Shana Tova from Rabbi Nachman Kahana

Rabbi Nachman Kahana

BS”D  Rosh Hashana 5775  Dear friends: A short message for the new year 5775 What kind of a year will we be experiencing here in Eretz Yisrael? If I were to choose a pasuk (verse in the Torah) which, I believe, will encapsulate the events of the coming year 5775 it would be Shemot 1,12 which describes the Egyptians’ harsh treatment of the Jewish people and the results: וכאשר יענו אתו כן ירבה וכן יפרץ ויקצו מפני בני ישראל But the more they oppressed them, the more they (the Jews) multiplied and spread out; and the Egyptians dreaded the Israelites The Egyptians dreaded the Jew because what was happening before their very eyes was irrational. The more they oppressed the Jews with their expressed intention that the slaves would decrease in number, the more we increased in numbers and in our presence all over the land. Their frustration knew no bounds. The Egyptians’ impotence in weakening the Jewish people fired up their hatred, which in turn lead their leaders to act irrationally to the detriment of their national interests and eventual destruction at the Red Sea. If the Mashiach will not come this year and the world will not be obliterated by a Moslem nuclear weapon, this is what, I believe, will be. There will be threats - military, political, judicial - directed at us by the Arabs in our immediate vicinity. We will see an increase in BDS - boycotts, divestment and sanctions - on the part of companies and academic and religious institutions in the US and Western Europe. Our ears will be numb from all the warnings, blackmail and intimidation coming from our "friends" in high places. But to the degree that the Jewish State will be pressured we will progress and develop in every walk of life. Our population will reach 7 million Jews; we will discover more oil and gas, the Negev will give forth gold and silver mines, the land will be filled with construction cranes reaching into the sky, and apartments in Yerushalayim will continue to be valued in the millions of shekels and millions of dollars, as befitting the Holy City of HaShem. You are skeptical? Remember the Yiddish saying:  טראכט גוט וועט זיין גוט Think good thoughts and it will be good. This is the principle behind the "simanim" that we eat on the nights of Rosh HaShana - eat sweet, think sweet - it has importance in the shamayim. Ketiva va’chatima tova Nachman Kahana