BS”D
Parashat Emor 5775
Rabbi Nachman Kahana
Our parasha states (21,6):
קדשים יהיו לאלהיהם ולא יחללו שם אלהיהם כי את אשי ה’ לחם אלהיהם הם מקריבם והיו קדש:
They will be holy to their God and not profane the name of their God. Because they present the offerings to the Lord.
And Rashi on the phrase “They will be holy to their God” comments:
על כרחם יקדישום בית דין בכך:
The court is charged with ensuring that the Kohanim live a life of sanctity.
Hashem’s Communication with Man
The very thought that HaShem would cease His continuous dialogue with His nation Yisrael, albeit temporarily, is fundamentally flawed.
Granted, the last authentic prophet in the world was our own prophet Malachi – claimed by some to have been Ezra HaSofer who restored the Second Bet Hamikdash some 2360 years ago. And granted that the “bat kol” – a voice from nowhere which was heard occasionally in the bet midrash of the Amoraim – has also ceased. And granted that the concept of “da’as Torah” ceased being relevant the moment two great rabbis issued contradictory halachic decisions.
Nevertheless, HaShem sends very clear messages if one has the appropriate receptors. These receptors are the objective ability to interpret how current events are designed specifically for the Jewish nation, even if they occur 1000 kilometers from the nearest Jew.
Nepal Nafla – Nepal fell
What is happening in this land of the Himalayas, and why just now?
The feelings one experiences when standing before the Himalaya mountain range is one of majestic glory, of grandiose immovability, of unyielding implacable permanence. The 8800-meter-high Mt. Everest, its little brother K2 as the second tallest mountain on Earth at 8611 meters, and Kanchenjunga as the third tallest mountain on Earth at an elevation of 8586 meters.
However, as looks are often deceiving, there is a cauldron of fiercely churning magmas of ever increasing pressure under the range seeking a release.
The Himalaya range consists mostly of uplifted sedimentary and metamorphic rock. According to modern theory, their formation is a result of a continental collision which brought the Indian tectonic plate horizontally below the Tibetan Plateau, forcing the plateau to fault and fold upward.
The Indian plate is still moving at 67 mm per year (it will travel about 1,500 km into Asia over the next 10 million years). This movement is causing the Himalayas to rise by about 5 mm per year, making them geologically active. The movement of the Indian plate into the Asian plate makes the region seismically active and prone to earthquakes. Moreover, given the steep slopes across the region, there is an imminent risk of deadly landslides.
Ever-Increasing “Earthquakes” Dislodge the World Order
In the 5775 years since Man first trod on the planet, humanity has developed into a more or less Global Village. We live in an ordered and systematic world regulated by international agreements of many sorts, political systems, trade agreements, executive agreements and diplomatic protocols.
The agreements assume a variety of form and style: conventions, agreements, protocols, declarations, charters, covenants, pacts, statutes, final acts, general acts, and less formal agreements such as “exchange of notes” or “exchange of letters.”
These are all necessary for adapting international law to changing circumstances brought about by rapid technological developments and the ever-growing interdependence of nations.
Without these agreements, there would be no financial trust and dealings, no import and export, no investments, no development on the scale needed for the 7 billion people on Earth.
These agreements serve to extinguish flash-ups between nations which could easily erupt into continental-wide and international wars.
The mail and delivery systems are based on these conventions, as are air flight and ocean carriers bringing the produce of one hemisphere to the other.
These conventions govern what the satellites hovering overhead at 500 miles in the sky may or may not do. Your bank accounts, credit cards, health services are under these agreements.
One can rightly say that these instruments are the mountain ranges behind which man and society are protected and guaranteed a level of services and security.
However, to the degree that the world proceeds to be anti-Israel, it will find itself engulfed in ever-increasing “earthquakes” which will dislodge the world order.
Although the Global Village might appear to be healthy and robust, its corrupt underpinnings are as fragile and as vulnerable as the throbbing uncontrollable magma under the seemingly immutable Himalayas.
HaShem is telling the world to wake up.
In the 1930s, the “enlightened” world ignored the threats of Hitler because who was he threatening anyway? The Jews?!
It is to the credit of Mordechai that he believed Haman.
The riots in Baltimore are just the tip of the iceberg of hatred that will spread over the US by the “have nots” of society, and over Europe by its Moslems and Africans.
Within the next decade, the spirit of Bavel will prevail over the world, when the accepted mores of society will be no more.
World order will turn chaotic, with the break-down and destruction of the international regulatory systems and will by necessity drive Man to seek HaShem for salvation.
However, we, the Jewish people have a barrier far stronger than even the most impressive mountain ranges. It is HaShem’s pledge as stated by the prophets Yoel and Ovadya:
רּבהר ציון תהיה פליטה
In Zion there will be refuge.
What is unfolding before our eyes is the period of the Mashiach when all Jews will return home, even against their will. Just as Rashi’s commentary above that Kohanim must live a life of sanctity even against their will.
It is not a coincidence that Israel has just discovered huge gas deposits and that we are independent in the matter of water in a region of the earth where it is at a premium.
We are an oasis of HaShem within the desert of Man.
Shabbat Shalom,
Nachman Kahana
Copyright © 5775/2015 Nachman Kahana
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