This is quite funny, and very apropos Bein HaZmanim

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It’s amazing, totally, that after the sort of year we’ve had here in Eretz Yisrael, we are just carrying on with life as usual.

Who is like Your people, Hashem?!

Really, it boggles the mind.

And probably, as well as being a rich and potent source of PTSD, this ability to just keep absorbing the ‘madness’, but then carry on living, is also a big part of the secret to how the Jews have survived this long.

Still, would be nice to have a bit more ‘fluff’, and a bit less ‘steel’ to deal with.

Excerpt of shiur from 7th Tammuz, 5786, to Yeshivat Chachma ve daat

(The Rav has been speaking about how yeshiva students shouldn’t be spending their time working out in the gym, and should be concentrating on their learning. He continues.)

In any case, we need to know that the first thing is not to participate in body-building competitions.

There is what to read [instead], there’s the Zohar, that [the Angel of Ishmael] requested 400 years [to rule over Eretz Yisrael].[1] And they ruled here for 400 years, until Allenby arrived.

Here, [in Jerusalem], there is no ‘Allenby Street’. Now, I was in Netanya, and I saw Harry Truman [Street] – they made him a road. This State was founded by Harry Truman, not Ben Gurion, and not Moshe Sharett, and not Golda Meir.

The person who founded the State was Harry Truman and Masaryk.

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Everyone said, yalla, let them destroy the Jews, it’s enough! We have no more strength for these Jews.

But he said no.

So then, the Arabs said that there wouldn’t be any oil, for half a year [during the Yom Kippur War of 1973] there was no oil. There was no-one who would sell it.

At that time time we were in Holland, and everyone was with their bicycles. They distributed bikes for free, half-price, a third of the price. They subsidised it with payments. All the Dutch travel around on bikes – there was no oil.

And Holland was, at that time, a good friend of ours, so they said we don’t need petrol.

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[When they founded the State in 1947] Truman said, we don’t need petrol, the ikker [main thing] is that there shouldn’t be rivers of blood here. There was his speech.

And Harry Truman said:

I, from the age of 10, I said I would return the Jews to Eretz Yisrael. I want to be Koresh [Cyrus].

He used to study Tanach every day. Lincoln only studied Tanach. Lincoln, who founded [the modern United States of] America – only Tanach. There are non-Jews who only study Tanach.

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There was Bedford – he only learned Tanach.

He founded America, Bedford, with his laws. He said, here, we are going to keep Shabbat.

But, they didn’t know what ‘Shabbat’ was, so they travelled to the sea, OK. But there is no football on Shabbat, there just isn’t. So then they said, when are we meant to play football?! So they made two days of ‘holiday’ [i.e. the weekend].

Shabbat according to the halacha, and they recited the prayers, and everything. And Sunday, this is for football. They only worked five days, this was the scheme of the ‘time to come’…

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So Lincoln, he said that only the Jews are the ‘truth’.

And he held a vote, to kick them out of America, like they did in Spain. It didn’t pass by one vote. He suppressed everything, because everything was Sephardim.

The whole of Florida, and Texas, and Oklahoma, and Virginia – everything there was Sephardim, everything! They were the first ones who came to America. So, they were the majority, and they said they should banish the Jews.

The first thing, was to kick out the Jews, and then, they suppressed it with one vote.

I had a book about Lincoln, someone should bring it. He said how much he worried about the Jews, and how much he was in favour of the Jews.

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So Harry Truman said, from the age of 10, I was going to return the Jews to Eretz Yisrael, I am going to be Cyrus.

The Gemara says that Cyrus said:

“Whoever is among you of His entire people…”[2]

It’s the last verse in Ezra, he said “Whoever is among you of His entire people” – he should have told them All of you go to Eretz Yisrael! To kick them out.

Only 4,000 out of 10 million ascended [to Israel].

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So then it’s written at the end of Ezra-Nehemia, “Whoever is among you of His entire people”.

The olim from the generation that was exiled [from Eretz Yisrael after the destruction of the First Temple], Whoever is among you of His entire people”. Divrei HaYamim,the writings of Ezra, here, it’s the end of Divrei haYamim, in the first year of Cyrys.

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So, Harry Truman said, I want to be Cyrus. I am going to return the Jews to Eretz Yisrael.

That’s how it was. Rosov said that not a single Jew [would remain alive, if the State was declared]. He died after 16 days, [he said this on] April 22, and on May 8th [he was dead].

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“Thus said Cyrus king of Persia: All the kingdoms of the earth has Hashem, God of heaven, given to me and He has commanded me to build Him a temple in Jerusalem, which is in Judah”[3]

It’s written in verse 45 of Isaiah:

“Thus said Hashem to his moshiach [i.e. anointed one], to Cyrus”, you are Cyrus.

There were a few others, who were called Cyrus. Daniel used to see him every day, and say to him you are Cyrus, who was prophesied about. [Cyrus] was the bodyguard of Nebuchadnezzer.

He said [to Daniel] no, be quiet! They will hang me!

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Translated and Excerpted from Shivivei Or # 465.

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So, I never heard of this proposal to “kick the Jews out” under Lincoln, before the Rav said this, above.

(BTW, explain to me again how the Rav knows all this stuff… we keep looking for miracle-workers and lighting on people who really are not. Here, in front of our faces, we have proof time and time again, that the Rav knows things that really can only be ruach hakodesh. Even professors of Jewish history know nothing about this stuff.)

I went looking, and here’s what I found:

https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/43057797.pdf

Here is a relevant snippet – but the whole paper is bang on the topic, if you are interested in this stuff:

“President Lincoln’s administration was marked by a few noteworthy incidents affecting the Jews as a body, the most important being the appointment of a Jewish chaplain in 1861-62, and the proposed expulsion of the Jews “as a class ” from within the lines of General Grant’s army in 1862-63.”

The stuff about the weekend is also in this paper, and also, that Lincoln himself apparently claimed he had Jewish ancestors.

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“Bedford” seems to be this guy:

Gunning Bedford Jr, an american Founding Father and lawyer. Snippet from HERE:

Bedford was later also named as a member of the Constitutional Convention which met in Philadelphia in the Summer of 1787. At the Constitutional Convention, Bedford was a strong voice for the rights of small states and helped to debate, draft and sign the United States Constitution.

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According to THIS, Bedford was of course also a leading Freemason. Snippet:

• Gunning Bedford Jr. (1747–1812), signer of the U.S. Constitution; first Grand Master of Masons in Delaware

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FOOTNOTES:

[1] Zohar, commentary on Shmot, Parshat Vayera, 31b.

[2] Ezra 1:3. The full verse reads: “Whoever is among you of His entire people—may his God be with him—and let him go up to Jerusalem which is in Judah and build the Temple of Hashem, God of Israel—He is the God!—which is in Jerusalem.”

[3] Ezra, 1:2.

The more I am looking at the Burgher and the Pauper, the more clues I’m picking up about ‘when Moshiach comes’.

Here are the notes written by Rav Natan Sternhartz, explaining some of the hints at the end of that story (from HERE🙂

Afterwards as well the old emperor had no greatness, for it [the trouble] was all because of him. The burgher had enormous greatness — he is the emperor’s father, who is the essential one [ikar, the root]. The sailor was smacked and smacked in the face and expelled.

Regarding Lot it says, “Ha’hárah himmalét/ to the mountain flee for salvation” (Gen. 19:17) — this is a burgher [a play on words: Yid. barg mountain, pl. berg < Ger. Berg mountain; ME burgh city < OE burg fortified town; O. High Ger. Burg fortified castle, all from Indo-European root *bhergh], and from him comes [Heb. is born] Mashiach. [Note: Rabbi Nachman’s surname was Horodenker, as his grandfather, also named Nachman, was from the Ukrainian city Horodenka, the name of which stems from Ukrainian gorod, city. Thus “Burgher” might be interpreted as an allusion to this name.]

Jews had, in Mitzrayim, signs who would be the Redeemer etc. [Heb. only: paqódh paqádh’ti (Ex. 3:16: “I have remember-remembered you;” alternately, “a chief I have appointed”?) — he who says to them these terms is the Redeemer. And it is an astounding thing, since all Yisrael knew of this — so then what is this sign? Possibly it was not transmitted except to the elders.] And upon the [Heb. final] Redeemer [Yid. to come] there are certainly signs [Yid. do, here] as well.

Mashiach will say to every Jew everything that has happened to him every single day [Heb only: to every member of Yisrael individually]. Tamar also lost the signs, as it says in the Midrash. Also when she was going to be burned the Samekh-Mem came and removed the signs from her, and the angel Gabriel came and returned them, as it says in Midrash; out from her comes Mashiach, speedily in our days, Amen.

All this the Rebbe discussed after the story so that one can make some kind of surmise how far the story reaches. So, good for one who is privileged to know the stories’ secret even in the other world!

Regarding that which is explained in the story, that every one comes with his song of desire and some are replied to via an emissary etc. as mentioned — so there are a number of great people who each do what they do [Heb. only: And each says songs and so forth] and each busies himself and wants to reach {Yid.: the truth; Heb.: the desired purpose. But there is none who attains the essential true purpose completely} — except the one who is worthy/ fit/ eligible [re’ui] for it. And some are answered via an emissary, or from under [Heb. behind] the wall, or they show them the face etc. as in the story.

However, in the end, when they leave this world, they answer them that they’ve still done nothing at all, like it is written in the story, how the beauty ultimately answers them, “Di vassern haben aber iber dir noch nit ariber gigangen,” until the right leader comes — speedily in our days, Amen! This too the Rebbe z”l discussed.

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Bkitzur, it’s a story of all the ‘false messiahs’ we’ve had to contend with, both the Jewish ones, and the not-Jewish ones.

But eventually, the real moshiach shows up, with all the authentic signs required, and:

Mashiach will say to every Jew everything that has happened to him every single day.

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It’s been so hard to hang ou to our emuna and our yiddishkeit the last few years.

So much never-ending ‘stress’, so even the most empathetic and kind-hearted amongst us are struggling to ‘feel’, and struggling to empathise, and struggling to have time to do what they need to do for themselves, never mind everyone else.

I feel myself, it can’t carry on like this too much longer – but of course, I’ve been saying that for years, already.

Me personally, I have had to batten down the hatches this past year, just to manage what’s going on day-to-day. That doesn’t leave a lot of ‘space’ to reach out to others, and I’m also missing the enthusiasm I used to have for spiritual matters.

We’ve all been stressed-out and dumbed down, and it’s going to take a while for the flame to reignite again.

But it will.

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Rebbe Nachman famously said, my fire will burn until the coming of the Moshiach.

When our own candles burn out, that’s where we can go to get them relit.

It’s the secret of Uman.

BH, more and more people are discovering it.

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PS: read these interesting articles, if you are one of those people who can still read, re: the dumbing down:

https://www.sott.net/article/507516-The-Great-Woke-College-Experiment-Is-Collapsing-Under-the-Weight-of-Reality

https://www.sott.net/article/507536-People-who-can-still-read-will-rule-the-world

Shabbos doesn’t only guard the soul and the person, it also maintains the person’s ability to read.

If they still keep it, and aren’t secretly on their phones pretending they are just ‘napping’….

(A big ‘if’ today, especially in Chul, and including all those frummer-than-frum communities where keeping up outside appearances is really where the main energy goes, while the inside, felt, experience of true yiddishkeit is nowhere to be found. More on that another time. Maybe.)

Hands up, who is liking these?

I know, I know, some readers would prefer I keep ‘predicting’ stuff pointlessly, or explaining over and over and over again how ‘doomed’ we all are, or babbling on about ‘Napisiti’ and Santa Claus, and little fairy folk who live in the glen…

But what can I do?

I have been bitten by the Rebbe Nachman Tales’ bug, and so, I am spending my time bringing more of the Burgher and Pauper to life.

As I was working on these sections, I suddenly got a brainwave who Rabbenu may have been taking as his inspiration for the Pauper=> Emperor. See if you can figure out, who I based him on, in Part 5.

In the meantime, enjoy!

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Part 4:

Part 5: