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Free Graphic with Quote from the Pele Yoetz

27/2/2022

 
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"If his beginning is small,
his ending will be great
​because all beginnings are difficult."


– Rav Eliezer Papo (1785-1827)
Pele Yoetz


Special Purim Poetry Offer from Nechumelle Jacobs!

21/2/2022

 
For anyone in need of a poem for Purim specially tailored to your specific needs, Nechumelle Jacobs is offering her poetry-writing services for 15 British pounds.

​She has written poems tailored to specific needs & causes before, and does a great job!
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For examples of her compelling poetry, please start here:
http://www.myrtlerising.com/blog/pearls-of-wisdom-an-inspiring-poem-by-nechumelle-jacobs


Segulot & Insights for Purim Katan

15/2/2022

 
I received the following from a couple of different sources, apparently from Rabbi Avitan.

I never knew any of this about Purim Katan, which is today Tuesday until sunset
​:
Tsadikim say that the light of Purim Katan (the small Purim) is brought upon all those who feel small in the sense that they need a yeshua (salvation); those who feel little because they are lacking in something.

Purim itself is the biggest day of the year to have our prayers answered.

Purim Katan is a big and auspicious day as well.

Rabbi Tsadok of Lublin writes that on the day of Purim Katan, a person can merit to get ‘a new heart’. Meaning that his heart can be purified on this day.

Someone who is not able to see the good in situations, in others…can be granted ‘a good heart’ on the day of Purim Katan.

To receive the light of Purim Katan, we must prepare the proper vessel.

There are some minhagim (customs) that Tsadikim have suggested we do on this special day.

​These customs make it so we are blessed with an abundance of blessings.

Seudat Purim Katan
One should make a seuda (meal) in honour of Purim Katan, just as we would do on Purim. It is a mitzvah to make a meal anytime on Tuesday before sunset. 
​
One should also make it a point to drink some wine during the meal.

​It should be a meal filled with joy. This meal holds a lot of yeshua (salvation). 

Chazal say that Moshe Rabbenu was born on the 7th of Adar Aleph (the first Adar in a leap year) and therefore his Brit Milah was on the 14th of Adar Aleph, which is the day of Purim Katan.

Given that at that time, the Jews in Egypt were forbidden to have children (Pharoah ordered that the newborn Jewish boys be killed) and Moshe was hidden in order to keep him alive, they were not able to celebrate the Brit Milah and make a proper meal – Seudat Brit Milah (a holy meal that holds a lot of yeshua (salvation)).

The Beit Israel of Gur/Ger explains that in a leap year, we make a big seuda on Purim Katan, the 14th of Adar Aleph, in honour of Moshe Rabbenu’s Seudat Brit that he didn’t have.

On this day, Moshe Rabbenu is honour and comes down to be with us.

At this holy time, in the presence of Moshe Rabenu’s holiness, we can ask Hashem for all the things we need and want, and we are bound to see yeshuot (salvations).

Tsadikim also say it is good to say the following chapters in Tehillim during the meal:
22, 39, 62, 77, 100
כ׳ב, ל׳ט, ס׳ב, ע׳ז, ק׳

Then, open our hearts and pray for all our needs.

Rav Mordechai of Nadvorna ztz’l says Purim Katan is a wonderful day and it has a tremendous influence in Shamayim (Heaven).

The Baal HaMaagale Tsedek ztz’l, a student of the Ba’al Shem Tov, states that Purim Katan is also a Yom Tov (a holiday), and it has a great influence in Shamayim.

This day is remembered, and prayers are answered.

All one must do is pray and Yeshuot will come.

Sometimes, the Yeshua takes time, but it will come b’H!

It would be a shame to miss out on such a holy and promising day.

Thank you very much to the wonderful women who made sure I saw this & encouraged it to be shared!
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Free Graphic with Wise Advice from the Ben Ish Chai

10/2/2022

 
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"It is better to stumble with one's foot than one's tongue."

— The Ben Ish Chai in Laws for Women (published in 1906)
https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/975828/jewish/The-Ben-Ish-Chai.htm


A Newly Rediscovered Fact of Biology Illuminates a Formerly Obtuse Area of Halachah & Women's History

9/2/2022

 
This post addresses a delicate subject not really so appropriate for a public mixed-gender forum.

At the same time, I believe there's a great benefit to knowing about the chiddush from Rabbi Daniel Travis (which isn't actually a chiddush, but an illuminating fact of biology he wisely rediscovered). 

So I'll try to discuss things as discreetly & appropriately as possible.

So let me first start with the issue:

When learning taharat hamishpacha, one comes across discussions of "hargasha."

What on earth IS it?

The descriptions of it ring unfamiliar and prove hard to understand.

​People don't seem to know what it even is (although Rabbi Travis does, as you'll see below).

For a man learning the masechet or for women taking the Yoetzet course, it makes sense to learn about it.

But the topic is brought up in pre-wedding kallah classes (or it was we were getting married, don't know if it still is) while teaching the girls what they need to know in order to keep taharat hamishpacha properly throughout marriage.

My personal subjective opinion is they shouldn't even bring it up in kallah classes because it's just confusing without contributing anything useful. 

Especially because it's introduced for no apparent purpose; it's acknowledged as being unrelatable and not understood—so what is the point?

It's like: "Here's something no one really understands, but we're just going to throw it in anyway for absolutely no useful purpose! And any confusion you feel or any questions you have will not be addressed—or even discussed—because, heck, I haven't got a clue! No one does, no one understands this at all, and it has nothing to do with anything that practically relates to what you need to know. Okay, now that I've discombobulated you with completely unnecessary and confusing information, let's go on now with all the myriad details you actually NEED to know..."

Furthermore, some of the greatest Torah minds concluded the phenomenon of hargasha no longer exists, so it's just extraneous and confusing for a young woman already struggling to understand & embrace a whole new area of halacha (and doing so during a very tumultuous phase in her life).

After all, it brings up doubts; like if no one understands it, then maybe women really are experiencing it, but no one is able to pinpoint it?

For example, people say things like, "We're not sensitive enough today to feel it." That simply does not make sense, especially when you learn that hargasha is the womb opening up so painfully that it awakens the woman in the middle of sound sleep, or it's accompanied by severe trembling, and other extreme sensations.

​Very murky, indeed.

In addition, the idea just sits in one's mind as yet another significant part of Torah filed away into the "nishtaneh hateva" abyss.

Unfortunately, the whole "nishtaneh hateva/things have changed" concept (a very valuable & necessary concept when applied correctly) gets way too overused and even abused, with major and still-applicable aspects of Torah dismissed with a wave of this "magic" phrase by people who either lack understanding or allow their emotional inclinations to interfere with proper Torah hashkafah.

Having said that, in the case of hargasha, it is actually true that the nature of the monthly cycle has changed.

​But the lack of explanation creates a problem where there doesn't need to be.

To me, this abstract dismissiveness pricks at one's emunah, even without that being the intention—and even without one being conscious of it.

How Exactly Did the Teva Change? Now It All becomes Clear...

Then recently, TorahAnytime published a class on this very topic with Rabbi Daniel Travis:
www.torahanytime.com/#/lectures?v=174275
How Radical Physical Changes Affected Hilchos Niddah

(Disclaimer: I did not listen to the whole shiur beyond the practical​ revelation because it got very lomdusy & technical...which is perfect for the fellows learning the topic, but just not for my individual learning needs.)

Rabbi Travis explored this topic in Torah scholarship and looked at the writings of the top poskim over the past couple of centuries, plus he spoke to a woman named Dr. Merel (whom I don't know & don't even know if I spelled her name correctly) and Dr. Merel, in addition to being an expert in the area of women's health, also spoke with older women who remember their grandmothers' descriptions of things & learned how they experienced the monthly cycle in their time.

So the big chiddush is this:
That time of the month occurred all at once within 1 hour, and not over the course of several days.

As Rabbi Travis states, it went from being a 1-hour process to an approximately 168-hour process.

So the opening to the womb opens up (sort of like when giving birth) and that's why women of yore even woke up in the middle of the night from the pain or experienced severe trembling and the like—in other words, major undeniable hargasha.

It was a serious event. As Rabbi Travis states, "It's a major shock to the body." (minute 8:31)

​So it's not that we lack sensitivity or randomly don't experience hargasha; the entire monthly experience is now completely different.

No one feels hargasha because the cycle no longer causes hargasha.

​This idea also explains the incredibly short time of niddah described after birth in the Torah—a phase so short, people can't relate to it nowadays.

​So Rabbi Travis's research is incredibly helpful for getting closure on this issue.

​Thank you, Rabbi Travis.

How This Revelation Impacts the Modern View of Older Research

As a side point, this explanation demonstrates the flaws in the research within women's studies.

For example, a woman recently wrote a book on the history of this topic, but she couldn't find information about the supplies used to deal with the monthly cycle.

So she made assumptions, which made their way into the standard explanations on this topic.

But they're not true.

Another female researcher discovered a method recommended for women of yore to deal with it, but dismissed the method as an outliers because the method assumed the kind of major 1-hour event described above. And that makes no sense to the modern observer who refuses to entertain the notion that, well, maybe things have changed.

Modern researchers work on the assumption that the monthly cycle operates the same way throughout the millennia, despite ancient writings showing it doesn't.

The problem is, the secular world doesn't acknowledge nishtaneh hateva so much, so they tend to remain narrow in their thinking, locked into their assumptions that however nature is today, that's how it always was.

(In this post, I'm picking on women's studies, but in past posts, I've picked on other branches of science. Narrow thinking and false assumptions run rampant throughout all branches of science & scholarship today.)

Knowing now how the monthly cycle was experienced by women, we see that women did not need our types of supplies & products to deal with just one hour. Furthermore, modern-day supplies are far too puny to deal with such an event. Nor did they just go about their business during that time; they simply could not.

Another interesting insight is how women's studies derides old observations, like those from Aristotle, for describing the flow of the monthly cycle as similar to the flow from a sacrificed animal.

But according to the research of Rabbi Travis via Dr. Merel, Aristotle's description was actually quite accurate!

Modern women's studies also criticize ancient texts for expecting that time of the month to be heavy & regular...even though it was. 

Conventional medicine today assumes that the cycles of ancient women were lighter & less frequent, despite the complete opposite information found in ancient literature on the subject.

So of course, the modern minds assume all that medical literature must be wrong or the result of male bias & cultural attitudes.

Even certain sections of a book on the topic by a 17th-century midwife receive dismissal by modern women's studies female researchers as being influenced by male bias.

Women's studies also insist that ancient male researchers could not form objective observation of this common and natural biological process due to their cultural assumptions.

And the fact that such a diverse body of literature offering similar observations over the centuries & in different countries might be correct (at least as far as the actual physical process goes)?

Nope! Can't be. If it doesn't jive with modern observations, then all of them (including the female experts of yore) must be wrong. [sarc]

So who is really being biased here? Who is really the closed-minded "expert"?

In other words, women's studies dismiss centuries of observations simply because these observations do not jive with the modern norm...rather than opening their minds to the fact of nishtaneh hateva.

They also criticize the concern with which ancient doctors viewed a lack of regularity (to paraphrase their attitude: "Hey, it's a normal natural process, misogynist bozos!") and the doctors' perceived need to bring it on when it was missing.

But again, that all made sense in the context of what Rabbi Travis describes.

It was a major event and of course a medical professional would be concerned about what's happening in the body, what kind of build-up may be occurring, to prevent the such a major process.

I'm not saying that non-Jewish attitudes toward women were kosher or that ancient peoples were totally fine in their cultural mores.

Of course they weren't.

Nor am I saying that cultural or male bias doesn't exist within the records of women's health.

​Of course there's cultural & male bias.

I just find it interesting how the narrow thinking developed within the secular, liberal, modern mind affects their ability to interpret science & history in a rational & accurate manner.

It's so clear that Rabbi Travis is correct and all these women's studies researchers are wrong.

In short:

The expanded thinking resulting from a Torah mind not only shed light on this whole issue (both halachically & historically), but enabled this ultra-Orthodox male rabbi to both seek out AND accept the experience & testimonies of a female doctor and the elderly women to shed light on male scholarship in this area—when self-lauding modern secular feminist thinkers prove themselves unequal to the challenge & unable to do the same.

Note: Researching women's and domestic history is one of my favorite topics. When I asked a female professor why I'm so much more interested in the daily life of different cultures throughout history (rather than the wars or politics), she said it's because their daily life shows how they really were, whereas the wars and politics and other events are more snapshots of only specific stratums of a society.

So I'm not against women's studies per se, but the blinding truth-distorting agenda that has taken over the field is definitely something I can neither respect nor submit to.
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Why You Need to Acknowledge the Sincerity behind Personality Disorders & the Erev Rav

6/2/2022

 
Because of the short-cut language we use when speaking about consistently dysfunctional people, whether we identify them as personality disordered or Erev Rav, the terminology implies an awareness on their part, which doesn't usually exist (or doesn't exist to that extreme).

Psychopaths generally mean to do what they do.

But most other people don't.

For example, a narcissist doesn't think, "Oh-ho, I will now engage in my beloved activity of triangulation!"

No, they simply feel victimized in some way, and naturally turn to others in a way that plays one person against the other.

They seek to feel supported & protected.

The fact that an innocent person gets badly hurt along the way doesn't register with them.

After all, the narcissist considers himself the victim and, in the narcissist mind, the person getting hurt either deserves it (if the narcissist feels victimized by that person) or is simply an unavoidable casualty (which again, is not the narcissist's fault in the narcissistic mind because he views it as an unavoidable casualty—and "Hey, what did you expect, that I would sacrifice myself to avoid harming such an insignificant person? Anyway, if you really cared about me, you wouldn't mind sacrificing in yourself for me.").

I used the example of a narcissist, but it applies to any personality disorder.

Same thing when a personality-disordered person slanders another.

Again, they felt victimized in some way.

They believe they are simply protecting themselves, perhaps even protecting others by warning them, or they justify their slander as emanating from irrepressible pain that must find a release.

If they genuinely mean to take you down via slander, it still emanates from the perception of themselves as victim and you as persecutor. So once again, they believe you deserve it; they see it as the best & most effective way to defend themselves.

They believe their slander to be true...or close enough to the truth to be true ("That's how I feel"), or they believe the lies & exaggerations popping out of their mouth because those justifications sound & feel so good...so they must be true, right?

​Or, even if they know they twisted the truth, they feel it advances an important agenda, so the ends justifies the means...and that's also a kind of "truth" (to the disordered mind).

Those are just a couple of examples.

And the above is why a PD (personality disorder) can be so shocked, hurt, outraged, and vengeful when confronted with the truth of their motivations, beliefs, and actions—and also how badly they've hurt others, plus the destruction that results from their behaviors.

Most experts addressing personality disorders speak as if the PD knows and plots every step of their behavior.

(I speak/write like this too sometimes. It's a short-cut to describe the behaviors. But really, I think it's a bit misleading, so I'm trying to be more careful. On the other hand, some people really do believe PDs are wholly aware of every step they take. But that's not true.)

For example, they say:
​"This narcissist can't handle being wrong, so she engages in twisty arguments to manipulate the discussion."

But the narcissist probably thinks she's right!

​And she doesn't consider her arguments twisty nor does she consider her methods manipulative; she thinks she's being clever and self-protective. She believes what she's saying and genuinely thinks YOU are being mean.

Having said that, sometimes they do knowingly engage in hurtful argumentative tactics. And again, they do that because they think YOU deserve it.

They consider you pathetic, bad, or stupid and feel justified in playing mind games during a discussion.

They consider themselves cute, clever, or funny.

So if you get angry or hurt, they consider you oversensitive. (Or manipulative.)

Why?

Because you were the whole problem in the first place! Why are you bothering them by being pathetic, bad or stupid?

YOU are pathetic, bad, or stupid. THEY are cute, clever, funny...and the real victim here.

So why are YOU getting upset?

You have no right!

That's how they honestly see things.

And as long as you don't realize how sincere they are in their disordered thinking, it's hard to deal with them and also to identify them. You can also be used by them to hurt others when they rope you into "helping" them in their pain (which feels very real to them).

So to sum up:

  • The knowingly evil Voldemorts tend to be psychopaths.
 
  • The other dysfunctional people tend to be sincere in their disordered, dysfunctional, unhealthy way of thinking.

​And the same is also true for the Erev Rav.

Erev Rav Sincerity

Note: All quotes from Rav Itamar Schwartz are from here:
​https://bilvavi.net/files/Bilvavi.Erev.Rav.Talks.pdf

Since their inception, the Erev Rav lacked a conscious intent to destroy Am Yisrael.

They simply wanted the best of both worlds.

And THAT leads to destruction because, at their intrinsic root, the holy world and the profane world remain at odds with each other.
​
(The group with the conscious intent to destroy Am Yisrael both physically and at its soul-root is Amalek. And yes, Amalekite Erev Rav exist.)

To oversimplify, the Erev Rav followed Am Yisrael out of Egypt because they viewed Hashem as the biggest bully on the block, and they felt more secure aligning themselves with the most powerful entity.

Yet they were always looking back to see whether maybe the Egyptians would be the winners.

And despite all the palpable pure spirituality around, they constantly longed for their impure spirituality and materialism.

All the damage they committed (like the Golden Calf) resulted from a desire to protect their own interests.

They genuinely felt fear or anxiety or distress. Their motivation wasn't manipulation; that's how they honestly felt.

In other words, they believed in what they were doing.

And real Jews got swept up with them...because of the Erev Rav sincerity.

And it happens nowadays too.

​Here's Rav Itamar Schwartz (page 40):
In fact, those people [who are pushing for the draft] might not even be aware that the ‘Sitra Achara’ is controlling them, and they might even be earnest in their intentions.

Some of them actually are earnest, and they aren’t trying to be wicked.

​They simply don’t understand what they are doing to us.

But this is only concerning a certain amount of them.

The rest of them simply have wicked intentions.

And even those in the government who have earnest intentions to help us are accomplishing the same purpose as the totally wicked members, in spite of the fact that they don’t realize what they are doing: they are coming to uproot all of the Torah!!

And why are they trying to uproot the Torah?

Because they honestly view it as holding themselves and others back.

But WHY do they feel that way?

The Torah contains such amazing inspiration, guidance, and is the only way for a human being to achieve truly great heights of holiness & morality.

​Why is the Erev Rav view SO distorted?

Erev Rav Lack the Ability to Understand. Understand This Well!

Here's the answer on page 35:
They do not understand, and they can never understand, what Torah is.

They cannot understand what mitzvos are.

​They cannot understand the nature of the true bond that is between the Jewish people and Hashem.

This is why, by the way, the charedi rabbanim responded with such uncompromising opposition to the Erev Rav when they first invented & utilized the Zionist movement.

To regular Jews, the rabbanim DID explain their positions.

But when dealing with the secular Leftist anti-Torah Communist Erev Rav leaders, the rabbanim went just BAM! Full-speed opposition ahead.

Even nowadays, you can see there's no talking to them or explaining to them why this-and-such is important.

They CANNOT understand. It's simply impossible.

And that's sincere on their part!

They have NO ability to comprehend or relate to:
  • the essence of Torah
  • the essence of mitzvot
  • the bond between Hashem and Am Yisrael

The potential simply is NOT there.

Here's an analogy:

​Try and describe countries and their political systems to a toddler.

He can't see it!

What's a country? What's a political party? What's a budget? What's debt?

Yet would you allow the one-year-old to make policies?

If the toddler is screaming for his toy and his lollipop, would you say, "If you stop screaming, I'll let you decide the boundary of France! And you can also decide the fiscal policy for the coming year! Wouldn't you like that, shaifeleh?"

Or would you just ignore the screaming toddler (maybe just stick a lollipop in his mouth) and continue running the country to the best of your ability?

The Erev Rav Leaders of Today

Here's more explanation from Rav Itamar Schwartz (page 34):
The Vilna Gaon writes that in the final generations, the Erev Rav are the “heads of the Jewish people, who are the ‘leaders’, and they have control over the “sons of Leah and Rachel.”

They are also called ‘sapachas’ by Chazal – a kind of leprosy that forms over the skin, embedded into the skin and atop it, but not a part of it.

They came with us when we left Egypt and added themselves onto our nation, but they are not a part of our nation; thus they are called a sapachas\leprosy - a layer added onto the skin, which is not an actual part of the skin.

In the later generations, and especially in our current generation, the Erev Rav are wicked souls who lead the Jewish people towards evil.

Their agenda is to lead the Jewish people astray from Torah, from all holiness, from emunah, and from mitzvos.

It doesn’t matter if he [a member of Erev Rav] wears a kippah or if he doesn’t have a kippah; whether he has a beard or whether he doesn’t have a beard.

This is the exile we are in.

The exile we are currently in is the exile of the Erev Rav - who exercise ‘control’ over the Jewish people.

The ‘heads of the Erev Rav’ are the souls of Amalek; Chazal say that the Erev Rav is made up of five kinds of people, and at the head of all of them is Amalek.

This has been true about our current exile ever since it has begun, but it has particular relevance to today’s times.

We must understand the situation that we are found in.

​The exile we are in today is being headed by people who look like Jews - and they look like they are a part of the Jewish people.

So we see from here the actual main leaders of the Erev Rav are the Amalek Erev Rav who actively plot to destroy the Torah and Am Yisrael.

But the other types of Erev Rav (Nefilim, Gibburim, Refaim, Anakim) cause extreme damage because they can NEVER relate to Torah or the relationship between Hashem & His People.

It doesn't mean anything to them; they cannot wrap their head around it.

They have their own agendas & it genuinely bothers them when the Torah interferes.

So what do WE do?

Focus on 2 Aspects

We need to do 2 things:
  • Sur m'ra—Turn from evil
  • Aseh tov—Do good.

Learing halacha and mussar help so much with turning from evil and doing good.

How else can you know what is good or bad unless you learn it?

Learning the halachot of how to treat people (giving the benefit of the doubt, acting with compassion, guarding one's tongue, etc.) provide you with the tools to avoid acting like a dysfunctional person.

Learning halacha and mussar also helps you to differentiate between the truly dysfunctional people and others who are basically good but flawed and struggling, so you know who to avoid and who to embrace.

Also, there is no need to water down Torah truths.

Darchei noam—ways of pleasantness? 

Yes! By all means!

Be pleasant! Try to avoid fights with others! Focus on the Torah's beauty!

But please also realize that if you're dealing with an Erev Rav, he or she CANNOT see the beauty no matter how much you point it out or water it down.

So there's no point.

They're utterly sincere in their attitudes, beliefs, and agendas.

And that sincerity often knocks real Jews off balance.

That's why it's important to know their sincerity makes them neither redeemable nor changeable...and not convincible either.

​And so...

Just YOU be strong within yourself.

Part of doing good is davening.

Davening for Erev Rav to do teshuvah (from the Komarna Rebbe) elevates the sparks, getting rid of the Erev Rav.

Davening protects you & others. Davening also enhances the growth of you & others.

Connect to Hashem in a deep & meaningful way for even only 1 minute a day...

May Hashem please bring the Geula swiftly with rachamim.

For more insights into the the workings of the Erev Rav mind & soul, plus the Amalekite influence:
  • http://question.bilvavi.net/what-to-do-about-the-erev-rav/
  • www.bilvavi.net/english/erev-rav-005-amalek-exposed
  • www.myrtlerising.com/blog/the-ultimate-way-to-do-teshuvah-wipe-out-amalek
  • how-to-identify-overcome-the-amalekite-conspiracy.html
  • www.myrtlerising.com/blog/whats-the-message-of-the-erev-rav-for-us-on-17-tammuz
  • www.myrtlerising.com/blog/the-erev-rav-strategy-following-the-biggest-bully
  • www.myrtlerising.com/blog/the-kli-yakar-parshat-masei: Why the Erev Rav CAN'T Change Themselves
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English translation from https://www.sefaria.org.il/Sanhedrin.97a?lang=bi

Bilvavi Insights to Enhance the Hebrew Month of Adar

2/2/2022

 
If you'd like in-depth insights into:
  • Adar Alef
  • Adar Bet
  • Adar's Mazal of Dagim/Fish/Pisces
  • How the Tribe of Zevulun corresponds to Adar
  • Many Aspects of Purim
  • The Aspect of Laughter associated with Adar
  • Ta'anit Esther (the Fast of Esther)
  • An Enlightening Q&A
  • How to Fight the Sadness Caused by Amalek & Erev Rav...

...then please go to the Bilvavi Adar/Purim booklet crafted from transcripts of Rav Itamar Schwartz's shiurim:
https://bilvavi.net/files/Bilvavi.Purim.Talks.pdf
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Rav Itamar Schwartz on the Bitter Truth of the "Sweet" Shmad of the Erev Rav

2/2/2022

 
I don't know whether people have read the entire booklet on Erev Rav produced by Bilvavi students from the transcripts of classes by Rav Itamar Schwartz.

The latest edition came out at the end of Shevat 5782/January 2022:
https://bilvavi.net/files/Bilvavi.Erev.Rav.Talks.pdf

Here is an excerpt that applies very strongly today (pages 38-43):
They [the Erev Rav] make their appearance in several stages.

They try to get involved in our Torah learning and make problems there, and at other times, they are behind pushing the seminaries to bring secular material into the Torah world.

The Vizhnitzer Rebbe zt”l said that even if they decree that we should learn Tractate Bava Basra, nobody should listen to the government and learn Bava Basra!

This is because Torah cannot be nursed from the Erev Rav.

Most people don’t see it this way, and they wonder,

“What is so terrible? Most of what they [the government] seek is for our own good, with just a little bit of bad mixed in. It’s mostly good with just a little bit of bad involved. All we have to do is collect a lot of money and pay them off, and then all the problems would go away….”

A person is slowly pulled after them and he becomes connected with them over the years.

Chazal say that when you listen to the wicked government during a time of shmad [spiritual genocide], today they say “Do this,” tomorrow they say, “Now do this,” and in the end, they will tell the person to commit idol worship.

We see this today with the alliance of otherwise frum Jews to other religions.

With officially Orthodox organizations or Orthodox synagogues hosting church speakers or utilizing methods or bringing in associations or influencers from the Far Eastern spiritual groups, we see the last paragraph in realtime: "...in the end, they will tell the person to commit idol worship."

Also in the IDF, you have gentile Russian soldiers wearing crosses & singing carols in December within a room decorated with their holiday decorations on the army bases of the "the only Jewish army in the world!"

My son was their roommate. That's how I know. And they encouraged him to sing these pagan lyrics along with them. And he did! 

"...in the end, they will tell the person to commit idol worship."

He was in IDF uniform wearing a kippah and tzitzit, putting on his tefillin every day, and singing carols because he thought it was a funny lark; it felt fun and innocent.

And that's how the Erev Rav present all their goals: "It's all in good fun! It feels good! Peace 'n' love, man! Can't we all just wave daisies & get along? Kumbaya!"

​Aw, they're just a bunch of big sweeties! [sarc]

Erev, in addition to being rooted in the word for "mixture," also holds the root "arev"—sweet.

Many find the melodies of the holiday carols compelling and appealing. It's like a sweet honeytrap. Also, that feeling of camaraderie while singing the carols with your buddies—that also feels "sweet."

A lot of the peace and camaraderie stuff feels "sweet." It's all so nice & cozy! And comfy.

But once you get into all that thick, sweet, sticky honey...it's very hard to get out.

And it's even harder to get all that sticky goop off you. 

​The rav continues (boldface mine):
If someone doesn’t know that he is in a time of shmad, he is totally blind!

The Brisker Rav zt”l expressed, “I see today what is going on in today’s times, which almost no one else sees.”

This was said many years ago. We are in a time in which most people do not even realize that we are in a time of shmad! It appears like another decree. 

***


This is reality now.

If someone is clear about it, he can’t fall asleep at night.

It is hard to concentrate during these days for anyone who is clearly aware of the situation.


Imagine if a murderer is chasing somebody and he wants to follow him into his house so that he can kill him.

If we see him running after the person, would we keep our doors open as he’s running by our house?

Taking this further, would we want to be in the same room with him?

Would we be comfortable if he’s near us?

What if his hand is touching our body? And what if his hands are nearing our heart?

What do we do if a murderer is right near our own heart?


If someone tends to live in denial, he will think that this kind of stuff only happens in nightmares, and that it cannot happen in reality.

But the decree is pointing right at our heart! Our very heart is in danger, no less than a murderer placing his hand near our heart.
​

What more does Hashem want us to do, so that we understand that they [the Erev Rav] are coming to uproot the entire Torah…?

***


If someone would come and decree on us that we cannot keep the mitzvos of the Torah, we would all understand that it is a time of shmad.

Our situation is a bit different than such a decree, but it is still the ‘Snake’ coming toward us with its ‘cleverness’.

It’s the same kind of argument.

These words are not being said so that you should hear them and be inspired.

​It is so that you understand what is going on.

***

The gift of it is that He is waking us up from our slumber.

​We are being woken up from the sleep we have been from all these years, having gotten used to a lifestyle that was a spiritual slumber.

***

Don’t we understand that the entire way we are living now is incorrect?

How can we just continue peacefully, with all that is going on now?

Hashem is coming to each of us and saying,

​“My son. You are my son, and I am Your Father. I love you, and I desire you. I have pain that your other holy brothers are captured by the materialism of This World, swayed by the Erev Rav on This World.”

And what's the answer?

To develop really emunah and also make lifestyle changes.

Depending your personality & situation, you can make a huge change all at once, or go in steps along the way (Rav Schwartz has discussed both).

This also includes connecting with Hashem on a regular basis.

In your own words & according to your own unique soul needs, you can take even just 1 minute a day to tune in with your whole heart & mind to Hashem.
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