Trump v. the Pope, Iran' Final Collapse(?) and the Incredible Connection to Rosh Chodesh Iyar

[music] [singing] [music] [singing] [music and singing] >> I should love everyone. This is a very special edition of our weekly share. I think I'm going to start calling it um Davar im eto. We say Davar b'ito matov. How good is a timely word? In other words, to take the events that are swirling around us in real time and to look at it from the lens of the Torah, where we at in our national journey in the Torah portion in the national study of Torah, and analyze it and bring to it meaning and significance to our lives. So, here's the today's question. We find that the the conflicts in the world that are mer- converging upon us are as follows. Number one, President Trump has attacked verbally attacked the Pope Leo, the first American Pope. And that has been a a back-and-forth sharp criticism, which is unheard of, that a US president would um take to the airwaves, as it were, and publish such critical words that the quote-unquote religious leader of billions of people. And in such a dramatic and stark way, it's a verbal attack that's unusual. Secondly, he's an American Pope, which is itself very, very unusual. What is the significance of that attack and that exchange at this time? Second, um President Trump has blocked not the uh passageway of Hormuz necessarily, but the ports of Iran that are that are uh nested alongside the the uh Strait of Hormuz, not allowing them to release their oil, whatever other products they're looking to sell. I heard a rumor that one broke through. I don't know what's true. I know enormous amount of manpower, energy, airplanes, warships, it's billions of dollars worth of equipment to close off Iran's com- completely commercially from the world, to put the ultimate pressure on them in the next couple of days, which coincide with Rosh Chodesh Iyar. We're closing in on the month of Iyar. Negotiations this weekend will coincide with the month the onset of the month of Iyar. And um that caught my eye as to what is the significance of everything peaking at this time. In addition to that, there's a lot of other things that a lot of other controversies and corrections that are going on in the world. One of them is two members of the United States Congress were expelled. One for misconduct um of literally physically abusing um uh their their uh their bodily sense, physical abuse of others. And the second was for corruption. And this is a very public expulsion. And this is also happening at this time. But if we want to understand as things seem to go to a dramatic conclusion, our question really is is are we reaching the peak? Is the very month end of this month of Nissan, the month of miracles, and the month of Iyar, which we'll understand right now what the month of Iyar really is all about, both in a uh Kabbalistic and a practical sense, this seems to be the peak point. What will happen this weekend as Iyar enters? Okay, a couple of hints, a couple of ideas, what we might expect to happen and what is happening. Okay, so first and foremost, there is um there was an another conflict which is raging within Klal Yisrael. And this is an ongoing thing. But today there's a court hearing uh about whether to expel the Minister of uh Public Security, I believe that's his title, Ben-Gvir, by the um the the Supreme Court of Israel, the Bagatz, in a closed hearing. Now, the reason why it's a closed hearing is because uh sadly, uh the Knesset and other forums in which which um hot-button issues are discussed tend to become very raucous. This is a closed hearing. This means it's exceedingly serious. And the uh Supreme Court is mustering up all of its power to expel this gentleman, Ben-Gvir, whatever you want to call him, from the government. What is the significance of that? And that's also coming to a head today as we as we close, as we enter in an hour or two, Erev Rosh Chodesh Iyar. So, this year is really all about Erev Rosh Chodesh Iyar and the controversies that are going on. We also found out that the Supreme Court leaked a conversation how they are committed to dismantling what they called the Torah world. And another unusual comment by Haredi leaders saying that quote-unquote they would rather their their children go to a um tour Zion, a modern Orthodox um army army group than one that's Hasidic because those two, they say, that one they're much more concerned about um because there's a there's blurred there's there is a message there that they are concerned about. It's an attack on their lifestyle, whereas if somebody goes to a different system where it's consistent all the way through, like the Haredi boys are consistently fighting, they believe it's a mitzvah to fight for the state of Israel. There's not that sort of blurred message and essentially a division of values. Okay, so let's go back our original question. Why did President Trump attack the Pope? What's the significance of that? So, let's start with an incredible Midrash. The Midrash, of course, written 2,000 years ago, is quoted widely in Jewish almanacs, calendars, and other places. Uh it's actually Bamidbar Rabbah, the very beginning of the Book of Bamidbar. And it's commenting about the first day of Iyar, which will arrive, Bezrat Hashem, as I said, day after tomorrow. And it says there as follows. This is unbelievable words. K'shehu ba l'gadlei Yisrael, when the when Hashem is about to raise the profile of the Jewish people, to give them honor among the nations, okay, he is very specific. He's mefarsem eizeh yom, what day it is, eizeh makom, what place this is this event for Klal Yisrael took place, eizeh chodesh, which month, eizeh shanah, what year, and eizeh optia. In other words, that's a word like opti- optics, which means which big event, which optics, which which high-profile event. This is the words of the Midrash. There's a commentator named the Tiferes Zion, who says as follows. What is the Midrash telling us? Lachein pirsem Hakadosh Baruch Hu hayom, he told us in the Book of Bamidbar that there is this specific day. He mentions it, it spells it out very clearly. It's the first day of this month. The Jews are in the desert. It's the second year of the Exodus, and he's going to count the Jewish people for the third time on that day. Okay? But the the Tiferes Zion doesn't even mention that. He just says, well, Hashem is pointing to a specific important moment in the history of the Jewish people at that time. And this is his words. Lachein, since he publicizes that specific event of the rise, of the ascent of the Jewish people to a high place, Vayarem muso, Vayarem tanu ba'olam, and he's raising us up in the in the eyes of the entire world, she'alya d'kachi an nakilo la'alot mala mala b'chol shanah bazeh hayom. This is a repeating cycle that happens annually forever. So, as the Jewish people left Egypt, and in the second year, after surviving the disastrous sin of the golden calf, regrouping, having the first Yom Kippur, receiving the second uh luchos, the second set of commandments, that Hashem forgave the Jewish people, and then they begin to build the home of God in the midbar, the Mishkan, where the divine presence would dwell with them. Okay? Then they got to the first Nissan, month that's ending, and they dedicated the Mishkan. And then, afterwards, a month after the inaugural great day of Rosh Chodesh Nissan, day one of the previous month, in which the 12 princes for 12 days gave their inaugural fantastic sacrifices. Okay, and Aaron took the position of high priest and it and the fire of Hashem's Shekinah returns to the Jewish people after having been been absent since the golden calf. And the greatest day of all, but that's not the day of greatness for the Jewish people, says the Medrish and says the Tiferes The big day was Rosh Chodesh Iyar. What happened on Rosh Chodesh Iyar Iyar that could possibly compare to the greatness and glory of the Jewish people on the first day of Nissan? Okay, just two weeks shy of the year of I don't know, three weeks shy of a full year out of Egypt, right? Cuz they left on the seventh day of Passover. No, that's the day is that 21 Nissan and now it's one Nissan of year two. The Mishkan comes, the fire comes down from the sky. Imagine the incredible glory, the princes bringing gold and silver and they had brought precious stones previously and great majesty and great unity and the formation of the leadership of the Jewish people, but that's not the great day of the Jewish people. Well, what is? >> [laughter] >> The next month. What happens on the next month? Only one thing. The Jewish people on the first day of Nissan then and forever became incredibly great. Well, what was the big deal? What did they do? They each gave a half silver coin for the sacrifices of the year ahead in the Beit Hamikdash. What? Because I gave a tiny bit of silver? Right? A shekel is 20 grams of silver. This is 10 grams of silver. That's not a lot even with silver's prices today. It's something everybody could afford. Okay, it's kind of like the price of a cup of coffee in New York, that is. In Starbucks. Okay, if they're still I don't think they're allowed in New York anymore because I'm Johnny kicked them out, but cuz they're pro-Israel. So, l'chaim. Mm. Bracha made. That is the glory of Israel? How could that be the glory of Israel? It's a functional thing. Let me explain to you. Having been a congregational rabbi for many years, I will tell you and I mentioned this to you before that when you want to do fundraising for a shul, the last thing that people want to give money for is the monthly air conditioning bill. If you go to somebody saying, "We're having a campaign for air conditioning." You're not going to get a penny. If you say, "We're dedicating our new sanctuary and we're offering people a chance to get their name on the Aron Kodesh or on the Bima." Right? Or on the paroches, the the curtain, you're going to get people to dedicate the mikvah. $250,000, you'll get it. Why will you get it? Cuz they're associating their name with something so meaningful, inaugural, brilliant, um lasting. But the monthly bills are boring. You got to pay the janitor, hopefully pay the rabbi, the secretary, right? All right, you may need some new sitters. No. Paper towels. Things like that. Like you know, nobody wants to give to that. The Jewish people brought that silver half silver coin and that's their greatest moment of all time. It's like it's it's a non-starter. We have to understand this incredible Medrish, but I want to continue the words. Oh, excuse me, it's the Tiferes Zion. One more time. He says, "Sh al yedei kach because of what they did in that year on the first day of year by donating a small half shekel coin kach ye enaki lanu this will will enable us to grow heavenward mala mala b'chol shana bazeh hayom on that day, which is going to be turning out to be Thursday night, Friday through Shabbos, which is exactly the time that the negotiations, the next round of negotiations, perhaps the final round of negotiations will take place with Iran. We will we will see. But today where the degel with the with the flag of Israel rises in the world ki hayom shebo nisromem keren Yisrael the day when you say keren Yisrael, it's the glory of Israel, the the prominence of the state of Israel who alul shebo yisromem karnam laolam kiyeduah that opportunity for the prominence of the Jewish people as a nation comes back. Don't understand it. Let's try to understand. Okay? So, if you recall, I raised an issue uh in one of the previous shiurim as to where did the money come from for the first month of the Mishkan? Like I just said, if people didn't give their shekel to fund the daily sacrifices till the first day till a month into the a month into the events of the of the Mishkan, then who paid for the for the sacrifices? Well, you'll say, "Well, that that's not a problem because the first 12 days were covered by the princes." Yeah, but that leaves you about 18 days left that they had to bring every day a morning sacrifice and evening sacrifice. They needed oil, they needed flour, they needed, you know, the animals they needed to feed the Kohanim. You know, they needed to the the uh the the various accoutrements. So, who was paying for that? Those last 18 days. And on this I had as I had mentioned to you, there's a machlokes in the Midrashim. There's a Tanchuma and there's also a Midrash Rabbah and there's the following debate that I think what we've discovered is to the side that that that that explained that it was the Nesi'im who paid for the month of Nissan. The regu- the regular Jews were excluded until the of course they had donated money to make the Mishkan. Like I said, to the capital campaign they donated money, all right, that's for for sure. But the money that they gave one month into the Mishkan was purely to fund the daily sacrifices. And if that's a communal sacrifice. If that's the case, the leaders uh funded the last 18 days. Some say because if they gave so much of their own on each and every day and there's a complete listing in the beginning of a Midbar what they brought, which was immense amount of animals and money and flour and valuable gold and so on. Even wagons with with oxen a lot of stuff and that was enough of a surplus to fund the first month. What's the significance of that? That means that the Jewish people's rise to fame to had to wait till it went through two waiting periods. Number one, the seven inaugural the week of the Miluim, the seven inaugural days in which only Mosha, Aaron and his sons were active and it could be and logically they supplied their own carbonos, right? Out of their own pockets. As did the Nesi'im in from Rosh Chodesh Nissan for a full month. So, Mosha and Aaron and his sons one week. The leaders one month. The Jewish people forever. Now you can begin to understand what this Medrish is telling us. The greatness of Israel happened when they when everything came together in its complete and perfect organization. The leadership was in place, but now we needed the 12 tribes of Israel in all their diversity, in all their unique powers. The sons of the the the children of Rachel, the children of Leah, the two mothers all displayed in camp with their own leadership and clicking into place with that first day of Iyar, now what are we? We are a nation that is tough to contend with. You understand? We are now poised and ready because this one was for the war of conquest of the land of Israel. What clicks in on Rosh Chodesh Iyar is the potential of the Jewish people to conquer and populate the state of Israel with at its core the sanctity of Hashem, the proper Torah leadership and the buy-in of all the diverse nations of Israel together. Wow, that seems like an incredible dream. That is really power. If there is unity among the Jewish people and if there's a respect and commitment to our Judaism, to our faith as a light to the nations, then we are raised. This is the potential of Rosh Chodesh Iyar. Now, I'm not here to discuss is it pro-Zionism or not Zionism. Even the Brisker Rav, who was not known to be a big Zionist, uh said that when the state of Israel was founded, God winked on the Jewish people. There are a number of events that happened in the month of Iyar, which to me resound resound with this echo of that Medrish of of Rosh Chodesh Iyar being the time that Jewish power coalesces. Of course, I'm referring to what? This week we we marked Yom HaShoah, Yom HaZikaron, and in a couple days after Rosh Chodesh we'll mark the establishment of the state of Israel post Holocaust for the first time there was Jewish sovereignty in the land of Israel since the times of the Tanakh. Again, one I'm not here to debate current politics. How do I survive that this confrontation this this bitter confrontation which is going on inside the Supreme Court and in the world of Torah looking at the Supreme Court and everybody else in between on the political scene should all dissipate because really it's not us. Really it's not mut'im for the Jewish people. I don't think the whole conversation of the Knesset is worthwhile for the Jewish people. You know that they patterned the Knesset after the Anshei Knesset Gedolah, the great rabbis who helped us revitalize, rebuild the land of Israel after the the 70-year exile to Babylon. Ezra the Sofer, great leader. He was the one who led us back. A raggedy band of individuals of dubious descent came back not like not unlike the Jews who survived the Holocaust and came here to rebuild the state. But again, if we could align ourselves with our roots, with our Torah values. I'm not saying you have to be the most religious person in the world. But you have to respect the Torah and want the land of Israel to be a Jewish state and not to be dependent on the whims of foreigners. Now, uh if you take that and of course Yom Yerushalayim comes out in in the month of Iyar. So the month of Iyar true to the Medrash is a day of of of glory or it is a time of glory for the Jewish people dependent on that radical idea of half shekel which means we're joined together in a communal cause to bring sanctity, okay, to bring God's message to the world and we are unified with each other. We're not looking at rich, strong, powerful. Everybody gave the same half a shekel. Everybody gave the same. Everybody There's no reason to speak badly about anybody. And you know it's ironic that Rosh Chodesh will coincide with the parsha of Tazria Metora which speaks about lashon hara. What is lashon hara? The those diseases that affected skin, affected clothing, affected houses were the product as I'll tell us of of evil language towards others. What What What is the point of that? Why was that a high test of the Jewish people in the as they were living through this great moment that they reached on Rosh Chodesh Iyar the beginning the journey of the desert. By the way, they they actually would have arrived in Eretz Israel 11 days after they set out. They set out on the 20th of Iyar but that was they were delayed until terrible things happened. Eventually the the spies all because of their lashon hara destroyed our chances for a quick ascent to glory. So it's critical to note that what's standing in the way of the godliness of Jewish people which is inherent right? We would have gone from Rosh Chodesh Iyar we would have we would have we would have been in Eretz Israel in a jiffy. Okay? Hashem was willing to take us there in three days. An 11-day journey in three days. But right away, we'll talk about this when we get to Bamidbar, there were complaints. There was disunity. There was disharmony. They didn't want to go so fast. They weren't ready for Eretz Israel. They weren't ready for the challenges that it entailed. They needed more time. Okay, we all need more time. Sometimes has waited for us until this era, to this epoch and we're still waiting. So the the idea of lashon hara as one of my rebbeim taught me Rebbe Yochanan Zweig from Florida is when you focus in on one narrow fault of another individual but you don't look at the big picture. If it's tzaraas affects an entire person's body head to toe, he's tahor because the principle of of lashon hara is to zone in on one bad thing without taking it in the context of of the dan l'chaf zchus of judging him favorably, of looking at the the larger picture because you're focusing because you're looking you're looking to get rid of and I say this that perhaps maybe today, who knows, maybe today will be a turning point. We're we're bearing in, we're barreling down on the road to Iyar. Will this be a turning point? Now, what was in for the for the Jewish people in terms of the Supreme Court, the Chareidim the idea of Chiloni versus what? We were all subject to the Holocaust. We were all in there together. We're all in the war of independence together. Many Chareidim fought valiantly including the future Chief Rabbi of Israel who became Chief Rabbi of the army at that time, Rabbi Goren, an inspirational inspirational figure but not held in high esteem in the Chareidi world because he had globalist rabbinic positions regarding things like conversion and so on and they didn't they didn't and wouldn't really accept his approach which was much more based on the Jewish people living as a glorified nation as opposed to individuals. He had to make decisions that he considered global. You're going to go up to the Har HaBayit, you're not going to go. We're going to go here, we're going to go there, we're not going to go there. None of these things uh the process of geirus, Har HaBayit, these were points of great controversy. His name is on the Kotel Plaza. And what we weren't quite ready to create a consensus and and and that respects both both the needs of a state as well as the correct psak halacha by gedolei hador. Still not there. We're still not there. We will get there. There will be a Sanhedrin. There will be a ruling of the of the state in the land of Israel eventually. Soon. Soon. Soon. It's a process. So the miracle month of Iyar. Now let me go back to my my our good friend President Trump. If you consider him a friend. Uh what did he say about the Pope? Who is the Pope? What is it? Why is it important? The Pope to us, to the Jewish people and to the world of rabbinic and halachic Judaism is the leader of what we call of Edom. We know that Rome destroyed our last glorious Beit HaMikdash and commonwealth the in the at the turn of the millennium 2,000 years ago. We know that we still call it Rome and that our Rishonim from the Rabbanan and everybody in the Middle Ages understood that as Rome, the Roman Empire, adopted Christianity in about the year 300 not that not that long after the start of the whole religion. Uh which had by that point thankfully dissociated itself from classical Judaism by not requiring bris mila, by not requiring kashrut, by not requiring um any mitzvos other than the mitzvos that they I mean not mitzvos but the conditions of belief that they that they set for themselves which were not acceptable to to the Jewish faith. Um they dominated the world. But then Christianity began to dominate the world regardless of a of a physical location. There were Popes in France. There were Catholic leaders in Spain who expelled us expelled us from there, the greatest Torah community uh probably in the diaspora that other than an Iraq in in Babel, greatest Torah community that ever existed both in terms of numbers and quality, power, wealth. Okay? Much greater than Germany ever was and France ever was. They were tiny communities that barely managed to survive from between epochs of pogroms and crusades, disease and who knows whatever else. There was never anything like it. And the Arab countr- in the Arab countries there were significant communities numerically and otherwise but you know, Spain was right up there destroyed by Catholicism. So the Christian the Catholic Church has been the progenitor of the idea that the the sanctity of mankind lies in Rome and not Jerusalem. Their Vatican is meant to rival the Beit HaMikdash. Their Pope is supposed to parallel and even wear the garments of the High Priest. That's what he dressed like. They have rules for what kind of garments they're allowed to wear. Again, everything mimicking mimicking mimicking imitating the original, the only truly sacred place, Yerushalayim. That has not changed but Catholicism has gone as has the general malchus of Rome which we associate with the Christian nations has gone down a lot. There were two places of extreme majesty in the Christian world. Number one, the Vatican and number two London with the with the monarch British monarchy. Last real remnants of European monarchy. It's still today with all the trappings and the Queen Queen passed away. The the family has been discredited terribly, involved with the greatest scandals. Um, and the Catholic Church has been terribly discredited in the last, you know, decades with their abuse of children. And of course with their hatred of Israel. And now they're what they have become is they've pandered to the liberal world, which is unheard of that. The Pope always was the strict, you know, no women priests, no, you know, no marriage, no, nothing. Everything very strict, strict, strict, strict. And then all of a sudden uh, after the 1960s, but more importantly recently once they agreed in the '60s, post-Holocaust that they had basically been responsible for the Holocaust and torment throughout the years, and the Jewish people should not be seen as a nation to torment. That was Nostra Aetate in the '60s by Pope John Paul. They've deviated from that a bit. But what they went towards was hatred of Israel. Particularly after the '67 war, to deny Jewish access to Jerusalem. Now that makes a lot of sense because if if Jerusalem rises and if a religious center is established on Har HaBayit, they're basically done because their power is meant is is derived from there, is derived from the destruction of Jerusalem. They can't support the rise of Jerusalem in a religious sense and in a structural sense, especially Har HaBayit. So they That their biggest opposition would be towards anything to do Jewish in Jerusalem at all. I don't know what that is. And but their but their base has so eroded in terms of their how shall I say, that that old the old credo of anti-Semitic hate, that they turned to new source, which was the Arab the Arab position on Israel and the liberal position, which is anti-Israel. So they brought in this last Pope who was exceedingly liberal who was very, very light on basically condoned homosexual marriage, which is unheard of for the church. The past Pope, who was South American, he was an ultra-liberal radical and and and you know, no and did not oppose homosexuality in the church in any way. Um, and and now they've gotten American Pope, which is a further weakening. Whoever heard of an American Pope? This is it's a joke. A non-European Pope is bad enough. They turned away from European Popes when they took John Paul II, who was Polish, who actually was a very, very interesting Pope that had a lot of Jewish connections. Um, most of them positive. And and but at that at the same time they moved away off the continent towards towards South America and now to America. What does that show you? That shows you that their strength is diminishing. And they've watered down their positions to such an extent that basically it's all about liberal politics. The Pope is a another liberal politician, you know, he could be the head of the Democratic Party. He no longer has to be the head of the Catholic Church. He could have just run for Democratic candidate for for president. That's basically there is no There's no There's a collapse of values. Complete collapse. But that for us is a good sign. And the Trump said to him as follows, apparently. He said, "The Pope called for peace on his uh, copied holiday of Passover, which they call Easter." So he gets up and gives his big drasha. It's the same thing. He even They even stole the concept of the Shabbos HaGadol drasha. You understand? They stole that concept because he gives his big drasha on Pesach, his Pesach. I found even that in the in the Eastern Church, they call it Pascha because of the This is such a rip-off of every Jewish idea known to man. Okay. So, including the idea of carbonas, especially. So he said, "Look, you're calling for peace to stop what apparently he called the bomb. Stop the bombs from falling. Stop the bomb of the terrible bombs. Well, what happens if you stop the bombs from falling on Iran? Well, then they get nuclear weapon. Then they support terror. Then they sell their oil and make billions of dollars to to fund all their nefarious proxies. And then Trump added, "And they also just recently killed 40 plus thousand of their own of their own countrymen with in in in cold blood because they defied the regime." And Trump pointed this out to the Pope and says, "I don't need a Pope that tells that that is aligned with those Those are the wrong values. He's got it wrong." What does that mean? The destruction of the enemies of Israel is is something that the Pope should support, said Donald Trump, because it's ridding the world of terrible, terrible danger and destruction. And here is my little uh, addition here. I I If you want to understand this in a thumbnail, the Christian Church is off because they emphasize the idea of unlimited uh, kindness even in the face of ultimate evil. That's wrong because Hashem is Hashem. We say Shema Yisrael Hashem Elokeinu Hashem Echad. Hashem has a complete balance of justice and mercy. And it's a real court and it's a real world and there's real We we invoke we evoke chesed, but never without a context of consequence and judgment ever. Our entire world is about consequence and judgment. And chesed and compassion that we can evoke. But they only go with the compassionate part. They don't want to deal with the evaluation. We don't want to take any tests. We don't want to be judged. We don't want to have to eat this and not eat that. We don't want to have to choose this partner and not that partner. We don't want to have to give so much money away to charity. We don't want to have to be so kind to other people that we neglect our own our own our own agenda. That's not for us. But compassion and peace, but as Chazal told us, "Ha merachem al achzarin sofo l'achzer." You If you if you are kind to to the cruel, eventually you will be cruel to the kind. There's no balance. There's no din. Muslims on the other hand are pure judgment. They don't even look at this world as worth living in. They will will are willing to stone their own daughters to death, sink them in in a thing of sand and throw rocks at their heads. B'zman hazeh, it's a it's a it's it's a capital punishment that Klal Yisrael has not promoted in over 2,000 years. And in our own Mishna, Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Tarfon both said, "Ilu hayinu sham." If we were alive at the time when the Sanhedrin was still functioning in the Greek era, he says, "Lo haya No one would have ever been executed because they would they had a way to cross examine the witnesses to get them to contradict each other and throw the case out." They were against capital punishment back then. Rabbi Gamliel says, "Afa tem marbim shofchei dam b'Yisrael." You're You are an imbalance of justice here because we need to protect ourselves from murderers. Okay, that was an internal debate within the Sanhedrin whether in that era one could even execute people. But the the the the Arabs have no problem. If the Iranians want to kill 40, 50,000 of their own people by shooting them in the head, there's no rachmanus there. You go to the Iranian prisons, there's no rachmanus there. Right? They're they're not interested in that. They are doing whatever they want to do, but at least outwardly they're You you steal something, we'll cut your hand off. Saudi Arabia is known for is known for achzariyus and executions. Even now they're running after America and even running after Israel, but but the achzariyus there doesn't exist in any place in the world. Israel just passed a law saying that a terrorist who kills is going to be subject to death penalty. Unbelievable event for the state of Israel. The only people they ever executed was Eichmann and maybe another couple people, very rare. But now they're saying, "No. No to terrorism. We're tired of the Christian values being imposed upon us. We're tired of it. There has to be a balance." I'm not saying go shoot demonstrators in the street, but if a person is a terrorist and a murderer and takes life, no. Yesh gvul. Then maybe there is a reason for the protection of the welfare of others. And so on. So, if you look at it, you'll see the Christians by definition are compassionate to a fault. The Arabs are strict to a fault, and Klal Yisrael is the perfect balance. Now if you notice, Christianity celebrates after Shabbos, their day, and the Muslims before, and we're right on target. Shabbos Shabbos gracious. We calibrate the world. That's the gedulah that Yoram Keren Yisrael that this midrash is referring to. And that's what Trump said to the Pope. And I agree with him. But the fact that he had the gall and courage to stand up and say, "I have no use for such a Pope." He said, "Go be a great Pope. Stay out of politics." Because what he's saying what your church has become is left-wing politics. He said, "Stop it. Go be a Pope. Go be at least like John Paul II to try to inspire people and try to build bridges with the Jewish people and it was an amazing thing. I was a rabbi in the Upper West Side many years ago and my shul was very close to Carlebach's shul and we were friendly. And I had people that would go back and forth between his shul and my shul cuz my shul was like had a lot of baal teshuvahs and young couples and young people was and and elderly people and Holocaust survivors, too. It's a very interesting, wonderful place, Congregation Ohav Shalom Minyan. Still have so many friends there as I do in Young Israel of Oceanside where I was privileged to visit this past Purim and really appreciate all those friendships and the mitzvahs that we do together, charity and so on. And and uh so what some of some of those people who used to come to my shul and go to Shlomo's shul traveled with to Poland at the time of that Polish pope towards the end of his life and he used to play to non-Jewish audiences. They loved Shlomo's music. It brought out the spirituality in them. And then it got the pope got wind of it that people are going to non-Jews are going to Shlomo's concerts because they think the music is so spiritual. So when that pope came to America and had a gathering at Giants Stadium with tens of thousands of his followers, {quote} {unquote} the music that they played as they waited for the pope was Hasidic music. The compositions of Carlebach, which I till today I think there's nothing that there's no songs that stir joy in the soul like Carlebach's songs. I'm sorry. Whatever you feel about the man, I'm sorry. When you sing, "O Yishama Bari Yehuda Bari." Right? His songs lift the soul. They're they're I think Rabbi Twerski uh you know, Abraham Twerski's brother of Michel Twerski from Milwaukee said, "Oh no, Abraham Twerski himself said to he says, 'How did you do it? How did you funnel the music of the third temple?'" He says, "I don't know. What are you talking about?" He says, "Your music is the music of the future temple. It's very clear." And Michel Twerski was great music musician himself, by the way. Michel Twerski. So yeah, it's going to lift the spirits. That's where the degel the keren Yisrael gets lifted up cert- by certain in certain ways. And the next couple of days is that turning point. In fact, today the 28th of Iyar of of Nissan today is quoted as our tradition the day of what nefilas chomos Yericho b'Shabbos. The walls of Jericho fell today, which was a Shabbos in the year that Yehoshua entered the land of Israel. Va'amram aleinu l'shabeach seven times backwards and forwards. So we have a few hours left to the day. If you say aleinu l'shabeach seven times and then seven times backwards, just count from the last word and go backwards, it's a segula l'tzara l'omro yashar v'hafoch. It's a if you're in trouble, say it. I think we're all in trouble. So we should all say it. Take a couple little time out and say aleinu seven times. It's not going to take long. Go forward. Backwards part might take some time. Let's all do it because we are going to see the walls of Jericho fall. This is what happens at the end of Nissan. This is what happens on the on- onset of the month of Iyar. Okay. So in summary uh what I I cuz I I just want to recap. The the power of the month of Iyar is based on the concept of Ani Hashem Rofecha. Aleph is Hashem. Yud yud is the is um the name of God. Ani Hashem Rofecha. Now when this is a month of refuah. This is a month of healing. Now what does that mean? How does Iyar or the rise of keren Yisrael, the clicking of the entire corporate structure of Am Yisrael linked in with Hashem, with the Shechinah coming down and we form the perfect corporate unit, the mini Eretz Yisrael of the future, the mini third temple of the future formulates, locks in today on on the day of Rosh Chodesh coming up. But why is that a month of healing? Mm. So I'll tell you. What happened on the mount on Mount Sinai? All of a sudden people began to heal. They said the blind could see. And those who were crippled because of their servitude and being beaten by the Egyptians, their legs healed. And their backs straightened. And their limbs straightened. And their blinded eyes, like the Iranians shot at the eyes 50 you know, 47,000 people crazy shot at their eyes and blinded people for life cuz they dared speak the truth. Um those eyes got opened at Har Sinai. When you have the Shechinah come to the world, by definition it's it's the the human spirit and the body will heal. Okay? Follow me. That's what that is. Ani Hashem Rofecha. Kol machala or something like that. Lo asimlecha ken. Uh Hashem will not allow the illness of Egypt. The illness of Egypt is all those bad middos that we had to be overcome. Fact of enough one of Breslov says in this week being Tazria Metzora an interesting thing. He says that in the Garden of Eden there was the the snake, the Nachash Hakadmoni, the epitome of evil who spoke lashon hara. He spoke bad lashon hara about God. He said, "Hashem doesn't want you, Adam and Eve, to be great. Doesn't want your greatness. If you'll eat from the tree here that that he forbade you to eat from, you'll you'll rise in level and you'll become different people." And then what happened unfortunately was that our pristine holy forms, [snorts] human forms were were locked into a prison of we of a fleshy body. We didn't have flesh. Adam and Eve didn't have flesh originally. They were more angelic. Their bodies were of a more uh spiritual nature. They existed but they were separate entities as angels are separate entities, but they were a little bit more gashmi but more like electricity. If you want to think about it, electricity exists in our world. Right? Angels are not necessarily electrical. We call some of them chashmalim. You know, uh the chashmal is this uh divine energy or light is a divine energy. So we were more associated with with light and or. That's why it says that Hashem made them cutnos or Hashem made them leather clothing after they sinned. Why leather? Because you go from or, which is aleph vav resh, to or, which is ayin vav resh. Ayin as in ayin hara. They saw that they wanted to fulfill their desires. Okay? So we got the body of the snake which is associated with impurity, which is associated with lashon hara because it's evil traits. It's jealousy. It's anger. It's lust. It's hatred. It's violence. Right? It's uh selfishness. It's all the opposite of the good middos that Hashem wants us to acquire that he therefore he instilled in his creation. Okay? So so the um in in Torah 83 in the second volume where Rabbi Nachman says basically on this parsha that the toughest thing is to cure your base desires. I mentioned that these two congressional people were thrown out. One because of his sexual misdeeds and one because of his financial misdeeds. And those are the basic taivos and they go together. The lust for money and the lust for uh sexual gratification. Says the says the uh Rabbi um Rabbi Nachman this is the way out. That is what the the this {quote} {unquote} flesh of our bodies represents. That's where we get tzaraas from. That's the place that's hit with tzaraas. So uh he says when things are not right when you Hold on. Yeah. He says tikkun habris getting back to the covenant which is being not gratifying lust whichever form or way that it comes then that will be y'yad emunah. That's the counterbalance to to um Amalek and smichas keren Moshiach. And that's the key to to Moshiach as it says b'chinat karnayim miyado lo. It's pasuk in Chabakuk gimmel he's quoting. And so the keren Yisrael really is associated with Moshiach, which is prayer. Right? We say uh mikarno tatzmiach yeshua. The keren the horn like the shofar is the like the like the like the flashing skin of Moshe Rabbeinu was called karnei karnei uh or where they were like that's why they think Jews have horns because of the the picture of Moshe Rabbeinu with his glowing {quote} {unquote} karnayim. We are that. Shabbos is that. What we got to do is say Al leinu le shabeach seven times backwards and forwards. We don't need We don't need weapons. So says the says the Rem Nofel as poshak gufo hametzora. Then we'll get rid of this body of of of of heavenly of faults and misdeeds. And we will don holy garments, the garments of Shabbos, which is what's known as the guf kadosh mi Gan Eden, our original holy guf that was given to mankind. That is the job of the Jewish people. One of the job of the Jewish people is it's not to sell, not only to sell startups and make billions of dollars, although that's really good. It's not only to manufacture the most clever and brilliant weapons in the world. It's not only to blow up evil dictators, although that's part of it. But it's the glow. And the only way we can glow is we have if we have to associate with our guf kadosh mi Gan Eden, which is called basar. Basar is already from the beginning of Breishis. That that's the original way. And that's fidelity, that's Adam and Chava, that's marriage, that's family. That's sanctity. That sanctity of time, sanctity of space. That's where we're going. And ER is that moment where things things begin to lock in. So where Moses Eretz Yisrael is blockaded. We're expelling members of the corrupt members of Congress. The Pope is being shown up for what he has what that farcical religion has become, sadly. There were great There were some great Catholic leaders that reached out to the Jews, not many, maybe one or two that I can think of in our generation who sincerely repented of the sin of the Holocaust, who sincerely repented from the sin of anti-Semitism for all the years. And who might have supported Jewish people in the state of Israel, but ostensibly no more. Cuz that's the last remnant of Rome. So bottom line is we are now entering a couple days in which we see the pattern that's emerging. The The emerging pattern is the raising of the glory of Israel. Even one silly thing. Let me mention one silly thing. Something happened that raised You know that Israel has been doing incredibly well in sports competitions around the world. Really. And for all the hatred and anti-Semitism against Israel around the world, they keep winning these they keep winning all these judo contests and wrestling and taekwondo. There's a kid named What's his name? Ahava Tashem Gordon. That's his name. Love of God. And he's a fighter or Jew whatever, mixed martial arts of some kind. And he beat up one of our worst enemies in Turkey really badly. And you know, Haramas Keren and then they say here Love of God, Gordon. Love of God. Some weird incredible Here's a kid with a yarmulke who who wants to make Kiddush Hashem Shamayim and he's bringing it to the nations of the world on their own in their own terms in the sports and the fighting. Last night I understand the only Israeli basketball player to have ever been acknowledged as the best in the National Basketball Association, which is the greatest in the world, his name is Deni Avdija. Notice Avdija. Avde Ya. That's his name. Avde Ya, just like like Ahava Tashem Gordon. Ovde Hashem, this guy. And again, he's proudly Israeli, proudly Jewish. He uh he won in a dramatic fashion leading his team into the playoffs. And you see this Israeli boy Israeli young man being hugged and kissed by African Americans of which he's not. He's so standing out from them. And maybe there's one or other player like that, but basically they see him as their savior. And they're not so wrong. So Haramas Keren Yisrael, Hashem is sending many different messages to the Jewish people. Hold your head up and be proud. Hold your head up and be an Ohev Hashem. Be an Oved Hashem. That is where our Keren Harama will be as we enter these few days in which the world is really really focused on a dramatic question. Will evil allow be allowed to survive and thrive? Or will we reach a turning point to enter a moment of shalom? Let's see what happens. Most importantly the the memory memories of the Holocaust and those who gave their lives here in Eretz Yisrael, give their lives every day for Lebanon for Lebanon, which is another name for the which is for Eretz Yisrael. Terrible terrible losses. Uh and also for the finding the way for Jewish afters and love of Torah in a very very challenging land of Israel. That's what we're hoping for. And yes, I'm rofecha. Hashem should make us have this refuah sheleima. We should see great great miracles in this ER in a year of miracles, 5786. >> [music and singing] [singing and music] [music and singing]