43. The Great Shofar

Today, as we once again listen to the call of the Shofar, we are reminded of our yearning for the sound of the Great Shofar, which will wake us all up from our spiritual sleep of Golus!

those who are cast away in the land of Mitzrayim (Egypt) shall come and bow down to G‑d on the holy “On that day a great shofar will be sounded, and those who are lost in the land of Ashur (Assyria) and mountain in Jerusalem.”(Isaiah 27:13)

The call will be so powerful that it will inspire every kind of Jew to return and bow to HaShem. 

Both, “Those who are lost in the land of Ashur”, - referring to the ones who are immersed in mundane pleasures and luxuries - reading Ashur as an expression of esher (bliss).

And also, "Those who are cast away in the land of Mitzrayim” - referring to the ones whose hearts and minds are not open to the knowledge of Hashem because of the pressures and hardships of Golus - reading Mitzrayim as an expression of meitzarim (straits; restraints). 

The Great Shofar will awaken the sensitivity of every "lost" soul in whichever situation, so that we'll all begin to feel the intense yearning to truly know and serve HaShem!

(Based on Living with Moshiach, R' Immanuel Shochat)

42. We're NOT Okay!

41, 43, 47, 13????!!!!

This is not normal!
It's not ok!
We're not ok!
Stories that just stopped in the middle.
Journeys that weren't completed.

Yes Hashem, you have our attention,
But now what?!
How does it help?
Is _this_ going to finally make Moshiach come?
Why are you hiding Your face?

Did You not see enough tears?
Did You not hear enough cries?
Cries of small children who just lost their fathers,
Cries of young wives who just lost their husbands,
Cries of loving parents who just lost their sweet bar mitzvah boy,
Cries of innocent children who just lost their brother,
Cries of grandparents, relatives, and friends...

And cries of the rest of us who have never even met them...
Yet can't rest!

Because no matter how ok things might seem for us now
No matter how blessed we might feel now
Our joy can never be complete

We always have that broken glass
We always have that undone space
We always have that hole in our hearts

Since we know that too many of our fellow brothers and sisters are suffering,
Right now, as we speak.

No, we can't just move on with our own lives,
Because we are all our brothers' keepers.

Yes HaShem,
We believe you are the True Judge
But we don't understand how this can ever be justified!
How many sacrifices must we make?
For how long can Moshiach be right at the door,
Unable to open it?
For how long can the plane keep going in circles,
Unable to land?

What's stopping You from ending it now?!
Even the Rebbe saw no explanation!

The time is NOW to end this Golus!
The time is NOW for Techiyas hameisim!
If not now, then when?
So what are You waiting for?

Send us Moshiach now!!!

41. Ad Mosai?!

40. Seeing What You Believe

The main challenge of serving Hashem in Golus is the terrible clash between what we _know_ and what we _see._

It is a constant, difficult, and painful battle to try to follow our minds instead of our hearts.
To try to choose what we know _is_ good, over what we see _looks_ so good.
To sincerely believe the reality we _know_ is true, over the reality we _see_ with our very own eyes.

As R' Levi Yitzchak of Berdichev put it, "If Hashem would have put all of the physical desires in black and white books on the shelf, and put all of the spiritual truths and desires in 5d in front of our eyes, of course everyone would choose what's right!"

And that's exactly what will happen when Moshiach comes.

Yiddishkeit will come jumping out of the bookshelf and suddenly be visible and tangible to all our senses, out on the streets!

At that time, we won't have to close our eyes and put effort not to look at exciting things that aren't kosher, because everything that isn't kosher will completely stop enticing us!

Instead, Hashem will be fully revealed, and we will see Him with our very own eyes!
We will witness open miracles every single day!
We will be able to see the Gdly energy that is the constant life force of the entire world!
We will see how being connected to Him is the only source of all possible blessings!
And we'll feel completely in love and in awe!

Learning and davening will be transformed from something we have to struggle to concentrate on, to the most interesting and exciting activity, because this time, we'll see our Father, our King, in front of us!

We'll all be elevated to the level of prophets who can see and hear HaShem directly!

We won't need to be _commanded_ to do Mitzvos because we will see the awesome effect each one has on ourselves and the entire world, and we'll _want_ to do all of them, on our own accord!

But if there is Gd forbid any time until then, the great test is to stop believing what we see and start seeing what we believe, even now in the dark!
Because once the lights are switched on,
the game is over.

Real life will begin!

39. 25 Years Later

Such an awesome feeling today!

So many of our husbands are away,

Yet nobody could question the importance of this trip!

There's something majorly different about it.

We all feel, we know, we are making history tonight!

We could sense that something big is happening now in heaven, 

As hundreds of Shluchim make this trip down on earth. 

We could sense that we needed to go back to the past, 

In order to somehow bring on the future!

True, it took 25 long years for the Rebbe's wish to come to fruition,

but it IS happening, right now!!

And it reminds us that the Rebbe's words, the Rebbe's vision, the Rebbe's requests, 

and the Rebbe's prophecies, 

will ALWAYS come to fruition!

True, it's been 25 long years since the Rebbe said, "The time of your Redemption has arrived!"

but it too WILL happen, now, as well!!

It was so emotional watching the videos. 

The simcha. The achdus. 

And most unique of all, the complete kabalos ol. 

This kinus is the first one in history that makes no sense, that is completely beyond logic. 

Nobody understands why we had to go back to Liozna. 

Nobody understands why we had to go back to Liadi. 

But the head said to go, 

And the feet just followed orders!

And with the greatest simcha in the knowledge that they are finally able to fulfill the Rebbe's ratzon.

It's amazing hashgacha protis that this trip is happening now, in Parshas Eikev!

Because the one great advantage of the heel, is it's kabalas ol. 

No need for logic. No need for emotions. 

Our generation of heels, just go. 

It's enough to know that this is what the Rebbe wants. 

No commentary necessary.

And as one Shliach wrote, 

In case there was any doubt on the importance of this trip, 

In case there was any doubt that it's accomplishing great things in heaven, 

And in case there was any doubt that it has the power to bring Moshiach, 

We were shown the greatest proof that this trip is a major breakthrough -

When the borders to Belarus were suddenly blocked, without any logic or reason! 

Just as we did our part to complete the circle today, and merited to celebrate one Didan Notzach, 

May Hashem immediately do His part to complete the final circle today, 

and let us celebrate the ultimate Didan Nitzach, with Moshiach Tzidkeinu, Amen!

38. We Need to Actually See it

Today's Chitas starts off, "See, I place a bracha before you today."

But what exactly is the Bracha?

Of course it includes everything.
But most importantly, it refers to the ultimate Bracha of the true and complete Geulah, that Moshiach will bring about!

And what does HaShem tell us about this Bracha that he is giving us?

That we need to actually SEE it!

It's not enough that we believe it, want it, daven for it, learn about it, or understand it!

The main thing is that we should SEE the Geulah before us with our own physical eyes!

And _when_ do we need to see this Bracha?

TODAY.

It's not enough to believe that we will _eventually_ see it.
It's not enough to believe that it will happen in our own lifetime, or even that it will happen "very soon".
We need to really await His coming, TODAY!

(Based on Living with Moshiach, R' Immanuel Schochet)

37. Erev Shabbos Chaos and Beauty

If someone would walk into your house today, Friday, just a few minutes before Shabbos, what would they see?

For some of us less organized people, on the one hand, our guest would see the peak of chaos and weekday activities!

Everybody is rushing to do the last minute preparations, getting everyone showered, dressed, putting on makeup, opening and closing lights, setting up the hotplate, polishing the shoes, finishing last good Shabbos phone calls, and a lot more!
They would probably feel quite a bit of stress and tension in the air, hopefully without any raised voices..

But on the other hand, our guest would already see Shabbos!

Delicious aromas of challah and cholent, a beautifully set table, sparkling candlesticks waiting to be lit, everyone dressed in their finest, tasting the Shabbos kugels and cookies..

This is exactly the time we're living in now! On the one hand we're experiencing the peak of chaos, confusion, and pain..
Yet at the same time, we can already see so many amazing positive signs of what's coming, and begin to taste a bit of the future!

But of course, its always a good idea to welcome Shabbos into our homes a few minutes early, even before the siren rings...
and likewise to start living with Moshiach right now, even before we hear the call of the Shofar!

May we merit to hear it *now* and celebrate this Shabbos Mevorchim Elul all together, in Yerushalayim!

36. Notice the Signs

Let's notice a few more examples of some of the prophecies about Moshiachs' times which once sounded impossible, yet we experience today! 

– “Moshiach will teach Torah to the entire nation, from the wisest to the simplest.” Years ago this was inconceivable. How can one person, as great as he may be, teach Torah to millions of people? 

Today, with smart phones in each person's hand, Whatsapp, Facebook, Twitter, Periscope etc., it's easy for one person to communicate with the entire world at once! 

– In the Messianic Era “there will be no war or strife because all delicacies will be commonplace like dust.” In times bygone, a civilization didn’t exist which didn’t have thousands of dirt-poor citizens who suffered constant malnutrition, and people dying of hunger wasn’t a rare occurrence. Today, in most developed countries, it has been demonstrated that no person must die of hunger. The average underprivileged person in today’s society is better off than the affluent person of the 1800s! The system isn’t perfect – if it were we wouldn’t need Moshiach! – but we can already envision a day when indeed every person is cared for. The resources certainly exist, and we have the means of transporting them throughout the world, wherever they may be needed.

– “The [Jews] will fly [to Israel] on the heavenly clouds.” Another prophecy which certainly was considered mythical before the Wright Brothers nudged our world a little closer to Moshiach’s times!

A person who lived 150 years ago, if brought back to life today and witnessing the marvels which modern science has uncovered within G-d’s creation, would be certain that Moshiach has already arrived. Now it is time for us to wake up to this reality, and prepare ourselves for the special moment. Indeed, we will be the ones who will experience the fulfillment of the dream of the ages!

(Naftalie Silberberg, Moshiach.com)

35. Bomb Shelter Transformed into Underground Farm!

We are BH so used to living in Moshiach's times that we don't even notice that we are already witnessing the fulfillment of tens of prophecies!

We just need to open our eyes and we'll see how the transformation to Geulah is already taking place in so many obvious, yet natural, ways! 

One amazing example, that was in the news last week, is the fulfillment of Yeshayahu's prophecy that "... they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks..." 

In central London, there is a thirty-three meters deep World War II bomb shelter that’s been transformed into a hi-tech underground farm! 

The tunnels that were built to shelter 8,000 people from bombs during the war, in bunk beds that were three or four levels high, 

are now being used to store three or four levels of growing herbs to feed London!   

Hold on, because very soon we will see all the rest! 

You can read more here: http://edition.cnn.com/2016/08/16/foodanddrink/growing-underground-london-bomb-shelter-farm/index.html#

The link is from Moshiach.com

34. Don't be Afraid to Believe!

Doesn't believing in Moshiach only bring us disappointment? 
Aren't we making ourselves too vulnerable by believing and hoping he will come _today_?
What happens when the whole day passes and there's no news? What did we gain? It seems we only lost!
And how can we really hope again the next day?

But the truth is that we benefit greatly from our belief, even if Gd forbid he didn't come that day. 
And it IS possible to believe again today, even after being disappointed yesterday.

For example, when you buy a lottery ticket, although statistically you have only a one-in-thirteen-million chance of winning, everyone who buys a ticket hopes that he will win. The proof is that you bought a ticket. You begin to fantasize about what you will do with all the money when you win. The "hope of winning" adds a spirit of excitement to your life. You are now more cheerful, more joyful, and, most of all, more productive because maybe, just maybe, you will be the winner.

The same is true with Moshiach. The mere hope that Moshiach can, and will, come today, will change your life for the better! It will motivate you to do more good and give you a spirit of optimism and joy that makes your day more productive.

It makes no sense to say that believing in Moshiach is wrong because it brings disappointment, because we see that the very same people who believed they would win the Lotto and didn't, still buy tickets the following week! 
Even though you were disappointed, your hope is once again reawakened and you buy another ticket. 
Even though Moshiach did not come last week and we are disappointed, we reawaken the spirit of hope that today will be the day..

But there is also a major difference!

When you buy a lottery or auction ticket, nobody ever promised you that you will ever win one day! 
You might very possibly *never* actually win, and it's possible you'll give up trying one day. 

But with Moshiach, we know he will _definitely_ come in our days! 
We can never ever give up, because it's 
100% guaranteed!!!