Measure for Measure

BS”D
Parashat Sh’mini 5784
by HaRav Nachman Kahana

The continuous flow of world history with its myriad episodes, can be likened to a motion picture consisting of innumerable frames that pass through the viewers eyes on their way to his cognizant self. However, in HaShem’s technicolor extravaganza with a cast of billions, the life of a human being is confined to just a single frame of 120 years maximum.

If one were to view a movie for just one minute, he would be hard pressed to understand the plot unfurling before his eyes. More so, regarding mere mortals whose lives, on the background of HaShem’s master plan, exist no longer than the time it takes for a lightning bolt to illuminate the night sky.

In our attempt to experience some semblance of understanding in our seemingly chaotic existence, our rabbis divided the frames of human history into three stages, as the Gemara (Sanhedrin 97a) states:

ששת אלפים שנה הוי עלמא, שני אלפים תוהו, שני אלפים תורה, שני אלפים ימות המשיח

The world will exist for 6000 years: 2000 of chaos, 2000 of Torah and 2000 the period of Mashiach.

Chaos refers to the development period of civilizations, from the day of the first man and woman, to the exodus from Egypt.

The period of Torah begins with HaShem’s revelation at Mount Sinai which began the Jewish influence on humanity through the precepts of justice, morality, and human dignity in a world whose creator is the Almighty God who chose the Jewish nation above all others.

‘The Period of Mashiach‘ is when the human race will finish experimenting with various religious, political, economic, social, etc. lifestyles. And after failing in all these experiments, will draw the conclusion that life without the centrality of the God of Avraham, Yitzchak and Ya’akov will always end in an inescapable impasse.

However, I perceive another attempt to departmentalize human history in the very much underrated devotional poem we recite after the weekday Shacharit and Shabbat Musaf prayers Ein Kelokeinu:

אין כאלוהינו, אין כאדוננו, אין כמלכנו אין כמושיענו

There is none like our God (Elokainu), there is not like our master, there is none like our king, there is none like our Redeemer.

1- One of the many names of HaShem – ‘Elokim’ – is the one used in the first verse of the Torah: “In the beginning Elokim created the heavens and the earth”.

The period of Elokainu was a chaotic one that witnessed the expulsion of Adam, Chava and humanity from Gan Eden, the first incident of fratricide, the deluge, the dispersion of peoples from Bavel to all parts of the globe, the first international war, starvation, slavery and more.

It was a time when HaShem was forgotten and replaced with idolatry of all sorts.

2- This was followed by the period of Adonainu (our master), which began with Avraham Avienu, as the Gemara states (Brachot 7b):

אמר רבי יוחנן משום רבי שמעון בן יוחי: מיום שברא הקדוש ברוך הוא את העולם לא היה אדם שקראו להקדוש ברוך הוא אדון, עד שבא אברהם וקראו אדון

Rabbi Yochanan quotes Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai: From the day that Hashem created the world no man called Him Adon (master, meaning Creator and constant vigilance of His creations).

3- The next period was ‘Malkeinu’ – our King, as defined by the actions and leadership of the Davidic monarchy in Yerushalayim based on HaShem’s Torah and prophecies, which will appear again in Messianic times.

4- The final period of ‘Moshianu’ – our redeemer, is the one we have been experiencing in the last 2000 years of our exile, where we see the slow demise of the galut and beginning of our final redemption through Medinat Yisrael.

As we witness current events, I would suggest one more division of time.

The 19th century was conspicuous as the century of colonization by the western Christian powers over the “primitive natives” in the spirit of the “white man’s burden”.

The 20th century was the century of atrocities, when more people were murdered by nation states than the combined number of all the world’s previous victims.

And our 21st century which will be called in history books the “payback” century.

We will see Christian Europe slowly and painfully descending into poverty and chaos. The great history book in Shamayim, records every murderous act perpetrated on the Jewish people from the Iberian Peninsula to the Ural mountains.

Perfidious England will stand before the heavenly court where the prosecutors will be the ten martyred Jews:

Shlomo ben Yosef, Dov Gruner, Mordechai Alkachi, Yechiel Drezner, Eliezer Kashani, Yaakov Weiss, Avshalom Chabiv, Meir Nakari, Meir Feinstein and Moshe Barazani, whom they hanged in Jerusalem and Acco, and the many others who were murdered by the British in other ways in the years leading up to the Medina.

The prosecution will be led by all the Jews who were refused entrance to Eretz Yisrael by His Majesty’s Royal Navy, beginning in 1939, and were returned to Europe or drowned at sea.

England, which is now witnessing uncontrollable riots in their cities, is a “junior partner” of the German Reich, which was to last for 1000 years.

Germany, Portugal, Spain, France, Poland, Russia and all of Europe will follow suit in this descent, each in its time and in the way that will be decided by HaShem.

The bottom of the American economy will drop out on the background of housing, with their defaulted mortgages, derivatives, and sub derivatives, etc., as Hashem’s “measure for a measure”. This American President, as well as past presidents, tied the hands of the Israeli Governments, forcing us to refrain from building in our Eretz Yisrael, so their Achilles Heel will be housing.

So, the caption I would put on this century is “The century of God’s measure for measure”.

I am informed, that at this time many Jews living in London, Manchester and other places are beginning to ponder two words which were “bloody” heretical until yesterday: Eretz Yisrael!

The same will soon be true of Jews in other lands as well, who are suffering from anti-Semitism.

When the time for retribution for the evils perpetrated on His nation Yisrael arrives, HaShem will wait for no man.

The world is shaking, and no one can foretell what tomorrow will bring.

In these unprecedented circumstances, the wise man, blessed with a will to live, will know that there is refuge only in Zion.

Shabbat Shalom,
Nachman Kahana
Copyright © 5784/2024 Nachman Kahana