utter his name though he was a serious contender. America casually accepted his candidacy and the prospect that, were he elected, he would attend state functions with his husband. What more statutory approval could a nation give to a behavior than to offer it up for election to public office of the most powerful nation on Earth! The pandemic speaks to this because, like the Flood, the virus kills by asphyxiation. The person is deprived of oxygen and “drowns.”
“It is amazing what is happening in Israel. I believe G-d wants to stop the Eirev Rav,” the rabbi continues, end the domination of those Jews bent on “destroying the primacy of Torah and replace it with secularism.” The rabbi exclaims how three elections have taken place and what has resulted is this current government!” The rabbi deems it absurd and explains: Gantz has only about 15 seats yet he has been given equal power to Netanyahu who has 58. Gantz has managed to secure for himself a “co-premiership” and Netanyahu “gave away half the store.” There is a chazal—statement by the sages which says that “two kings cannot make use of one crown.” When G-d created the universe, the sun and moon were equal luminaries. The moon objected to such equality so the moon was relegated to inferior luminescence to preside over the night. “How can there be a government that has two prime ministers?” the rabbi asks. “And they want to create 36 ministries costing a billion shekel? How could Likud allow Netanyahu to be a candidate for prime minister despite being indicted for three crimes?” Incredulous, the rabbi points out that Likud should have expected Netanyahu’s indictment to make him vulnerable to “extortion, blackmail.” Gantz threatened to put term limits or prohibit an indicted prime minister from continuing his role unless, of course, his terms were met. “It’s a mockery. This is lunacy. That is how desperate the Eirev Rav are to rule.” He likened this government’s configuration to evil’s final attempt to resurrect itself, like the Egyptian army trying to retrieve its slaves.
“The darkness is continuing, the rabbi continues. “The Jews are being stripped of their kedusha and the world is being stripped or destroyed by the virus. The Windows are closing and G-d says, ‘I must end it all because the Gate must open’.”
“Yes, G-d will end it,” says the rabbi. When he opens the Gate, the world will begin to be filled with unbelievable tranquility, holiness, goodness, success, justice. It will be a world we cannot comprehend. This is “forthcoming,” for everyone, not just for the Jews. The Satan will be utterly extinguished. Jewish suffering will end. Mashiach will bring the Third Temple, gather the exiles, and show the world who the Jews really are. He will bring down the shekhina—the Divine Presence. That is what is meant by “The Earth will be filled with the knowledge of G-d (the shekhina) as the waters cover the seabed.”
“You cannot believe what will happen,” he continues. “The entire Creation, the hundreds of trillions of angels, every species of animal, every human…. will be screaming at the top of their lungs, ‘The Jews did it; they did the tikkun’!” The world will enter into a period of incredible tranquility, success, peace, holiness, righteousness. The Jews will be able to “hug G-d and G-d will dance with the Jewish people” and all the nations will exult that the Jews accomplished the rectification of Creation.
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(Video published 22-MAR-2020) 21st Century #52 | The reason for the Coronavirus Pandemic, and how to protect from it:

The Reasons for COVID-19: Lashon Hara (Evil Speech), Hatred and Immorality.
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(Video published 16-FEB-2020) Current Events Update February 2020 Messianic Process:

An update on the current political events in the U.S., U.K. Brexit, Iran, Israel and China (Corona Virus)
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(Video published 17-NOV-2019) 21st Century #47 | The Deeper Meaning of the Trump Impeachment Hearings:

An update on the current political events in the U.S. – Kingdom vs. Kingdom
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(Video published 3-NOV-2019) 21st Century #46 | The Rehabilitation of the Jews at the End of Time :

It’s Friday, 12.45h, on the Creation Clock | The current political events in U.S.A. and Israel
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(Audio published 24-SEP-2019) Israel News Talk Radio: What Do the Elections Have to Do With the Coming of the Messiah? – The Tamar Yonah Show :


Another nice recap about Netanyahu, Gantz, Sa’ar – Erev Rav vs. Erev Rav – Gog and Magog – Iran vs. Saudi Arabia.
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(Video published 12-MAY-2019) 21st Century #43 | Anti-Semites in Congress, Bombings in Israel, Notre Dame and the Dying Satan:

Very instructive … about the evil Congress, 700 rocket attacks into Israel and the world keeps silent, the Notre Dame burning and the end of Christianity.
Where I certainly don’t agree with M.Kessin’s dismissive statement about Jesus: ‘Yeshu’ is not “the guy”, he is Yeshua HaMelech HaMashiach!
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(Video published 6-MAY-2019) 21st Century #42 | The meaning of the continued persecution of President Trump:

The ongoing witch hunt of Donald Trump. The irrational behaviour of the Congress. Three evil female Congress members. Satan is dying.
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Please report broken links to TMRelay (@) gmx.ch. Thank you.
Bitte ungültige Links an TMRelay (@) gmx.ch melden. Danke.

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(Rev.3-NOV-2020)

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