Club Paradise

Things are getting crazy here in Israel. After finding the bodies of our three precious boys, Eyal Yifrach, Gilad Shaer, and Naftali Frenkel, may Hashem avenge their holy blood, it seems that we have reached a significant milestone in the Geula (redemption) process. At the time of this writing, there has been a murder of an Arab boy, supposedly by six Jewish teenagers, as a revenge killing for the murder of our three boys. Hamas has responded typically, generously handing out missiles as if they were free lottery tickets for a new sports car. If I’m not mistaken, they’ve named their campaign, “Missile Madness!” Israel has since responded with “Operation Protective Edge” that has turned into a full-scale war.
 
This has been the first time I heard the warning sirens go off in my home in Bet Shemesh. Luckily for me, the area of town that I lived in during the previous round of missile attacks didn’t have working sirens, so I had no clue of what was going on. Maybe ignorance really is bliss.
 
I was a nervous wreck. It was like a panic with the understanding that there is nowhere to run – except for the safety room. What I realized in those scary moments was that there is nowhere to run from the reality of the situation. It forced me into a way of thinking that most of us are afraid to go to, and rightfully so. For the first time, I really felt that life was so much bigger than me. I felt my smallness and futility. I felt like I was a rookie playing in the major leagues. What in the world is little me doing in the center of world chaos??
 
So I did what many Jews would do in such a situation: I prayed for protection and for Hashem to send us the Mashiach already so we could finish with all of the pain and suffering that has been the hallmark of our history as a Jewish nation.
 
Today, Hashem spoke to me through a teaching that I believe is unique to Rebbe Nachman. I saw a video of one of Rav Arush’s students saying that we should not pray for Mashiach to come now. After he said this I vaguely remembered reading this in The Garden of Gratitude.
 
The problem with Mashiach coming now, it seems, is that we are not ready for him. If Mashiach came now, we would be caught with our spiritual pants down, just like the guy who answers his front door in his underwear to the Prize Patrol of Publisher’s Clearing House yelling, “Surprise! You’ve just one $10,000,000!” Oy, the embarrassment!
 
The problem with Mashiach coming now, as I have learned, is that we cannot continue making spiritual improvements after the fact. If we are completely righteous, then great for us!  But how many of us can say that with all certainty? None? If we are just beginning our teshuva process, then this is where we will get caught. If we are far along in our teshuva process and doing personal prayer every day, then this is our end point. And if we haven’t even begun to make teshuva?
 
This situation reminds me of when I used to go to South Beach on Saturday nights. Friday nights were holy, and therefore reserved for watching television at home. On Saturday nights, my friends and I would gather around the entrance to the hottest night club like cattle trying to squeeze through the door of the dairy to be milked. The farmer/bouncer scrutinized each one of us cows up and down to see who had the most impressive udders. Those cows got in first. The rest of us cows mooed in protest and butted forward to get a closer spot to the farmer/bouncer. Sometimes, the farmer/bouncer would separate a group of cow friends on purpose, just to get some cheap personal entertainment.
 
When Mashiach has to choose who will get to move on to “Club Paradise”, who knows which one of us will get in? And for those that don’t get in, there are no Plan B clubs. If you’re out, then you’re out for good.
 
This is why Rav Arush prays to hold off the Mashiach as long as possible. We have more work to do! Many people believe that Mashiach will come and fix all of their problems. As far as I understand, he will not fix our personal problems. That is our job. So if we keep hoping that he will come and do our work for us, we’re hoping in vain.
 
That being said, there is still time to fix- but not much! For those of us who haven’t really begun to make teshuva, don’t despair! Make a firm commitment that today is the start of your new life, and take it step by step. Read The Garden of Gratitude – I think it’s a wonderful guide to help all of us along, no matter what stage we are in the process.
 
As much as the mitzvot are important, personal prayer is equally, and arguably more important. It is only through personal prayer that we can truly strengthen ourselves, our emuna, and our connection to God. It is only through personal prayer that we can correct whatever needs correcting, whether it’s our faulty character traits or relationships that need to be fixed.
 
And if you want to take the Fast Track to Tikkun, join Breslev Israel’s emuna outreach program. Get a bunch of books and cd’s to hand out to friends and family. If you feel that you don’t know enough people to hand them out to, let us take care of it. Be our partner to spread emuna throughout the world, so we can have the merit of bringing the Mashiach with peace and mercy, not judgment and violence, Amen.