What is the Only Way to Hold on Tight When the Rope Starts Shaking?

10/9/2019

Looking at what's going on in the world, I find myself growing increasingly concerned for the future.

And I'm far from being the first to come to this conclusion.

Right now, I don't want to go into the nitty-gritty of what we're all seeing and what I think it portends, but I do want to talk about the best response.

And it's not about prepping or making aliyah (which most Jews either won't or can't do right now anyway — and who even says that the Erev Rav leaders would allow millions of Jews, especially if they're frum, to enter?) or writing letters to representatives or newspapers, or signing petitions, and so forth.

(Although if those things will help, then it's good to do them. But they shouldn't be your sole focus.)

There's a lot we can't control and I think this creeping inability to positively affect opinions & situations is only going to increase.

So it's time to re-focus on an age-old authentically Jewish response:

HANG ON TO YOUR EMUNA

Looking back at the classic parable by Rebbe Elimelech of Lizhensk (author of the classic Noam Elimelech):

He said that the End of Days will feel like a rope being jerked around.

Only the people who can hold on tight will make it.

This means that you already need to be holding on to the rope when it starts jerking & shaking.

Sure, if you're not already holding on, you can always make a lunge for the rope, hoping to grab onto it as it wildly whips around.

And maybe you'll find a place to grasp. Some people will, I'm sure.

But that's pretty risky.

Better to grab on to the rope NOW.

And to take the metaphor even further:

Who has a better chance of hanging on:

the person with only their index finger curled around the rope?

the person who has wrapped their arms and legs around the rope and clings to it for dear life?

Or even better:

the person who coiled that part of the rope around them, so even if their hands slip, they still can't fall off?

I don't know Hashem's Secrets & Cheshbonot, nor do I know the soul-tikkun of others, but it seems to me that part of the reason why so many people are having such a hard time, not just with obvious nisayonot, but with inner trials too.

Their moods, their perceptions, their feelings...

So many people struggle with depression, despair, disappointment, anger, lethargy, apathy, feelings of rejection, loneliness, and distance from Hashem, and so on.

But those of you who fight your way out of these pits (even when you fall in again for the umpteenth time) are actually forging your connection to Hashem.

In other words, you are securing your grip on the rope.

It may not feel like it, but you are.

And that's exactly what we all need to strengthen ourselves to continue doing.

I'm not trying to be the Voice of Doom.

But if Mashiach doesn't come already, I think things are going to get increasingly more bizarre & difficult in the not-so-distant future.

And I think that focusing on strengthening our relationship with Hashem is a positive way of facing that future.

12 Comments

Naomi.

11/9/2019 11:37:54

I agree that our avodah now is to refine ourselves so we can untrap the shechina and bring Hashems kavod to the world. What I’m not understanding is your comments that are telling people not to focus on having at least a plan to move to Eretz Yisroel. It is is exactly about prepping and making Aliyah. The whole article is a bit confusing really. You speak about holding on and developing emuna but then you say who even knows if the Erev rav will let millions of Jews in especially if they are frum. Where is the emuna you are referring to in your article ? Doesn’t Hashem run the world? Hashem opened the doors to Eretz Yisroel in 1948 and it is a thriving growing place where 99 percent of the tzaddikim reside. Did you recently hear that when rav Kanievsky shlita was asked what to do to bring Moshiach he said move to Eretz Yisroel!!
Hashem took us out of Egypt to go into the land of Eretz Yisroel which is the palace of the king and the deepest place to develop our greatest Emunah . If a million Jews went to Israel we would no longer have an erev rav government and we would pave the way for Moshiach. So instead of taking that rope and making it shake even more, let’s correct the sin of the spies and have the Emunah to start realizing that the place of us Jews holding on to living abroad is Eretz Hakadosh .

Myrtle Rising

11/9/2019 12:44:57

Hi Naomi,

You express yourself beautifully here, and what you write really resonates with me, especially as someone who loves living in Eretz Yisrael and has not even been back for a visit to America in over 16 years (and I don't want to either).

My personal belief is that when people really start connecting to Hashem, to speak to Him as they would their Best Friend, then they'll get the right ideas for themselves from Him on their own. And cultivating this kind of relationship with Hashem melts away many obstacles, both within & without.

On the other hand (and this is the "confusing" aspect you picked up on), there are many Jews who will not come to Israel because they are following other tzaddikim (including some who are no longer with us), and those tzaddikim held differently than Rav Kanievsky does. (I personally listen very closely to Rav Kanievsky.)

There are also people with very complex situations, whether regarding health or legal tangles or other issues, who want to come to Eretz Yisrael, but literally cannot (at least not right now).

I'm very concerned about all Jews, whether in Eretz Yisrael or in Chutz L'Aretz, and I deeply believe that making Hashem into an actual Confidant and listening to His Messages is the basic foundation for accomplishing whatever needs to be done, and will sweeten dinim and bring bracha.

Thank you very much for your comment and for sharing your beautiful thoughts on the topic.

michal rus

11/9/2019 17:51:30

thank you both for your comments
thank you for the gentle msg, the understanding that some of us want to make aliya and for just "today" we are still here, but beH soon we will be zoche to come live in Eretz Yisrael Hakedosha

im asking a favor, would you be able to make some blog posts, or something, for those who want to come to EY , what some of the tools, tips, advice etc for new olim. I find the resources found on the internet are not quite directed toward yeshiva/bais yaakov type families.
maybe i havent found it...
with the chagim coming you may not have time
but whenever you can share advice for aliya i would be so appreciative

im so thankful for this post, that focuses on the main survival tool of emuna, and holing, wrapping the rope around us and helps us build on that
may Hashem rescue us all and gather us as one and bring us Home to His rebuilt holy city anf the Bais Hamikdosh, speedily and sweetly

kasiva vichasima tova

Myrtle Rising

11/9/2019 18:50:15

Thanks so much for your very kind words & wishes, Michal Rus.

If it helps, there are posts in the Aliyah tab above, also a scroll-down menu of more aliyah posts that appears when the pointer hovers over the Aliyah tab.

But if you're looking for more or different information, feel free to let me know your direction, and I'll see if I can come up with something helpful.

All the best...

Rachel in NY

11/9/2019 22:00:37

My husband just got up from shiva for his father, like a second father to me. My father passed 3 years ago. Both of our mothers, mine a bit worse, suffer from slight dementia, and now they are both widowed. They cannot leave their familiar surroundings and we cannot leave them. Couple that with having no money and also not wanting to leave our young marrieds and very new grandchildren, it is highly unlikely that without Hashem's direct intervention, we can make aliya. When my father-in-law was niftar last week, I ache to say that one of my first thoughts was, "ah, one less obstacle to aliya." But I have been so guilted into feeling this way by people online who self-righteously insist that we all MUST or else, that I almost feel like I, chas ve'shalom, have to wait for our mothers to go before the other tangibles like money and grandchildren can even be calculated for a move. It's horrible. And I hate it. May moshiach come now and take us ALL out of here on eagles' wings.

Myrtle Rising

11/9/2019 23:47:00

AMEN to your last, Rachel in NY.

Rachel, I cannot imagine being under the kind of ongoing stress & responsibility you endure. I'm really sorry for everything you're going through.

And if you don't mind me saying, I can only hope to merit a daughter-in-law as dedicated as you seem to be.

May all the dinim be greatly sweetened.

Wishing you lots of bracha & hatzalcha with everything...

Myrtle Rising to Rachel in NY

11/9/2019 23:50:24

And may you, your husband, and your family be comforted among the mourners of Tzion and Yerushalayim.

Devash link

12/9/2019 08:01:18

This reminds me of a couple I met in Yerushalayim who recently made aliyah. They found themselves in a similar position 15 years ago - elderly parents unwilling to move, young married couples beginning to have babies of their own. So, they started talking to these young couples with the idea that they would send one of them to Eretz Yisrael. One son was willing - the one newly married who had not yet had any children. They did not come with the idea of making aliyah. In fact, they thought they'd stay a year, but the years passed and they had their first child. Then they bought an apartment and had another child. They started a business and had two more children, all without officially making aliyah. Meantime, a sister found a job here and she and her family arrived. Then, a brother. Back home, the grandparents were leaving this world one by one. Finally, the middle-aged parents who had always wanted to make aliyah were finally free to move and when they did, they found all their children and grandchildren waiting for them at the airport. In the space of 15 years they managed to change the destiny of all their future generations. Everything starts with a first step in the right direction. Maybe that step is as small as talking to grandchildren enthusiastically about living in Eretz Yisrael and expressing to them a desire to live there. Inspire their imaginations and prepare them mentally to make the decision that is now out of reach for you.

Myrtle Rising

12/9/2019 13:30:20

What a beautiful story, Devash.

Thank you for sharing it, and also thank you for sharing the advice based on the significance of even a very small step (which can also be applied across the board to any spiritual goal).

Rachel in NY

12/9/2019 19:22:24

Devash, thank you... but we are also not your typical family in that we suffered a very tragic loss 4 years ago on the 22 of Elul... the loss of our 18-year-old tzaddekes daughter to a 4-year battle with a rare cancer. We have been weakened in resolve and in every other way because of this loss. My husband suffered a cerebral hemorrhage right after her diagnosis, and still hasn't fully recovered his ability to read. Our grief also makes it very difficult to encourage any of our marrieds to move so far away, because there has already been so much loss in our tightly knit family that even one more person living thousands of miles away is not an option for our sanity. So it's a very nice story, but with Moshiach seeming so imminent, it is more likely that Geula will happen before we put a 15-year plan into motion. All of our grown kids would eventually like us all to be in Eretz Yisrael, there is no hard sell there. But with no money and being totally exhausted both emotionally and physically, Hashem will have to provide those miracles.

Myrtle Rising

13/9/2019 02:05:31

Rachel in NY, you always sound like a very good & sincere Jew who has been and is going through an ongoing wringer for several years now.

It's humbling to see what you & your family have been and are enduring.

I truly wish you & your family all the best.

I wish very much that things could be different & much sweeter.

I'm really sorry.

michal rus

12/9/2019 23:13:30

Dear Rachel,
i am so sorry for the recent loss, and all the losses you have endured. i wish i had words that could heal the pain, and wipe the tears away instilling energy within you to continue forward with vigor, i feel that Hashem alone, is the only One who can truly bring comfort in the arrival of the geula shelema when He dries our tears and reveals the His Oneness over the world.

i do feel i must share one thing someone just yesterday reminded me of.

everyone wholives in EYis living with a level of hashgacha pratit that is so much more revealed than out here. they are living off of Nissim
they got there by nissim
they survive each day because of nissim

she reminded me to never give up on Hashems miracles
to look for and to find Hashems hand in my life here in chutz l'aretz andit may very well be more difficult to see Hashem out here, but He is here with us, the Shechina Hakedosha is here, the Mother of all Am Yisrael, and She suffers along with us, and cries along with us, and beH will very soon be redeemed along with us brachamim rabbim!
wishing you a year of revealed nissim, a year full of hope that builds the broken pieces into one whole, gluing each segment of your heart together, a blessed year of only besuros tovos with the ultimate good news of the arrival of moshiach bmheira byamenu brachamim rabim

see you soon beH on the wings of that eagle that is soon to carry us all Home

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