Moshiach, now?

The following comment was posted on the previous post:

Please, Ari, please don't fall into the trap of predicting a scary downfall of America. Just three months ago, I asked R. Chaim Kanievsky if I should move my family to E"Y. I was all excited about it.

He replied that I cannot come without parnassah. I asked him if I should just "cash out" and come. He said, "Then you spend it and go back. What's the point?"

Parnassah is in the hands of HaShem. Thus, for us, so is moving to E'Y. In the meantime, we must have faith that HaShem is going to orchestrate the kibbutz galius we just read about in the Pesach haftorah.

Please don't be insensitive to those who b'emes long to come to E"Y, but don't have the financial capabilities (yet!) to do so.

I would just like to clarify my general approach with this blog. I really try not to make any predictions, and it was not my intent to predict the fall of the US. I was merely sharing a story with you that I thought would be interesting. I personally firmly believe that every single person must ask a shailah in regards to how they should proceed with life, and rest assured that if they follow da'as Torah, Hashem will not steer them wrong. I encourage everyone to do so, and it is interesting to me that when you asked R' Chaim he responded that way, as someone else recently told me in a conversation that they asked an American Gadol (who is very serious about the idea of living in Eretz Yisrael) the same question and received the same exact answer - one can not come here without a realistic plan for parnassah.

One thought I would like to mention that hits me as I am writing this, is that even if a particular Gadol, say, R' Kanievsky, told one person that this is the proper approach, he may not tell the next person the same thing. Our Gedolim are gifted with Ruach Hakodesh and receive constant guidance as they help out the Klal as well as the many individuals who seek their guidance. I almost laugh as I think about the obviousness of it, but I think we've learned that what a Gadol says for one person will not necessarily apply to another. Just because you read in this blog that R' Chaim told 'anonymous' not to come here doesn't mean you shouldn't ask your rav if it might be the right thing for you.

Our lives must center around serving Hashem, and while צפית לישועה is of course an important thing, it mustn't take over our lives. I realized how compulsively I was checking the news, and I realized that it began when I got very into the whole Moshiach kick. I was never into politics, not here in Israel, and not in the US. It is all a waste of time, and all it does is steer us away from our avodas Hashem. I have really been conscious of not looking at the news, and I am proud to say that I was surprised that I didn't know that 'Durban II' was happening until someone told me about it.

I think it is important to talk and be excited and hopeful about Moshiach's advent, and I do believe he will be here soon. I am happy to say that I don't know how soon, but I do wait for him every day, so I think I'm headed in a good direction. Do I think that the US will fall? I don't know, and I don't wish it upon anyone, certainly not our wonderful brothers and sisters who live there (and might even want to be here in Israel much more than being there). One thing I am sure of is that no matter where we are, Hashem will be taking care of us, and if we have indeed reached the final stages of Geulah, or are nearing them, there will be a tremendous amount of rachamim for us, not destruction ח"ו.

The final redemption will defy logic, and if one takes a look around, the entire world, and the entire state of affairs for the Jewish people as a whole defies all logic. When everything defies logic, it is Hashem's fingerprints, his voice whispering, "I'm here with you." When the winter goes by and it is one of the driest winters in years, and the weather experts are exclaiming that the chances of such a winter are zero - when the chances are zero, this is Hashem speaking. It's no coincidence that this horrible winter in Israel was the worst time for the entire world since the Great Depression. Israel is the conduit for Hashem's goodness. Whatever happens here is a sign of what is happening everywhere else.

Bottom line is that we need to love Hashem, commit to coming close to Him, chuck all the distractions, and focus in on what really counts. We don't need to know what will happen in the future. The more we try to figure it out, the more futile it will be. We can want Moshiach without needing to know when he will be here, and without trying to figure out precisely what will happen and how it will unfold.

In any event, my bet is that it will be interesting, as there's no better 'storyteller' than Hashem. We can sit back and enjoy the show without trying to figure out the ending. We can also get 'into' the story and watch as it progresses without getting carried away and losing sight of what's really important in our lives. We can be excited when we hear that the gematria of ברק אובאמה is the same as the נחש which is also the same as משיח because they are all forces that come into play in the final story. And we can also say that maybe that's not significant and maybe the story will end in a different way. If a great author can give you a surprising and shocking ending, do we think that we can figure out the ending to this story written by Hashem? No matter what it will be interesting, and no matter what it will be the Ultimate Good. Let's try to do this with balance.