Given: July 30, 2016
Introductory Statements
In this class, among other things, I am going to talk about a person’s psyche and, in particular, about human arrogance both as a personal attribute and a mechanism that distances a person from awareness of G-d’s unity, meaning alienation from “Ein Od Milvado”--- There is no other besides Him.
On Trump – And a Retraction.
One of the reasons that I am doing so is that I want to remove any impression that I may have given so far (or in any of my public classes) that Trump is either a “megalomaniac” or an “egomaniac.” After thinking about it and witnessing different events, I want to retract those statements publicly. Trump is not a megalomaniac or an egomaniac. He's not egocentric either. He may have other problems but they don’t border on this type of distortion of self. He does have a tremendous desire to promote himself so, in a certain sense, he might think he is superior. He clearly is an egotist, needing to promote himself. Otherwise, why would a guy put his name on so many things?
Trump is driven, perhaps from a sense of insecurity. Without getting into psychoanalysis here, I feel that, in many ways, Donald Trump is a good person. Many people disagree with me but, as far as I'm concerned, they don't know what they are talking about. Trump has faults, but don't we all? Trump is upstanding and he is a typical businessman trying to get ahead. That doesn't mean that he hasn't manipulated people (or whatever else people do in business), but not in a deviant way.
President Trump does acknowledge the needs of other people and has shown himself to having been very good to them. I'm convinced of that. I think he's very fair and will be a great president. I think he will do great things for America, as I mentioned previously. I want to express remorse regarding any previous statements referring to him as either a “megalomaniac” or an “egomaniac” because I realize that I was wrong.
I think the world is largely mistaken about who Trump is. I think a lot of it is instigated by jealously; people are incredibly jealous of him. He's a famous celebrity and very wealthy. The “problem” is that he’s very outspoken and people don't like that, and he is particularly outspoken about ideas that disturb people. Most people hide from the truth; that too is a truth. People are in denial and Trump is very outspoken. Does that mean he is not wrong sometimes? Of course, he can be wrong. He may even be hypocritical but, in my opinion, we are all hypocrites about some things and everybody has skeletons in the closet. I think Trump has a lot of integrity and many great qualities. He is dynamic and authoritative; that's what makes him so popular and sure to be a powerful leader. Anyway, I want to just put that down for the record. We all make mistakes.
G-d’s Reality, Man’s Reality
Let us begin this class by reminding ourselves that there’s a Divine agenda in process that is operating to bring the End. We don't realize it, but G-d wants desperately to bring the end. It's hard to say “desperate” when referring to G-d, but that's His Will. I'll talk about that more in a future class, but there's a reference in the “Yalkut” (an Aggadic compilation on the books of the Torah) that states out that G-d is “looking forward” to, or “anticipating,” the final Redemption. How can one best express that? In our language, if you tell a ten-year-old kid he’s going to Disney World, he expresses his anticipation by exclaiming, “Wow!” That's anticipation---with bated breath.
Having established that Divine aspect of the anticipation of the mashiach, let us review that sense of anticipation from the perspective of ourselves as G-d’s creatures in this world. Let us begin by exploring one of several ways in which people might distort reality, aggrandizing who they are through a psychological device called “arrogance.” It’s an ego-driven distortion. There are several, different levels of this distortion of reality in terms of who that person thinks he is.
Megalomaniac: The worst level is called “megalomania,” a state of megalomaniacal delusion in which a person thinks he's the only one that exists. He knows that there are other people but there’s a psychotic aspect of grandiosity. There have been several people in history who were megalomaniacs. Although it sounds dramatic, that is the level of the infant; an infant is megalomaniacal, but not psychotic. Such a mindset is normal for an infant. It's only later on, when the infant realizes that he's not the only one around, that he begins to curtail his delusional thinking and become realistic. That's part of growth, the realization that informs you that your existence is not all-encompassing, that there are a lot of others out there. In Kabbalah it's called “mokhin, mokhin” – consciousness, awareness of Creation. It is the development of an ever-greater consciousness of reality. One of the greatest of all conscious discoveries is the awareness of “I am zero,” coupled with the concept of ein od milvado---there is nothing else but G-d. That takes time.
It is intriguing to see how a baby’s life begins, unable to see an “other.” The infant is unable to curtail or restrict his outlook. Finally---and, hopefully, with education---people grow and begin to appreciate that, in the entire scheme of things, they are “zero.” That's really the growth pattern; it should be the growth pattern of humans. That's what G-d wants. But anyway, that's what a megalomaniac is.
Egomaniac: Then we have what's called “egomania,” which is not too far behind, but that kind of individual is less delusional than the megalomaniac. An egomaniac says that there are others who exist but they are all subhuman. I'm the only normal guy; I'm the only mensch. I'm the only one who is not, fundamentally, animalistic he thinks, with extreme arrogance. It’s not psychotic, but it is borderline.
Egocentric: Then you have what’s termed “egocentricity.” The egocentric thinks: you exist; you're not subhuman, but the only rationale for your existence is to serve me because I am the center. He admits that you exist but your worth deems you worthy only to be subservient. Just to clarify: A person might say that people should serve him because he’s doing G-d’s Will. Indeed, G-d used many people or nations to serve the Jews. Does that mean that the Jews are egocentric? Of course not! It is not that performing mitzvahs is an expression of exclusivity and privilege and, therefore, deserving of the subservience of others. It is more a matter of merit that the Jews earned. The Jews might be accused of being “egocentric,” but only in the sense that G-d said, “I choose you.” What else then are Jews supposed to believe? Some people think Jews are special because they are great and that is why G-d chose them and, therefore, the Jews think that they are great. But actually, it is the other way around. The Jews were not chosen because they are great. They are great because G-d chose them. Wouldn’t you say that you were “great” were you the prince of a king? We might also posit that Jews are great because hopefully, by and large, they fulfill the Will of G-d: The Jew is great in the sense that G-d gave Jews a neshama, a soul that is qualitatively greater than that of non-Jews (a topic in itself discussed in another class). Anyway, that’s egocentricity.
Egoist: The egoist thinks: I’m much greater than you and, though there are other great people, compared to most people, I'm much greater. It's classic arrogance.
What's the difference between an “egotist” and an “egoist”? It is the letter “T” because the egotist is constantly talking about himself. So the letter “T“ stands for “talking.” Egotists admit that you exist but they are so enamored of themselves that they find it nearly impossible to restrain from talking about themselves or promoting themselves.
Self Complaceny: The most subtle form of arrogance which most people do not recognize as such---but it’s a form you should understand---is called “self-complacency.” The guy thinks: I am human and you are all human. You serve yourselves, not just me and we are equal however, I am somebody; I’m entitled to my will. That's the subtlest form of distortion of self. Why? When a guy says he’s entitled to do whatever he wants because he is somebody and he’s entitled to think as he does because he’s merely declaring his sense of self, that's the subtlest form of arrogance. It surely acts contrarily and contradicts the notion of ein od milvado, that there is nothing else but G-d.
These are six levels of arrogance. We should know that, realistically, we are “zero.” As Moses declared: “What are we?” Zero. The truth is that, were any of us to internalize how “zero” we actually are, we would probably have a heart attack. But the problem is that, to have a heart attack, you have to be somebody! So, you see this is a seeming contradiction.
Besides discussing levels of arrogance in order to retract from negative impressions that I may have given about Trump (in public and otherwise), the nature of arrogance is that it denies people the possibility of perceiving reality or of conceding to the “other” that great things are happening or that, in this case, Trump might have something to do with a higher order of things, such as an upcoming Redemption or tikkun---correction in this world of ours.
Hiding Mashiach’s Identity from the Satan
Of further interest---especially since this is a class about current events in general, and about Trump in particular---is that nobody knows exactly how G-d will bring about the final Redemption; it is a secret. The fact is that this aspect of the Redemption is unknown for several reasons, a primary reason being the accusations that the Satan would then conjure up which would impede and prevent the Redemption from happening. Were G-d to reveal how He intends to bring the Redemption, then---guess what!---the Satan would be the first to attempt to stop it because Redemption is the end of him. Because of this probability, G-d must always be secretive, as it were--- concealed. Furthermore, it then stands to reason that the identities of all possible candidates to be the messiah are clearly also in that category of “hidden.”
To bring this discussion to a more concrete level, let us return to several biblical stories that talk of questionable, if not illicit, relationships of individuals who were, or could have conceivably been, related to messianic persona.
First, in the book of “Ruth,” we see that both Ruth and King David were supposedly descended from questionable relationships and a whole story in and of itself. Moreover, consider the story of the relationship of Ruth and Boaz---Wow! Then there is the story of Tamar and Yehudah---that’s classic. Then there’s the portion about Lot, nephew of Abraham, and his daughters---again, classic. And if you think about it, Moses, the infant, should have died immediately after his birth when Egypt was busy killing the Jewish male babies by casting them into the Nile. It is as if the Satan was so busy bringing actions against the Jews that he mindlessly let Moses slip right through. What we see from these seemingly strange and unfathomable stories is that conditions obscured developments progressing toward a messiah, if only to avoid prosecutions (against the Jews) in the Heavenly Court.
America’s Virtues
Please don’t get me wrong! I am not implying that Trump is the mashiach and that G-d is trying to hide that fact. It is true, as I have mentioned, that the Gematria---Hebrew numerical value of “Donald Trump” is the same as “Mashiach ben David.” That’s amazing, right? But what does that mean? Trump’s obviously not the mashiach we await.
I do believe that when you take a look at mankind consisting of seven and a half billion people, you realize that most people are not evil. Mankind is not inherently evil. The problem is often that the leaders of the nations of the world are destructive. As for people, they make mistakes and do so usually because they are struggling to survive. There are so many different ways of going astray. But when you look at the nature of man and the nature of American citizens in particular, I believe that mankind is generally good-natured. Yes, Americans are good-hearted; most of America is comprised of decent, good people. They want to do good things.
America gives more foreign aid to every country in the world than all other nations combined. If American citizens didn't want that, then Congress couldn't do it. Would
G-d want to destroy America because of the few dreadful people who introduced incredible amoral and immoral policies, people like Arthur Kennedy of the Supreme Court that confirmed same-gender marriages and the concept of “discrimination against gays”? Would G-d bring a decree of destruction just because Obama made bad deals and said males and females can use the same unisex bathrooms?
It is not likely that G-d wants to destroy America. If Hillary becomes president, she would destroy America because she herself is incompetent, incredibly ignorant, incredibly arrogant, and an unbelievably angry person. When you hear people testify to her conduct when she was First Lady, a shudder runs through you. And you want this person as president?
U.S. Debt
Aside from Hillary’s other vices, there’s every reason to believe she would increase the debt. America owes nineteen trillion dollars! You have no idea what nineteen trillion dollars is. I'll tell you what it is. Imagine you have 100-dollar bills and you stack them up to make a million dollars. How high is the stack? Never tried? You’re waiting for your first million, huh? A stack of 100-dollar bills to equal one million dollars would be forty inches. Now you can go home and measure how far you are away from the forty inches. However, a stack that comes to one trillion dollars---not a million---how high is that? A trillion dollars, is 674 miles of 100-dollar bills. Let me repeat that for those of you in shock. It is 674 miles of 100-dollar bills. Now, imagine nineteen times almost 700 miles! That's 13,300 miles! So, you can imagine what America owes. That's what we think they owe, because they really owe much more than that. It's called “unfunded securities” because they stole all the money from social security. There's nothing there. There are only I.O.U.s saying: “We owe social security trillions of dollars.” This is a joke. The unfunded liabilities of America are estimated to be about seventy-five trillion dollars.
If you want to understand what that means, take a guess as to what the total wealth of the world is. Anybody know? If you add everybody's bank account and all their valuable assets, and everybody's income, and everybody's savings, how much would it be worth? What is the accumulated wealth of the planet?---250 trillion dollars. That’s a lot of money, as you can see and, of that, America owes seventy-five. Hillary would just accelerate that process and fracture America's unity even worse because she's coming out for “Black Lives Matter,” which is absurd because all lives matter.
Just because there are a couple of bad apples in the pie---bad cops---how do you condemn the entire police force? It’s insanity. Guess what's happening! Cops are saying: we’re not going to go in there and enforce the law. I’ll have to shoot somebody because he attacks me and then I'll be hauled in front of the court. What do I need this for? Let him jump in the lake. Meanwhile, crime is increasing in many cities because the cops are not responding when they should. That is the beginning of the end of society. We don't realize what's happening, that this society is in danger of becoming morbidly self-destructive. Hillary will exacerbate and accelerate that process.
The point is that you begin to realize that all the way through the generations and the centuries, G-d has appointed some good leaders because the world deserves that. They are not villains. These leaders, however, are not necessarily tzaddikim. Some were forced into their high positions or they were regular people who “made it” but, as human beings, they had failings and they made mistakes.
G-d Appoints Good Leaders
G-d, from time to time, appoints a good leader that can help. You find that in American history. George Washington was exceptional. He wasn't perfect, but consider that he was offered an extension of his presidency beyond term limits and he refused. For the good of the nation, he went home to return to farming. Who does that today? Lincoln, in the mid-19th century, and Charlemagne 1100 years ago, are examples of leaders that were good, and so advanced the progress of mankind. That's the compassion that G-d does, not wanting mankind’s destruction.
However, when you come to the end of time, you need a leader who is an exceptionally good person. It is my conviction that, theoretically, Trump is that kind of leader, one who will “purify” America/Edom. He was the individual chosen and that explains the meaning behind the Gematria of his name being the Hebrew numerical equivalent of “Mashiach ben David.” Trump is going to be the one to assist Mashiach ben Yosef (or even, perhaps, Mashiach ben David), a topic to which we will return.
I believe that the whole supposition of the purification of America, the rise of America, which constitutes the good side within Edom, is all about the transformation of the environment that, ultimately, allows Jews to flourish. Indeed, from the point of view of the Divine Plan, all recent and future events have to be viewed and analyzed in the context of the entire panorama of preparation, culminating in the entrance of mashiach and an entirely different way of perceiving reality. But to do this, you need a Kabbalistic framework and an explanation of terminology.
The Kabbalistic Framework of Understanding: Tohu, Vohu, Tehom, Choshech, and
Klippa
I need to give you a kabbalistic framework, so you'll bear with me. We know there are several expressions in the Torah associated with the acts of Creation of the universe, four of which are: tohu, vohu, tehom and choshsech (for translation and explanation, see below). There is also the term that we have employed several times, the klippa, which, according to Kabbalah, is a force that obscures spirituality. The fact that there really is nothing that exists aside from G-d is disguised, obscured. The klippa conceals what the Creation really is, who G-d really is.
The aforementioned four terms refer to forces that are all under the rubric of the term “klippa.” Four aspects seek to cloud the vision of man and to destroy him in that sense. How do we understand the concept of these four terms that represent four types of environments in which we could find ourselves, all of them trying to obscure what is real?
Tohu: The first environment is defined as “confusion.” This translation or explanation is based on the commentary of the well-known biblical commentator, Rashi, who explains that, all of a sudden, you look around and you're confused. You have spirituality and physicality operating simultaneously. You don't know what's good, what’s evil. It’s all coming at you at the same time. Everything appears to make sense, both the good and the evil so you don't know which way to go.
Vohu: This is the absence of spirituality and the promotion of stark materialism. When both exist at the same time, in the same place, that's tohu v’vohu –-emptiness. There is no spirituality. That's gone and all is pleasure and material gratification.
Choshech: The third obscurity is defined as “darkness.” This darkness is a framework for reality which is the exact opposite of spirituality. It's an alternative reality without G-d, G-d forbid. There's science, so you don't need G-d. When the world is an environment devoid of spirituality that has substituted an alternative belief system, that's choshech. It is truly very, very dark, devoid of spirituality but, concurrently, it’s rife with materialism and has “alternative” systems that claim to have the truth, one which is anti-Torah and hostile to the whole of the philosophy underlying the Torah.
Tehom is the last klippa. This is when the darkness spreads across the entire world.
All these four forces try to get people (and Jews, in particular) to abstain from doing the Will of the Creator. That’s very important to understand.
The Prophet Ezekiel and the Four Worlds of the Klippa
Now we are going to learn that each of these four types of klippa has a counterpart in the spiritual spheres and in this world as well. But in order to appreciate that, we should better first take a look at a prophet and prophecy. Let us turn to the prophet, Ezekiel, who prophesied during the Babylon exile in the 6th century B.C.E. Ezekiel, who originally lived in the land of Israel before the exile, followed a comprehensive program of instruction in a special school for prophets. There he would have subscribed to specific rules of conduct, gained a unique intellectual understanding of the meaning of being a Jew and, inter alia, would have been taught the Divine names upon which he would meditate. He would close his eyes and, automatically, cease to experience external sensations. Everything shuts down. Completely oblivious to the outside world, he would immediately see, with his imagination, ideas within it. Indeed, we all have imaginations and are able to develop images, but the prophet begins to see visions that are from the spiritual worlds.
The Four Spiritual Worlds Corresponding to the Four Worlds of the Klippa
The holy Kabbalist, Rabbi Chaim Vital, writes in “TheGates of Holiness,” a spiritual guide to Divine inspiration, that when prophesying, the prophet must go through, or ascend through, the “world of the klippas.” Wow! To get to the spiritual worlds you would have to get through the defilement. The prophet would encounter and ascend, as it were, the four worlds as described in the Book of Ezekiel. Why four? Because there are four spiritual worlds from the lowest to the highest that are called in Hebrew:
Asiya: Completion or Action (our world or universe)
Yetzira: Formation
Beriya: Creation
Atzilut: Nearness
These spiritual worlds have their counterparts in the four worlds of the klippa so when Ezekiel had his vision, he was actually ascending---not in a physical sense---but through his imagination, seeing the different worlds of the klippa.
The Worlds of the Klippa
Stormy Wind: This first world that Ezekiel saw was the worst of them all. There is zero presence of G-d in that world and, not only zero, but the absolute opposite of the spirituality of Creation.
The Big Cloud: The second world that Ezekiel confronted is characterized as a world where truth is completely obscured.
Perhaps you see the start of a pattern that goes from worst, to somewhat better, and better, until you get out.
The Flashing Fire: There's fire flashing, which means that this world is closer to the truth but there's still an enormous amount of obscurity.
Noga: The last world is the least malevolent of the klippa’s levels. It’s the “brightest,” which means that there is spiritual Light in this world but, nevertheless, this world is still a klippa.
Eventually, in Ezekiel’s vision, the three most malevolent worlds are destroyed and the only one that's allowed to survive is the last ---namely, Noga, which is transformed. It transforms into tov-- good. Only this world is salvaged.
In short, this is Ezekiel’s account: He went through all of these worlds in order, as a prophet, to reach the higher worlds and to see what's called the “Ma’aseh Ha’Merkava” –--The Workings of the Divine Chariot. This is has been “Prophecy 101.”
Four Klippas Corresponding to the Four Exiles
We understand that these four worlds represent four levels of spiritual obstruction. They also correspond to the four major exiles that the Jewish people endured over the generations at the hands of four nations, namely: Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome. There was, as we know, a fifth and former exile in Egypt that happened even though the Jewish people originally descended to Egypt before they became a nation, were more an extended family. In essence, the land of that exile in which the Israelites were eventually persecuted as slaves, combined the characteristics of all four klippas within itself, that is, all four of the negative attributes described above. The Children of Israel were ultimately successful, to a certain extent, in overcoming those klippas but then, as we recall, they committed a grievous sin in making the Golden Calf. This sinful act sent them back into the klippa (also called the ‘zohama,’ that which is polluted).
Having sinned so extensively, from that point on, the Jews would have to go through each of the four klippas successively---that is to say---through four successive exiles, each exile to be endured and overcome. Each kingdom was one klippa, one such environment.
Babylon: The first was Babylon. What is Babylon? Interestingly, and perhaps counter-intuitively, Babylon is spiritual. If you go to Iraq, which is what Babylon was, you see statues depicting gods all over the place constituting, of course, idolatry. It’s strange to think that an individual steeped in idolatry is really a spiritual person. As bizarre as that sounds, that idol-worshipping person believed in the spiritual domain. The problem is that it has nothing to do with G-d. I would tell this guy, “Make up your mind! How can you believe in a nether-world which is spiritual, yet you picked out the wrong being to worship?” So, Babylon is what? -- It’s both. You have both the spiritual inclination and idolatry at the same time.
Persia: Persia was a place steeped in materialism. You can begin to understand why King Xerxes (“Achashverosh” of the Purim story) would make a banquet that lasted for a hundred and fifty days. He was out of his mind. It was all about feasting, eating. That was Persia.
Greece: Greece represents the alternative system to spirituality: science and philosophy. Not that these disciplines are necessarily antithetical to Torah, but they are exploited to oppose the ideas and values expressed in the Torah. They offer an alternative system of belief that claims G-d is no longer needed to explain existence. Physics, Biology, Chemistry… they all can do it. It offered an alternative framework for understanding reality. That is Greece.
Rome/Edom: Rome didn't accomplish much on its own. It recycled Greek civilization and spread it across the planet because they conquered the world. Rome was the worst of the exiles in the sense that they usurped Greece’s spiritual darkness and propagated it.
Now, where am I going with this?
The Klippahs in Today’s World: Russia, et al.
Yes, Russia, Western Civilization, Europe and America, each corresponds to a klippa of ancient times. Let's talk of today's environment. As I have discussed in previous classes, Edom (whose progenitor was Esav) becomes Rome. We know Rome is Christianity and Christianity is Western Civilization. Esav, as I've mentioned before, had three negative character traits; he was arrogant, fraudulent, and hedonistic. Russia inherited Esav’s arrogance: The Russian Orthodox Church is Christianity’s haughtiness while Communism imposed the arrogance of atheism. The Soviets, under Kruschev, killed over ten million Ukrainians.
I mentioned that the fraudulent trait of Esav is best illustrated by Europe. Europe is Christian but, under the guise of Christian benevolence, they killed an incredible number of Jews. Europe, which professes spirituality and love, killed millions over the centuries in the pogroms, crusades, expulsions, and the Holocaust.
Edom is also America; it is the materialistic, pleasure-seeking aspect of Esav. Comparatively benevolent, America is the good part of Esav, illustrated, for example, by its celebration of Mothers’ and Fathers’ days that correspond to Esav’s merit of honoring his parents. America may be mired in materialism and consumption, but it has long championed justice, liberty, and equality.
If you look at the world, you begin to understand what's happening because, at the End of Time, G-d brings down Edom. If you recall, the patriarch Jacob had a dream in which he saw a ladder reaching up to the heavens and angels ascending and descending this ladder. Jewish sages interpreted this dream as the story of the Jewish exiles among the nations that I have described. Jacob envisioned that the nations who exiled the Jews were rising in stature and greatness. When the Jew saw Edom going up, up and up, he despaired. So, G-d said, “Don't worry. I will bring Edom down.” What does that mean? It means that it is not Edom in its entirety that G-d topples; He only brings down the worst aspects of Edom.
Every klippa has the other four contained within it as gradations. For instance, the worst one, the “Stormy Wind,” means that Edom has aspects of the others within it which G-d is destroying.
Communism, as it existed in the Soviet Union, is gone. There's still that dictatorship of Russia, but the rabid atheism, the most arrogant aspect, has gone, and that was the worst part of the klippa of Edom. The czars were also destroyed because of the horrifying number of Jews who were pillaged and killed by the government-sponsored pogroms the czars instigated.
The third klippa, Europe, is being destroyed as we watch. Immigration is overrunning and destroying it and now that Britain is leaving the EU, it is going to diminish the EU’s value. The European Union is now weaker than it used to be and if other countries follow suit, that's the end of the European Union.
The aspect of the klippas that is not being destroyed, however, is America. America is the noga that is to be transformed into tov which, as I’ve said, will happen through the transformation of America into a country where the Jews can flourish (for a specific reason that I will mention later). So, the only aspect of Edom that's going to flourish, apparently, is America. And, as I also mentioned, Russia under Putin is also noga because Putin is remarkable in his kind regard for Jews. Yes, Putin will raise that aspect of Edom that is noga..
I’ve been speaking about the toppling of those aspects of Edom as part of the preparation for the mashiach, the ohr rishon---First Light. There are other aspects of the preparation that mankind requires before ohr rishon is unleashed so that mankind isn’t overwhelmed. That's how you have to understand what is happening in world history.
The journey, the progression, the advancement of the ohr rishon in history is another lecture. It is important in order to comprehend how that Light grows, how it prepares mankind for the wisdom that is beyond comprehension in the physical world. Then you can fully appreciate the last thousand years that have been earmarked by G-d to do this. Everyone in Klal Yisrael---Jewish nation will be a prophet; the Jews, in particular, will be able to access prophecy. All they will need to do is take a seat, close their eyes, and there it is. Jews will access the spiritual worlds with incredible ease. Not only will the wisdom of the Creation be advanced, but the deep spiritual aspects of the Creation---the ability to transcend and tap into that reality---will be incredibly easy. You ask: How could the world do that? You observe the world as it is now and ask yourself what can happen to enable the world to experience that? Moreover, it’s overwhelming when you consider that all this prep time must be achieved within the next decade or so!
People say, “We want mashiach now!” Yeah sure, and you'd be dead. That's exactly what happened at the revelation at Sinai. So, what are they talking about? What they really mean is they want mashiach and to be able to tolerate it. The real question is: How will G-d pull it off? He surely knows what's going to happen.
There's an incredible scenario that's about to transform the world. We need a purification of Edom because the Jews live within Edom. We also need a purification of the Eirev Rav---Mixed Multitude (Jews who reduce Torah to “culture”) in Israel and a reclamation of Jews who are adherents of Reform and Conservative Judaism, which isn’t really authentic Judaism. We need those Jews to return to G-d. As long as these aspects of impurity still exist, it’s a no-go. Since all these transformations cannot be achieved in a Sinai-like, one-time episode, there has to be an intermediate, preparatory time between the end of this and the beginning of that.
How Much Time Do We Really Have?
How much time do we really have? What we are now witnessing is the beginning of that era, the beginning of the elevation of the good aspect of Edom, which is the first idea. I believe Trump plays a major role in that. I imagine that if he heard this class, he'd say, “Wow! I can't believe how I fit into the Divine scheme!” But that's really what it is, as strange as it sounds, because, remember, it's not enough to destroy the klippas, the worst parts of Edom and the Eirev Rav.
To be clear, I'm not talking about the profound light of the World-to-Come. The midrash relates that the Torah of Moses, which is everything that Jews have now, will seem as vacuous as air when compared to the ohr mashiach, the Messianic Light that will come into the physical world. Furthermore, the midrash adds that the Torah of mashiach will be vaporous compared to the Torah of the World-to-Come. Can you believe this? It's astounding what G-d has in store for klal Yisrael and for Gentiles who are deserving of the Messianic Light’s teachings. In truth, we really have no concrete idea as to what will happen in the World-to-Come because we cannot comprehend what it means to be alive in that dimension. Were G-d to show you what it means to be alive in that world, it would completely destroy your free will. It's an exhilarating experience of truth and, if you know the truth, you don’t choose anymore. In our world, however, you are compelled to act in the way that is commensurate with the truth you perceive.
The point of this discussion has been to sharpen our understanding. Having discussed the nature and roles of the various spiritual worlds and their counterparts in this world, we appreciate that we are now leaving behind the period of the klippas and entering the era of preparation. I will demonstrate how this process mirrors that period before the giving of the Torah to the Jewish people.
The Hebrew nation, at that time, had to ascend from the “49th Gate of Impurity” to the “50th Gate of Understanding,” an ascension represented by the first Stone Tablets of the Law. Just look at what the Jews had to traverse and, as it was, they didn't make it. Indeed, there were reasons for that. The Jews then were of a far greater (religious and spiritual) stature than the Jews in our times because, unlike today, they had the most incredible persona in their midst, individual “giants” such as Moses, Amram, and Levi, among other highly-righteous leaders. Yet, with all that spiritual stature, according to the midrash, the revelation of hearing G-d’s utterances was more than they could tolerate and they had to be resurrected. So, the Jews of today, in particular, clearly need an intense preparatory time.
As we’ve learned, relating to the Creation Calendar, the preparation for ohr mashiach has been manifest in actual historical events over hundreds of years beginning in the year 1240. We will learn more about this principle and understand the nature and underlying purpose of each historical event. The process then became obvious; the Hand of G-d is at work in history.
What Broke the Back of the klippahs? We remember, from the holy “Zohar,” that it is the reward for the toil, struggle, and self-sacrifice that liberates the ohr from the shackles of the klippas. This reward---and the consequent rectification of Creation---also comes from repentance and suffering, as I often remind you. But it is the toil that breaks the klippa and, once it is broken, the ohr immediately comes into the Jew’s mind without struggle. In other words, all the toil and suffering of the Jews, throughout the various exiles, finally broke down enough of these obstructions to release a small amount of the ohr rishon---First Light (and synonymous with “Messianic Light”). From the dawn of mankind until around 1240---5000 in the Creation Calendar---there were three radical departures that contributed towards the preparations for the messianic periods.
With all that we have discussed, one item is important to stress. It is important to remember that the only one who can predict what is going to happen is a legitimate prophet. Why? He's been told by G-d Himself – and even then, the prophecy may not be accurate. Why not? For instance, if a prophet predicts a disaster (as in the story of Jonah), the prophecy may not eventually be fulfilled because G-d has mercy (as on the repentant people of Nineveh) and He reverses the judgment of destruction. When people earn merit, the heavenly sentence can be nullified.
Possible Scenarios for America
Scenario number one is that Trump wins the election and the purification process begins. Scenario number two, however, is that America’s evil and immoral minority may hold things back. I'm always afraid because of the lesson learned from the destructive flood of New Orleans a few years ago. It was a smaller version of the Flood. “Southern Decadence Day,” a holiday celebrated in New Orleans, was to have taken place on a Wednesday. Perhaps you can imagine how that holiday would be celebrated just from the title. It’s a day when all acts of sexual immorality are permitted, homosexuality or whatever. I don't even want to go into that stuff. It’s permitted and the cops look the other way. It's like old Roman orgies. That was supposed to be Wednesday. On Monday, two days before, hurricane Katrina caused the water to spill over the levies, destroying them. Water inundated and flooded New Orleans, destroying it. G-d said, “I will not tolerate the sanctioning of such behavior.” He wiped them out with a mini-Flood which is what He did to that generation thousands of years before with its rampant homosexuality and other perversions. So, New Orleans did not celebrate Southern Decadence Day.
But that told me that the evil decree is now activated. When the Supreme Court permitted same-sex marriage and said you cannot discriminate against homosexuals--- and now they even say there are “transgenders” and “multiple genders”--- I thought perhaps things might go badly. It's always possible that the Jews don't have sufficient merit or that G-d expresses: I'm going to wipe out America or severely paralyze them.
I once asked myself: how's G-d going to do that? As it is, we're experiencing some extreme weather, correct? He can easily destroy America that way. But there’s a more all-inclusive way---Hillary. Yes, Hillary can destroy America. A bad leader, an evil corrupt leader can easily destroy a country. In fact, that's the problem of the whole world. Just look around and see; every country that has an evil dictator who is morally bankrupt is on the way down. For example, look at Venezuela. All G-d has to do is appoint Hillary and she'll destroy America with the debt, the corruption, every bad trade deal, immigration, and so on. There’s an entire litany of things that can destroy America and she’ll continue all of Obama’s policies. That's fundamentally what his mission was. It could happen if she wins.
We don't know what the Heavenly Court is doing up there. Is it “yes” to scenario number one or scenario number two, to purify the better part of Edom or destroy it?
I can place before you two scenes using hashkafa, our philosophical framework. I feel that the scenario with a Trump victory will be the one that wins in the heavenly court. But if Hillary becomes president, it's all downhill. If Trump becomes president, it's the beginning of….I want to tell you that, either way, mashiach comes. It's only a matter of which path. I have a gut feeling that Trump will win. One of the reasons I think Hillary will not win is because, if America goes, the entire world will collapse. America is the world; it has the consumers, the currency, the financials. The whole world really waits for America. The incredible thing is that Obama doesn't recognize that and he could have changed the whole world for good.