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A radical Muslim in City Hall. Anti-semitism everywhere. My Rav keeps talking about emunah and about how Hashem will protect us. I don’t feel very protected today. Don’t clobber me for asking this question – I want someone to give me chizuk, not tell me that I am a bad person for asking this question.
Chizuk? Don’t worry; you’re in the Five Towns. When Mamdani rounds up the Jews to put them into concentration camps, he won’t be able to reach you.
I heard something years ago that has stuck with me. It helps me accept the difficult situations in the world around us. I’ll just apply it to this situation, but you can easily see how it could apply to anything. Let’s say you were Hashem. Let’s say you knew everything Hashem knows and you were all powerful and could make anyone in the world mayor of NYC – who would you make mayor? The answer is of course Zohran Mamdani. If Hashem chose him and Hashem doesn’t make mistakes, then certainly if you were Hashem you also would have made him mayor. So if you yourself would have made him mayor, what are you worried about?
You are alive. Not pogromed. You can walk around with a yarmulke. So we are in Golus – its still the friendliest time to be a Jew in the last few hundred years. You have freedom of movement. Shechita is allowed. Not sure if you expect it to be Gan Eden at this point? Also remember why Rebbe Akiva laughed – because we have to see the prophesy of darkness fulfilled and we then know the prophesy of light will come.
Listen to what Rabbi Joey Haber said last night about the rise of Haman
I don’t think you are a bad person, maybe just a little overly nervous. Baruch Hashem you are still alive and well. Hashem already protected Klal Yisroel, including your ancestors, through 2000 years of persecution, pogroms, crusades, inquisitions, plagues, expulsions, wars, and who knows what else. הן הן גבורותיו והן הן נוראותיו שכבשה אחת קיימת בין שבעים זאבים. Only for the last 80 or so years in America and similar countries have we become accustomed to not usually having to deal with those things. I cannot speak on behalf of Hashem, but He may very well want us to wake up and do Teshuvah, to become better in some way. That is the Jewish response to adversity from the Avos down to today. Hashem is always in control, and even in the worst of circumstances if it was bashert for someone to survive, Hashem made sure he survived. Why sometimes there were Yidden who were killed ר״ל, is Hashem’s business. But even then, we believe that was their tikkun and they were zocheh to Olam Haba. For now, America is still better than almost any other Golus ever was. But if the going gets tough, then it’s time for more Emunah, not less.
The best eitzah is to daven. Rebbe Nachman of Breslev taught that anyone can speak to Hashem in his/her own words, and doing so itself builds one’s Emunah. According to the Rambam (Hilchos Tefillah 1, 1) this is the ikkar mitzvah d’oraysa of Tefillah. (Even before the three regular Tefillos every day were established by Anshei Knesses Hagedola.)
Maybe Hashem is telling us that our actions and our votes aren’t going to help any more.
אל תבטחו בנדיבים
עת צרה היא ליעקב וממנו יוושע
Maybe the Ge’ula will come from the deepest tzara, not because we have friendly politicians in power
והקדוש ברוך הוא בכבודו ובעצמו יצילנו מידם
5tresident
1) Dont you live in the 5towns which is Nassau County?
2) we passed through worse Hashem can get us through this
It’s OK for you to feel this way. You SHOULD feel this way. HaShem is sending you and ALL OF US IN GALUS a message that it’s time to go home. (I include myself in this). If we don’t listen now, we will be forced to listen by even worse things r’l.
Koifer BIkur:
What a screen name. No, He is obviously not sending that message, because that’s against the Torah in multiple ways including the gimmel shevuos, as brought by poskim throughout the ages.We daven for Hashem to return us all to E”Y with Mashiach, not CH”V to en masse do so on our own.
5TR:
The cause of antisemitism is assimilation. Its antidote, then, is the opposite. Do yours and Hashem will do His.5T,
It’s a bitter pill during an already scary time, yet Hashem’s protection becomes more obvious than ever when our own efforts seem to have failed. One person who expended superhuman efforts is R. Shloime Werdiger and his timely words are indeed heartening:
Op-Ed By Agudath Israel Chairman Reb Shloime Werdiger; “The Day After”
I think many of us growing up in America since the Holocaust have felt a little too comfortable. We all learned that history repeats itself, but America is different. Well it is not. We are in galus. The end of our story does not end here.
That being said, despite all the latest surges in antisemitism, the current climate in America is FAR LESS antisemitic in our nations history than any other place we have been.
Continue to thank Hashem with every fiber of your being ALL THE TIME.The Gemara says that before Moshiach comes, Klal Yisroel MUST do teshuvah.
Asks the Gemara, what if they don’t? Will Moshiach never come chalilah.
Answers Hashem Yisborach. if they don’t, then I will appoint a leader who will make decrees such as Haman did, and then they will definitely do teshuvah and Moshiach will surely come.
Everything Hashem does is for the benefit of Klal Yisroel.
We just have to cooperate and things will be the best they possibly can be.Agree with most of the answers. But this just underscores how little we are in control and how humble we should be.
It is also ironic that after all events in Israel for the last 2 years, it takes a mayoral election to shake up a comfortable suburban Yid.It says in Gemora Tannis that a community should daven when there is a pandemic in a nearby city, even if just connected by caravans, and also in EY…
Will we NOW FINALLY accept Hashem’s wake up call for serious Teshuva and Achdus together as one loving nation so Hashem can send Mashiach already b’karov? Or will we continue to live in denial instead Chas VShalom and think we can fool Hashem that we don’t get his message for serious Teshuva and Achdus?
There’s no one else to blame except ourselves when we all know the truth that Hashem has everything down to every person’s breath and penny of income already decreed since Rosh Hashanah and every election already decided YEARS AGO WHO WILL WIN but we all know the truth “Lev melochim vsorim byad Hashem ” these politicians from local mayors to governors and kings etc…. are just messenger puppet actors for Hashem
Let’s wake up today and stop living in denial and openly accept Hashem’s wake up call for serious Teshuva and Achdus together as one loving nation so Hashem can send Mashiach already b’karov and then American and new York elections won’t matter as klal yisroel is in Yerushalayim celebrating the rebuilding of the 3rd Bais hamikdosh
You should read Jewish history so you will stop whining. America at its worst is better than Europe at its best a century ago.
P.S. Also note that Mamdani (and all New York mayors) have very limited powers, since it is the state government that controls most things that affect us, and an overrule the city government when it gets out of line.
It seems that after an initial shock, some Jewish leaders will find a Common Language with the Socialist mayor: School subsidies, cheaper housing. This might work similar to Israel, where many people are on the right politically but on the left economically.
5t resident
how ungrateful can you get? israel just defeated like 7 of its neighbors, with miracle (remember the pagers?) after miracle, and you kvetch about some idiot being elected in ny.c. (where you dont even reside !)
shame on you
stop kvetching and do something positive, instead of bemoaning your stupid fateTo 5TResident
Your post reminded me of an incident that occurred about 35 years ago. I was seeing someone whose mother was an Auschwitz survivor. One time I called the home and the mother answered so I started a conversation. I’m curious. Before the war were you religious? “Of course I was. So, was everyone in my town?” Then I asked her if she believed in G-d at that time. Again, she answered in the affirmative. So, I threw her a curve, “What happened? Did he die?” I didn’t pursue this any further, not looking to put salt on old wounds, but we can discuss this here. G-d didn’t die, obviously, what died is that woman’s concept of G-d. And that’s understandable. We’re constantly told how much Hashem loves us, and it’s easy to believe it when things are going well, but it’s more of a challenge when we face difficulties. We have to realize that Hashem and people don’t operate on the same playing field and so when untoward things happen, we can’t allow them to shake our faith. I acknowledge that this isn’t easy, but it’s part of why they say, “It’s hard to be a Jew.”Can we please stop with the fantasy that learning protects us? Did it protect the tens of thousands of talmudai chachamim from the camps and gas chambers? From the Czarist pogroms, blood libels, Crusader pogroms etc ( Hakatan, no assimilation yet ) ,expulsion from countless countries?
The shechina left galus and so should you. Run for your life like Lot from sdom. Its time to come home!
@akuperma-its not about his limited power, its about who and what he represent in an already braze rising of antisemitism and Islamism. But again of course we know all is from Hashem, and to quote the precious Anne Frank who had such Emunah and Bitachon in Hashem;
“Who has inflicted this upon us? Who has made us Jews different from all other people? Who has allowed us to suffer so terribly up till now? It is God that has made us as we are, but it will be God, too, who will raise us up again. If we bear all this suffering and if there are still Jews left, when it is over, then Jews, instead of being doomed, will be held up as an example. Who knows, it might even be our religion from which the world and all peoples learn good, and for that reason and that reason alone do we have to suffer now. We can never become just Netherlanders, or just English, or representatives of any country for that matter; we will always remain Jews, but we want to, too.”
‘Without God, I should long ago have collapsed. I know I am not safe, I am afraid of prison cells and concentration camps, but I feel I’ve grown more courageous and that I am in God’s hands!’
“The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quite alone with the heavens, nature,
and God”anonymous Goy: Do you eat chazer?
Evalimoshavlo: Israel is part of Golus. You can’t leave Golus before Moshiach comes.
Evalimoshavlo:
Once prophecy ended in Tanach, it was later given only to children and fools. Given that you are clearly claiming to be revealing a prophecy (because there is no rational way you could claim such a thing), and your writing seems to indicate that you are not a child…anonymous Jew:
Can we stop believing that which the Torah and our sages tell us? A heretic could do that, but a believing Jew cannot and, if they have any brains, would not. Of course the Torah protects. There are answers to your questions as to what happened in those cases, including midas haDin being a different calculus than in normal times, etc. But what makes you claim there was “no assimilation” in all of those? There certainly was assimilation in at least some of those including (to some extent) even in Egypt, the first galus.anonymous jew – Wow, you are so brilliant, you discovered an ingenious philosophical argument that no one ever thought of before: Why do bad things happen to good people? Do you also deny that Mitzvos protect, or that Teshuva Tefillah and Tzedaka protect? That Hashem’s Covenant with the Avos protects? Do you deny Hashem’s Hashgacha altogether?
So much has already been written on this subject throughout the generations, and you would be well advised to learn more before reinventing the wheel. Suffice it to say that after all the pogroms, blood libels, etc., you are still alive and kvetching. So Someone saved your ancestors through the generations in the merit of ‘something’. Think about it…
qwerty > . So, I threw her a curve,
I guess you have to be there to understand the context, but this is not acceptable phone manners.
I am not 100% sure how NY politics will go. It could be that some Jewish organizations will find common language with the new mayor in distributing government funds to schools, apartments, children subsidies and he’ll look for some support of this kind.
Ujm
When you can’t offer a reasoned argument, as usual you resort to ad hominem attacksTo Always
I was speaking to a Holocaust survivor. The last thing I intended to do was upset her. The point I was making was that it’s illogical for someone to say that they used to believe in G-d but not anymore.
To Anonymous Jew
I’m going to come to your defense because your point is well taken. When we say that Torah protects, we don’t really know what that means, because as you said, throughout the millennia countless Tzaddikim have been martyred. Now we must understand that we can never reject a Torah principle and the belief that Talmud Torah is a shield is certainly such a principle, but it could mean that one who studies is guaranteed Olam Habo. That’s why the people who ridicule the IDF are fools. A Jew must live rationally. Dovid Hamelech didn’t tell his men to sit in the Bes Hamedrash. They fought. It’s quite possible that some stayed behind and learned, certainly learning helps, but this idea that some have that if everyone sat in the Bes Hamedrash Israel could dismantle its armed forces is insane. So, I somewhat agree with you, however, we must be clear that every Chazal is true, but how it’s understood isn’t necessarily clear cut.
It would be a slap of the face to Jews in Israel for Yeshivas to play along with Mamdani for a few dollars
It’s amazing. As opposed to many people here, I have the ability to use the brain Hashem gave me.
Does Hashem look after us, provide escape routes for us? Of course.
But you can’t maintain that Torah study protects absolutely. Far too many people have died over the millenia.
With regard to assimilation, thru the Middle Ages, there were individuals who converted but the first large scale conversion didn’t occur until the Spanish forced conversions in the 1390’s Assimilation was thus not a factor in the Crusader abd blood libel massacresanonymous Jew and qwerty – To the best of my knowledge, no one ever attempted to claim that in today’s matzav we should shut down the IDF entirely and all go learn. (Although in the time of Chizkiyahu Hamelech that was actually done in real life and it worked to defeat Sancheriv. Why Dovid Hamelech didn’t rely on that and Chizkiyahu did is discussed by the meforshim.) It also says בפירוש that מי גרם עומדות היו רגלנו במלחמה שערייך ירושלים שהיו עוסקים בהם בתורה. The real problem with the IDF is the pritzus, Progressive ideology, and officers who have an agenda to ‘convert’ their soldiers to OTD. Dovid Hamelech’s army had no girls, no chilonim (or sinners of any kind), no unmarried bochurim, no Leviim or Kohanim, etc. Such an army would in fact be a mitzvah to join, if we could even make it in…
AJ – But you can’t maintain that Torah study protects absolutely. Far too many people have died over the millenia.
Torah protecting is not a mechanistic formula that means no one ever dies. To repeat what I posted before, and you ignored in the name of “sechel”:
Wow, you are so brilliant, you discovered an ingenious philosophical argument that no one ever thought of before: Why do bad things happen to good people? Do you also deny that Mitzvos protect, or that Teshuva Tefillah and Tzedaka protect? That Hashem’s Covenant with the Avos protects? Do you deny Hashem’s Hashgacha altogether?
So much has already been written on this subject throughout the generations, and you would be well advised to learn more before reinventing the wheel. Suffice it to say that after all the pogroms, blood libels, etc., you are still alive and kvetching. So Someone saved your ancestors through the generations in the merit of ‘something’. Think about it…
The reason people clobber you in comments for your questions (although they seem to be treating you gently this time) is not because you are asking questions, but rather how and where you ask them.
This is the fourth time in as many years that you have come asking a question in this very public forum, and phrased your question in a manner that seems to invite others to question.
It’s entirely plausible that you are being genuine, but the CR has a habit of calling out those who seem to be trolling or proselytizing.
You complain that your Rabbi talks about Emunah and that you still don’t feel safe.
Please go talk to him.To the Group
On Nov 6th, Sam Klein wrote, “Will we NOW FINALLY accept Hashem’s wake up call for serious Tshuvah and Achdus together as one loving nation so Hashem can send Moshiach already Bikarov?” The emphatic answer is that it’s “never” going to happen, because the overwhelming majority of people are loath to make changes in themselves. For the last 40 years have been duped into believing that their wealth, political connections etc. will protect them. Yesterday, someone on VIN wrote, “Richie Taylor will save us from Mamdani.” Hashem looks down and says, “If you’re so confident in your askanim and your Rabbis’ Daas Torah you don’t need Me. It’s particularly difficult for people in affluent communities to see that Hashem is warning us, because for too long their only concern was trying to decide which country to go to for Pesach. If, as I think and hope, Hashem is getting ready to send Moshiach we’ll all have to do almost a complete mental makeover. But that’s not realistic since most view themselves as perfect.
For Jews who aren’t from NYC, many of us didn’t see much potential for growth. Even as a person who values Eretz Yisrael, I can see more potential in Monsey and Lakewood than NYC. And to be honest, I didn’t feel welcomed in most communities in NYC that I visited. So I’m not surprised that Hashem had to send a warning that there are issues with NYC. Some people were just to blind to see it.
It is not just about NY. NYC is a symbol of America’s ideal, maybe of capitalism and certain idea of freedom worldwide. That it was captured by a joint force of communists and political muslims is no small matter. Maybe, there is hope that these two groups, both prone to violence, will turn against each other.
Notice also there are at least a couple of Jewish names around the mayor-elect that are involved in developing his demagogy, not just chatGPT.
Kgn,
How didn’t you feel welcomed?
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