Ctrl Alt Delete – for sure, there’s tons of tzaros going on, but
1) you can choose to look at the negatives, or look at the positives in klal yisrael – and shomayim will follow suit (recently read a dvar torah that we’re kovea how shomayim looks at us which is why dan lkaf zchus, not speaking loshon hara, and being mevater/maavir al midosav are so imp, cuz it can cause kitrug and/or be kovea how shomayim deals with us
2) both are true – we have tremendous zechuyos, and B”H are growing tremendously, and at the same times there’s tons of tzaros – they say as mashiach comes the geula is like labor, and the labor pains are going to come harder and faster…until the sudden yeshua/simcha – it means he’s getting CLOSER not tallying more….
3) if you’re scared, all the gedolim say that the only things that will save us (besides strong emuna which we’ll need so we need to work on being mechazeik that) are torah and gemilus chasadim – so whether learning and/or supporting torah, and doing chessed – those are the things that’ll save us be”H…
and lastly, 4) the only thing we can do despite seeing the world “in pain” – besides davening for them/klal yisrael as a whole, which we should, – is to work on ourselves to be the best we can be before mashiach, who IS so close (many gedolim have said), comes and then we don’t have a chance for bechira/perfecting ourselves – soon we won’t have a chance anymore! They say a story about the Chofetz Chaim who saw so many pple far from Hashem and so many issues in the world that he wanted to fix it. Eventually, he realized he can’t and wanted to fix just his country. Eventually, he realized he can’t and wanted to fix just his CITY. Then his block, then just his family. Then eventually he realized the only person he can really fix is HIMSELF. and in the end he really changed the world.
Another story – Rebbetzin Neustadt says a story of a guy in Russia in the freezing winter, and his hand is totally frostbitten, will literally fall off if he doesn’t warm up soon. A guy comes along, sizes up what’s going on and starts rubbing the frostbitten guy by his heart. The frostbitten guy has no clue what he’s doing, but he realizes he might lose a limb, so he figures, ok lets see what this guy thinks he can do….meanwhile after 5 min of rubbing the frostbitten guy starts feeling some warmth in his shoulders, a few min later his arm, and several minutes later this totally frozen hand starts warming up, til he feels it in his fingertips and can finally move his hand B”H. So mr. frostbitten guy says to the other guy, “Thank you so much!!! but sir, can you tell me, why didn’t you just rub my hand?!” The guy answers him “I sized up the situation and saw that your hand was so frozen, that if I touched it, it would’ve literally fallen off. BUT, I knew if I rubbed your heart to pump harder, eventually I could get your circulation going, til eventually it would get to your extremities (fingertips etc)”
Reb Neustadt continues – that’s the mashal, the nimshal is that klal yisrael is the frostbitten man – and we frum yidden are the heart. Those who are totally off are the fingertips, and everyone else are somewhere in between. The stronger, and more “pumped” the heart gets, the more it will be GOREM (cause) all the limbs “til the fingertips” to be warmed.
I felt this was an amazing mashal as I always wondered how mashiach will ever come. Many mussar seforim have this concept. And Rav Moshe Shapiro, one of the gedolei olam and gedolei mussar, quotes a medrash in his “yishmael” shiur, saying that it only takes 1 kehilla to make mashiach come (I highly recommend listening to it, it’s on kol halashon)
So bottomline – we only need to work on ourselves, in baby steps, but as fast as we can, because the clock is running out…ask any of the gedolim…
Hashem should help us all to grow into the best pple we can be!