Emuna and the End of Days 

Rabbi Lazer Brody gave an excellent shiur on what will happen in the End of Days. Hashem will shake the world like a blanket. Everything we hold dear to in life and all the nonsense that we put our faith in will be shaken from the blanket to float in the air.  

It’s a test of emuna. Those who put their emuna in false philosophies, false leaders, and materialism will fly up from the blanket and fall hard. 

It might look like the wealthy elite will control the world forever while righteous people will be persecuted.  It might feel like we are entering a new age of barbarism. 

But every Shabbat we remember the truth: 

… when the wicked bloom like grass and all doers of iniquity blossom – it is to destroy them till eternity. (Psalm 92:8) 

We recite this Psalm every Shabbat. David HaMelech’s words tell you everything you need to know about the future of wickedness. Grass grows really tall. The grass we walk on barely reaches our shoelaces because it is constantly cut. If you let it grow on its own, it would reach your knees.  

But grass doesn’t last. It sprouts in the late fall when the rains start, grows throughout the winter, and reaches full height come springtime. Then it turns brown and dies.  

The same with plants and flowers. As the Psalm says, they blossom. Like the grass, they sprout, blossom, grow tall, reveal their full beauty, wither, and die. 

This is what God is telling us about the wicked.  

Rise and Fall of Evil 

In 1923, Adolf Hitler was giving speeches in German bars. Ten years later, he became the dictator of Germany. By 1941, he ruled over most of Europe and North Africa. These gains were gradually reversed so that in 1945 the Allied armies defeated the Nazis. Hitler committed suicide. 

The same scenario of meteoric rise followed by sound defeat describes Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin, and the Soviet Union.  

In Psalm 92, Hashem is telling us that the rise of evil is temporary at best. The fate of evil is always – to be destroyed till eternity. Its rise is but for a moment. Its fall is forever.  

It is up to us to decide which side we will take. Do we put our emuna in the rising stars of false philosophies, false leaders, and materialism? Or do we remain with Hashem and His Torah? 

It’s not an easy choice because of the overwhelming lure of power and status.  

When Hitler was on the rise and gaining more power, members of the British Royal Family wanted to become part of his Nazi empire.  

As the Soviet Union launched satellites into space while conquering bits and pieces of Eastern Europe, many Americans sympathized with them, and even sold state secrets to Stalin.  

Our Test of Emuna 

Today, we face similar tests of emuna of whether to choose Hashem’s Torah or not.  

Will we side with the elite and the false leaders who persecute those who follow Hashem’s Torah, or will we stand by those who reject false philosophies, false leaders, and materialism? 

Will we put on a rainbow shirt to meet the “right” people, or will we hang onto Hashem for just one more moment?  

Will we pray to God with all our heart that every Jew in am Yisrael returns to Him and sees the ecstasy in the mitzvot, or will we march on Bnei Brak to harass the Hareidim? 

Hashem promises us that good will prevail. Hashem guarantees that the wicked will fall and those who trust Hashem will endure. If we faithfully serve Him, we will be dancing with Mashiach in the Kingdom of Heaven – A Torah nation that stretches from the Euphrates to the Nile, and where all Jews are united.  

A nation that will include among its subjects Moshe Rabbeinu, David HaMelech, Avraham Avinu, Yehudah HaNassi, Rabbi Akiva, Rebbe Nachman of Breslev, the Chofetz Chaim, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, your ancestors, and every Jew that lived.  

At the beginning of the Amidah and at the end of Grace after Meals, we pray that Hashem will revive the dead.  

Those who keep their emunah and hang on to that blanket will see it firsthand!

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David Ben Horin lives in Afula with his family, millions of sunflowers, and Matilda, our local camel. David‘s Israeli startup, Center Stage Content, is a lean marketing agency for startups and small businesses that creates and promotes SEO and ROI-driven content to make your product the star of the show.