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):
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):
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.
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.
Spring bloom in Eretz Yisrael
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