Don’t Blame City Hall
Politics is the self-deception that mankind has control over its own destiny. In Israel, the mere hint that anyone can determine our fate through political power is a joke.
When the Lubavitcher Rebbe took on the mantle of leadership of the Lubavitch movement, he warned his people: “I will help, but each of you must carry out your own mission. Don’t expect a free ride, holding on to the fringes of my prayer shawl.”
He was a great leader. Instead of promising his constituents the world in return for a vote, he expected something from those he led. He believed in us enough to know that if he pushed hard enough, he would get the best in all of us.
We need to remember that our existence rests on two foundations: Hashem’s Compassion and our merit. If we guard the Covenant of the Brit, and become worthy of Hashem’s Compassion, our leaders will have absolutely no trouble doing exactly that which we hope they want to do – strengthen and protect the nation of Israel to the greatest degree possible.
If we continue to transgress against the Brit through sex crimes, the worst sin in the Torah, we will arouse His anger. The most powerful man in the world would be helpless to act.
Absolute power over the day to day affairs of the nations comes from only One Authority.
He not only mandates the day to day events of the world, He gives each and every one of us the opportunity to influence how His Authority is executed on earth through our observance of His mitzvot.
My family moved to Efrat a little while back. We rented an apartment with the hopes of soon, Bezrat Hashem, buying a house. We figured that home values would be cheaper once we crossed the infamous green line. Boy were we wrong. Due to a natural population growth that far exceeds the amount of building the government allows, prices here are just as high as they are in Jerusalem.
As an economic consequence of the recent building freeze, the price of my dream home just went up another $150k. Nobody in the world has more reason to be mad at the perpetrators of this injustice than me. With that in mind, let me make this perfectly clear:
Our current tribulations are neither the fault of our national government, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, or US President Barrack Obama. So don’t blame City Hall!Politics is an illusion. It is the self-deception that mankind has complete control over its own destiny. In Israel, where countless miracles happen at every moment, the mere hint that anyone can determine our fate through his or her political power is a joke.
Since when are we supposed to put all of our hopes in the hands of the Prime Minister?
Remember this cardinal rule of emuna: From the movements of the trillions of stars in the universe, to the wind blowing on a leaf, to the direction of Middle East geopolitics, everything that happens is directly from Hashem.
Through this lens, let’s ask ourselves, why is Hashem taking our land away from us? What is He telling us?
According to the Zohar, In the merit of the Brit (guarding of the laws of sexual morality), the Jewish People triumph over their enemies and inherit the Land of Israel. (source provided by Secret of the Brit by Rabbi Tzvi Fishman)
There is no greater proof to this Zohar than history itself.
Our path to nationhood began with the guarding of the Brit. In the merit of Joseph HaTzaddik, who withstood the advances of Potiphar’s wife, the Red Sea split and we were freed. The Jordan River split again for Joshua bin Nun, a direct descendant of Joseph, who first conquered the Land of Israel. Over the next 700 years, there were over one million prophets who lived in the Land. Our leaders included King Solomon and King David. Our service of Hashem took place in the Mishkan, and then the Temple. For 80 years, our nation was the most powerful on earth.
How did we go from being a nation of prophets to total destruction? The sages tell us that it was the sins of sexual immorality and idolatry. The sin of idolatry was committed so that the citizens could participate in the ‘rituals’ that included all sorts of illicit sexual acts.
In our generation, history is repeating itself.
Hashem is giving us countless opportunities to perform tikkunium (rectification) on our individual and collective neshama. In taking away our national territory because of our individual sins, Hashem is giving each and every one of us the chance to redeem the Holy Land by acts of teshuvah.
Do you realize what this means?
Hashem is giving each of us the ability to change Israel’s fate for the better. Instead of reacting to Bibi or Bama with all of their decrees, we can perform serious teshuvah, and bring massive energies of light into the world. Hashem gave us, and not them, the ability to maintain our geographical integrity.
Maybe you are thinking, if I do teshuva, hundreds, thousands, even millions of people will continue to sin. What good will my teshuvah do?
In the same territory that the current decree was enacted stood five cities. They too were guilty of sex crimes. Hashem ruled that they had to be destroyed. Avraham Avinu stood up for their defense. Hashem agreed to spare the cities if there could be found ten righteous men among them.
If our King were to spare the lives of a hundred thousand men seeped in immorality and idol worship for the sake of 10 who were righteous, think of what He would do for Am Yisrael if just a handful of us would do tshuva for these sins! The Talmud says, where the penitent stand, not even the righteous can stand.
There is nothing that energizes our neshama more than the mitzvah of Shmirat HaBrit. Hashem blesses those who guard His Covenant this way with spiritual energy, happiness, and a constant feeling of personal satisfaction beyond description. The material, emotional, and spiritual benefits of this mitzvah are very, VERY powerful.
Like a father who wants his son to enjoy the benefits of good health by forcing him to run 20 minutes a day, Hashem wants us to be happy. He wants us to live our lives to our full potential. Like the True Leader our King is, He not only gives us a free ride on the fringes of His prayer shawl, He demands us to reach our full potential so we can fly higher!
Our tikkun, both individually and nationally, is to redeem the final sparks of Divine Light necessary to bring about the Redemption of the World. Only in the deepest concentrations of darkness can be found the strongest sparks of light.
With recent events, Hashem is forcing our hand. He is screaming out for any of us to make an exceedingly special effort to save the world. Our generation may not be the greatest in Jewish history, but what Hashem demands of us will lead to the greatest teshuva ever.
Have you ever made the Israel vow? Have you ever declared to your classmates, friends, or family that if Israel faced a life or death situation, you would sacrifice everything, even your life, and run to her defense?
The time has come. Hashem has called His nation to battle – everyone must act.
Failure is in our hands. Success is in our hands as well. If you want to protect Israel, prepare yourself to engage in a mitzvah beyond anything you have ever done. Put the fate of your people into your own hands.
But whatever you do – don’t blame city hall.
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Dovber Halevi is the author of the financial book, How to Survive the Coming Decade of Anxiety. He writes for The Middle East Magazine. He lives with his wife and two children in Eretz Yisrael.
4/25/2010
good
1.the lubavitcher rebbe was the gratest tsadik in the whole generation he was the moses of the generation. "haval al de avdin velo mishtakhin"= we are sorry that he is not here now( and every other tsadik too). 2. to get a brit tikoon we have to do every day 1 ower hitbodedoot it means to talk to hashem 1 ower every day and thet is not just a brit tikoon it is also a brit tikoon becouse "hitbodedoot" us my coneccsion to hashem and us build my fait………..
4/25/2010
1.the lubavitcher rebbe was the gratest tsadik in the whole generation he was the moses of the generation. "haval al de avdin velo mishtakhin"= we are sorry that he is not here now( and every other tsadik too). 2. to get a brit tikoon we have to do every day 1 ower hitbodedoot it means to talk to hashem 1 ower every day and thet is not just a brit tikoon it is also a brit tikoon becouse "hitbodedoot" us my coneccsion to hashem and us build my fait………..