חנניה ווייסמאן Chananya Weissman

Patience Is Divine

Yesterday my mother found an undated poem written by my grandmother, Chana bas Yisrael Aryeh. She taught herself English on the boat to America by reading a dictionary from the beginning like we would read a novel. She became a very talented writer of poems and letters.
It seems I inherited the creative writing gene from her. Although she didn’t live to see it blossom, she was one of my biggest fans. She passed away approximately 27 years ago. I wish I could have known her as an adult.
This newly discovered poem from Baba is very sobering in these times of trouble. People often lash out at God when bad things happen and wonder why He didn’t prevent them from happening. Perhaps a more appropriate and productive reaction would be to wonder why He should, and to give Him more of a reason to do so.
After all, for all the many things we want from God, we should not lose sight of the fact that He wants some things from us, too. Like all relationships, it’s a two-way street. We don’t get to dictate to God both what we want from Him AND what he should expect from us.
I’m honored to share this poem with you in my Baba’s merit.
Chananya
If G-d should go on strike
How good it is that G-d above has never gone on strike,
because He was not treated fair in things He didnt like.
If only once He’d given up and said “Thats it, i’m thru!”
I’ve had enough of those on Earth, so this is what I’ll do:
I’ll give my orders to the sun – and cut off the heat supply!
and to the moon – give no more light, and run the oceans dry!
Then just to make things really tough and put the pressure on,
turn off the vital oxygen till every breath is gone!
You know, He would be justified if fairness were the game
for no one has been more abused or met with more disdain.
than G-d, and yet He carries on, supplying you and me
with all the favor of His grace
and everything for free.
Men say they want a better deal,
and so on strike they go
but what a deal we’ve given G-d to
whom all things we owe.
We don’t care whom we hurt
to gain the things we like,
but what a mess we’d all be in
if G-d would go on strike.

Does Republishing Articles AGAINST SODOMITES Violate My Host’s ToS?

A call to stand for Kedusha

by Rabbi Chananya Weissman

Where are our leaders?

I’m writing the article that other rabbis don’t want to write because they are afraid of backlash and controversy. I am less afraid of backlash and controversy than being challenged by the Heavenly Court for not writing it. My rabbinic colleagues should be as well, or they are in the wrong profession. Positions of leadership should not be staffed by followers, no matter how scholarly or pious they may be.

To those who find this mussar offensive enough to react to it, I ask one simple question: why does the previous paragraph offend you to the point of reacting, while gay parades through the streets of Jerusalem do not? Why does criticism from an insignificant person like me raise your ire, but the foisting of perverse relationships and gender distortions into our society, media, schools, and legal system doesn’t seem to bother you at all?

If you believe that by ignoring these threats they will eventually go away, the opposite has proven to be true. If you believe that responding to those attacking Torah norms will grant them legitimacy, they have profited far more from your cowering silence. If you are worried about losing your job, I ask you to reconsider what your job actually is. If you are afraid that you will be prosecuted simply for speaking out, I assure you that you still have that privilege, for now. Your ability to speak out has already been eroded, and criminalizing the expression of Torah-true views is definitely on the agenda of those pushing the envelope. It will be much easier to maintain this privilege if you fight for it now than it will be to regain it when it is taken from you.

You also fail 100% of the times you choose not to try.

Why should we care?

This brings me to the following Midrash Rabbah from the introduction to Eicha, section 22. Reish Lakish derives from pesukim throughout the neviim that the rampant avoda zara which was the main reason for the destruction of the first Beis Hamikdash was a movement that gradually took over the nation. At first some people worshiped avoda zara in secret, and no one objected. They proceeded to worship avoda zara behind the door, and no one objected. The avoda zara movement spread to the roofs, then the gardens, then the mountain tops, then the fields, then the intersections, then the public squares, then the cities, then the main streets, and ultimately into the Holy of Holies itself.

Every time the envelope was pushed further, there was an opportunity for the leaders and concerned citizens to protest, and each time they were silent. It is for this reason that the Beis Hamikdash was destroyed, our people were exiled, and we have been lamenting our fate ever since.

This idol worship “movement” bears more resemblance to the traditional-family-destruction movement than you might realize. Chazal teach us that the Jews knew full well that there was no substance to avoda zara, and they only desired it as a ploy to permit sexual immorality in public (Sanhedrin 64A). Indeed, avoda zara was often associated with redefining such behavior as a sacred act, much as today’s “progressives” rename and reframe abhorrent acts to make them sound noble. There is nothing innovative about today’s version of the movement; Koheleth teaches us that there is nothing new under the sun, and today’s gender benders and family deconstructionists are no exceptions. This sort of thing has been going on since the earliest generations.

In the times of the Beit Hamikdash the leaders looked the other way as avoda zara spread throughout the land. When it was still considered a shameful act, they dismissed the practitioners as trivial outcasts, hardly a threat worth their attention. When it emerged from the closet, they still didn’t bother addressing it. They had their shuls, their shtiebels, their Batei Midrash, shiurim to prepare and ceremonies to attend. When it became a full-fledged movement that gradually overtook society, they no longer dared protest. They huddled in their shuls, their shtiebels, and their Batei Midrash and convinced themselves that dealing with matters of national concern was not their job and not worth the consequences.

Before long the tables were turned, and those who dared object to avoda zara found themselves in the crosshairs of those who had taken over, and they suffered the consequences. Message sent to everyone else who might have a problem with it, and message received.

Not only was the Beit Hamikdash destroyed because of this, but also the 480 shuls in Jerusalem, each of which had a seminary (Midrash Eicha, introduction section 13). The rabbis who stayed silent and excused themselves from what went on in society lost their shuls and their positions anyway.

With very few exceptions, the rabbis of our time have followed this erroneous course of inaction while this hefkeirus movement has spread throughout the land, growing more bold and insatiable as the voices of protest have become few and faint. Shall we suffer the same fate again?

Responding to the accusations

Those who dare to speak out against the hefkeirus movement are typically accused of hypocrisy and hatred. These accusations should be easy to deflect, but those standing for Torah-truth tend to be ill-equipped to deal with criticism, and come across as foolish when placed on the defensive. The media has a never-ending thirst for opportunities to make observant Jews look foolish and hypocritical, and unfortunately we play into their hands time and time again.

Worse still, those who allow themselves to be interviewed by the secular press tend to be oblivious to the fact that behind the smiling faces are one-sided vultures on a mission to destroy them. Our people are seduced by the glory of the cameras and microphones, and fall right into their hands. We have to understand that these are not really interviews, but disputations against the Torah before a hostile court. They hunger for the fifteen seconds out of an hour-long interview that they can use to manipulate their audience and push their agenda. Those who cannot arm themselves with proper responses had best not provide sound bites to these sharks, and even those who can had best think carefully before indulging them.

Here are some of their favored accusations, and suggestions for how we should be responding to them. (More suggestions are welcome; this is not intended to be an exhaustive treatment.)

1. Why are you protesting this, but you don’t protest those who speak lashon hara or some other sin?

What they are really suggesting: Our motivations are not pure. Our protest is not really based on the Torah, but raw hatred. Hence, not only are we hypocrites, we are hate-filled people who should be demonized and, when they can further hijack the legal system, imprisoned. They hope to watch the religious Jew flail and stumble in response, proving that he really is a hate-filled hypocrite with no good reason to be objecting.

Response:

a) We don’t condone anyone who violates the Torah. We are protesting this group in particular because it is an actual movement. There is no movement to legitimize lashon hara, child abuse, spousal abuse, etc. While some sins, particularly lashon hara, are rampant and must be addressed through education and other communal measures, there is no movement to legitimize lashon hara, encourage those who are curious about lashon hara to explore it and join a popular movement celebrating it, or to otherwise grow and expand in the name of progress. Conversely, the hefkeirus movement has a far-reaching agenda that seeks to undercut the foundation of the Jewish people, it is organized and well-funded, and it is aggressively trying to take over our society.

b) The Chafetz Chaim is famous for addressing the sin of lashon hara. While that is far from his only contribution to the Jewish people, it was a mitzva he paid particular attention to. Does it make him a hypocrite for choosing one widespread sin to especially address over others? Would anyone call him antisocial or hypocritical for “specializing” in lashon hara when there were other communal issues that received less attention? Of course not. The very notion is absurd, and those who would make such an accusation would only do so as a sinister ploy to delegitimize voices of opposition – just as you are attempting.

2. Why does it bother you if two people love each other?

Response: What you are doing is reframing and redefining an abhorrent act by focusing on a very narrow aspect of this act and disregarding the inconvenient details. Just as selecting a 15-second sound bite from an hour-long interview to promote an agenda is technically accurate but in reality a sinister distortion of the truth, so is rebranding sexual perversity as simply “two people loving each other”. What you are attempting to do is a shameful distortion of the truth.

We have no objections in principle to people loving each other, of course not! But when these expressions of love go against the very foundations of God’s nature and God’s law, then we must object. The mere fact that an act is committed out of love does not purify the filthy or sanctify the profane. The same is true about adulterers who might love each other, or adults who might express their love for children or animals in inappropriate ways. The Torah is our moral guide, and God is the arbiter of proper boundaries for love and everything else.

3. But God made them that way. God must want them to be this way. They don’t have any choice.

Response:

This assertion is fundamentally wrong on so many levels! Let’s take it piece by piece.

a) Let us assume for the moment that there is a gene that determines sexual preference. We will do this simply for the sake of argument, as there is enormous evidence that homosexuality and other such behaviors are learned, often stemming from abusive childhoods.

To claim that because God made someone a certain way absolves them of responsibility for their behavior would mean the death of civilization. By your reasoning, every thief, every murderer, every rapist, every abuser can blame God for wiring him that way and earn the sympathy of his accusers. It’s God’s fault. God made him do it.

No society on earth, religious or secular, allows a genetic predisposition for any behavior or personality trait to be used as an excuse for behaving in an unacceptable way. There is also no other class of people that makes this argument to rationalize their behavior. So this is really nothing more than a sinister attempt to blame God – a God you don’t really believe in and whose authority you don’t accept – for the fact that you do as you please.

In so doing you have amputated the moral conscience from the human being. A sinner who feels remorse and guilt has hope for rehabilitation. A sinner who believes he has no choice, that God made him do it, nay, that God wants him to do it, no longer has hope. You act as if you are doing the sinner a favor by removing his guilt and separating him from his conscience, but you are in fact his greatest enemy, robbing him of his only chance to reconnect to his spiritual source. Your crime is greater than his. We can easily pity those who submit to their temptations, for all of us stumble at times, but how can we pity those who encourage sinners that they have no choice in the matter, and thereby to give up any hope of doing better?

b) You also assume that just because God made someone a certain way, He expects him to remain that way and follow all his natural impulses. How absurd! Were that the case, why would the Torah even need to be written?

Shall we assume that because a child is born uncircumcised that God wants him to remain that way? Shall we assume that one who is born and raised a miser shall refrain from giving charity? Shall we assume that one who has a cruel nature shall commit cruel acts, in accordance with God’s supposed will? You don’t really believe any of this, and if this is the best defense you have for those who engage in forbidden sexual acts, then you had best stop arguing on their behalf.

c) You claim they don’t have any choice. Not only does this fly in the face of the fundamental principle that all people have free choice, it is easily disproven. It is so easily disproven that you surely know it is a lie, and you don’t really believe it.

If gay people really cannot control themselves, how is it that they generally manage without any difficulty to commit their sexual acts in private, in accordance with the secular laws on decency? Why do they not impulsively commit sexual acts the very moment the urge strikes, wherever they may be and with whomever may be the target of their “love”? How do they manage to restrain themselves until they are alone together?

Clearly, they can control themselves. Someone who truly lacks any self-control had best be locked up, for they would be a danger to themselves and all they encounter.

The question, therefore, is the extent to which we can expect them to control themselves. The Torah has expressed God’s expectations on this matter quite clearly. Being that God created the sexual impulse, God created the world and all that is in it, and God has perfect knowledge, we must trust that God would not demand someone to control that which is uncontrollable, nor punish him for failing to do so. Hence, the only logical conclusion is that those with homosexual tendencies can most certainly control their behavior, they are expected to control their behavior, and they are responsible for their actions.

We do not deny that the challenge may be overwhelmingly difficult for some people, and we will lovingly support them and assist them however we can in dealing with the challenges they face. However, we can only do this for those who recognize that it is their responsibility, it is within their capabilities to rise to the challenge, and this is what God demands of them. We cannot support those who blame God for their behavior and reject any sense of personal responsibility and accountability.

4. But really, what’s the big deal what two people do in the privacy of their bedroom, so long as it is consensual and no one is being hurt?

Response:

This challenge is also based on false assumptions, and is nothing but an attempt to minimize the severity of the sin and cast us as religious predators.

First of all, as noted, this is not simply two people doing something in the privacy of their bedroom. This is a movement with a far-reaching agenda, celebrating perverse behavior, encouraging it, aggressively seeking to change social norms, hijack the education system, persecute and prosecute all those who stand in their way. If only this were two people doing something in the privacy of their bedroom! In light of this, we categorically reject your attempt to disarm us from defending all that we hold dear against this onslaught.

Second of all, as Jews we are responsible for one another. Even if this sinister movement disbanded, we would still be concerned about immorality inside the home, just as you expect us to be concerned about other sinful acts that are committed behind closed doors. Indeed, the argument that a crime was committed inside the home does not hold up in secular court. Spiritual crimes cannot be ignored simply because they are kept out of public view, especially those that by their very nature normally occur behind closed doors.

The laws of arayos are particularly emphasized by the Torah because they are the foundation of the Jewish family and all of society. You challenge us why we should care. How can we not care?

Furthermore, Chazal teach in multiple places that wherever gay marriage is enshrined in the law, God brings plagues and destruction that do not distinguish between the righteous and the wicked. We find this by no other commandment. We count on God to protect us when thousands of missiles are raining down upon our cities, that they should strike empty fields instead of causing indiscriminate destruction. We pray to God to protect us from plagues and pandemics that turn every breath we take into a potential death sentence.

This same God has some expectations of us as well. We want God to watch over us and protect us both inside and outside the privacy of our homes. Why should He do so if we allow all manner of wanton behavior to be committed in public and private, contaminating His land and corrupting His people?

Indeed, to turn a blind eye to behaviors that drive God’s protection away would be truly hateful toward those who engage in these behaviors and all those affected by them – which is everyone.

Just as the family and friends of alcoholics, drug addicts, and gamblers intervene to urge their loved one to stop engaging in behavior that is harmful to himself and others, we must do the same. This intervention is not always met with appreciation – quite the contrary – but we recognize it as a loving act by people who care.

It is the same here. Our intervention is not an act of hatred, but an act of love. We care about the people engaging in these behaviors and the impact it has on others. It would be convenient in the short term to let them do as they please without any objection, but knowing the destruction this brings on them on others, we simply cannot do so. If there were no consequences to their behavior, we truly wouldn’t care, but the consequences could not be more severe. We have no moral choice but to intervene.

Conclusion

Our ancestors allowed avoda zara to spread throughout the land, and they excused themselves from objecting. Their indifference led to the destruction of all we had.

Today, while thousands of people march through our streets celebrating the obscene, the overwhelming majority of rabbis and ordinary people are silent, uninterested and unwilling to stand for what is right.

I have no position of authority, no following, and little influence beyond the persuasiveness of my words. I have nothing material to gain from writing this, have no axe to grind, and derive no particular pleasure from inviting enmity upon myself for airing unpopular views. I can easily absolve myself from speaking up about this issue, as most others have done. If it were about me, I would not write this.

But it is not about me. It is about all of us, everything we have, and everything we wish to have. Preserving what we have and achieving what we desire does not come automatically.

I call upon my rabbinic colleagues to rouse themselves and spread Torah truth without shame or fear. I call upon my brothers and sisters to object to any attempt to spread a modern version of avoda zara in our holy land.

Finally, I call upon those who have been lured into perverse lifestyles and corrupt ideologies to take responsibility for their behavior and return to the Torah.

Let us truly be – as God declares us – a kingdom of kohanim and a holy nation.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rabbi Chananya Weissman is the founder of EndTheMadness and the author of seven books, including “Go Up Like a Wall” and “How to Not Get Married: Break these rules and you have a chance”. Many of his writings are available at www.chananyaweissman.com. He is also the director and producer of a documentary on the shidduch world, Single Jewish Male, and The Shidduch Chronicles, available on YouTube. He can be contacted at admin@endthemadness.org.

‘Jews, Trade Your Green Toilet Paper for a Plane Ticket While You Still Can!’

From Investor’s Business Daily

Dow Jones Today Edges Up On Jobless Claims

Jobless Claims Soar, But Decline from Prior Week

Jobless claims came in at 4.427 million during the week ended April 18, down from 5.237 million claims in the prior week and almost exactly in line with economist expectations. The decline and the matching of estimates were both positives, but nevertheless brought the total number of first-time unemployment claims filed over the past five weeks to 26 million.

—

In other words, it’s good news that only 4,427,000 people filed for unemployment this week, because that’s fewer newly unemployed people than the number who lost their jobs last week. Of course, the people who previously lost their jobs still don’t have jobs, but this is great news, and the stock market should celebrate.

One day there will be one person left with a job and he will lose it. The stock market will go up because the previous week there were two new claims, and next week there won’t be any.

One day two homeless, starving, former middle-class people will be sitting on the street together. One will complain about the situation, and the other will tell him to cheer up, the economy must be good because the stock market went up.

The stock market is a total farce and a propaganda tool to manipulate the public.

It’s a good thing they’re printing trillions and trillions of green sheets of toilet paper, so there won’t be a shortage.

Jews, trade in your green toilet paper for a plane ticket while you still can.  A caravan in the Negev will soon be a lot more comfortable than a mansion in Jewtown, USA.

Chananya

Dear Diaspora Rabbi: Kindly Sign Your Own Name at the Bottom and Hand This Out

Letter from a Diaspora Rabbi

Dear Congregant,

In the last few weeks, our lives have dramatically changed. Our routines have been interrupted. We are confused, frightened, and unsure what will be from one day to the next like never before in our lives. This period has been a time of reflection and soul-searching for us all, and I have come to a painful realization that I must share with you.

I have misled you.

I didn’t do this on purpose. I didn’t even do this consciously. But deep down, a small part of me always knew that I was misleading you, and today I have to come clean.

Let me explain.

I developed a love for Torah in my yeshiva years, and wanted to continue learning throughout my life on the same level. Becoming a rabbi was virtually the only way to ensure that. Our community is full of professionals and businessmen who serve the community in many ways. They also have a great love for Torah; they attend shiurim, they make time for learning whenever possible, they seek guidance when questions come up, and they run their homes in the spirit of Torah. I have the greatest of respect for them. But I needed more. I needed to be surrounded by Torah at all times.

I knew that becoming a “Torah professional” and earning a living at the same time would be very challenging. Desirable positions are scarce, and there is great competition every time an opportunity opens up. At the same time, those fortunate enough to obtain one of these positions have to walk a tightrope to keep them.

Nevertheless, making it as a rabbi was my goal. I studied diligently, built my resume, and did everything I could to make connections in the right places. I accepted internships and entry level positions at prominent institutions to get my foot in the door. Eventually, I received an opportunity for a full-time position at a small shul, and I stayed there for two years to develop my skills and make a name for myself. When a better opportunity opened up, I jumped on it. One thing led to another, until I became the senior rabbi of our wonderful kehilla, a position I have enjoyed for more than fifteen years – an eternity in this profession.

I realize now that my career path as a rabbi has been little different than that of a secular professional. I was little different than the doctor, lawyer, or businessman I always secretly felt were spiritually beneath me. Every step of the way I was simply trying to climb my version of the corporate ladder, and when I reached the peak I wanted only to maintain my position.

I was always on the lookout for those who could bolster my career, and I shamelessly groveled to them. I would immediately identify those who pulled the strings in the shul and the community, and made sure to stay on their good side. When they engaged in behaviors that were unseemly or worse, I looked the other way. I rationalized. It was the only way to become a rabbi and remain a rabbi, I told myself. It was the only way to influence the community in the long term, I told myself. If I didn’t do this I would be out of a job and someone else would do it; better me than the next person, I told myself.

All of this is probably true. Too many of my colleagues lost their positions after ruffling the wrong person’s feathers, or giving the community mussar that it didn’t want to hear, or failing to sufficiently please the big shots. I had to choose between making some difficult compromises to serve as a rabbi and make any kind of difference, subsisting on a part-time rabbinic position in no-man’s land, or leaving the field entirely.

I cannot fault myself for making the difficult compromises. But I fault myself that they were not difficult. I lost my way. I cared more about making it as a rabbi than living up to the great responsibility of being a spiritual leader, a true teacher of the Torah. I lost sight of the ideals of my youth, of the mission I was supposed to be on, and became just another corporate professional with a title and an office.

The past few weeks have helped me to realize what I always knew deep down. I refrained from giving you tough mussar because I was afraid of jeopardizing by job. I discouraged young people from making aliya because I was afraid our membership would age and die out. I discouraged older people from making aliya because I didn’t want to lose their money and stability. I discouraged myself from making aliya because I wouldn’t be able to make it as a rabbinic professional in Israel.

I always had reasons, of course. I knew all the right Torah sources and practical arguments to justify my position. But deep down I discouraged aliya because of fear, for myself and my personal dreams, not because I really believed it was what Hashem wanted.

I lied to myself, and I misled you. I cannot live with this lie anymore. I’m sorry. From the depths of my heart and soul, I beg your forgiveness.

Maybe it is easier for me to realize this now because our shuls, yeshivas, and organizations are all closed. We don’t know when or if they will be able to reopen. Economic hardships might make it impossible for many of them to survive even in a best-case scenario. Dreams of climbing the ladder in one’s rabbinic career are less relevant than ever before, as the only pulpits these days are virtual.

So be it. My repentance may not be perfect, but repent I must. I now encourage us, all of us, to make aliya. Enough with the excuses. Enough with the personal considerations. Enough with the biased arguments. We know deep down that Hashem wants us to return home, all of us. We need to do everything possible, both individually and as a community, to make that happen without further delay.

My final service to you as senior rabbi will be to serve as a true spiritual leader and faciliate our return to Israel, starting with me and my family, and whoever is willing to join us. I am prepared to sacrifice my prestigious position and lucrative salary to settle for being an ordinary citizen in Israel, if that’s what it takes. I am prepared to sacrifice my inflated notion of serving the Jewish people to return home and bring others with me. Indeed, there can be no greater service than that. Once I am there, I will find another way to serve the Jewish people, if necessary.

My family has already started preparing for aliya and I encourage all of you – all of you! – to do the same immediately. Let us reunite in Jerusalem with joy, and march forward bravely through the unknown toward a wonderful, glorious future.

 

Signed,

Rabbi ___________

Reprinted with permission from Chananya Weissman.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rabbi Chananya Weissman is the founder of EndTheMadness and the author of seven books, including “Go Up Like a Wall” and “How to Not Get Married: Break these rules and you have a chance”. Many of his writings are available at www.chananyaweissman.com. He is also the director and producer of a documentary on the shidduch world, Single Jewish Male, and The Shidduch Chronicles, available on YouTube. He can be contacted at admin@endthemadness.org.

Will Rabbi Kahane Be Proven Right Again (on Widespread American Antisemitism)?

The Impending Kristallnacht

Chananya Weissman

[Note: this article was censored by the Slimes of Israel on March 15, 2020 on an absurd pretext and they terminated my blog when I objected.]

The following is an excerpt from an article I wrote this past Tisha B’av, August 11:

“There are only two reasons why Jews will return to Israel: inspiration and desperation. Roughly half of the Jews in the world are already here, primarily because of inspiration. The rest of you will return eventually, one way or another, because that is the destiny of our people. It would be far preferable if you will return because of inspiration, but if you won’t do it for any other reason than desperation, that can be arranged.

Just consider what life in your foster home of choice looked like last Tisha B’av compared to today, just one year later. Even in America, the last stop on the train, the last year alone has seen the following: open anti-Semitism from the Wicked Witches of Congress the likes of which we have never seen before; normalization of open anti-Semitism within the Democratic party, major media outlets, and college campuses across the country; a surge of anti-Semitic attacks in Brooklyn and other major Jewish communities; multiple mass shootings in synagogues; Jews across the country getting used to the fact that their institutions require armed security and members require training to respond to attacks. All this in just the last year!

The country can no longer unite on even the most basic issues, like whether they should have borders, or babies should be allowed to live even after they are born, or whether America is good or evil, or whether the Constitution should be rendered irrelevant, or whether there should be celebration or disappointment if it turns out the President was not a Russian agent. Is America even a country anymore, or just a bunch of groups who loathe each other and are itching for a fight?

Maybe you would still be shocked if sometime in the next year we have a Kristallnacht in America, but I wouldn’t.”

Here we are just a few months later, and the America of Tisha B’av looks like Gan Eden compared to the America of today. Galus Jews – many of them extremely religious and devout – are desperately clinging to the belief that somehow this is all going to blow over and they can return to business as usual. Their faith in Galus continuing to tolerate them while they have a detached interest in Jewish destiny is rivaled only by their belief that moving to Israel “isn’t for them”.

My brothers and sisters in America, please listen to me. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it) the life you knew in Galus is over, and it’s not coming back. You need to come to terms with this. Your lives are in real danger.

Even before the Corona virus became a serious problem, the situation in America was rapidly deteriorating. Criminals in New York have been emboldened by drastic changes to the law, allowing them to commit serious crimes and quickly be released back onto the streets. The police have themselves become targets, and have little incentive to risk their lives confronting criminals. On the national level, the country is more divided than ever before in its history. The Civil War, as bad as it was, was primarily over slavery and a few related points of contention. Today the country is polarized over every issue under the sun, including the very foundations of the country. The rift is irreparable, and Jews are front and center in every controversy and scandal. The Goyim don’t need a reason to hate the Jews, but they don’t have to work hard to fabricate reasons today.

Now the Corona virus is on the verge of devastating America. There are still those who are pooh-poohing everything, just as Jews pooh-poohed the death camps even as they were being led to the showers. That will change. Just a few days ago, everyone was saying it’s just a flu and making fun of people for overreacting. Now they are davening like it’s Yom Kippur, but they are neglecting to say Vidui. Yes, it’s that dire.

If they are lucky, it will still be a few weeks before there is an explosion of seriously ill people in the country and the hospitals are completely overwhelmed. Most likely it won’t take that long. Quarantines and lockdowns are going to become more severe, and will probably need to be enforced by martial law. The stock market won’t be able to be pumped up with helium anymore, and there will be an economic crisis unlike anything we’ve seen before.

The average American didn’t have a few hundred dollars saved up for an unexpected bill before the virus hit. A large portion of the population is about to be completely wiped out, if not by the virus then by financial ruin.

In the past when there were wars or financial downturns, Americans could escape their troubles by turning to their religion, sports and entertainment. Unfortunately, their god has been slain. No longer can they paint their faces, go to a ball game, and howl for a few hours to relieve their stress. No longer can they line up for the latest movie about a fantasy world or the end of this one to take their mind off their problems. They can’t even go to a bar and enjoy a few drinks with their friends.

When a Jew is quarantined or otherwise separated from his leisure activities, he will pick up a sefer, listen to a shiur, learn with a chavrusa, or simply pour out his heart to God. What do you think tens of millions of sick, scared, bored, frustrated, broke, angry, armed Americans are going to do? Pick up a Bible? Binge watch Netflix for days on end?

The Goyim have been split across all racial and political lines for many years now, boiling with anger, itching for a fight. Now their world is about to come crashing down on them, and it’s going to be every man for himself, every tribe and gang for itself. This is not going to pass peacefully.

Meanwhile, the Jews generally have a higher standard of living, they are not armed, they don’t fight, they are not in shape, everyone knows where they live, and they hate you anyway. I know you defiantly proclaim “Never again”, and some of you took krav maga lessons, and a few of you even started carrying a gun. How long do you think you will be able to hold them off, Rambo?

The police are not going to be able to protect you, and many of them won’t want to. Despite all the outreach you do and appreciation you show, many of them don’t care for you at all. Even the good ones might be ordered to stand down to “deescalate tensions”, or they might be unwilling to risk their lives when the riots get out of control.

Rav Yissachar Shlomo Teichtal writes in Eim Habanim Semeicha that when Jews choose to stay in Galus for their money, eventually Esav takes away their money anyway. Esav is going to need a lot of money – and food, and medicine, and basic supplies – very soon, and they are going to do whatever it takes to get it. When they are finished ransacking and looting the stores like Black Friday on steroids, they are going to think about who to target next. It won’t be the Italians.

I am not a prophet, but we have been through this enough times in our history that it’s easy to predict how this plays out. The next time a good Galus doesn’t turn into a bad Galus is going to be the first time in history that happens. Those of you who think you will be the lucky exceptions are deluding yourselves and endangering your lives.

Reprinted from Chananya Weissman, over here.