Reflections from the Nile

April, 2011

“Malia” was born in Hungary. An idealist, she became a Palestinian activist and married a Gazan. Needless to say, she wanted nothing to do with Jews. Eventually, her marriage soured and she decided to pursue a graduate degree in Islamic studies and comparative religion in Cairo. In her previous correspondence with Breslev Israel, she notes that her entire outlook on Jews has changed ever since she now understands what they really believe in. Since then, Malia and I have been maintaining a lively correspondence. We both agree that emuna is the only way from keeping the world from exploding into smithereens.

Here are some excerpts from our recent dialogs; Malia gives us her reflections of current events. Her updates are real-time and much better than anything that Reuters or CNN can provide. Judge for yourself: 

Malia: Rabbi Lazer, I know that you have a Sufi Muslim friend from Qatar, who likes to read the Breslev books too and who supports the idea of peace between Israel and the Muslim world. Have you heard from him?

LB: I think you mean Abu Jalad. He’s a journalist and editor. We had a lively correspondence for a while, but I haven’t heard from him in over a year. I think that he has relocated from Qatar to Jordan, and it’s a little less comfortable for him to maintain a correspondence with me from there. I hope he’s OK. Malia, what’s going on in Egypt? We’ve been hearing all kinds of contradictory reports.

Malia: About the situation here in Egypt, it seems that nothing has really changed much. Some religious leaders even call for another revolution. The army just wants the people to be quiet. Before the last Friday march, many people received false text messages that the march has been postponed. I heard that more than 100 members of Ikhwan (Muslim Brotherhood – LB) were arrested, so the Amn Ad-dawlah (Egyptian State Security Investigations Service – LB) still exists as before. But, it looks like the Ikhwan is fast gaining influence and will soon control a large portion of represention in Parliament.

The former president Mubarak is to be put in front of the court and judged. Al-Jazeerah said that he fled to Germany. The army denied it. Still, his family says that he is very ill and seeks permission for him to travel to Germany for treatment. There will still be demonstrations because some of the criminals of Mubarak’s regime are still in power. There was a protest against the Sheikh of Azhar too, because he too was put in his post by Mubarak. The aim is to clean Egypt from all traces of the old regime. It is still uncertain when the elections will take place, I just hope that they will be really democratic. I think, that Amr Musa is most likely to elected…or it may be because most of my friends around me like him. About Baradei many say that he doesnt even know Egypt and can’t feel with the Egyptians when he lived mostly abroad. But he is still popular. Or it might be Hamdin Sabbahi, many people like him too.

LB: Stay safe, Malia. Does the average Egyptian have an awareness of Mahdi? What do they think about Achmedinejad and his view of himself as the forerunner of the twelth Mahdi? 

Malia: I never heard that Ahmedinejad says about himself that he is forerunner of Mahdi. Maybe he thinks he is, but I never heard him declare it.

There are some basic differences between the beliefs of Ahmadinejad and the Iranians, who call themselves the Shia (Shiites – LB) and between the people of the Sunnah (Sunni – LB), who are here in Egypt. There are almost no Shia Muslims in Egypt. 

The Shias believe in 12 Imams, who according to them are the divinely appointed, sinless, infallible successors of Muhammad, where the 12th Imam was born in 869 CE and is hidden, but will appear at the end days to bring peace and justice. The 12th Imam is called Al-Mahdi Al-Muntadhar (The awaited Mahdi).

The Sunni sect believes that Mahdi wasn’t born yet.

Especially these days, the Shias, Iran and Ahmadinejad aren’t really popular here. 

I hope you had a good time in the Ukraine.

LB: Thanks so much for the awesome update. One thing is for sure – the entire world is hungry for Moshiach. Let’s just hope and pray that they don’t eat each other up while waiting for him. Warm regards from the Land of Emuna to the Land of the Nile.