The World is Reeling

Our sense of good and bad, right and wrong, and straight and crooked has turned completely backward. 

We saw it loud and clear in the freak show known to the world as “Eurovision”. During the competition, it was clear that besides being virulently antisemitic, Israel is totally unprepared to host Eurovision next year in Tel Aviv. Edan Golan’s presentation was so superbly talented that she should have won first place without batting an eyelash. The backward reality of good and bad was that the judges were too busy looking for bearded freaks in dresses and men in skirts with pom-pom slippers to recognize Edan’s incredible talent. The backward reality of right and wrong was that a beautiful Jewish young lady’s appearance in Eurovision was seen as a tremendous “honor” for Israel. 

Following Eurovision, we again saw backward reality in the opening of the 2024 Paris Olympics. The Olympics just took the freak show to another level, featuring – I mean I can’t even believe this is REAL it’s so insane and inane – the Golden Calf, Baal Worship, and a transgender imitation Last Supper! Regardless of whatever sickness the Olympics wanted to feature, did it really have to display such mockery and spit outright evil in our faces?  

For me, the Olympics always engendered honor and respect, and yet the opening ceremonies were so despicable. They generated so much public outrage that the Olympic Committee had to try to erase any memory of it. 

Calling the opening ceremonies “filth” just doesn’t cut it. It was so bad, that if I wasn’t already worried, now I’m REALLY worried about such behavior invoking G-d’s wrath. It was blatant spiritual warfare, as if to say to G-d, “la la la la la, I can do whatever I want, come and get me…” The Torah is replete with the severe consequences of such blasphemy. 

Let’s turn our eyes now to America for backward reality on several fronts.  

The Democratic party is all out supporting “gender affirming care”, which is bad enough in adults. But the party also supports letting kids who don’t have the maturity to understand much of anything about sexuality (as it should be!) make their own gender choices, without parental consent.  

On the economic front, the Democrats call their economic policies “Bidenomics”, as if Biden could somehow change economics to suit his needs. Of course that’s a fantasy. “Bidenomics” had the expected economic result of rampant inflation and more – which of course, is the opposite of how it was touted three years ago. Now Harris is promoting price controls, which is flat out communism. The results of such a disastrous policy would also be just as predictable. But she says she’s out to “save democracy.”  

On the flip side, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. joined President Trump (both are former Democrats) on the Republican aisle, stating that the Democratic party of today simply isn’t the same party of his father and uncle. The principles he was raised on are now found primarily in the Republican party instead! 

Frankly, it’s dizzying. The world is very quickly polarizing and forcing us to question all our preconceived notions.  

But this is all on purpose, and it’s all for the best! It’s part of a process called birur, or clarification which is discussed in the Zohar and Kabbalah. 

Rabbi Shalom Arush mentioned recently that this polarization is part of the process of the Redemption and preparation for Mashiach. Every human is being faced with choices, and the results are surprising! Staunch liberals are finding themselves Republicans, people who rallied against Israel saw what happened on Oct. 7 and realized they were on the wrong side, and good ole’ white boy Republicans are suddenly showing themselves for the antisemites they always were. Even Trump himself admitted during his interview on X with Elon Musk that “he believes even more in God” after recognizing the miracle of surviving the attempted assassination.  

The times are so extreme that they simply force people to show their true colors, reveal what’s deep within, and choose sides. In doing so, they choose their own fate as Hashem comes to judge the world as part of redeeming it. 

As the Jewish people who represent God and light unto the nations, it’s our turn to also step forward. Like Trump and Kennedy, who have united for the best interests of the country even if they don’t agree on everything, the Jewish people must unite and remain united. There are those who seek to divide, to protest, to foment hatred among Jews and our different factions. We must push back with both hands firmly – only unconditional love! We can disagree with the actions or mindset of others, but we’re ultimately one people, one tribe, one family, and we must love and support each other!  

On the personal level, we must throw out the rational mind that sees current events as so evil, so scary, with the stakes so high – and rely only on Hashem. Emuna begins where rationality ends. The rational mind says that what is happening around the world is terrible and terrifying – and it is. Don’t argue with it; nullify it. Yes, in this physical world, that assessment is correct and true – but go up to the world of Hashem, the world of emuna. Yes, even though current events seem random and out of control, there IS a God who is pulling all the strings. That God loves each of us like an only child, and only wants what is ultimately best for us. That isn’t always what is easy or comfortable in this world, but it is what brings us closer to our spiritual rectification and purpose, which is an eternally good thing. In this world it may indeed be bad, but it could only happen if Hashem is using it towards a good purpose. 

So yes, the stakes of good and evil are incredibly high. But what matters in the end is how each of us chooses to deal with a world which has turned morality on its head. Nothing else is really in our control.  

Ultimately, when we choose emuna, when we choose to strengthen that belief that it’s only good and only getting better no matter how ominous the situation seems, we enable it to really happen in a way that we CAN see and understand!  

P.S. I almost wrote “Amen” at the end. But Rabbi Arush says don’t say “Amen” as if “it will be good” is a blessing – because it’s simply REALITY. 

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Rachel Avrahami grew up in Los Angeles, CA, USA in a far-off valley where she was one of only a handful of Jews in a public high school of thousands. She found Hashem in the urban jungle of the university. Rachel was privileged to read one of the first copies of The Garden of Emuna in English, and the rest, as they say, is history. She made Aliyah and immediately began working at Breslev Israel.   
  
Rachel is now the Editor of Breslev Israel’s English website. She welcomes questions, comments, articles, and personal stories to her email: rachel.avrahami@breslev.co.il.