This Redemption will be Absolute; HaRav Nachman Kahana on Parashiot Matot-Masai 5775

BS”D  Parashiot Matot-Masai 5775  Rabbi Nachman Kahana This Redemption will be Absolute, followed with Peace Human events are following the plan set down by Chazal (our rabbis of blessed memory). The United States and the European States will sign an agreement with Iran. It will be a bad one for free people, the result of an American President who is himself a closet Jihadist, or is simply incompetent with a narcissus complex. I have previously quoted the Yalkut Shimoni (Book of Yeshayahu #499) which deals with the military conflicts of the future; which is now: מלך פרס מתגרה במלך ערבי והולך מלך ערבי לארם ליטול עצה מהם וחוזר מלך פרס ומחריב את כל העולם וכל אומות העולם מתרעשים ומתבהלים ונופלים על פניהם ויאחוז אותם צירים כצירי יולדה, וישראל מתרעשים ומתבהלים ואומר להיכן נבוא ונלך להיכן נבוא ונלך, ואומר להם בני אל תתיראו כל מה שעשיתי לא עשיתי אלא בשבילכם מפני מה אתם מתיראים אל תיראו הגיע זמן גאולתכם, ולא כגאולה ראשונה גאולה אחרונה כי גאולה ראשונה היה לכם צער ושעבוד מלכיות אחריה אבל גאולה אחרונה אין לכם צער ושעבוד מלכיות אחריה  The Yalkut states that Paras (Persia-Iran) will be the dread of humanity. The world’s leaders will be frustrated in their futile efforts to save what they can, but to no avail. The people of Yisrael will also be petrified by the impending danger. And HaShem will say to us, “Why are you afraid? All of this I have done in order to bring you the awaited redemption. And this redemption will not be like the redemption from Egypt, which was followed by suffering. This redemption will be absolute, followed with peace.” And the question is: The redeemer will be HaShem, so what role will Iran play in the process? The Gemara (Sanhedrin 97b) records a fundamental controversy between two leading tana’im – Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua. Rabbi Eliezer believes that redemption will come only after the Jewish people will do teshuva. HaShem will not initiate any act of forgiveness or redemption, but will only react to our teshuva initiative. Rabbi Yehoshua disputes this, claiming that when a certain point in time will be reached, and the Jewish nation will not have done teshuva, HaShem will create a situation whereby we will be forced to return to the Torah. This will be done by HaShem initiating the rise of a despotic leader whose decrees will be even more harsh than those of Haman.  Rambam in Hilchot bait haBechira 7,23 states: בשעה שנכנסין הבנאים לבנות ולתקן בהיכל או להוציא משם את הטומאה, מצוה שיהיו הנכנסין כהנים תמימים, לא מצאו תמימים יכנסו בעלי מומין, ואם אין שם כהנים יכנסו לוים, לא מצאו לוים יכנסו ישראל, מצוה בטהורים, לא מצאו טהורים יכנסו טמאים וגו’.  When builders enter the Temple building to construct or repair it, or to remove an impure object, it is a mitzvah for the craftsmen who enter to be kohanim who do not possess any disqualifying physical deformities.  If no capable craftsmen meeting those criteria can be found, kohanim with disqualifying deformities should enter. If none are found, levites should enter. If none are found, Israelites should enter. It is a mitzvah for those who enter to be tahor. If no capable craftsmen who are tahor can be found, then craftsmen who are tamai may enter.  At the end of the 19th century, HaShem decreed that the time for the Jewish people to come home had arrived. He certainly preferred that the renaissance of our nation would be led by great Torah scholars and large numbers of God fearing laymen. When they did not come forward, a non-orthodox visionary by the name of Binyamin Zeev Hertzl filled the historical void and began the Zionist movement. He was followed by groups of Jews who were not Torah observant, but their hearts and minds were obsessed with rebuilding the Land and bringing millions of Jews home. As the Rambam wrote regarding the construction of the Bet Hamikdash, the order of preference was from the tahor and observant craftsmen down to whoever there was who could do the job. HaShem gathered Jews of every persuasion to clear the swamps, pave the roads, build the buildings, plant the Vineyard, establish industries, form military units and establish a modern robust nation, called today Medinat Yisrael. And just like the Bet Hamikdash, when the moment it was completed, the Halacha came into effect and no tamai could enter, no Levi could enter the precinct of the Kohanim and only the Kohen Gadol could enter the Holy of Holies and that only on Yom Kippur. So too the Medinah. While it is being constructed every craftsman could contribute his part. But when the Medina will reach a point which will satisfy HaShem then changes will occur. And those changes will be generated by Iran. The dire threats which will be presented by the Ayatollas to the State of Israel will create an atmosphere of fear and trepidation. Most of the present non-observant Israelis will return to the Torah in sincere tshuva, others will leave the country. Those whose connection with the State and the Torah is weak will quickly leave. The three hundred thousand gentiles who came from the Soviet Union and do not want to convert halachically will leave.  They will be followed by the fifty thousand illegal trespassers from Africa. Chareidim who do not identify with the Medina will find that the political and military threats are hampering their concentration for learning, they will find some place in Switzerland or Lakewood. Millions of Arabs will leave to wherever they can, as they did in 1948. The radical Jewish leftists who undermine the foundations of the Medina will leave. The Jews who will be in the galut at that time will certainly not want to be here. All this is not new to me. In the three weeks preceding the 1967 (Six Day) War, while living in Kiryat Sanz in Netanya, my wife and I witnessed droves of families escaping their own fears for “greener” pastures of the USA and Europe. Their punishment was swift in coming – a punishment of absence of deprivation. It was the Six Day war when Medinat Yisrael liberated all of Yerushalayim, and the Medina became three times larger in six days! But they were not here to laugh and dance with us. The ones who will remain here will be those who will have an “irrational” spiritually driven love for the Land, and believe deeply that HaShem will never abandon His children in Eretz Yisrael. They will be the old entrenched families who came here a hundred or more years ago; the Rivlins, the Blaus, the Solomons of Yerushalayim; the Kahanas of Tzfat and the Liders of Tiveria. And of course, the knitted kipot and military personnel who are willing to sacrifice everything for the Medina. The above scenario is based on the Gemara (Avoda Zara 3b) that tells of the time when the battle of Gog and Magog will loom very large and threatening in our lives; that people whose connection with Yiddishkeit is superficial will break away to escape the dangers in Eretz Yisrael. This is the task of Iran – to create fear and trepidation which will cleanse the country of “incompatible” residents and retain only those who are sincerely loyal to HaShem. After that happens, we will witness the most astounding and impressive miracles of salvation which will defy all human imagination. The Mashiach will appear and Tzahal will be his vessel to destroy the enemies of HaShem and prepare the Land for the reappearance of the Shechina in the Bet Hamikdash on the Temple Mount. This is what the Yalkut Shimoni means: And HaShem will say to us, “Why are you afraid? All of this I have done in order to bring you the awaited redemption. I only hope and pray that we will merit to live and witness these extraordinary occurrences. How will the Israelis do it?  When the suicidal “deal” with Iran will be signed by the West, the question upmost on people’s minds will be; When will the Israelis destroy Iran’s nuclear capabilities? Only those in the inner circle of policy making can know. However, if we cannot see the future, we can perhaps extrapolate it from Biblical precedents. In parashat Lech Lecha, Avraham and his 318 student-soldiers vanquished the allied forces of four major kings with their trained, battle-veteran troops. There was a military alliance of four powerful kings: אמרפל מלך שנער אריוך מלך אלסר כדרלעמר מלך עילם ותדעל מלך גוים King Amrafel of Shin’ar, identified as Bavel (Iraq); King Aryoch of Alasar; King Kadarla’omer of Elam, identified as either Persia or Greece; and King Tidal of Goyim, identified as the head of an alliance of many smaller states. The entire region was under threat of conquest, because after their stunning victory over the five kings in Eretz Yisrael it would be logical to assume that the four kings were on their way to further expansionist conquests; for nothing succeeds more than success. So it would be safe to assume that the region’s nations – Egypt and the countries of North Africa and Asia Minor, were sharpening their spears in preparation for defending their countries. But nothing of the sort is recorded in the Torah. Quite the opposite! The only force that gathered to make battle with the four kings was Avraham and his 318 student-soldiers. A similar scenario is taking place today in front of our eyes. The civilized world is being threatened by the enemies of humanity and freedom led by the Islamic-fascist State of Iran. The mad leaders of Iran belong to the Shi’ite Islam sect that believes that their last Immam, who is their Mashiach, will appear only on the background of a universal catastrophe. And it is the mission of Iran to bring about that horrific catastrophe that is driving the Iranians to forge ahead with their nuclear program. On this background, one would expect the Christian nations to band together with the “moderate” Arab nations to pre-empt this threat. The USA, with its vast military capability, and the United Nations with its capacity to organize an international military force, would be expected to lead the free world in continuing to be free. However, the reality of Avraham vs. the four kings has come back to haunt the free world. The eyes of free people are not focused on the world’s military powers, but rather the object of the world’s expectations to eradicate the Iranian threat is none other than the isolated, besmirched and hated State of Israel. Will we attack? When will it happen? How will we surprise the Iranians? Planes? Submarines? Cruise missiles? Land forces? How will the Israelis do it? As in the time of Avraham, when the free world was numbed by fear, today the miniscule David will have to stride to center stage in order to destroy the mad Goliath. But there is a difference! It is called Tzahal. Avraham, by necessity, was aided by HaShem in a supernatural way – with 318 soldiers defeating four armies. But in our times, HaShem expects the Jewish nation to act according to the Torah and the rules governing human behavior where miracles are subtly hidden. The fist of Am Yisrael is our young, holy soldiers of Tzahal. Shabbat Shalom, Nachman Kahana Copyright © 5775/2015 Nachman Kahana