Truth in Shreds

The Gemara tells us (tractate Sanhedrin, 97a) that right before Mashiach comes, truth will be in shreds. In other words, no one will have a monopoly on the truth – it will be splintered all over the place.
 
On a practical level, what does that mean?
 
As long as we don’t have a Moses in our midst, we must learn from everyone and love everyone, for every person and group has their individual nekuda, their special quality and “point of truth” that others don’t have.
 
This is the rational behind the Breslev “connection” prayer that we say before every mitzva:
 
By performing this mitzva (say what you’re about to do), I hereby connect myself to all the true tzaddikim of this generation and to all the true tzaddikim who have departed, “the holy ones interred in the earth”, and particularly to our holy rebbe, Rebbe Nachman the son of Feiga…
 
One who scorns another person or group severs himself from a part of the truth, and that’s too bad. That’s another reason why Jewish unity is so important; nobody is Moses today, so we must bind together to establish the truth.
 
Hashem is the sole Master of absolute truth.
 
Talmudic tradition says metaphorically that The Almighty has His own personal signet ring – it’s called truth. So, wherever you see an imprint of truth, you see The Almighty’s signature.
 
Let me share an eye-opening Torah code with you, from my Hebrew book “Pi Habe’er“: The Creator first revealed Himself to Moses by the name, “I am that I am” (see Exodus 3:14). “I am” in Hebrew is  ehyeh which has a numerical equivalent of 21 (Hebrew letters aleph-hey-yud-hey; aleph=1, hey=5, yud=10, hey=5, together=21). “I am that I am” can therefore be converted into a mathematical equation. Since according to tradition, “that” (or “asher” in Hebrew) signifies multiplication (the name Asher signifies Leah’s happiness of multiple offspring – see Gen.:30-13), “I am that I am” may now be converted to 21×21, which equals 441. The Hebrew letter “aleph” has the value of 1, the letter “mem” has the value of 40, and the letter “taf” has the value of 400. ‫Emet, or aleph-mem-taf, the Hebrew word for “truth”, equals exactly 441.
 
To sum things up neatly, “I am that I am”, Hashem’s name = truth, just as 21×21=441.
 
The reason that Hashem chose truth as the signature of His holy Name is because any forgery is readily apparent. Anything other than 100% truth is a counterfeit, and not Hashem.
 
One of this generation’s great spiritual leaders, the Melitzer Rebbe shlit”a, taught me two important things about truth:

1. 99% truth is 100% a lie
2. 50 lies are not a refutation to one truth
    

What do the above two rules mean on practical terms? If 50 of your colleagues say that you’re a sucker for dealing honestly in business or in your profession, don’t listen to them. Their short-term gains will be long-term losses, while your short-term loss will be a tremendous gain for eternity. Or, if 50 women in your community scoff at you for dressing according to the Torah’s standards of modesty when they don’t, and The One true G-d who gave us the one true Torah says that you should conduct yourself in a holy manner, don’t let the Evil Inclination convince you that the majority rules.
 
Let’s go one step further: If you learn in a yeshiva, and some other young men are smoking pot or consuming some other type of substance, that certainly doesn’t make substance usage kosher. Better yet, find yourself a new yeshiva – fast. Truth and substance usage are mutually exclusive.
 
Truth is eternal; the opposite is short-lived. Don’t worry if you’re being oppressed by a dishonest regime; soon, your oppressor will crumble like a stale cracker.
 
The people of the world are hungry for truth. Any day now, G-d willing, we’re all going to need very strong sunglasses because the truth is one tremendously bright spiritual light.