"Viral Awakening: From Global Chaos to a Divine World" - Extended Access This Week!

5 Nisan 5780


A completely virtual event, this is a large part of what has been keeping me sane lately - along with other Torah sources and my writing! There is hope at the end of the tunnel. Come along for the ride and lose the fear!

Each set of interviews is approximately 2 or more hours long. Well worth the time!

Register here NOW for FREE ACCESS all week long!

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VIRAL AWAKENING: FROM GLOBAL CHAOS TO A DIVINE WORLD

Roundtable Interviews with host SHIFRA CHANA HENDRIE
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1. CORONAVIRUS: THE SPIRITUAL ANTIDOTE

Guest Speakers: Yehudis Golshevsky, R' Simon Jacobson, R' Tovia Singer

2. CORONAVIRUS AND CO-CREATION: FROM CHAOS TO CONSCIOUSNESS
Guest Speakers: R' Amichai Cohen, R' Doniel Katz, Sarah Yehudit Schneider

3. CORONAVIRUS AND HEALING: ACTIVATING HIDDEN POTENTIAL
Guest Speakers: Haya Baker, Devora Gila Berkowitz, Yocheved Rindenow Kalev

4. FROM MOSES TO MOSHIACH: AWAKENING YOUR HOLY SPARK WITHIN
Guest Speakers: R' Aaron Raskin, Shimona Tzukernik, R' Reuven Wolf

5. CORONAVIRUS TO SOUL-EMPOWERED LEADERSHIP: THE PATH FORWARD NOW
Guest Speakers: Sara Tova Best, Chana Rus Cohen, Devorah Yaffa Singer, Devorah Sisso

6. KABBALISTIC SECRETS OF MOSHIACH: WHY, WHEN, WHO AND HOW
Guest Speaker:  R' Reuven Wolf - video in 2 parts


...and all the Divine Matrix Prayer/Healing Sessions that go with them...if you don't know what that is, all the more reason to try one!


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Register here NOW for FREE ACCESS all week long!

All we have to lose is our fear.

"New World Order"...or HQB"H Resetting Creation Before Mashiah?

light of 5 Nisan 5780

The first step to building a skyscraper is to dig a huge hole...(source)

Many events in this time period we are living in — which really began about mid-November 2019, approximately 17 Heshvan 5779 5780 — have an aspect of opposites in them. As people become more aware of the dangers of coronavirus, they are seeing the obvious aspect of "the end of the world."

Bottom line, "the end of the world" could mean two things: Takeover by the wicked of the world, or takeover by HaQadosh Baruch Hu and His servant, Mashiah.

This can be easily demonstrated through gematria: Everyone knows by now that Nahash (נחש) - snake and Mashiah (משיח) both equal 358 and that they are opposites.

An even stronger connection can be made between Keter (כתר) - crown (and Corona) and Karet (כרת) - "cut off." They are made up of the same letters, equaling 620, combining the 613 Jewish mitzvoth and the 7 Noahide ones (and 8 —which stands for "above nature" if you add all the numbers of the sum together)!

(Many thanks to True Tzadikkim (towards the bottom of the post) for most of the gematria analysis. H/T to Myrtle Rising, comments section.)

So, which is it? Crown Mashiah or be cut off?

Depends. Choose wisely.

I'll quote from a text conversation on Tomer Devorah between another commenter and me, as follows (original text included):

***

Anonymous 27/3/20 6:12 PM

Yep we can expect the call for "global government" to get louder and louder.
A "global government" needs a "global leader" for a "global economy" for a "global population" which needs a "global religion".

Welcome Armilus aka "second coming" aka "mahdi".

May the Goel Tzedek ben Yosef not die in battle... 

HDG, Yerushalayim, E"Y Shlemah 28/3/20 9:12 PM

How do we know that the global leader won't be Mashiah?

How do we know that the global government won't function without the Jewish system at its head?

How do we know that H' won't turn everything upside down so that His religion will be the global religion?

That would be really "v'nahafokh hu"...wouldn't it?

***

Devash went on to quote my questions two posts later and took the opportunity to clarify how to approach the answer to them. I think that she and I pretty much understand each other, although we've never met personally. So there may be room for misunderstanding, but I don't think we disagree all that often.

I was looking at the very end of this process, and I skipped over the important in-between step, part of which was already taken by the commenter to whom I had replied, whom I've quoted above. In a way (as Devash may have intuited), they are one posting by two people. After all, I did pass on to her a video (the last comment, as far as I know) that spoke to my anonymous fellow commenter's point, and she reposted it here.

Also, we were warned after that —yesterday, in fact — by Ynet about real cops being in our streets, enforcing the lockdown.

The in-between part I skipped is that the false messiahs go first. G-d has always been known to test his closest ones in a more exacting manner than others. The whole Israelites-in-the-desert experience (which the whole world knows about by now) was test after test after test...

And so it is now. Will Jews go after one of the "first" alternatives, including the "one world government" along with the religious alternatives, or will we wait for the real Messiah?

I was taught the lesson in high school many years ago, using the speeches of Brutus and Marcus Antonius at the funeral of Julius Caesar, that it is better to go last than first (this link is to a somewhat more detailed analysis of the speeches, and includes this concept...) because the last speaker has the advantage of being able to spot the previous speakers' weaknesses.

Of course, haShem doesn't have to study His opposition, since He created and knows them all, including their weaknesses. It's whether we know them, too, that counts, as far as we're concerned.

All the more so, it is better that G-d's candidate for Mashiah go last, for our sake. Wait for it!


More reading:

Erasing the Old World | Before You Judge Your Brother | How Do We Know? | Could Coronavirus be the "King" whose Decrees are as Harsh as Haman? | Corona and "Umeihadarim Eimah" part 1  part 2 | If the PA Lacks Funds to Combat the Coronavirus... | Religious Jews are among the biggest victims of COVID-19 | BD"E Could This Be Another Plague of Darkness?  | Rav Elyashiv, the Vilna Ga'on's Lottery, and Coronavirus | ...when the government decides to be the only distributor of bread... | COVID-19 Case Map (Johns Hopkins) |

Rabbi Akiva’s Seder Coping With Corona

2 Nisan 5780

by Rabbi Ephraim Sprecher | first published here

Can Rabbi Akiva’s Seder of almost 2,000 years ago help us to cope with Coronavirus in the year 2020?   The Pesach Haggada states, that five Sages, Rabbi Akiva and his colleagues, were telling of the Exodus from Egypt all night at the Seder, until their disciples came and said to them, "Our Rabbis, the time for the recital of the morning Shema has arrived."   The Seder is all about both parents telling their children about the Exodus story. So where were the wives and children of these great Rabbis? Judaism does not condone a MEN’S-ONLY SEDER.   The Aruch HaShulchan in his commentary on the Haggada, states that this Seder in Bnei Brak took place after the destruction of the Second Temple and during the Hadrianic persecutions. This was one of the most tragic and despairing eras in Jewish History. The Bar Kochba uprising had proven to be a failure to recapture sovereignty over the Land of Israel. The collective soul of Israel was crushed as Jewish Rabbinic leaders (10 Martyrs) were being tortured to death.   A long and bitter exile loomed on the horizon for the Jewish People. And then came the Yom Tov of Pesach. How could the Jews possibly celebrate a Pesach Seder of freedom in the midst of persecution, terror and despair? The families of these great Rabbis were Quarantined in Isolation perhaps due to the fear of being discovered by the Roman soldiers, or being infected by some plague (like Coronavirus). During this period of dashed hopes and failed expectations, there was no greater person of faith among the Jewish people than Rabbi Akiva. Everything about him suggested a spirit of incomparable optimism. Despite the fact that he had been the main spiritual inspiration for the failed Bar Kochba rebellion, he never surrendered to despair.   We need Rabbi Akiva NOW to help us deal with our fear and despair of the Coronavirus.   In one amazing incident in the Talmud (Makot 24), R' Gamliel, R' Akiva, R' Elazar ben Azaria, and R' Yehoshua (3 of these 4 Sages having also been at the Seder in Bnei Brak), were walking on Mt. Scopus, when they spotted a fox emerging from the place of the Holy of Holies on the Temple Mount. The other Rabbis began to cry, but R' Akiva laughed. When they asked him to explain the reason for his laughter, R' Akiva explained that since the presence of the foxes confirmed the truth of the prophecy of destruction, the prophecy of the future redemption of Israel will certainly come true.   R' Akiva is the figure who represents total faith in Hashem, and total faith in the future destiny of the Jewish People. His own death full of suffering, serves as one of the most spiritually powerful moments in our tragic history. R' Akiva was sentenced to death for refusing to obey the Hadrianic laws that prohibited the teaching of Torah.   The Talmud states, "When R' Akiva was taken out for execution, it was the hour for the recital of the Shema. And while the Romans tore his flesh with iron combs, he accepted upon himself the Kingship of Heaven. His disciples were amazed, they cried, "'Rebbe, even on to this point?' Dying, his body tortured, R' Akiva explained that until then he had never had the opportunity of fulfilling the Mitzva to love Hashem with all your soul. Now that I have that chance, shall I not fulfill it?" (B'rachot 61).   The Shema is our testimony to our belief in the Final Redemption. "Hear Israel, Hashem who is now only accepted by us as our G‑D, will eventually be accepted by the UN and the EU as the One and Only true G‑D." This is the meaning of the Shema as explained by the Talmud. With his dying breath, this is the final legacy of faith and optimism which R' Akiva left to all future generations.   Thus, we invite Rabbi Akiva to inspire our own Pesach Seder each and every year. Because Rabbi Akiva is our role model in Coping with Corona by teaching us NEVER DESPAIR, HANG IN THERE. Judaism is all about Hope and Eternal Optimism!

Life After Death: A Class by R' Ephraim Sprecher

29 Adar 5780 | Yom Kippur Qatan | Erev Rosh Hodesh Nisan


Note: This video was recorded in Diaspora Yeshiva's Rebbe's study by an independent source (Szerman Films) as raw footage two years ago, and provided to R' Sprecher's media provider for posting during the corona crisis. Watch and see how relevant it is today, especially toward the end!  - HDG

CORONA’s Wake-Up Call! + VIDEO

the light of 28 Adar 5780


 by Rabbi Ephraim Sprecher | first published here!

The Rambam in Hilchot Taanit informs us that times of great distress and suffering, like we are now experiencing, are times for introspection. G‑d wants us to reflect and think about how to become a better person. This Coronavirus is telling us that there are two areas where we should improve ourselves: The value of quality family time and the pain of loneliness.

This mandatory quarantine of family reminds us where our true source of strength lies. Sitting in our rooms, cut off from the rest of the world, forces us to undergo a process of self‑examination; but what values are truly important to us? Not our careers or financial success, but values of spirit, faith and family.

The Coronavirus that has put millions of people into isolation reminds us that there are people who are always socially isolated. Do we pay attention to those people who suffer from constant loneliness, who return to an empty apartment day after day? These lonely people who have no family, those who are home alone waiting for someone to give them a friendly hello, do we hear their voice and feel their pain? Perhaps this virus that forces us to become lonely is a wake-up call to remember all the lonely people.

Loneliness can be painful, but it is also easy to alleviate with a friendly smile, a kind word, a cheerful greeting or a phone call. If each of us remembers one lonely person and reaches out to that person by inviting them to a Shabbat meal (after the crisis is over) can make a huge contribution to light up one’s life as Debbie Boone sang: YOU LIGHT UP MY LIFE.

Perhaps the Coronavirus and the loneliness that has been imposed on us gives us a taste of what loneliness really feels like. We miss our social encounters that we are accustomed to. This disease gives us a wonderful opportunity to lessen the pain of lonely people because we’re all in this together.

This week’s parsha is VAYIKRA, and we know that the parsha always speaks to Current Events. Vayikra means G‑d calls out to each and every one of us! Reach out and touch one lonely person and bring a little joy and sunshine into their lonely lives. This is G‑d’s message to each and every one of us in this week’s parsha.

In the merit of this great Mitzvah, our prayers will be answered and we will overcome this deadly disease in peace and in health.

But what do we do in the meantime? As the Prophet states, in the Dawn of the Messianic Era, “Go, My People, enter your rooms and close your doors behind you, hide for a while until the wrath and PLAGUE has passed.” (Isaiah 26:20)
***