(lectures by Rabbi Moshe Wolfson shlit"a) - read it and cry out!
Arouse From Your Slumber!
Rabbi Moshe Wolfson Shlit"a, Mashgiach Ruchani of Mesivta Torah Vodaath and Rav of Beis Medrash Emunas Yisrael in Brooklyn, is one of the most revered rabbinic figures of our time. His lectures, in both English and Yiddish, his sefarim, Emunas Etecha, and his book, Wellsprings of Faith (published by Feldheim), have inspired thousands to strengthen their emunah (faith), their attachment to Torah and prayer, and to strive ever higher in their service of G-d.
The title Emunas has been chosen based on the teachings of Rabbi Wolfson stressing the singular importance of faith in our times.
It is a Mitzvah to Pray when a Calamity Befalls
the Community
The following is an
excerpt from the Rambam1:
It is a mitzvah in the Torah (Biblical commandment)
to cry out and blow trumpets upon every calamity that befalls the community, as the verse states:
“[When] an enemy torments you, blow trumpets2.” The meaning
of this verse
is that if anything torments you, for example:
a famine, epidemic, locusts or anything similar,
you should pray fervently
and blow trumpets.
This is the way of teshuvah (repentance): When a calamity befalls,
one prays and blows trumpets. [Then, the
belief is reinforced that] it is because of evil
deeds that this befell them [Hashem rewards righteous deeds and punishes transgressions]… [Repentance]
will cause the misfortune to cease.
However, if they do not wail and blow trumpets
[they ignore the danger]
and say, ‘a phenomena of the natural
world order befell us; this catastrophe is a coincidence,’ [they deny that Hashem is
demanding something from us] this is cruelty, because it causes
them to continue in their evil deeds. And this tragedy will be accompanied by more disaster, as
the Torah states, “And if you will go with Me [saying that what happened
is] a coincidence, I will go with you with [a] furious [series of] coincidence[s]3.”
The Ramban is of the opinion that the biblical
obligation to pray is precisely when one is in a
dire situation.
According to both the
Rambam and the Ramban one must pray in
a time of danger.
We are Now in a Time of Danger
A person should keep himself updated
with the Jewish news. He should know
how Jews worldwide are faring.
It is especially important
to know what is happening
in Eretz Yisroel, as the verse in Tehillim4 instructs,
“Inquire about the peace of Yerushalayim.”
Iran is currently a serious threat.
The ruler of Iran repeatedly and explicitly announces
that he wants to kill every Jew, as
Haman declared. If he will succeed in attaining nuclear
warfare, we will all be in serious danger.
Those in the know predict
that the bomb will be ready
by the summer.
It is no secret that the secular Israeli government is considering
attacking Iran to prevent them from acquiring
the weapons which would render them capable of destroying the tiny
country in moments. What is also
understood is that such an attack will likely
launch the Third World War.
Why are We Apathetic?
With Israel and the world in so much danger, why are we silent?
Why aren’t we praying? Why are we so
apathetic?
Everyone is busy
with their petty
activities; we are
distracted with texting,
gadgets, politics and other silliness and are deaf to
the alarm bells! Why aren’t we conscious of what is happening in the world?! Why don’t
we rend the heavens with prayer?
True, we are also occupied
with
chasing a livelihood and daily living - and yes, these are necessities - but
we are now in danger and have to
focus on prayer and repentance!
Why is no one talking
about this? I thought to myself, “Now is not the time for silence!”
When there is no man to do the task, one has to do it himself5. Therefore, I asked that everyone
assemble. Afterwards I was informed that Harav Rosenblum Shlit”a had already spoken
about this, and that he said that now is a time when the general population as well
as the individual is being judged.
Mashiach Seems Imminent
The Pesikta Rabasi6 states:
Rabbi Yitzchak said: The
year that Mashiach will appear, the kingdoms of the nations will quarrel with each other.
The King of Persia will fight with the King of Arabia, and theKking of Arabia will go to Edom for advice.
(As we see today, Iran is threatening Saudi
Arabia.) The King of Persia will destroy the whole world. All the nations will scream and be
confused. They will experience pain similar
to the pangs of labor. The Jewish
people will scream and be confused and they will
ask, “Where shall we go? Where
should we turn?” Hashem will say to them, “My
children, do not be frightened; the time for your redemption has arrived.”
The Maharal states that although the Babylonian and Median Empires disappeared,
Edom (the European nations) and Persia will remain until the coming of Mashiach. Persia
is Iran, the place where Achashveirosh once
gave the royal signet to a villain
who intended to kill every Jew.
Although Persia is not a nation of Yishmael, it identifies with his culture; as
we see, they practice the religion of Yishmael, Islam7.
This Pesikta is eerily similar to today’s current events. I cannot state with certainty that it refers to our
times - until Mashiach comes we cannot know
anything for sure - but perhaps yes? The likelihood
of Mashiach arriving soon seems quite probable.
We have to prepare for the
final redemption.
There is No Reason to Panic
One thing is clear; there is no need to panic. Hashem will
definitely perform miracles: “Stand and await the salvation of Hashem8.” Ever since the Holocaust, Hashem’s
countenance has smiled on the
Jewish people, and he has performed
big miracles for them.
Today, Eretz Yisroel is the home of almost half of the Jewish people. Almost all of the Torah learning in
the world today occurs in Eretz Yisroel. All the miraculous wars that this tiny country experienced are completely out of sync with nature. The terrorists throw their missiles at Israeli population centers and they keep on missing!
These same missiles
cause hundreds and thousands of casualties
in Iraq and other countries. In Eretz Yisroel, no one is injured! Sometimes
here and there, the terrorists succeed
in murdering individuals, but that is nothing compared to the scores
of victims they slay - using the same techniques - in other
countries.
During the Gulf War there was only one direct casualty of the thirty-nine missiles - a man who was cursed by the Chazon
Ish. The Americans
lost tens of soldiers from one missile! Today, Hamas shoots bombs from
the Gaza Strip by the dozens and
rarely does anyone get killed! In other countries,
hundreds die!
Hashem is not performing
these miracles for the ‘Israelis’. He performs
them for the Jewish people; for the Jews that study and live by the Torah and
for those who, with their children, will ultimately repent and study and live by the Torah.
Hashem will Perform Miracles in
the Future
The parents of Shimshon the Judge experienced the awesome revelation
of an angel and its fiery ascent to heaven. Shimshon’s father was afraid that he would die after seeing such an awesome revelation. His wife calmed him down saying,
“Had Hashem wanted
to kill us He
would not have accepted our sacrifices and revealed to us these tremendous wonders9.”
The miracles Hashem performed for us in recent history make us feel secure. Eretz Yisroel is a country of a few million, encircled
by a
few hundred million bloodthirsty
enemies who continually attempt to destroy it but are miraculously unsuccessful. Hashem is not showing
us all these miracles in preparation for doom! He is performing all these miracles as a preparation for a tremendous
salvation.
However, we must prepare
adequately for miracles.
We have to repent and pray and
await the salvation of Hashem.
We are Obligated to Repent and Pray
Eliyahu Hanavi was informed by Hashem that it would
rain after the three years
of famine. Eliyahu Hanavi prayed and it rained.
Why did he have to pray if Hashem had
promised him that it would rain?
R’ Tzadok Hakohen
answers – no matter! Even if we know that a miracle will happen, we have to pray anyhow.
Even though we know that Hashem will
perform miracles for us at the final
redemption that will be greater than those at the redemption from Egypt, we still have to pray and repent.
By the splitting
of the sea the verse states, "10המָח םהֶלָ םִימַּהַ ְו" ‘the waters were
fortresses.’ However, the word המח is
missing its 'ו; it should
have been spelled המוח. The Midrash
infers from here that המח
should be read as המָחֵ - wrath.
Great miracles were awaiting the
Jewish people as they stood at the edge of the Sea of Reeds. The powers of evil fought with all their might to prevent the
miracles from materializing and brought forth all the sins of the Jewish
people. Therefore, there was a wrath
in heaven. When the Jewish people prayed
and repented, the המָחֵ disappeared, and in its place, the המָֹח
- protecting fortresses – appeared. The raging waters were transformed into a bastion of security.
Rescuing Ourselves from the Birth
Pangs of Mashiach
The Gemara asks: “What should a person do to rescue
himself from the birth pangs of
Mashiach?” The Gemara answers: “He
should engage in Torah study and in
acts of kindness.” We have to take account of our actions; where are we up to in our service of Hashem?! Are
we satisfying His demands of us?! The
Jewish people need merits!
Prophet Tzefania implores; "11'ה ףאַ םוֹיבְּ וּרתְ סָּתִּ ילַוּא הָונָעֲ וּשׁקְּ בַּ קדֶצֶ -וּשׁקְּ בַּ ", ‘Seek out justice, seek out humility; perhaps you
will be hidden on the day of
the wrath of Hashem.’
Torah
We have to establish periods in the day for learning Torah; solid blocks of time, uninterrupted by the distracting beep of an incoming
text or call! One should make a habit of removing his cell phone or closing it before sitting down to
learn.
The Rebbe of Lubavitch said that
when a Jew learns, it is like
Shabbos. On an ordinary day, one is obligated
to be productive. It is only on Shabbos that are we exempt from working.
When a person learns or engages in serving Hashem, for him it is Shabbos. Would we pick up
the phone on Shabbos? We do not
answer calls when learning.
A Bais HaMedrash (house of prayer
and Torah study) is a place which is dedicated
to Torah study. In a Bais HaMedrash
it is Shabbos all week and no business is to take place. One who answers his cell in the Bais HaMedrash brings the marketplace into Shabbos. He desecrates
the Shabbos which dwells there!
We have to put forth
effort that our Torah learning
should be with fire, not habitual.
Tefilah (Prayer)
We also need prayer, as the Rambam explained. Every Jew has to ask Hashem
to spare the Jewish people, his family and himself. We should exercise special focus during the parts in the daily prayers when we pray for salvation
from enemies. Examples are: the prayer of
תמא'
'הנומאו, which we say by Maariv (evening prayers), in which we beseech Hashem to rescue us
from tormentors and oppressors; and ונבכשה where we
pray for protection.
During the Egyptian
war, the Belzer Rav ztz”l, advised that everyone say chapter 46 from Tehillim,
in which we pray to be spared from suffering caused by war.
I advise that we print this chapter and paste
it into every siddur (prayer
book).
We should begin saying
this psalm daily, because the danger we face is imminent! “Prayers are more powerful when recited before the danger arrives12,” the Gemara informs us. It is not a question of months; it is weeks. Within the next few weeks there will probably be news; and with the help of Hashem, it will be good
news for the Jewish people.
In addition, we have to give more tzedakah (charity) and engage in acts
of kindness.
Unity Among Jews
The nullification of Haman’s evil decree came about through "13םידוהיה לכ תא סונכ", ‘the gathering of all the Jews.’ Today’s leader of Persia speaks like Haman and we need unity as a merit to be
spared from his evil schemes.
We give only a half-shekel coin to pay for our part in the sacrifices to symbolize that we are only a part of
a whole. Moshe Rabbeinu asked that
Hashem not accept Korach’s
part in the communal sacrifice because
he instigated disunity among the Jewish
people. He opposed the entire idea of the half-shekel so his contribution was invalid.
Bitter feelings among Jews are a
big victory for the Satan. We have to work in this area -
to forgive and forgo, and let go of grudges.
This is very hard; but now when Jews need merits,
we have to do it!
It is a time of danger
for the Jewish people, but we will be rescued.
We should enter the
month of Adar - the month of unity among Jews and miracles
against the Hamans of
history - with a happy heart.
May Hashem
spread
His
Sukkah of protection
upon
us
and
every
Jew
and
on Yerushalayim, and
ונצראל תויממוק הרהמ ונכלותו ץראה תופנכ עבראמ םולשל ונאיבהו
May He bring
us in peace from the four corners
of the land and guide us speedily, walking
upright to our land
1 א קרפ תוינעת תוכלה
2 ט:י רבדמב
3 הכ-דכ:וכ ארקיו
4 ו:בכק םילהת
5 ה:ב תובא
6 ב:ול השרפ
7 א"כ קרפ ל"רהמל לארשי חצנ
8 גי:די תומש
9 'ג קרפ ףוס םיטפוש
10 טכ:די תומש
11 ג:ב 'ינפצ
12 ב"ע ד"מ ןירדהנס
13 זט:ד רתסא
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