In Rav Avigdor Miller's dvar Torah for Parshas Behar-Bechukosai 4 - Tenants in This World, we learn the extent to which we are tenants in This World.
As Judaism emphasizes so strongly & so often, This World is merely a hallway leading to something much bigger and truer.
The Yovel (Jubilee) Year of ancient times kept Am Yisrael on its toes, even though they lived in their own Land within their rightful Tribal portion.
With homes & other acquisitions needing to be restored to their original state & possession, people still experienced movement & uprooting.
Later on & continuing until today, Galut (Exile) keeps us on our toes.
Even within Eretz Yisrael, we still experience Galut.
Missile strikes & policies of the Erev Rav government officials carried out by their lackeys ensure that we don't feel too settled in our homes.
We still need to turn to Hashem for any real stability.
With recent tragedies, for which the deeper reasons remain concealed, we see the Galut in that 3 yeshivah bachurs can be shot at random. Government policies enable this to happen.
The revolving door of Israeli justice for terrorists embolden terrorism.
We do not yet dwell securely within our own Land.
Likewise, regarding the Meron tragedy, Rav Itamar Schwartz noted (among other profundities):
As Judaism emphasizes so strongly & so often, This World is merely a hallway leading to something much bigger and truer.
The Yovel (Jubilee) Year of ancient times kept Am Yisrael on its toes, even though they lived in their own Land within their rightful Tribal portion.
With homes & other acquisitions needing to be restored to their original state & possession, people still experienced movement & uprooting.
Later on & continuing until today, Galut (Exile) keeps us on our toes.
Even within Eretz Yisrael, we still experience Galut.
Missile strikes & policies of the Erev Rav government officials carried out by their lackeys ensure that we don't feel too settled in our homes.
We still need to turn to Hashem for any real stability.
With recent tragedies, for which the deeper reasons remain concealed, we see the Galut in that 3 yeshivah bachurs can be shot at random. Government policies enable this to happen.
The revolving door of Israeli justice for terrorists embolden terrorism.
We do not yet dwell securely within our own Land.
Likewise, regarding the Meron tragedy, Rav Itamar Schwartz noted (among other profundities):
Additionally, on the one hand, Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai ascends to his high place above at his burial place, but at the same time, on the world down below, the “heads of the Erev Rav” take control of this place because of the 50th level of tumah which runs rampant today.
(https://bilvavi.net/files/Bilvavi.Meron.Tragedy.Lag.B'Omer.5781.pdf)
Eyewitness accounts bear testimony to this point as we repeatedly hear how police did not intervene to prevent the dangerous crowding.
Yet people realized on their own.
Ten minutes before the horrific crush, two 22-year-old friends of my son, concerned by the increasingly oppressive crowding, turned to each other and said, "Let's get out of here before we die."
They deliberated which of the 2 exits to take and Hashem guided them to choose the exit which ended up NOT being the deathtrap.
So they made it out alive.
When many other good people on their own decided to relieve the crowding by leaving, the police responded in a way that first caused then exacerbated crushing & falling (with the exception of a couple of policemen who worked to save people).
Look at who took control of that holy place & those holy people.
And so, this is where we are now.
Galut.
Nothing is stable. Nothing is guaranteed.
This isn't our world.
This isn't the real world.
This is all temporary and merely a path on the journey to reach the real world.
Those killed in the crush came from all types of backgrounds.
Many looked like ordinary people.
Yet so many extraordinary stories of the niftarim have come to light.
One astounding verified story by Daniel Braude came from Daniel Braude's 1-Minute Daily Halocha:
A man who eventually survived the crush found a small passage of air that kept him alive as he remained trapped between those fallen beneath him and those fallen on top of him.
He desperately wanted to move up off those under him, but could not.
From beneath him, this survivor heard a man say Shema Yisrael in the manner of one who realizes he is living out his final moments.
After this Shema, this person's final words were to those unwillingly crushing him:
"Whoever is on top of me—I forgive you completely."
He never spoke again.
This was a person who understood the purpose of This World.
In his last moments, this suffering Jew thought to consider the terrible guilt experienced by his brothers on top of him, fellow Jews who so desperately wanted to save his life, but who themselves could not move at all.
His last breaths consisted of empathy & judging his fellow Jews favorably.
He understood where he was & where he was going.
And he understood Who the Real Master is.
May Mashiach please usher in the Geula quickly and with compassion.
Yet people realized on their own.
Ten minutes before the horrific crush, two 22-year-old friends of my son, concerned by the increasingly oppressive crowding, turned to each other and said, "Let's get out of here before we die."
They deliberated which of the 2 exits to take and Hashem guided them to choose the exit which ended up NOT being the deathtrap.
So they made it out alive.
When many other good people on their own decided to relieve the crowding by leaving, the police responded in a way that first caused then exacerbated crushing & falling (with the exception of a couple of policemen who worked to save people).
Look at who took control of that holy place & those holy people.
And so, this is where we are now.
Galut.
Nothing is stable. Nothing is guaranteed.
This isn't our world.
This isn't the real world.
This is all temporary and merely a path on the journey to reach the real world.
Those killed in the crush came from all types of backgrounds.
Many looked like ordinary people.
Yet so many extraordinary stories of the niftarim have come to light.
One astounding verified story by Daniel Braude came from Daniel Braude's 1-Minute Daily Halocha:
A man who eventually survived the crush found a small passage of air that kept him alive as he remained trapped between those fallen beneath him and those fallen on top of him.
He desperately wanted to move up off those under him, but could not.
From beneath him, this survivor heard a man say Shema Yisrael in the manner of one who realizes he is living out his final moments.
After this Shema, this person's final words were to those unwillingly crushing him:
"Whoever is on top of me—I forgive you completely."
He never spoke again.
This was a person who understood the purpose of This World.
In his last moments, this suffering Jew thought to consider the terrible guilt experienced by his brothers on top of him, fellow Jews who so desperately wanted to save his life, but who themselves could not move at all.
His last breaths consisted of empathy & judging his fellow Jews favorably.
He understood where he was & where he was going.
And he understood Who the Real Master is.
May Mashiach please usher in the Geula quickly and with compassion.
RSS Feed