Can antisemites participate in the positive fulfillment of prophecy? A bit of Haftarath BaMidbar

 28 Iyyar 5782 | 43rd Day of the Omer | Jerusalem Day

כ"ה אייר ה'תשפ"ב | מ"ג לעומר | יום ירושלים

Depiction of Hoshea haNavi. From Mosaic Magazine, a 2015 article

 

...and instead of being told, "You are Not-My-People," they shall be called Children-of-the-Living-God. — Hosea 2:1b*

The Haftarah after a Parashah is, so to speak, the "final word" on the subject at hand, written by mostly others in the Tana"ch, mostly Prophets. Even an Israeli secular-style dictionary defines the root verb of "haftarah (הפטרה)," which is "hiftir (הפטיר)," as "ending (one's words)."**

We just read this haftarah, Hoshea chapter 2 almost to the end, on Shabbat BaMidbar (the first portion of Numbers).

To those people who name-call the Jews who live in the Holy Land "occupiers," "fake Jews," "colonialists," "thieves," "the wrong color" and so on and so forth ad infinitum, ad nauseam: 

Do you know that you are fulfilling an end-time prophecy by participating in the lowering-down of regular, law-abiding, commonly-decent Jews?

Hoshea's own family as depicted was, in a real sense, a part of this prophecy, whether it was a real family or a parable; his children were called the negative names "Lo-Ruhama" (unpitied) and "Lo-Ami" (not-my-people) to show the unsympathetic feelings people would have against us, the descendants of many generations, whether good or bad. HaShem was showing Hoshea through his family how he saw the behavior of Israel, the nation, in the prophet's time. Could he continue to love his wife even though she was running around with other men?

As a prophecy, it acknowledges that we will be called all kinds of negative names down through the ages. And if you should be so fortunate as to live to experience the last clause in the verse, you will hear it said of us "Children of the Living G-d" — the most positive thing that can be thought of.

Us, and not some "other" of your choice. I hope you realize that you might drop dead from shock. You see, I'm not a prophet, but I'm warning you now. This will happen.

I'm not involved with any group or person that says "I'm warning you" but means "I'm planning to do this to you." However, The One Above can, and will, do what He wants, when He wants to.

Torah scholars learn that the prophecies that end well for our people must come true. Those that don't end so well are warnings for us to return to our Heavenly Father and live according to His ways; so, they don't have to occur.

But they will, if we don't do teshuvah! And it is not for antisemites to get involved in. It's pretty clear to me and to many of my fellow Jews that you know next to nothing about having a relationship with G-d over thousands of years.

We cannot deny our sins. The rest of the haftarah notes just a small part of them; at the end, we will be called back to Him, and we will answer, "My Husband!"

 And the non-Jews who stand against us now can escape their punishment if they take warnings like these seriously before the prophecy gets fulfilled, whether they convert to Judaism or remain obligated only to the 7 Noahide Laws.

To answer the title question, if you're still a Jew-hater by the time the prophecy gets fulfilled, you won't be able to participate in any of the positive aspects of its actualization. 

It's not up to me to convince you; but if you care about your future, make your decision to get away from it now.

*translation by Sefaria

**Oxford English-Hebrew / Hebrew-English dictionary, 1994, Kernerman Publishing Ltd. and Lonnie Kahn Publishing, Ltd., page 68, Hebrew-to-English. Hardback.

Happy Yom Yerushalayim ! יום ירושלים שמח

***

Ain Od Milvado parashat Bechukothai | AOM parashat Bamidbar by Rabbi Pinchas Winston (in the Melave Malka section of each parasha sheet) | Nothing proves Jordanian and Palestinian antisemitism like Jerusalem Day | Hoshea the Prophet - Wikipedia |

Jacob's in trouble now. What to do? Part 2

 7 Sivan 5781 | Isru Hag Shavuoth

 

 

Wreckage of a bus and car in Holon, Israel, after a rocket attack, 11 May (Wikipedia)

 Part 1: Introduction | Part 2: Lod On Fire | Part 3:  What can we do, and what is best left to HQB"H?

 This article came to me already translated from Russian. If, like me, you happened to get it over WhatsApp first, you, too, appreciated that there was a translation to English AT ALL. I couldn't have done this myself; all I did was try to clarify the message and not make more mistakes in the process. 

The message speaks for itself. Emphases are mine alone. HDG

***

"Lod on Fire: Report from the Front Line"

by Alla Zohar

 My dear friends, every day I receive dozens of calls and messages from you, just to ask how things are in Lod. So I decided to answer everyone at once.

I want to name my post: "Lod on Fire" or "Report from the Front Line."

I think that all of you are more or less aware of what is happening in our country. I don't want to give any political assessments; I'll just tell you about our daily life.

Our mornings begin with questions in local groups: How can we get out of the city? Do doctors work? A child has high fever, how to get to the doctor so that they don't kill us on the way? Where are they shooting today? What's on fire? Where is being smashed? etc...

The rockets, which fall on our heads at the same time, already seem to be just child's play. It is much more terrible when every second you expect the thugs to break into your house and start killing your family. You can hide from missiles in a bomb shelter, but how do you protect yourself from those who break into your door, and it is just you against them? 

On the very first night in Lod, several houses were evacuated, in which Arabs and Jews lived together. When the rioters came, Arab neighbors guided them to Jewish apartments. People in the middle of the night jumped out into the street with children in their arms; they were forced to urgently evacuate. 

Does this remind you of anything?

Our husbands have not been sleeping for several nights, they guard our homes, and next to them are our sons. 

They have no weapons, they are absolutely defenseless in the face of thugs armed to the teeth. 

Settlers from Judea and Samaria come to us and stand next to our men, this is our protection. The police and the magawas (border police [mishmar hag'vul - HDG]) are not managing.

We see our cars and synagogues burning. 

People burst into burning synagogues to save sifrei Torah (Torah scrolls).

All night long automatic gun shooting does not stop. We cannot sleep. All Lod residents inform each other in various media groups what is happening on this or that street, where the crowds of pogromists have moved at the moment. We are afraid for our children, who are with us at home, and for our men, who are now trying to resist the crazed crowd on the street. Now we have again been warned that pogroms are expected after Friday prayers, be prepared (it was written on Thursday).

We live in constant fear, and mind you, all this is not happening somewhere in Syria, or beyond the so-called Green Line. All this is happening in our country, in its very center, a 20-minute drive from Tel Aviv.

Do you hear this on the news?

NO!!!

It all started from our city of Lod. We cried out for help! Nobody heard us. Now pogroms are already taking place in all Israeli cities with a mixed population.

If you have not yet understood, we have a war, a war for survival, and missiles falling from the sky will soon seem to us the lesser of two evils.

If the easy-going residents of Tel Aviv think that this misfortune will bypass them, I am afraid they are deeply mistaken. The situation is already getting out of control, and G-d forbid, the whole country can get set ablaze.

Remember, when people were evicted from Gush Katif? The people there shouted, "Come to your senses! What are you doing? If we are not there, missiles will fly to the center of the country."

That is what we are now witnessing.

People! Do not be silent, tell the whole world what is happening here.  

The world must know the truth! 

I want to end my post with the famous words of Martin Niemoeller:

When the Nazis came for the communists, I was silent, I am not a communist.

Then they came for the Social Democrats. I was silent, I am not a Social Democrat.

Then they came for the trade unionists, I was silent, I am not a union member.

Then they came for the Jews, I was silent, I am not a Jew.

And then they came for me, and there was no one to protest.

***

Part 3 is next.

Jacob's in trouble now. What to do? Part 1

 7 Sivan 5781 | Isru Hag Shavuoth

 

Israeli police forces in Lod, Israel, 11 May 2021 (Wikipedia)

 

Part 1: Introduction | Part 2: Lod On Fire | Part 3:  What can we do, and what is best left to HQB"H?

The local WhatsApp group and I got a very disturbing message this morning, from Lod. To understand its importance, I'll have to do some explaining before I bring it here. It would be good to absorb this commentary first, while I type up the message. 

I have to do that because I have a policy not to synchronize my phone with my computer. They are separate entities as far as I'm concerned, and I type pretty fast. So, now to the comments.

***

First of all, I'd like to congratulate our military leadership on the masterful way in which many Gazan terrorists were led to their end in the "Hamas Metro," when the tunnel infrastructure inside Gaza was bombed where many were hiding last Saturday night, when Shabbat had ended (if one can believe this news report), as part of Operation Wall Guardians(1).

We know that the army can carry out effective missions when the leadership wants to.

The times when nuclear reactors and other potential nation-destroying weapons have been destroyed just in the nick of time before they were supposed to go on line are witness to this. The one in Iran was the most recent of them.

I understand that Prime Minister Netanyahu wants to bring these Arabs, both Israeli and from Gaza/the "West Bank" to surrender. I hope it's true, but I'm not counting on him having unimpeded access to that goal. 

Apparently, this was known some time ago. From Arutz-7, in September 2020, Saeb Erekat, ym"sh, claimed that Netanyahu "...does not want peace, but wants the Palestinian surrender..."

The heavy bombardment of fake news in the last half-decade or more makes people suspicious of any news item, even if it is true. So, kindly show us proof. A lot less will on their part to fight, whether from Gaza or on the streets of Israeli cities, would be a good start. 

Innocent civilians shouldn't have to protest constantly for a decent government to keep deadly, war-like violence from affecting ordinary people living ordinary lives, especially when it's their children who are fighting back.

Over time it has become apparent to anyone who has lived in Israel that those times are few and far between; and right now they are even fewer than ever, and the needs are greater. Either the governing apparatus has decided to give the impression that they are bumbling fools and have no overriding priorities in favor of the survival of Israel as a country, OR it has no overriding priorities of that kind, and the survival priorities are rather more personalized, if you will, toward certain groups over others.

If you understand the makeup of the country, you know that non-religious people from Jewish families from the Tel Aviv area tend to rule the important elements (e.g., education, media, laws and statutes) even when the more religious make up the majority, and they can't stand many of the other groups of Jewish people who inhabit this land, especially those who are happy and proud to be Jews and who couldn't care less about people who rule the parts of Eretz Yisrael that we currently hold, but who would just as soon give them up to local (Arabs) and not-so-local (such as the Vatican) non-Jews.

They clearly prioritize political correctness from outside Israel over proper provision of land for all of Israel's Jewish citizens.

But that doesn't explain why reports are coming in that the Blue and White police and border guards are not doing their jobs (or, not able to do their jobs) even in Haifa and Lod — generally among the places where Jews and Arabs live literally side-by-side, or even in the same buildings, and Tel Aviv, which promotes pro-Arab messaging but doesn't seem too concerned that not enough Arabs live there. Why would our government davka not express concern about the situation in the areas of Israel where compliance with the agenda put forth by it is greatest?

That would have to be explained by someone more familiar with these issues than I am. But it would seem to me that people above the Israeli government are either giving orders like these, or making it difficult-to-impossible to enforce proper orders. 

Or, it could be because of an agreement with another country. Here is an interesting-looking article: Litigation: Enforcement of foreign judgments in Israel, that might go some way toward a general explanation of the phenomenon.

Many other parts of the country are also suffering from lack of law enforcement, while most of us have access to the Pikud haOref  (Home-front Command; in American terms, Homeland Security) in one way or another, and are aware of the attempted or successful bombings of cities within and outside the "Gaza Envelope."(2) Considering the intense law enforcement of the last year due to "corona," this situation makes absolutely no sense. The message from Lod claims that there is NO news about this anywhere.

And neither does the behavior of law enforcement in Meron of recent memory (let us not forget). See what you think of this summary of research and posting of a sampling of evidence that something very different happened to cause the deaths of 45 and the many injuries on La"G laOmer. Here is the post it came from.

The message from Lod gives more specific details on this (but not too specific, I would assume, for safety reasons). (It seems we haven't heard from anyone in French Hill (Givah Tsafartit), a mixed neighborhood in Yerushalayim, and I wonder why.)

What I'm not talking about...

I'm not discussing the Sheikh Jarrah/Shimon haTzaddik housing rental issue in this series, if ever; that's a separate legal matter whose resolution has been put off by this war. 

Jerusalem is closer to the heart of it, but for some reason we seem to have been left alone since Yom Yerushalayim. This has to be some kind of trick. As I noted above, we haven't heard about our own mixed neighborhood.

Please let me know if I've left out something important in the comment section. 

Let me end this part with my translation from Hebrew of a WhatsApp post, again from this morning, that expresses the hopes and prayers of many, written by Kobi Bornshtein in Hebrew and forwarded to us:

Rosh haShana wasn't Rosh haShana
Simchat Torah wasn't Simchat Torah
Meron wasn't Meron
Shavuot wasn't Shavuot
Likewise, with G-d's help, Tis'ha be'Av won't be Tish'a be'Av.

***

😉

 (1) Note to English speakers: Guardian, in the singular, is an incorrect translation. In the original Hebrew term, Shomrei haKirot, both words are plural. Of course, if it refers to G-d, the singular would be correct —  it seems not to be the case here — as Shomer haKirot. I only wish it were so!  

(2) According to the Pikud haOref application, the Gaza Envelope (Otef Aza) extends out to four kilometers (4 km) from the borders of Gaza. A number of smaller communities live within this envelope.

A world guided by the Seven Noahide Laws...think about the contrast between that and what's going on today.

24 Elul 5780

Click image to go to the source

In my last post I suggested that Jews really must discuss Noahide law and its place in the world.

Here is an excellent article I just found that should be read everywhere: A World Guided by the Seven Noahide Laws by Rabbi Yirmeyahu Bindman. May it be a beginning we can turn our aspirations to even before Mashiah is revealed.

Here's a taste...

It is well known that the Jewish faith does not seek to make converts, and so it is generally supposed that since the Jewish people do not want to make other people into Jews, they are happy just to leave them alone. 

The world is often very surprised to discover that the Jewish faith includes a complete provision for all non-Jews — regardless of race, social class or national origin — perfectly attuned to their needs, and deriving from the same source in Divine revelation through the prophecy of Moses, without any intermediary whatsoever. Only the true universal faith of the Jews continually offers something to those who are not its members, and this is its sign of authenticity.

This provision is known as the Noahide Laws. Though Adam and Eve, the first man and his wife, were commanded to observe them, the Laws emerged fully only after Noah had survived the flood that wiped away violent sinners whose wrongdoings had engulfed the world in his time. The ancestors of the Jewish people were also commanded to observe the Laws until they were given the whole Torah at Mount Sinai; they were then reaffirmed through Moses for all the other nations.

Their wisdom has been recognized by non Jews in modern times. In 1991, the U.S. Congress enacted a law recognizing their universal truths, stating, “... these ethical values and principles have been the bedrock of society from the dawn of civilization, when they were known as the Seven Noahide Laws.”

Regarding the last paragraph above, I had no idea that the US had already taken a look at the Laws, well before they made same-gender marriage a law of the land...Hmmm.

I'll be preparing for the New Year this week, so if I don't write again before then, I'm wishing all my faithful readers a Shanah Tovah uMevarechet | שנה טובה ומברכת

despite all the illness and lockdowns, violence and basic lawlessness going on in the world around us today.

---

BUT BEFORE I GO...this includes people from ALL religions and nations. I am thinking now of the Arabs who supposedly want to make peace with Israel, starting with the United Arab Emirates and continuing with the nations "lining up" to make peace with us. One thing must be clear: ANY nation that wants to make peace with Israel must renounce any nation that continues to act belligerently with her — including the "Palestinians"! They cannot "have their cake and eat it too."

Otherwise, I will assume that these nations are playing fast and loose with us, faking the whole thing until they can make war on us. I expect, indeed, DEMAND, that any human being who considers him- and herself decent, whether Jew or non-Jew, do the same and act accordingly. 

No compromising on this issue from me: Despite what you have heard or read, we, the Jews of Israel, are the beleaguered ones here. We have come to our ancestral homeland. Every single one who calls us thieves is a thief himself and herself, and conspires with thieves to steal, not only our land, but our very lives as well. The very land itself bears witness, with fires burning it down coming from the palestinians from Gaza (which is ours, too, by the way, under their occupation — or that of Iran).

Almost a thousand years ago, our beloved sage Rabbi Shlomo Yitzhaki, known as Rashi, knew that we would be called thieves when we returned, and commented on it in Bereshith Alef (Genesis 1) of the Torah (the Holy Bible to the vast majority of those who have one — you will have to look that up in a Jewish version with commentaries; look for Rashi specifically. Or, you can look here.The print is rather small, but most will be able to enlarge it onscreen.).

The Arab League, in which most of these nations take part, was founded back in March 1945, before the end of WWII the following September. On 29 May 1964 the League created two Palestinian organizations: the first, the Palestinian National Council, which then gave birth to the second, the Palestinian Liberation Organization the following week (2 June) to replace Israel with a Palestinian state by "ending the occupation" (read: get rid of the Jews and their state). 

(That rabbit hole has an end: see the sad story of Jessica Krug. I hope she gets to do teshuva, please G-d. There may be more like her, who cancelled their real Jewish identities their whole lives in response to the Jew-hatred they experienced. But now I've gone off the deep end as far as this article is concerned.)

The League hopes that the Internet doesn't remember that their ultimate goal is to finish off the State of Israel. You'll have to "page down" 3 or 4 times to see this source. As of today they (David Bedein (Israel Behind the News) cites the UAE as an example here) have not denounced this strategy. 

UPDATE: I received David Bedein's interview with Avi Abelow of Pulse of Israel after posting my article. MUST WATCH.

We have to be ultra-careful and firm about our own interests when dealing with our "cousins" in the Middle East. Or else, G-d forbid, we may be accomplices in our own murder as a nation, G-d forbid!!! And that would not please Avraham Avinu very much, let alone Noach, and less Moshe Rabbenu, and much less the Creator who made them all, may they be blessed, without any aspect of curse.

Have a Good, Happy, Healthy and Blessed New Year 5781 | שנה ה'תשע"א טובה, שמחה, בריאה ומבורכת

The Conspiracy of the Mekatregim, part 2

16 Elul 5775

Prologue |Prologue 2 | Part 1 | Part 2

By now we have had enough of what the “powers that be” have been thinking about and planning since Pharaoh, who famously said, “Get ready, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they increase, and a war befall us, and they join our enemies and depart from the land.” (Exodus 1:10)

Them, is us. The Israelites then are the Jews now. The land is Egypt, Mitzrayim, the land of constraints and slavery. Everything I described earlier and so much more started here among human beings in this world, after waiting for Avraham’s chosen family to grow into a nation and eventually return to its intended Land (which Pharaoh did not wish to see accomplished). 

Fortunately, in our time we may look back to our Prophets, read them carefully and see what is left to fulfill. There isn’t much left. To summarize:

• We have been subject to an extremely long exile, accompanied by horrifying persecution and attempts to wipe us out many times over, and which would have indeed exterminated us had we not been protected from Above.
• We’ve come back to our land after an extremely long exile, which still exists in the hearts of all too many – even here in Israel.
• The land has responded to our return by flowering and putting forth fruit. This sign is undeniable. The “Palestinians” learned this the hard way before Gush Katif was created by the Jews, and now, after the expulsion as well. Everything that has happened since is a distraction from this lesson (not to mention mightily dangerous for all involved).

 Now what?

It has been said that the Final Redemption will be like the first one, from Mitzrayim. Rabbi Ephraim Sprecher of Diaspora Yeshiva writes in Torah Tidbits Parashioth Shof'tim and Ki Tetze:

The prophet Micha (7:16) states, “As in the days of your leaving Egypt, I (G-d) shall show them marvelous wonders.” The prophet’s words imply that the Exodus from Egypt is the precedent for the Geula Sh'leima (Complete or Final Redemption).

The Midrash Tanchuma states, “Just as in Egypt, I (G-d) shall redeem you in the Messianic future and shall perform miracles for you.”

Indeed, gradual, phased redemption is already found in Egypt, as in the Four Redemption Expressions with which G-d addresses Moshe, “Therefore tell Israel that I am G-d,

1.    and I will remove you from the suffering of Egypt,

2.    and I will save you from your enslavement.

3.    I will redeem you with an outstretched arm.

4.   and I will take you to Me as a people ... I will be for you G-d.” (Sh'mot 6:6,7)…

…The redemption comes when Israel recognizes Hashem as our G-d, as occurred during Stage 4 of the redemption process which was at the Sinai Revelation.

Yet the Torah goes on and brings a fifth expression of redemption: “And I will bring you to the land which I swore that I will give to Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov; I will give it to you as an inheritance, for I am G-d. (Sh’mot 6:8). (emphasis mine - CDG)

And so…much…more…

So, what does national recognition of haShem entail? We know that the nation of Israel was commanded to perform three commandments (mitzvoth) upon their entrance into the land of Israel (Sanhedrin 20b):

1.  Appoint upon themselves a king
2.  Eradicate the offspring of Amaleq
3.  Build the Holy Temple (Beit haMiqdash)

But now, over the last 6-and-a-half decades or so, we find ourselves to have become stuck in a quagmire: It takes a lot of emuna to tackle the problem of not being able (or willing?) to exercise sufficient sovereignty for our needs – forget about the nations and organizations who wish to see us gone and their tools, whether Middle Eastern nations, BDS, education, media...you name it. How much longer are we going to hold out, and what are we waiting for?

Will this help? (It doesn't have to be the "established Sanhedrin" we have now; but we do need those who have the power to do so, to seriously consider whether this is the right time to form the real one. If they're for real themselves.)

For further discussion:

Why is democracy not sufficient and why do we need a king? | Woe unto a generation with judges like these | The Electoral System for a King | The High Court is killing us | "The High Court Is Killing Us" OR Are You Ready for the Court in Shamayim? | "He Who is Merciful to the Cruel will End up Being Cruel to the Merciful”

UPDATE: Remember that the Ba'al Shem Tov said this generation would see a lot of rabbis and they would be the ones delaying Geula! Be careful whom you take as your rav!

UPDATE 2: the Ba'al Shem Tov anecdote immediately linked to above can be found in a sefer (book) called Otzar haChaim (Treasury of Life). I cannot find a link to the text of the passage online.

UPDATE 3:  Rav Yaak found it in Hebrew (I never would have; so thank you, Rabbi.). If you read Rashi script, you may read this version that he found (It didn't cover my entire screen, so you may have to scroll down to the passage.).

The Conspiracy of the Mekatregim, part 1

15 Elul 5775

Prologue | Prologue 2 | Part 1 | Part2

From these translations of the original Hebrew in the prologues, it can be understood that the opposing angels (we humans call them concepts, but in relation to G-d everything imaginable has a soul and can speak with Him) anticipated that only bad could come of haShem’s creating mankind. Looking around today, we see what a complete and utter mess has been made of the world we live in and from which we draw our sustenance.

A lot of articles have been written – and even entire Web sites have been dedicated to exposing some strong influences, mainly brought about by hidden groups of people who generally do not wish to be known — despite the fact that some are now notorious — which have nurtured the frightening developments that have resulted, some of which seem to be good (at least they are sold that way) and turn out to be evil, and others being outright evil.

Indeed, peace and truth have been badly twisted, beaten up and turned inside out worldwide in our day, and in their names some of the worst mendacity and bellicosity have been perpetrated. Even charity has not been exempt from this mega-distortion; murdering terrorist organizations get a great deal of their moral, as well as financial, support from charity! But donors, even wealthy ones, should know that the lion’s share of the money comes from higher up, as well as from thievery and war booty. 

Lately, it seems we are being warned that about 93% of all mankind  is soon to be wiped out. Could the date be on or around September 23^rd (Yom Kippur), as some Web sites have hinted at?  The goal is to bring our population to fewer than 500 million, and to keep it that way.

Possibly to that end, a “false flag year” capable of destruction on a massive scale, beginning on Yom Kippur 5776 and ending on Yom Kippur 5777, may be imminent. The worst part is that we, mankind, will seemingly have done it to ourselves, by our own hand or by that of others, the result of our wrong, sinful and self-destructive decision-making over centuries, both personal/individual and national/collective; or else, some say, a cataclysmic event will take place originating from outer space. Either way, billions may no longer be alive at the end of it. Or it may not happen at all, like the Mayan end of the world as we know it, in 2012.

We did not suddenly come to this place, where it is more likely than not to occur. It has been developing for a very long time, some many hundreds of years. Some would say since the times of the Romans, or when the Muslims began; others, from the time the Illuminati were formed, just a month before the United States became a nation in 1776; or the Jesuits were formed from out of the Roman Catholic Church in 1540. I say the Midrash quoted in the prologue above is at the very least a huge hint that the struggle comes from spiritual forces higher than man himself, but, of course, lower than G-d.  As a matter of fact, many people involved in a lot of these organizations locally and globally attribute their inspiration to invisible higher forces that are guiding them*. The versions of the Midrash Rabbah I quoted above say that Peace and Truth themselves are the opposition. 

I do have an idea about what the root cause might be – may it never come to fruition! — The angels who resisted HaShem’s creation of mankind (maybe lower ones than those depicted in the Midrash?) may still be at work, infusing human thought with detrimental and suicidal concepts, ideas and plans, even up to the highest government levels. Why? To rid the earth of mankind altogether, starting with the Jews. Forget about the 2/3rds or even the 93% of the world that the Jesuits, New Agers, Rosicrucians, or whoever, secretly plot. Why stop there? Having done their dirty work, I imagine these spirit beings might go back to HaShem and tell Him: See, You shouldn’t have made man. We were able to bring about his destruction simply by appealing to his worst drives, his selfishness and his laziness, both physical and mental. And spirituality, You ask? Forget about it.

The biggest question I have is: Why has HaShem allowed us to be brought so low?

That's next.

Update: We're still here, so far. Tomorrow night is Yom haKippurim 5777. Thank G-d. -CDG

*Thanks to Rav Yaak, I no longer need the warning that was here before. I believe I found the author's new (and her own) Web site.

The Conspiracy of the Mekatregim, Prologue 2

10 Elul 5775

Blogger's note: An online friend wrote me; she had found a even more thorough online version/translation of the material above; thus, this extension of the prologue.

According to the Artscroll Midrash Rabbah publisher's preface, Midrash "delves into the spiritual essence of the revealed Torah, adds detail to the Torah's narrative, and provides the ethical tradition that was passed down orally from generation to generation until it was committed to writing. Midrash Rabbah is one of the primary sources of ethical discourse, Chassidic and Mussar teaching, and homiletic literature."

It is the D in PaRDeS - p'shat, remez, DRASH, sod - the 4 levels of Torah scholarship.

Translation note: mekatregim מקטרגים are opponents, as opposed to sanegorim סנגורים, advocates.

*********************************************************************************************

Prologue | Prologue 2 | Part 1 | Part 2

MIDRASH RABBAH VII. 5~7

5. R. Simon said: When the Holy One, blessed be He, came to create Adam, the ministering angels formed themselves into groups and parties, some of them saying, 'Let him be created/ whilst others urged, 'Let him not be created/ Thus it is written, Love and Truth fought together, Righteousness and Peace combated each other (Ps. lxxxv, n)¹: Love said, 'Let him be created, because he will dispense acts of love'; Truth said, 'Let him not be created, because he is compounded of falsehood'; Righteousness said, 'Let him be created, because he will perform righteous deeds'; Peace said, 'Let him not be created, because he is full of strife.'What did the Lord do? He took Truth and cast it to the ground. Said the ministering angels before the Holy One, blessed be He, 'Sovereign of the Universe! Why dost Thou despise Thy seal?² Let Truth arise from the earth!' Hence it is written, Let truth spring up from the earth (ih. 12).

All our Rabbis say the following in the name of R. Hanina, while R. Phinehas and R. Hilkiah say it in the name of R. Simon: Me'od (E.V. 'very') is identical with Adam³; as it is written, And God saw everything that He had made, and, behold, it was good — me'od (Gen. 1, 31), i.e. and behold Adam was good. R. Huna the Elder of Sepphoris, said : While the ministering angels were arguing with each other and disputing with each other, the Holy One, blessed be He, created him. Said He to them: 'What can ye avail? Man has already been made!' 14

6. R. Huna said in R. Aibu's name: He created him with due deliberation: He first created his food requirements, and only then did He create him. Said the ministering angels to the Lord: 'Sovereign of the Universe! What is man, that Thou art mindful of him, and the son of man, that Thou thinkest of him? (Ps. viii, 5). This trouble, for what has it been created?' 'If so/ said He to them, 'Sheep and oxen, all of them (ib. 8), why were they created; why were the fowl of the air and the fish of the sea (ih. 9) created? A tower full of good things and no guests — what pleasure has its owner in having filled it?' Said they to Him: 'Sovereign of the Universe! O Lord, our Lord, how glorious is Thy name in all the earth (ib. 10). Do what pleaseth Thee!'

7. R. Joshua of Siknin said in R. Levi's name: He took counsel with the souls of the righteous, as it is written, These were the makers [E.V. 'potters'], and those. that dwelt among plantations and hedges; there they dwelt with the king in his work (1 Chron. iv, 23). 'These were the makers' 1 they are so termed on account of the verse, Then the Lord formed [made] man, etc. (Gen. 11, 7); 'And those that dwelt among plantations* corresponds to And the Lord God planted a garden eastward (ib. 8); 'And hedges' corresponds to / have placed the sand for the bound of the sea (Jer. v, 22); 'There they dwelt with the king in his work': with the supreme King of kings, the Holy One, blessed be He, sat the souls of the righteous with whom He took counsel before creating the world.

 ¹ E.V. 'Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.' The Midrash interprets met in the sense of fought, and derives nashaku (kissed) from nesheh, arms, rendering: have taken arms against each other. 

² Truth is the seal of God.  

³ In the Hebrew the letters are the same, though differently arranged.

* On this interpretation ne'esah (is made) is read instead of na'aseh (we will make).

[Again, emphases are mine. CDG]