No One Left Behind

The Phone Call 

I wasn’t planning on writing about this right now.  

Baruch Hashem, between the Corona Crisis and Rabbi Arush’s new campaign “I Love Every Jew” plus recording translations of Rabbi Arush’s nightly classes I am drowning in content to publish! I hope you are all taking the time to read it all, because every single one is different and important. I know I am gaining immensely while learning it myself and bringing it to you. 

So, I was going to write this week something I thought about the new campaign (hopefully, that article will get written soon in any case). And then I got this phone call. 

She is my wonderful female taxi driver. She takes me when I (very rarely) go abroad and more often, she brings my mother to and from our house whenever she comes to visit. My mom was supposed to come just before Purim but the trip got postponed to after Passover, and with Corona, is still on hold. Even with all that and the fact that it has been more than six months since I’ve spoken with her, she took the time to find my phone number just to beg me for one thing: Please, beg your mother personally from me, to move to Israel as fast as she can! Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky Shlita is screaming that everyone needs to come now, that the situation outside of Israel and especially America is extremely dangerous, and that everyone needs to get out while they still can. Please tell her that I personally called to ask her to make Aliyah.  

“Yes, I know,” I quietly whisper, trying to hold myself back from starting to sob. “My mother is first in my heart of course, but my whole life was there. Aunts, great aunts and uncles, cousins, their kids, close friends who are practically family to me, acquaintances, in LA, in Chicago, in NY, and across the country, and across the religious spectrum… 

“I’ve tried to talk to my mother about it, but she doesn’t want to. Even if she wanted, she has some legal complications that currently prevent her, and with Corona, she isn’t even permitted to run here as a tourist until that could get worked out… I did send her Rabbi Arush’s comments last week during the Question and Answers session that everyone needs to make Aliyah now, and that a time will come when it will no longer be possible to do so…” Click here to read Rabbi Arush’s exact words.

The Message for All of Us 

The truth is, I don’t love this subject at all, because it is painful and uncomfortable for everyone. No one wants to be reminded about what Rabbi Yehuda Zev Leibowitch zt”l predicted to Rabbi Arush shortly before he passed from this world – two things which have already come to pass, and the third that there would be a Holocaust in America. Rabbi Arush said then that a time would come when Jews in America will be lucky to get out with their pajamas… 

Rabbi Arush also said years ago that he has been traveling to the US every year on tour because by doing so, he pushes this decree off for another year. Like this, many people have been given the opportunity to learn and strengthen their emuna in these past few years. Do we have enough merits to stand on our own? I don’t want to count on it…

Now, if you notice, Rabbi Arush doesn’t talk about Aliyah very much, and even when pushed, mostly refuses to answer as he did last week. There is a good reason for this: Rebbe Nachman explains that the Land of Israel, miracles and emuna are all one aspect – meaning, they are all connected. Without emuna, either by Heaven you will prevented from making Aliyah, or if you come, you will face difficult emuna tests which many people fail and then move back outside the land. So, the real solution isn’t to tell people to make Aliyah – the real solution is to teach people emuna! 

I am a perfect example of this. When I first read The Garden of Emuna I was happily ensconced in my little life in the US with no desire to make Aliyah whatsoever. I was convinced that life in Israel was not for me, with a list of good reasons why. The more I spoke to Hashem and strengthened my emuna, the more I wanted to make the big move. It took a few years, a lot of prayer and some big life lessons, but within three years, I was here – and discovered that life in Israel is actually exactly what I was always dreaming of! 

That being said – the clock is ticking and no one knows when we are going to run out of time. The tzaddikim have already been pushing this off for years – we are literally living on borrowed time. Rabbi Arush said recently that every moment we should thank Hashem that the Redemption has not yet come, because as of this moment, we still aren’t ready. In order to come with mercy, it can only happen at a specific moment, and not one second before. Why? Every single last Jew has to return to Hashem and believe in Him – that is, Learn emuna. No father leaves a child behind, and Hashem only all the more so! No child left behind! 

Therefore, everything that is happening including the rising antisemitism around the world and even the antisemitic graffiti and other events connected to the riots are for the very best because they are pushing people to start believing in Hashem, start searching for answers and in doing so, find the truth – which means to learn emuna and create a personal relationship with Hashem. We wish that everyone was open when things are good, but the reality is that most people only open up with the going gets tough.  

I myself experienced some seriously tough challenges before opening myself up to realizing that the entire sordid ordeal was just to make me realize that my life was supposed to be moved to Israel. I hate that Hashem had to bring me to my knees in order for me to wake up, but unfortunately, that is what it took to finally get me out of “my plans for myself” and into “Hashem’s much better plans for me.” Now, I thank Hashem for all the suffering that I went through, because if that’s what it took because I was so stubborn – so be it! The end results are amazing! Thank you, Hashem! It was all for the best, because it brought me closer to my purpose, and to Hashem. And that is the ultimate good! 

So too for all Jews, wherever we might be, and in whatever situation or spiritual state we might be in. Hashem doesn’t want to make us suffer, doesn’t want us to be locked down or in curfew or scared or sick or whatever – but Hashem wants the ultimate good for us, and if we refuse to listen to the gentler wake up calls, then Hashem is forced to send us harsher wake up calls. 

Even more – the same said Rabbi Yehuda Zev Leibowitch zt”l also promised Rabbi Arush – As long as your teachings are being spread in the world, nothing bad will happen to the Jewish people! Hence, we see that Rabbi Leibowitch zt”l both warned about the sickness, but also provided us with a remedy.

Hence, the real solution is to learn emuna.

But that isn’t enough – we also need to also teach everyone else around us!

The time is short and the time is NOW. By spreading emuna to others you might just literally save their lives and even – save the world. Rebbe Nachman says the exile is only because of a lack of emuna, so with every person that you teach emuna, you are literally taking a part of bringing the Redemption with mercy! We can’t leave even one person behind! 

This is much easier than you think, and even free! And it takes almost no time. Come, watch Rabbi Arush explain to you why this is The Most Important Thing…

Wherever you are, but especially if you are STUCK outside of Israel (or in any sort of difficult situation), get some practical advice on how you can easily gain special protection and merit from Hashem. Who doesn’t want that right now?