Given Sep 1, 2022
Review and Addendum
I want to mention something in regards to what I spoke of last week, but I didn’t mention something important which had been my intent. The natural property of the Jewish people when they are righteous is called “tiferes” and “oz,” translated as “beauty” and “might.” I said this last week. When we are not zoche—worthy, we lose these. We lose the beauty and the might and I mentioned that “beauty” is chochma--wisdom and “might” is strength and success.
I gave examples of how it’s been given to the goyim, like Manmouth College, a “nobody” university which, when compared to the average yeshiva or shul, you wonder when the latter will be torn down to build something else. We say in “Tachanun” daily, “For how long will Your might be in captivity”—because the goyim take it—"and Your beauty be in the hands of the enemy.” They’ve usurped—a fancy world for “stolen”—our beauty and our might.
This is what I intended to mention last week. What is the beauty of America, really?—New York. New York always was the beauty of America. Have you seen it lately? It’s a shambles now. Nobody understands what’s going on. All these people like Eric Adams, like Cathy Hocholl are incompetent in solving basic problems of safety. When that happens, people flee. Shops and restaurants are closing and you have to ask yourself, how can this be? If the goyim have taken the tiferes and oz, what’s happening? New York and other important cities, despite having been beautiful cities, are now fundamentally, like San Francisco, glorified toilets—I hate to be gross, but….
Restoration
How stupid can people be that they allow their residence, which had such beauty, to deteriorate so rapidly, in two years? The answer is—you know. The beauty and might is being restored to the Jews; that’s why. It’s coming back to the Jews. That is why you find that these qualities, tiferes and oz, are being taken away from America and given to Jews, to Israel, to the “start-up nation.” Do you think Israel is called the “start-up nation” because Jews are so bright? Well, they are bright but it takes more than being bright. It takes the Will of G-D.
G-D could say: I want to make you successful. I want to give you tremendous chochma—wisdom. That’s exactly what Israel has. It is the leader in many areas. It's safe to say now that Israel is not a third-world country, though it acts like it. It’s not a second-world country. It’s a first-word country in many ways: cyber-security, water reclamation and desalinization, hi-tech, agriculture, etc. It’s astonishing that it’s so poorly run, but that’s the Eirev Rav, without getting into that.
We begin to see a reversal. It goes from Esav to the Jews, to Yisrael. We’re getting back our tiferes and oz and this is a sign that we’re right before mashiach. This can only happen right before mashiach. This indicates things are starting to flip. It also indicates a lot of other ideas that I want to get into.
Dedication
Before I continue, and as I wanted to say last week, this shiur should be a merit for the health and success for the families of Regina bas Yosef Reuven and Yeshia ben Yisrael, for the aliyas neshamas of these people and for their zchus and merit.
Future Glory
In the End of Time, things switch over to the Jewish people and, ultimately, as I mentioned last week, the tiferes and oz, the beauty and might of the whole world will go to the Jewish people—all of it—and that is the messianic era.
It is written to run to see the kings of the nations of the world, Why? What I’ve just described is, right now, a drop in the bucket of the glory and honor that will be given to the mashiach and the Jewish people. The Talmud encourages you to run to look at the entourage of the president, run to see these guys who we think are so impressive. it’s amazing when you look at these guys and realize that they are really nothing. But, the office of the president has dignity and strength and power and this will all go to the mashiach, restored to the Jews who will be regarded as the greatest nation on Earth.
We now understand something very important, that we get back what we lost. That’s part of the meaning of galus—exile, that you cannot be what you really are.
How will it all end? I will show you, from the chumash—5 books of Moses and chazal—sages what is is alluded to. This is, ultimately, what will happen.
Har Tzion, Har Seir: the Judgement of Esav
In “Az Yashir” in our shacharis prayers, we say, “And the savior will ascend the mount of Zion to judge Esav.” Obviously, this is at the End of Time. Who are these people? It doesn’t refer to a savior in the singular. It says, “meshichim”—saviors. There’s a lot to talk about but, basically, the noun is plural saying that “they” will arrive at the Mount of Zion, Mashiach ben Yosef and Mashiach ben David, to do what?—to judge the mountain of Esav, meaning they will judge Esav. That’s what it says.
This alludes to a very important idea. What happens on Har Tzion? It says they will ascend to judge Esav, but what will happen on Mount Zion at the End? They will judge Esav for what he’s done for thousands of years, butchering the Jewish people. What is on the Mountain of Zion?—the third Beis Ha’Mikdash. That’s what Mount Zion really is. We lack it today but that’s what Har Tzion really is, the site of the Beis Ha’Mikdash.
If you recall, I said that the Gemara “Yerushalmi,” mesechte: “maisa sheini,” brings proof that the Third Temple will be built before Mashiach ben David, not after. Most people make that mistake. They think Mashiach ben David comes and builds it—no. The third Beis Ha’Mikdash will be built before he comes. That must mean that it is built in the time of Moshiach ben Yosef. Isn’t that amazing? Before the total Redemption with ben David, the Beis Ha’Mikdash will have been built.
I’ve spoken a lot about this. I believe that is how G-D will change the consciousness of the entire planet. Imagine waking up one morning to the media saying, “Hey! There’s a building where the mosque used to be” and—guess what!—it’s the Beis Ha’mikdash in its full glory because G-D will have built it. He will bring it down, as I once mentioned and which is an important idea.
The third Beis Ha’Mikdash is really the one in heaven because we know that Jerusalem has a parallel in heaven called “Yerushalayim she’lemala.” What’s the difference between them other than location? The Beis Ha’Mikdash is what?—the residence of G-D. It’s the residence of the Divine Presence, the shechina. It’s a certain degree of Divine Presence. The one in heaven, a “world” called “Olam Yetzira” has a level of the Divine Presence which is beyond comprehension. This Beis Ha’Mikdash l’ma’ala, this “upper” Beis Ha’Mikdash descends and becomes physical.
That descent is the beginning of a merger between the spiritual dimensions and the physical world. Ultimately, what G-D wants to do, as I’ve said before, is to spiritualize the physical universe. Right now, we’re all physical, right? But G-D will transform it, which will take several thousand years. We’re all waiting for the messianic era, and the beginning of the spiritualization of the physical world is that third Beis Ha’Mikdash. It’s the heavenly one that descends and becomes part of our physical world. The most amazing thing is that, even though that’s true that it becomes part of the physical world, it will maintain the same degree of the Divine Presence that it has up there!
Can you imagine a physical Beis Ha’Mikdash which used to be the upper one that becomes physical, magnificent to behold? The Beis Ha’Mikdash built by Herod was considered the most magnificent temple in the entire world. It was one of the wonders of the world, the one the Romans destroyed. That Beis Ha’Mikdash was physical. But imagine a degree to which you can feel the Divine Presence in a spiritual temple becoming physical but retaining the same degree of spiritual power as before it descended. That’s the level the malachim—angels experience. That is what descends. What is that called?
That is called the “messianic Light.” That is what it means when it says that “the world will be filled with the knowledge of G-D as the waters cover the seabed.” Imagine how much water there is in the oceans, seas, rivers, lakes! That amount of water we can equate with the degree to which the Divine Presence will be felt. It’s billions and trillions times more than the two previous temples and it’s the beginning of the spiritualization of the physical universe.
First you have the Beis Ha’Mikdash that begins the process. Then Mashiach ben Yosef “grows” more and more spiritual along with the Jews themselves, both becoming more and more spiritual. Yes, all of you will change but not only in a physical sense. Your consciousness will have an entirely different understanding, your consciousness of who you are, of what the world is. That’s the messianic era. That is what’s on Har Tzion, the Mount of Zion.
Picture the meshichim—messiahs, ben Yosef and ben David, finally together, going to judge the mountain of Esav. Wow! That’s why this famous pasuk—verse is so often seen on the arons and on bimas of shuls: “Ki m’tzion tetzei Torah”—from Zion will come forth Torah. From Jerusalem comes forth the word of G-D. That’s the Torah of the mashiach. That’s what the pasuk means. That will be prophecy. The word of G-D is prophecy and it will come forth from Jerusalem, from Mount Zion, which alludes to the Beis Ha’Mikdash which is the epicenter of the entire planet.
It's like G-D says, “My house will be a house of prayer for all nations.” What is that “house”?—the Beis Ha’Mikdash. It’s not just another building. It is central to the experience, to the messianic process. That’s why it has to take place before Mashiach ben David. That’s what kicks off consciousness. Then, you’re going to have mishpat Har Esav, the judgement of the mountain of Esav.
Why is it that the meshichim will judge the mountain of Esav? Why not judge the mountain of Esav before that, before the two messiahs?
Zohama and Tumah
The answer is a very important concept. We know there are different levels of tumah—spiritual defilement, evil, Darkness. They come to mean the same thing. They are environments devoid of the belief in G-D. There are 49 levels of tumah termed the “mem-tet-sha’arei tumah.” This is that level the Jews reached in Egypt. I’ve mentioned that we are now at that same level.
But there’s a level that is greater, a level of even greater ignorance and Darkness and, as we’ll see, it’s the root of evil. It’s called “zohama.” The Satan has a certain ability to project an environment, a consciousness, which he does, and its root is called “zohama”—defilement, damnation. He is a being that is into complete destruction. He kills, takes lives, decomposes matter. He’s responsible for the law of entropy. The interesting thing about this is, even if you take out the 49 levels of tumah, how do you get rid of his zohama? He’s the root of this evil, of the Darkness and ignorance. How do you get rid of this guy? How do you get rid of his zohama?
His projection of this tremendous amount of Darkness and evil is in each of our bodies; it’s why we die. Why do we decompose? Why do we age? Why do we get sick? What is it that destroys everything?—zohama. He’s invested in the physical world ever since Adam H’aRishon—primordial man, after the sin, “fell” into the physical world. Adam Ha’Rishon had been spiritual. Although he engaged in physical things, he, himself, wasn’t really physical. But when he sinned, he became thoroughly physical, entering the world of the zohama and being subject to, and influenced by, the Satan.
Physical Analog, Telomeres
There are physical indicators. What happens when a person dies? Why don’t the cells keep reproducing? Why do they stop? And they do stop; that’s why we die. Obviously, they wear out and there are no more to replace them. Physically, that’s what death is. Biologists have discovered a group of tissues of cells called “telomeres” which are like shoelaces with caps, with tips at the end which prevent the chromosomes in the cells from unraveling. Every time the cells reproduce, one telomere reproduction episode is used up, in a sense. After 49 cycles, there are no more telomeres and the chromosome unravels so—guess what!—if the chromosomes unravel because there’s nothing binding them, you’re dead. Everybody has telomeres and they stop reproducing after 49 times which is an amazing number because that is exactly how many levels of tumah there are!
This is what happens and which explains death. If you could lengthen the life of a telomere or cease their finite cyclical nature, you’d live forever. Your cells would keep reproducing and the only way someone could die would be by accident. A person would not die a “natural death” because cells would keep reproducing.
A baby is born and, on that day of his birth, he’s begun dying because the process of cell death has begun. Every time a cell reproduces, the telomere number goes down. The child is reproducing cells until about the age of 22. After the age of 22, the body begins to diminish in its ability to reproduce cells so, from that age onward, it’s downhill. I’m sure you have pictures of what you looked like at 22-years-old. We all look great at 22. We are at our full strength, jumping with energy, bursting with youth, with vitality—wow! Now look at yourself in the mirror and you can’t believe what you see, right? Why? It’s because the telomeres are disappearing.
A telomere is a physical analog to zohama. Before Adam became physical, there were no telomeres, or maybe there were—we don’t know how the mechanism operated before the fall—but G-D said, “On that day you eat from that tree, you’ll die.” What that means is that, on that day, you’ll get telomeres that will shorten your life span. You can see the physical manifestation of the zohama.
49 Levels, 49 Days in Egypt
There are 49 levels of tumah. It’s like a wheel and, in the middle, is the zohama, this incredible root force of the Satan that give rise to 49 spokes of this wheel. Okay, we can get rid of the levels of zohama which is what the Jews did in Egypt which is why they counted 49 days and every day they counted was one during which they were able to get rid of one level, one spoke. They got to the 50th day, the root of the zohama itself, the root of everything.
What they had done is extract the zohama from the physical body. They actually did it. The Satan became external to the human body. It had never happened before. They replicated what mankind had been before Adam Ha’Rishon’s sin. Rav Chaim Volozhin said that. No death. The Satan was going crazy to re-enter the physical world which he did due to the Sin of the Golden Calf. That’s what allowed the Satan to re-enter, with his zohama, into the physical universe.
The Messianic Light: Torah and the Beis Ha’Mikdash
What if the Satan, during the time of the giving of the Torah, would have persisted? How would G-D have destroyed him?—the Torah. That’s the power of the Torah, those luchos rishonos—first tablets. What were they? These first tablets were the messianic Light. That is the root of the entire Torah. It’s the equivalent of the zohama of the Satan. It’s the root, the ultimate cause. Had the Jews not sinned with the Golden Calf, the power of those luchos rishonos, the power of the root of Torah, that consciousness, would have destroyed the zohama and guess what else—the Satan.
So, you need the messianic Light to destroy the zohama. That’s why the meshichim judge Esav. The angel of Esav is the Satan. His power is that zohama. You need one to destroy the other. It takes a mashiach to kill the Satan. You can’t do it any other way. There’s no way to remove the zohama without the root of Torah, that consciousness in its greatest form of revelation, to shove out the zohama, the root, the power source, of the Satan. Now you understand why it must be Har Tzion. It doesn’t say this openly but you can see how it logically follows.
This is exactly what will happen. Now we understand why we need the third Beis Ha’Mikdash. Without it, you can destroy 49 levels but you can’t get to the root.
Where do we see this? When Ya’akov left his home to journey to Charan after he got the blessing from Yitzchak, he went to sleep. Where?—on Mount Moriah which is Har Tzion. He had that famous dream about the ladder and saw angels going up and angels going down. Obviously, there are many mystical ideas in that dream, but he saw angels that represent the enemies of the Jews, the malachim—angels of the nations that would want to destroy the Jews. Each nation has an angel that represents its interests in the heavenly tribunal, an angel that tries to protects it. We know that the malach of Esav is the Satan. There’s a malach of Egypt, etc. The Torah tells us that Ya’akov saw the angels of these nations going up and they were coming down, meaning they would, ultimately, be destroyed. Great!
But then it says that he saw the angel of Esav, the Satan, going up and up and up but didn’t come down. So Ya’akov thought: we’re finished! We have to bring this guy down!” The power of the zohama, the root of evil, is beyond measure, almost infinite. Ya’akov was very concerned.
What this really means, as I said last week, is that the sins of the Jews, according to the measure of G-D, is so great, that we will keep empowering the Satan—who knows how high? Because Ya’akov didn’t see Esav’s malach, the Satan, coming down, he asked G-D: does this mean we’re finished?
G-D communicated: don’t worry. I will bring him down. Even though they, the Jews, are not worthy, haven’t the energy, the power, the “nuclear” energy, I will bring Him down. That is what G-D swore to Ya’akov. This must be understood.
What does this mean, “I will bring him down”? It takes the consciousness of G-D, the messianic Light, the third Beis Ha’Mikdash, to destroy him. It will require “My” messianic Light, the consciousness of the third Beis Ha’Mikdash. That’s the allusion. “My Torah” will bring him down. The only thing that can bring down the root of all evil is the root of all good, of all holiness. That’s why it makes sense.
Indicators
This is indicative, as I mentioned last week, of what the raid on Mar-A-Lago really is, what all these agencies, the DOJ, the FBI, the “Federal Bureau of Criminality” are. When they can enter the home of the President of the United States, rifle though his drawers—including those of his wife’s undergarments which is what they did last week—what a bezoyim—disgrace!
This travesty is not the only thing about which Americans are fooled. It’s not just a disgrace of Trump and his wife. It’s a disgrace on the presidency itself, no matter what you hold about Trump. He still was the president, had the dignity of the office. By humiliating him, they’ve stated: this is what we think of the office of presidency. How do you do that? You’re fouling up your own waters! I hate to say it but that’s what Americans are. It’s very bothersome. They don’t realize that this was the ultimate humiliation of America, not just of Trump. They’re so busy trying to destroy the man….
This is what the raid on Mar-A-Lago really represents. It’s the ultimate display of the malach of Esav, the Satan, going up, up, up and not coming down, that they can take a president of the United States and wash the floor with him, use him as a mop. Trump has a lot of hair….That’s what they did, use him as a shmate—rag, as they say in Yiddish. Mar-A-Lago is the ultimate display of the victory of the zohama, all the way to the “nth degree.”You can’t get worse than that in terms of humiliation of the United States itself.
As I mentioned too last week, this is really the beginning of the End because G-D always raises the enemy’s stature at the End, making it think it’s invincible. Then, when He destroys it, it demonstrates the incredible power of G-D. He isn’t going to destroy the weakling—big deal! He makes them powerful first.
That’s an open display of what’s called “yad ramah—uplifted Hand,” that expression G-D uses to tell about our exodus from Egypt in the middle of the day, not at night sneaking out. No! With a yad rama—uplifted Hand, that which demonstrates the absolute supremacy of G-D, a very important concept—the Jews left Egypt. This is also the concept of why the ladder Jacob dreamed of was so high. The zohama is almost impossible to get rid of. We need G-D, the messianic Light, the third Beis Ha’Mikdash to wipe this out.
Circumcising the Heart, 50 Versus 50, “Goring the Nations”
Notice how all the rabbis, the chazal—sages, illustrate this concept as to how the zohama will, ultimately, be destroyed. We know this because G-D says, “On that day, G-D will circumcise your heart,” meaning, remove the blockage. That’s what circumcision really is, the removal of blockage which is the destruction of the zohama so consciousness will change and the world with it.
You need the nun-sha’arei bina—the 50th Gate of Wisdom, its kedusha—holiness, to counteract the 50th Gate of tumah, of defilement, of zohama. It’s 50 against 50!
We now also understand another pasuk—verse in the Torah because we understand how the zohama is to be destroyed. It says at the end of the Torah when Moshe Rabbeinu blesses all the nations, he blesses Yosef with, “The firstborn of this ox”—Yosef is referred to as an “ox”—"hadar lo”—beauty is his.
The “karnei re’em”—horns of the re’em, the creature we think of as an ox, is not an ox; it’s a mystical creature. Those horns are not like the horns of other ox-like creatures. They are the horns of this mystical animal. Then it says that, with these horns, this creature will “gore the nations.” Interesting! What is Moshe talking about?
The horns of this creature are magnificent. With them he’ll gore the nations. Who is the first-born of the tribe of Yosef?—Mashiach ben Yosef! His “horns” are not really horns; they’re a metaphor. What emanates from the head?—chochma. Considering the entire analogy, wisdom that emanates from the Mashiach ben Yosef is unbelievably magnificent like the horns of the re’em.
What’s he gonna do with those magnificent horns, with that awesome wisdom? He’s going to gore the nations. What wisdom is that with which he’ll gore the nations?—the messianic Light. Isn’t that it? What does it mean to “gore the nations”? It means he will destroy the zohama, destroy the Satan.
How will he do this? He will “gore them” with the wisdom that emanates from his “head,” like the imagery of the magnificent horns that protrude from the re’em. That wisdom is the nun-sha’arei bina—the 50th Gate of Wisdom, of holiness. That is the Light that destroys the zohama. There you are!
It’s almost as if the pasuk—verse is screaming at you, “What’s he gonna do with this energy, this unbelievable wisdom, this beauty, this tiferes?”
“He's going to have oz—might,” the pasuk’s voice says. “With this might he’ll gore the nations.”
The voice continues, “Why would you need the energy of its head, the messianic Light, to gore the nations?
Because the nations have the zohama. You gotta get rid of the zohama. The only thing to destroy that zohama is the messianic Light. Root against root. That’s what G-D says. Don’t worry; I will bring him down, not you, the Jewish people. I will bring him down.” How?—by the Light of the third Beis Ha’mikdash.
See how it all connects, how all the dots connect, never really spelling out what the weapon of choice is which is the 50th level of wisdom? I find that to be amazing, how the Torah can “talk” on and on and hide what it’s really saying. But this is obviously what it’s saying, the need for the 50th Gate of holiness, wisdom, tiferes, beauty, might. That is what destroys the Satan. It’s a very, very important concept.
Doubting G-D
But it’s not an easy business. I want tell you something now and everyone needs to think about this: Moshe Rabbeinu made a mistake. I don’t say this; Torah says this. G-D sent Moshe to bring out the Jews from Egypt. Meanwhile, Moshe comes to Egypt and Pharoah says: they’re lazy. I’m not sending them out. Who are you kidding? Pharoah defied Moshe, didn’t he? He not only defied Moshe, he defied G-D. Pharoah laughed at G-D; it’s the ultimate defiance of G-D and this happened after Moshe came, not before.
Moshe did not understand: what going on here? G-D sent me, not somebody else; he sent me, by the Burning Bush, to take the Jews out, so how does G-D allow this person to defy Him so brazenly, so openly?
Moshe did not understand so he ran back to G-D at the end of parshas—Torah portion, “Shemos” and asked G-D, “Why have you done evil to this people, not sent them out?” Moshe was judging G-D, ostensibly saying: what are You doing this for? Not only is he judging G-D, he’s condemning G-D. It’s as if saying: You’ve done an evil thing. It would have been one thing had Moshe asked: what did you do this for? I don’t understand the reason. How can a messiah come and it got worse? The problem was that Moshe didn’t say that. He said, “Why have you done evil to this nation?” In Moshe’s estimation, G-D did evil to the Jewish people.
What did G-D say?—no! You can’t be saying this, questioning my attributes, questioning who I am and what I do and condemning Me, accusing me of doing evil. No! This is no good. You will be punished.
G-D could reason: I once had a guy, Avraham Avinu; he was never m’hare—questioning, doubting after my middos—attributes. He didn’t think about My traits as if to say: ‘how can You be doing this? What’s wrong with You?’ Excuse me! I miss Avraham Avinu. He never used to question Me. I told him to slaughter his son, and—okay, I understand you’re upset—but you’re condemning me. You can’t do this!
So, G-D punished him. G-D said, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharoah.” Rashi brings down that such was an imprecation. Now you will see what I do to Pharoah but you will not see what I do to the thirty-one nations of Israel (of Canaan), that you will not enter the land of Israel. That was the decree. That’s when it started. If you condemn me, if you don’t trust Who I am….it got worse, much worse. You cannot be m’hare--doubting after the middos--traits of the Ribono Shel Olam—Master of the Universe no matter how bad it looks, no matter how contradictory it appears. You can’t do that and Moshe Rabbeinu should have known. We can say that Moshe got upset because things got much worse for months; it was really bad news, terrible news.
I explained why that happened; it was to satisfy justice because the Jews didn’t deserve the mashiach. The Satan was screaming his head off: you can’t bring the messiah; they don’t deserve it.
And G-D said: you’re right! I have to satisfy justice by making them suffer much more. That’s why G-D did it. In the end, that’s what enabled their redemption. Without that suffering that Moshe sort of prompted, they couldn’t have gotten out of Egypt. G-D always, basically, adheres to the system of justice. Moshe didn’t realize that. So, he judged G-D, condemned G-D, and was punished. He was not allowed to go into Eretz Yisrael. Could you believe this? If you judge me and find me wanting, you do not deserve to be a leader of the Jews. A leader of the Jews must accept the judgement of G-D with one-hundred percent certainty. Unfortunately, Moshe Rabbeinu learned that the hard way.
The reason for that was that Moshe is only human but much more was expected of him than of others. He was punished because he questioned the attribute of G-D.
Today: Sukkoth in Acapulco, Pesach in the Balkans
We live in a terrible time. It’s a time when it completely contradicts what G-D said what would happen to the Jews. There’s no spirituality. It’s all superficial. You think we’re spiritual? We’re a million miles away from spirituality. Everything is physical, right?
You could say, “Of course I want to have a great Succos. I’m heading off to Acapulco for Succos. I can have the beach, so nice and cool at the beach.” Are we really spiritual? We are—really? It’s nebach—what a pity! Of course, you’ll enjoy a great Pesach with matzo and all that but it’ll be in Venice. On chol ha’moed—intervening days you can go sightseeing, have a great time in Italy. This is the concept of “spirituality,” right? It’s about travel, having a great time, the best cuisine, five-star restaurants. How can you have a hotel without a five-star menu? How could you celebrate otherwise? You feel sorry for all those Jews that have to stay home—nebach—and get plain matzo-ball soup, whatever they get.
Anyway, our spirituality is on the lowest wrung. We think this is fabulous, wow! The guy’s gonna celebrate Pesach in Dubrovnik. Pesach in the Balkans? What kind of Pesach is that? I’m not even going to include the Pesach with nightclubs and dancing girls and whatever else they got. Believe me, it happens.
Not only have we descended to unbelievable depths of inferiority in terms of spirituality—ok, cause that’s what we do—but it’s much worse than that. My feeling is that now, we are not at the 49th level of tumah; we are in the zohama itself. I’ll tell you why. Wow! We’ve hit rock-bottom. You can’t go lower. There is nothing lower. Surely, it’s satanic. Why?
Rock-bottom: Dismissing Creation
America has reached a new low and since America is the beacon for the world, then the world will reach that low. Everybody’s into denying G-D. Forget about G-D! It’s a formidable movement against religion. I’m not even going into anti-Semitism. There’s also anti-Catholicism. In America, there’s a great many people against religion in general. That is what accounts for a denial of G-D. And besides the denial of G-D, there’s a defiance of G-D. That’s been the next madreiga—level.
Such defiance has become a way of life, especially in matters of sexual perversion. If you don’t have a same-gender partner, something is wrong with you. Today, it’s preferable to have a same-gender partner. This is gay pride….pride! It’s not enough to be happy; you must be proud. There’s sexual promiscuity and people tell me all this stuff is all over television, all over the internet. I once said that the reason the decree to the destroy the world with the mabul—Flood was sealed was because of the requirement to obtain a kesuba—marriage contract for the marriage between two guys or a guy and an animal. Imagine going to a wedding and one guy is marrying another guy and a rabbi is called up to read the kesuba! Call up the rabbi to read the kesuba?—for what? The midrash includes mention of a guy marrying his pet. He loves his pet, right? He wants to marry his pet; that’s bestiality. We can’t believe that took place, but it’s taking place now. Now!
There’s something else taking place. My feeling is: this is the zohama. The other two were the mem-tes—49thlevel, a terrible Darkness and evil and defilement and contamination and immorality, but there’s something worse. My feeling is that this is, itself, the zohama. The bad news is that we’ve hit rock-bottom. The good news is that, when you get to the zohama, that’s when G-D unleashes the 50th Gate of Holiness. That’s what brings down the zohama. There’s nothing else in G-D’s repertoire to bring it down. He’s got to bring the Beis Ha’Mikdash and propel forward the messianic process. What is that indicator?
Until now, they deny G-d. Then they defy G-D. Now, everybody is into dismissing Creation. A guy can say, “I’m not a guy; I’m a girl. What’s your problem? But don’t call me ‘Eve.’ You have to ask me which pronoun I prefer. If you don’t ask me, you’re fired!”
You can’t imagine what’s happening in corporate America. If you use the wrong pronoun, you’re fired—for what? I read a story in which a teacher was calling names of the students, a roll call. She got to one student’s name and the student responded with “meow.” This girl held she was a cat. The teacher ignored the ”meow” and mentioned her given name as being present and accounted for. He was suspended. Why?—because how dare you refer to her as a “girl” or as a “human”! Are you crazy? The guy was either fired or suspended—whatever. He can’t believe what happened to him. This is happening all over America. You use the wrong pronoun, you’re out! If you live in a Jewish, religious community, you may not see this insanity as blatantly.
I have a student who was in Manhattan and wanted to use a restroom. He goes into a building, and he’s passing the women’s restroom and notices a sign on the door, targeting men, which read, “If you feel that you want to express your feelings of femininity, feel free to enter this women’s bathroom.” A man is invited in to do whatever he wants. Imagine reading this! I’m waiting for the day that some guy will walk into a woman’s mikveh. And you can’t throw him out. It’s called “discrimination” and it can get you in trouble with the board of the mikveh!
You cannot believe what you read and it’s embarrassing to talk about but how else to communicate the depth of perversion going on? A man walks into a women’s shower-room and sits down. Women are showering and they look at the guy—excuse me! Somebody told me that the man said, “I’m a woman so I’ve a right to be here.” An 85-year-old woman challenges him saying, “I’m not going to shower in front of you!” but you couldn’t kick the guy out! He had a right to be there.
This is the zohama because you’re dismissing Creation! It’s not just that you’re denying G-D, defying His Will. You’re dismissing the entire concept of “Creation.”
Excuse me, but you’re a man. There’s biology attached to that. Or, you’re a woman. There’s biology attached to that. What in the world are these people talking about? They’ve done away with biology. It’s all transferable, removable, detachable, depending upon what they want. They’ve dismissed Creation which establishes biological fact. And now that you are held accountable for maintaining and respecting the lie, you can get fired or whatever else they got cooking up there. You can get sued. You fill out an application and it asks you to fill in the blank as to which pronoun you want used to refer to you. What pronoun? What’s that supposed to mean? That’s the zohama, the absolute dismissal of G-D and His Creation.
It’s all about man’s arrogance. Everything else is irrelevant. That’s the zohama. It’s where man pays no tribute, whatsoever, to the role of G-D in Creation. It’s about “us” and the “greatness of man.” The bad news is that we’re in the zohama. The good news is that there’s only one way to get rid of it, as I’ve said. The interesting thing about this and why I think mashiach is right around the corner is that, at this stage, this “re-set,” as I’ve called it, is irreversible and irrevocable. Since they’ve constitutionalized the discrimination—or anti-discrimination—since it’s now constitutionally protected, you can’t say, “Are you crazy! What are you talking about?” So, it’s bound to get much worse. That’s where we’re at.
I wanted to emphasize the importance of the concept of the sole way to destroy the zohama which is by marshalling the kedusha, the 50th Gate of holiness, against the 50th Gate of evil, of Darkness. In the end, that is the End. There is no going back.
The Good News in the Bad News
So, there’s good news in the bad news. The raid on Mar-A-Lago is nothing more than the barometer, the symbol of this ultimate victory of the zohama. That the Fed, the head of the government, could step all over the presidency, treating Trump and the presidency itself like garbage, shows their contempt for the presidency and their will to destroy it. No one will ever look upon the FBI and the DOJ the same way. The tragedy of this is that it’s a federal agency and there are many decent people in the FBI. These guys at the top, Christopher Ray and all the other mishaga’im--crazies have been going crazy.
(Audience participant mentions someone else who is high-ranking who the rabbi acknowledges as a Jew)
Yeah, yeah, he’s Jewish because you need the Eirev Rav to assist Esav. There are always Jews, always have been Jews who join Esav. The Eirev Rav are not only in Israel trying to destroy Torah; they’re also with Esav trying to destroy the good part of Esav, which is Trump.
So, they’ve destroyed the respect and authority of the FBI and the DOJ. Then there’s Biden, the empty suit, and the fact that America allows this pathetic human being, this rasha—evil person to preside. He’s going crazy about the twenty-one who died in Texas. What about the three hundred who die daily from Fentanyl? 140,000 died last year from Fentanyl. This means that the drug cartels are killing Americans. This administration is allowing a foreign entity to kill Americans. At least stop the illegal immigration or go and stop the cartels! It’s easy to stop the cartels, as I mentioned last week. Just declare them “terrorists.” Override due process.
Nobody cares. That’s the evil of America. I feel sorry for America. Like they say, “The millstone of G-D grinds exceedingly slow.” Ever see a millstone that you push? It grinds exceedingly slow but exceedingly fine. When it gets to you, you’ll wish you’d never have been born. That’s midas ha’din—attribute of justice. G-D is long-suffering; He doesn’t want to do this, to punish. Even if you sin a thousand times, He doesn’t do that. Erech apayim—slow to anger, that’s what He is.
Commencing the “Crush”
But there is a time when G-D says, enough is enough! Now I execute judgment, justice. That is when He will crush. That’s what you’re seeing.
For an example of that, check out Ukraine. It’s being destroyed as we speak. The incredible thing is that—what’s destroying Ukraine?—a Jew. Zelenski is an absolute moron. Like I said, Putin never threatened Ukraine. He just said: I don’t want any missiles; don’t join NATO.
Zelenski should have said, “ok.” He decided, instead, to fight the Russian bear, the 800-pound gorilla. He said: no! I have to be the hero. I heard that Vogue magazine did a photo-shoot of him and his wife. That’s what he’s all about, being the hero, looking good. He’s presided over the greatest mass migration in the modern history of mankind. I believe ten million Ukrainians have fled. That’s twenty-five percent of the population and I’m not even talking about the damage in the hundreds of billions. And he wants the west to pay for it and, of course, the west is gonna pay because they’re idiots. They should have turned to Zelenski and asked, “Are you crazy? So, don’t join NATO.” Who recommended he join NATO?—Biden, the nitwit, the moron.
It could have been asked of Biden, “Aren’t you afraid that Russia will be angry?”
Biden would answer, “Russia? Who’s Russia?”
Last week, I mentioned that Biden is what America deserves. A country gets the leader it deserves and we deserve Biden! Imagine the level of America to deserve Biden! What are Americans complaining about?
We are now in a huge, Olympic-size swimming pool of zohama. The main idea, the good news, is that this cannot go on. G-D will stop it. It just takes time. We don’t how long He will decide to wait before He crushes America, which He’s already doing. Why do you think China is growing, why it now has a greater military, certainly a better navy, than the United States? Why?—because that is how G-D is threatening America. G-D could say to America: you want to be a leader? You want to threaten My world? Well, guess what! I’m going to take it all away from you and give it to China. China is a real threat. It’s the second greatest economy after America. It doesn’t take anything for G-D to reduce America to nothing.
Q & A:
(First comment was mostly inaudible due to there being a live audience.)
Participant: You were talking about the mountain of Esav. Is there a real mountain?
R’Kessin: Yes, it’s called “Har Seir.” It’s in the south of Israel.
Participant: We know where it is?
R’Kessin: We know the area. Esav had the south of Israel.
Participant: So how will he actually be judged by the meshichim? How? What will they do?
R’Kessin: What they’ll do—like in everything else—is, first, ask, “What are you accused of?” That’s number one. Number two is: “What’s the evidence that you did this?” That’s all that’s needed for judgement. What’s the accusation and where’s the evidence?
Participant: This will be done in front of the whole world?
R’Kessin: Sure. Want to know what he’s accused of? Want to hear an interesting statistic, what Esav did? Esav is Edom and Edom is Rome and Rome is Christianity and Christianity is Western Civilization. Wonder what they did? Historians estimate that, 2000 years ago, there were close to ten million Jews. How many Chinese were there? The estimate is that there were 25 million. So, the estimate is that there were ten million Jews vs. twenty-five million Chinese.
Today, there are 1.4 billion Chinese. That’s a 56-fold increase. But, wait a minute! If you apply that formula to the Jewish population, there should be 560 million Jews today based on normal propagation, normal reproduction. How many Jews are there, actually?—fifteen million, and we go back further than the Chinese. Isn’t it odd? So, in four thousand years, all we could muster up is fifteen million? The Jews are the oldest race in antiquity that are still extant today and all we have is fifteen million? It’s absurd! The question becomes obvious: what happened?
What happened was pogroms, inquisitions, expulsions, crusades, holocausts, etc.. all the slaughter. Today, we have intermarriages, assimilation. What destroyed the Jews is the goyim, Christian civilization. There was no intermarriage years ago; that’s mostly a 21st-century phenomenon. It’s wasn’t even so much the Moslems. They just wanted recognition for being supreme. It’s the Christians.
(comment about Islam wanting Jews to convert or leave their country)
R’Kessin: The Moslems wanted Jews to submit and admit that they were a superior race. Moslems were not into conversion. Christians are. Therefore, it’s astounding. Imagine! There should be about 560 million Jews. So about 545 million Jews are missing! Imagine how many shuls and yeshivas there would have been! That’s the slaughter of two thousand years. G-D constantly erases Jews so they could have a new start to do the tikkun.
The truth is that we don’t really know why but, whatever it is, we recognize that the Christians butchered, at least, over half a billion Jews. We wonder upon what they will be judged. The meshichim—that is, G-D—will say that the accusation is that you butchered, slaughtered, 540 million people that should have been born over the centuries.
(inaudible comments)
As an aside, in the millennium year of 2000, the Christians were worried. Why? If you look at the New Testament, you’ll see that Yeshu (Jesus) said, “Verily you will see the kingdom of G-D,” that it would come in their life-time and they know that. The problem is that there’s supposed to be a second-coming. He never came back so they don’t understand. It’s 2000 years since he lived. Where is this guy? Where is he? they’re thinking. The millennium was imminent and they were nervous. It’s been 2000 years and he still hadn’t come back. Where is the second-coming?
If you remember, the pope—I think it was in 1999, I forget which pope, Benedict?—went to the Kotel. Remember that? A pope doesn’t go to the Kotel. That was an admission. He had the same concern: where is this guy? Where’s the second-coming? So, he figured: that’s why he doesn’t come, because we overdid it; we killed too many Jews, and they know that the Jews are the “children of G-D.” It says that in the Torah—how many times? It says, “You’re My nation.” If we overdid it, thought the pope, that’s why you’re not coming! The pope is looking for a kaporah—atonement. He’s conducting a kind of Yom Kippur for themselves and he was hedging his bets. We overdid it. Forgive us for erasing 540 million people.
So, I added my answer as to why Yeshu hasn’t come back. They’re wondering: where is he? I answered their question. Do you know why he hasn’t come? He hasn’t come because he’s dead. It’s rather obvious except they don’t realize that he’s dead. He is part of the kingdom of heaven but he’s dead because the whole thing is a fabrication. Does Yeshu think he’s the boss?
Part of the problem is that it says in their testament that Yeshu said: “I won’t come back until everybody recognizes me” so they have to get the Jews to recognize him.
Participant: Israel is where the Jews belong but the notion and the belief in Israel is not exactly pro-G-D either. Is now the time for Jews to be coming back?
R’Kessin: I once explained something; I’ll repeat it. Let’s say NYC needs engineers. Obviously, they want to make sure you know your stuff so they give an exam. They announce their need of engineers and invite applicants to take the test. Let’s assume that the average mark is “70.” That’s not good. They don’t want guys with an average mark of “70” to be engineers for the city. It’s a lot of building collapses, right? So, somebody comes up with a bright idea, to make the passing grade “50.” This is what usually happens, right? So, more people qualify but it’s still not enough so they “lower the bar” to “40.” When the Ribono Shel Olam looks at klal Yisrael….
There was a study done in London which estimated that there are 15.1 million Jews. How many hareidim are, meaning Torah-observant Jews. There are 2.1 million. I don’t know how they arrived at that number but it means 13 million are gone. How’s the RIbono Shel Olam gonna bring them in? We know that they have to retain something.
In Egypt they didn’t change their names, their dress, their language. That’s what made them Jews, identifying as Jews. That was their z’chus—merit to be taken out. The fact that they didn’t speak loshon ha’ra is what actually got them out of Egypt. I’m not going into what the chazals—sages (commentary) say about not engaging in loshon ha’ra, but the ideas on this are astounding. (these are discussed in great detail in the rabbi’s series: “Shmiras Ha’Loshon” available on his website torahthinking.org)
Even to get out of Egypt they needed a minimum (qualifier). What’s the minimum now?
In this generation where, basically, everybody is gone, (the minimum is) how do you feel about being Jewish? Forget about the mitzvos. G-D is lowering the bar.
Participant: So, He’s saying: why don’t you just identify….
R’Kessin: Right! Of course, you’re not going to get the same Olam Ha’Ba as the other guy who does the mitzvos but if he’s proud of being a Jew, that’s enough. Another says he’s proud of Israel being a Jewish country. That’s enough. G-D has lowered the bar. If you don’t lower the bar, 80% are not getting in. What do you do with these guys? It’s like the engineers. If you don’t lower the bar, there are no engineers. You have nobody and you can’t have nobody. It’s just like He did in Egypt. All you need to do is not change your language, your dress, your name. It’s not much. You identify as a Jew.
(Inaudible comments)
R’Kessin: In Egypt, there were many g’dolim—great scholars, the shevatim—tribal affiliations, many righteous people, many tzaddikim, the entirety of shevet Levi—the Levites, the Kohanic class. If they weren’t observant, bad news. The Jews had many more ways to elevate themselves. Today, you look around—who’s left? You really can’t blame Jews today. In many ways, a great many Jews are innocent, compelled to be as they are. Part of the problem is that we live in an incredibly open society which is incredibly distracting. In America, you have access to every tumah imaginable. You want t.v,, internet, pornographic material on the internet which, by the way, accounts for 50% of internet activity. You have music. Do you know how much time is taken up listening to music? A guy sells fifty-million albums. I’m thinking: are you crazy? You have Netflix. You can go into a room and sit there for the rest of your life, never walk out, and have somebody else order in.
This isn’t a distraction; it’s an immersion! Even if you don’t want to term it “addiction,” it’s an alternative lifestyle. Get yourself a room and a nine-foot screen and you’re glued all day to every tv show, movie, musical, whatever, that has ever been made. It would take a hundred lifetimes to go through them. Is there any room left for Torah?
As a result of all this, we live in an unbelievable environment. It’s so conducive to doing nothing. I feel sorry for people. It will take a change of consciousness. If you don’t learn hashkafa, in many ways, you’re finished. We are attacked by so many foreign ideologies. Everyone out there is saying, “I’ve got ‘the way’.” Everyone has a shlit’’a--authority about a way of life. Who do you believe? What do you believe? What is the purpose of this shiur? I don’t give sermons. I’m not a “sermon guy.” Do you know why I’m not a “sermon guy”? I’ll tell you a secret.
Why is it that you hear a shiur, a mussar shiur, a “be good” shiur, and it goes “in,” but the next day it’s gone? Ever notice that? Why is that? Here’s the mistake people make. If you want to change a person, don’t inspire him. You don’t change because, all of a sudden, you got inspired by a story. Today, it’s all about stories. Without a story, there’s seems to be nothing to say. You need a story to depend on to deliver a message. I’m not a “story guy” but everyone is fascinated by stories. I present ideas, incredible, different ideas that are startling. That’s much harder work on my part. You don’t realize how much work that is, to construct a shiur that will grip you for two hours. You don’t realize what a challenge that is. Most others have a storybook of this gadol, that gadol. It’s nice but it goes in one ear and out the other the next day. A story won’t change behavior.
The only way I can change you is to alter your beliefs, not inspire. Only if I change your belief system will you change. We are always consistent with what we believe. That’s what determines behavior. The greatest way to change belief is to give a shiur about reality and connect all the dots so convincingly that you say: wait a minute! This must be true! You don’t realize how powerful that is, to hear interconnected ideas. The human mind always searches for realization of what it believes. When you hear interconnected ideas that are internally consistent, your beliefs can change in that direction. It’s an interesting phenomenon that I discovered many, many years ago. This is why my shiurim are not about stories that inspire, about what somebody else did. It’s about truth of reality and I convince you by connecting so many dots that you say to yourself: this must be true. Unconsciously, you grab it. You begin to change. It’s the secret of the power of my shiurim.
I meet people and they remember what I said fifteen years ago! I think: wow! Who remembers anything from fifteen years ago? Good thing you remember who your spouse was fifteen years ago—right?
I’ve altered their framework of reality; that’s what a “belief” is, a view of what reality is. What if I alter that?—guess what! It stays that way until you die. You don’t realize how powerful a belief is. That’s why I don’t give over to shmoozing. One time I did give over a story about George Washington. Other than that, I hardly ever do that but, for some reason, I’m able to grip people at a certain level and alter their belief system.
I’ll tell you another idea which is interesting. Ever notice that when you walk into a Jewish book store, the entire contents of the front tables are stories?—Mother Goose or Grimm’s Fairy Tales….I’m joking around. Why are we into stories?
They don’t work because, in the old days, what G-D wanted was “ase tov”—do good. Learn Torah, grow in Torah, grow in ideas. Today, the mitzvah is no longer ase tov. What “tov”? The mitzvah today is tzur m’ra—turn from evil. With all the distractions and tumah today, the job is: don’t fall! Don’t think! Forget about swimming; just don’t drown! Stay put! That’s the mitzvah today. In order to realize tzur m’ra, you don’t have to learn new ideas; you just have to be inspired to stay afloat.
The Ribono Shel Olam—Master of the Universe made sure that this generation, which is that of tzur m’ra, can forget about learning ideas and depth and hashkafa. He could say: All they need is a couple of good stories! That’s why G-D put into the mind of man, of Jews, to give over stories. The thrust of the avodah today is to not fall into evil. Therefore, you need to be inspired. That’s why there’s a preponderance of stories. They’re nice stories. Ever notice that it takes about two months after a godol dies and then a book comes out with titles like “The Life and Times of….” Why?
You need inspiration not to sink. Forget about hashkafa; that will advance you but it’s not really the avodah—service except for a few people, the “ase tov” people. For most, it’s tzur m’ra. And G-D has arranged for everybody to be into stories. I sometimes would wonder how these guys came up with all this stuff, story after story; it’s as though it’s endless. You have to admire these guys. I’ve never seen such a proliferation of stories. How do they find this stuff? Fifty years ago, they didn’t know this stuff. There were always some stories about gdolim, some chassidische rebbe stories, but now every nuance is recorded because we need this in this generation. My kind of philosophy is not to tell stories; it’s to change your life and I do that with hashkafa.
To answer your question, we need to get back to hashkafa, to teach: “what is reality?” and “Who is G-D?” and “what does He really want?” That’s why I’m into RaMCHaL for fifty-five years. I’ve made that a lifetime pursuit. If you hear a couple of stories, you get tired. How many stories can a guy hear? I find that people who are into RaMChaL don’t get tired; they’re fascinated. They may get tired listening but not because they’re bored. Hashkafa is fascinating if taught properly. You could teach hashkafa as a sermon. Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzato teaches the architectural plans of Creation and he speaks in a common-sense way.
(Participants raise the issue of impending Halloween and Christmas holidays in America.)
R’Kessin: Halloween is one of the emptiest days you’ve ever seen, but have rachmanus--compassion on goyim because they have nothing. Even their Christmas is commercialized. Halloween used to be about All-Saints Day. Now, it’s all about demons and witches and goblins, all the skeletons.
Participant: Going back to RaMCHaL, when he talks about the Beis Ha’Mikdash, that it will come down physically. How does it become physical?
R’Kessin: It’s like anything else. It’s the zikuch—refinement, purification. What G-D does is diminish the output of the sefiros and so the energy becomes physical. If He increases the output, it becomes spiritual. That is, ultimately, how He changes Olam Ha’Ze to Olam Ha’Ba, by increasing the output of the sefiros. He can also reverse that process. The second way to make it physical is to add zohama, a “sprinkling” of zohama, the Satanic influence.
Participant: It’s like dimming the energy down.
R’Kessin: That’s the first real connection because the real journey is to go from physical to more spiritual, to more spiritual, to more spiritual until you get to Olam Ha’Ba. Where does it start? Where does the beginning of the transformation to spirituality begin?—the third Beis Ha’Mikdash.
Participant: Is that how a child is born, through the diminishment of the sefiros, making him more physical.
R’Kessin: What you say is very interesting. I think I said it here….What’s the key concept of development for a human? What is maturity? The key concepts of development are “consciousness” and “cognition.” That’s the difference between a one-day-old infant and a 90-year-old man. It’s consciousness, mochen. That’s where you grow. Everything that the baby is, ultimately, the mother manufactures. The spirituality is added to that but nothing spiritual becomes physical. The body makes the embryo, which is beyond belief. It starts off with two cells and then the body grows by assimilating protoplasm. The amazing thing is that it’s able to make an infant from nothing.
I believe that the two greatest miracles I’ve ever seen are—how in the world do two cells become a human body? It’s something beyond imagining. It’s hundreds of trillions of cells functioning. The second greatest miracle is—how does the two-year-old speak? How does he think? How does he figure out language? Then he uses a sentence. How? He’s not aware of what he’s doing. Does the kid think: wait a minute! What did she mean by that word?—no, he doesn’t think these. Somehow it’s: I got it! I got it! I got it! Then, after a while, he gets it and he learns what’s called “syntax” so he can put the words together in the right sequence into a sentence. He learns the concept of the words. He learns that the concept of sound represents things. It’s remarkable. That’s what language is; it’s the recognition that sound represents something, a meaning. So, the kid figures out a word. Then he figures out a phrase, then a sentence. Before you know it, the kid doesn’t shut up.
How? Nobody is sitting there and saying to him, “Okay, this is a ‘bottle’,” or “This is a ‘can’.” I have a granddaughter. She was three years old and didn’t speak much. One day, she comes over to me and belts out a whole sentence. I’m thinking: excuse me! What? How did you get the sentence? What method of madness overcame you to be able to say an entire sentence? Unbelievable! It’s a nes—miracle. Of course, it’s the brain but—c’mon, who cares? Evolution can’t do this in a billion years. It can’t produce a kid that knows language.
We know why. If you don’t talk, you’re not human. That’s the end of interconnectedness. The Ribono Shel Olam gave the ability to a three-year-old. A one-year-old kid starts to babble and by two years of age, he has phrases. There was no instruction here. What a miracle that is!
Participant: Going back to the Beis Ha’Mikdash, that’s going to come down first and then Mashiach ben Yosef is going to….
R’Kessin: No, no, Mashiach ben Yosef probably will come first.
Participant: He has the pekida first and then the Beis Ha’Mikdash comes and then his announcement comes out and he becomes known? He needs the Beis Ha’Mikdash…
R’Kessin: Yes, or he doesn’t have the shefa—Divine flow.
Participant: What’s the time period between the pekida and the descent of the Beis Ha’Mikdash? What’s going to happen?
R’Kessin: …his growth.
Participant: …and in the world?
R’Kessin: Evil. Zohama rises. Mar-A-Lago.
Participant: Could he have the pekida already since we’re seeing so much evil in the world now?
R’Kessin: If I had to intuit where he’s at, I’d say he probably knows who he is without being told although he has to be told.
Participant: ….by G-D?
R’Kessin: Yeah, there are a lot of guys walking around thinking they’re “it.” He already has a very good guess about what’s happening, meaning that he’s enough out of the klippa or his consciousness has been released so he’s aware, but it hasn’t happened yet because the zohama is growing by leaps and bounds, like I said. My feeling is that we are actually in this zohama, not anymore at the 49th level, and the only thing that can counteract that is the 50th-level of kedusha, the messianic Light, or the beginnings of it. We’re like at the tipping point.
Participant: When you’re talking about how the telomeres of the chromosome is the zohama…
R’Kessin: Yes, the physical manifestation of the zohama…
Participant: When you get sick, does that mean that your body has more zohama in it?
R’Kessin: No. We all have zohama at a certain level; it’s fixed.
Participant: it’s fixed even though it causes illness and aging and all that?
R’Kessin: Well, cheit—sin does block the shefa of the sefiros and that is what makes you sick. It’s the sin that makes you sick.
Participant: When the telomere breaks off from the chromosome, how long does it take to unravel? Is that the 30 days when…as they say 30 days before a person will leave the earth, it gives signs….do you know what I’m talking about? Is there a connection?
R’Kessin: It’s not the telomeres. It’s the neshama that tells you you’re about to exit. Somehow the soul knows. It’s intuition. People say, “I’m about to go” without knowing why they know, but they know. That is how some people can predict their deaths. That’s the neshama.
Participant: We’re in the month of Elul, in the month, G-D-Willing, of repentance and coming closer to Ha’Shem. What should we do? How should we go about this month?
R’Kessin: I once said, several times already, that the most important thing you can do is…it’s like Moshe Rabbeinu who didn’t say after the Sin of the Golden Calf: whoever is sorry for participating in the sin of the Golden Calf, you’re with me. He didn’t say that. He said, “Mi l’Ha’Shem, eilai”—Who is to G-D, come to me. What did it have to do with the cheit ha’egel, the sin of the Golden Calf? Moshe never mentioned the sin though, of course, he was concerned that they sinned. His most profound concern could be conveyed with the questions: where are you standing (in relation to G-D)? Where are you now? Are you part of G-D’s “team” or did you decide: maybe I’ll switch over to the other side?
I mentioned too about the RaBaD (Rabbi Avraham ben David), who is known for arguing with the RaMBaM, who said that what G-D wants most, what He is most concerned about, is not individual sins. Those will be repaired and that’s the end of it. G-D is concerned about where you are in the effort to bring Him back. It’s the question: “Who is to G-D?” Are you part of the team—yes or no? It’s like saying: I slip; I slide but I’m still part of Team “A.” I will try whatever I can; just don’t leave me out. I’m still with You. I registered for the membership. As long as you see yourself as part of His team, you’ll make it. The danger is when you think: ah…what am I here for? It’s so hard. The world looks so attractive with all the stuff going on and I’m missing it all. That’s the dangerous part.
(comment is made about where Har Sinai and Midian are actually located)
R’Kessin: We won’t know until the End. Why?—because what happened at Har Sinai never happened before. G-D revealed his Presence in terms of the messianic Light, therefore the whole mountain has to be hidden. That Light never left. It’s like the Beis Ha’Mikdash. It’s still holy. That’s why you can’t go there. Once G-D enters a place, that place, with that type of Presence—it was unbelievable, the thunder, and everybody died because G-D spoke to every Jew—that is permanent. If you find a mountain and you’re climbing it, you’ll know, I don’t know that you’d die but you’re gonna get shaken up, you won’t know what hit you, and you’ll wonder: what is happening to me? That kedusha—holiness leaves a reshima—impression. When G-D enters a place and leaves, He doesn’t really leave. He leaves an impression. The original power is gone but there’s a reshima which can knock you out so imagine if you find a mountain to climb and you’re feeling, you’re wondering: what is going on here?—then you’ll know you’ve found Har Sinai.
G-D doesn’t want people to find Har Sinai. The Arabs would go crazy: this is Jebel Musa—Mountain of Moses! When it’s the End, it’s okay; then we’ll know. Obviously, we’ll venerate that mountain.
In the morning when you get up, say to yourself: I’m part of the team. That’s all you need as a designation. You don’t need more. You need a reminder, what called a “re-dedication” saying: whatever I can do to advance the team, I will try to do. That’s it. Once you abandon the team, you’ve been abandoned.
(Participant recalls the story of the rebellion of Korach when those who abandoned Moshe were swallowed up when the earth opened. Several thousand chose to follow Korach’s rebellion.)
R’Kessin: It was a strange way of dying. The earth actually follows you and swallows you up. Why this death?
Participant: Because you came from earth and you’re going back to it?
R’Kessin: No. Korach didn’t deny Moshe who got the Torah from G-D. He accused Moshe of adding his own ideas so that not all of Torah was from G-D directly. What Korach did, therefore, was try to destroy the authenticity of the Torah. He proposed: maybe this isn’t all from G-D so why must I observe it? He destroyed the authority of the Torah because it has to be all from
G-D. That’s the “ground” Judaism stands on, that the Torah was “written” by G-D. G-D’s reasoning goes like this: if you want to attack the “grounds,” the basis, of my religion, the ground will eat you up. It’s mida kneged mida—measure-for-measure. The ground will destroy you. You are attacking the foundation.
Korach meant: Well, G-D gave you this but He didn’t give you that. Moshe made it up on this own. G-D didn’t appoint Aharon; it was nepotism. Were that allowed to stand, it would be the end of the Torah.