Interesting Posts and Articles #238 (The Tzaddik Nistar edition)

1. In terms of all the recent wolf sightings (see previous roundup, item 6), that the end is once again nigh, this time via Rabbi Arush, here are my thoughts. They are based on actual metzius. The two Tzaddik Nistars involved in predicting this disaster did not come up with this scenario based on ruach hakodesh. Already prior to this, it was known that the Palestinians plan to announce statehood in the UN on September 20 (see here) and that they are planning a major march in association with that event. People in Israel are gearing up in case of conflict. It seems that these tzaddik nistars are just saying that they think they will show up unarmed in massive numbers, and further, that there will be six nations participating. Why six? Maybe kabbalistic, or maybe they identified specific nations they are guessing will be active.
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   Is the situation dangerous? Potentially. But that was before the hidden tzaddikim said anything.
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   Personally, I would not put too much stock in something a tzaddik nistar said. How do I know he is really a tzaddik? How do I know he is really a tzaddik, or one who has in true in-depth knowledge of what is going on? People are treating the fact that he is hidden and anonymous as some sort of positive sign, in his favor. Spooky! He is a tzaddik nistar! But for me, anonymity reduces credibility. For all we know, he could be a lunatic who thinks he knows things. Even some known rabbinic figures have made rather silly and inaccurate predictions. Being anonymous means that people cannot evaluate your credibility, and your accuracy of previous predictions and assessments. And being anonymous reduces the repercussions. You cannot fall on your face. If the prediction fails, you just go to the next credulous rabbinic figure as a tzaddik nistar, and in this way again provoke the public to hysteria.
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   It was a Tzaddik Nistar who confidently misinformed Nava, of Dreaming of Moshiach, that Moshiach was coming, two years ago; that there was a fixed time in Sivan of 2009 after which no one would make aliyah. Thus:

   He quickly got up and apologized to the Tzaddik Nistar and tried explaining that he fell asleep from total exhaustion. The Tzaddik gently explained the severity of sleeping in a Tzion of the Tzaddik and said that many Lubavitchers, when they pray by the Ohel of the revered Lubavitch Rebbe, zs'lk, they first remove their shoes prior to stepping inside the holy Ohel. The Tzaddik gave my husband a small Sefer and told him that by saying the entire sefer, this his Tikun for sleeping in such a holy place.
   
   The Sefer was an ancient Zohar HaKadosh in Aramaic and it took my husband four hours to complete it. When my husband returned the Sefer to the Tzaddik, the Tzaddik agreed to speak to him and revealed a few things.
   
   * All Jews in the Diaspora should begin preparing returning to Eretz Israel - the latest possible date to return to Israel is Rosh Chodesh Sivan, 5769. Those that will not return by that date, will "miss the boat."

   She personally made aliyah, and put a countdown clock on her blog. And then, mashiach failed to materialize. Who is this lying, or delusional, tzaddik nistar? We don't know.
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   An earlier prediction, from a "hidden" kabbalist, was promulgated in 2005. At the Magog website:
   

   
   

   A few weeks ago, we were approached by a tzaddik that we know, and we are not allowed to disclose his identity now, but his nickname is "Sandlar" (not related to the "sandlar" that died many years ago in Bnei Brak, nor is it referring to Harav Shalom Shmueli, shlita, whose name is associated with this context in various places). We are referring to a hidden tzaddik, with whom our first contact was (no connection whatsoever to this website) made by the initiative of another famous and renowned tzaddik who had heard about this hidden tzaddik.

   
   

   Several weeks ago, the sandlar approached us and asked us to publicize on the internet this special message. Obviously, we were very excited to receive this information, and we did not doubt for one moment its accuracy, due to our familiarity with this tzaddik and our clear knowledge of his powers and knowledge of hidden secrets. We thought that this may be the very reason for our website's existence, especially since these things fit in very well in a wondrous way with what we had previously published regarding the possibility of uncovering the secrets of Daniel's prophesy. And it fit in very well with the increasing excitement that is triggering very optimistic things being said by g'dolei Yisrael recently.

   
   

   We published the message, and were very careful to write with very large letters (in the Hebrew site) the disclaimer that "this site is not associated with any rabbi, yeshiva, political party whatsoever," in order that the readers will use caution when reading what we've written, without regard to our personal belief.

   
   

   After publishing the "message," and after a number of days passed, and then more days, there began to arise among us doubts... 

   Do we know who this hidden tzaddik was, that misled the public into hysteria? Is he the same one producing the latest? We don't know, because he is hidden. (Yeranen Yaakov still insists that there is good information to be gleaned from that site.)
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   Going back even further, Shirat Devorah put out a prediction of the apocalyptic end by "secret kabbalists", which if we read the full document, refers to a secret cabal of kabbalists, the 36 righteous men in each generation. Are they real, or did the possible crackpot, Dr. Golander, make them up? We don't know, because they are hidden. The article appeared in 1989, but the information is from 15 years earlier. They said:
   

   
   

   Question:

   
   

   What is the scenario according to the Kabbalists; or better put, according to their faithful representative?

   
   

   
   

   Answer:

   Israel will have war with seven western nations and Russia. The United States will abandon us, as they did Vietnam and Lebanon.

   This was written during the Cold War. So the kabbalists did their best to imagine such a scenario. But in 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed, and so "Russia" is no longer the same level of major threat they once were. The world stage changed. Just as in Abarbanel's time, he took the Crusades as the apocalyptic wars and cast his actors on that basis; and others viewed Napoleon, and thus France, in such a role. Even if we can figure out a way to work Russia into the situation, it is not the scenario that they imagined.
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   Quite recently, I was contacted via email, from someone wanting me to meet personally with a Tzaddik Nistar. It was important to focus on his particular task, of outing rabbis whose Torah is not leshem Shamayim, before we can have the coming of Moshiach ben Yosef. I eventually declined. This is the invasion of the Tzaddikim Nistarim!
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2. More wolf sightings, as Rabbi Lazer Brody reports more from Rabbi Shalom Arush. (See also Yeranen Yaakov.) Namely, that there will be all-out-war in Israel.

   My beloved teacher and spiritual guide, Rav Shalom Arush shlit'a, called me urgently to come see him today - he rarely does that, for we usually meet at regular intervals. He told me that his spiritual guide - the holy hidden Kabbalist Rabbi Yehuda Zev Leibowitz of saintly memory - came to him in a dream last night and said that in Heaven, all-out war against Israel has been decreed, a war which is supposed to break out before Rosh Hashana, in other words, within the next 3 weeks.

   Rabbi Arush is not a prophet. He is perhaps not a cholem, as it is not Hashem appearing to him in a dream. It is his beloved teacher, a holy hidden kabbalist. But a dream is not (necessarily) the same as a true statement from the individual. If I told you that Barack Hussein Obama came to me in a dream and he said that he was going to cut taxes, would you take that as a statement from Obama? There is at least the possibility that Rabbi Aruch dreamed this because he was preoccupied with the issue (due to the news, and the statement from the hidden tzaddikim). To cite the gemara in Berachot 55b:
   

   R. Samuel b. Nahmani said in the name of R. Jonathan: A man is shown in a dream only what is suggested by his own thoughts, as it says, As for thee, Oh King, thy thoughts came into thy mind upon thy bed.³⁷  Or if you like, I can derive it from here: That thou mayest know the thoughts of the heart.³⁸  Raba said: This is proved by the fact that a man is never shown in a dream a date palm of gold, or an elephant going through the eye of a needle.³⁹

   and then, there is the illustration of this on the next amud:
   

   The Emperor [of Rome]¹  said to R. Joshua b. R. Hananyah: You [Jews] profess to be very clever. Tell me what I shall see in my dream. He said to him: You will see the Persians²  making you do forced labour, and despoiling you and making you feed unclean animals with a golden crook. He thought about it all day, and in the night he saw it in his dream.³  King Shapor [I] once said to Samuel: You [Jews] profess to be very clever. Tell me what I shall see in my dream. He said to him: You will see the Romans coming and taking you captive and making you grind date-stones in a golden mill. He thought about it the whole day and in the night saw it in a dream.

   As such, I would not put much stock in Rabbi Arush's dreams. IIRC, He has hinted to mashiach's arrival in the past, without success.
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3. Then, Rabbi Lazer Brody posts a letter from Reb Nati, with a statement from Rav Eliezer Berland that we are there!

   
   

   Dear Rabbi Lazer,

   
   

   I spoke personally to Rav Lazer Berland shilta – he confirms what Rav Shalom Arush says - WE ARE THERE!

   How much stock should we put in this assurance by Rav Lazer Berland? Is this his very first apocalyptic / messianic prediction? Well, as I've written in the past, the same Rabbi Berland predicted the outbreak of war last year, in 2010. And as I noted at the time, the previous year, 2009, Rabbi Berland had spoken about war which might break out before Rosh HaShanah. I guess he figures that if he predicts the same thing, year after year, eventually he will get it right. Or that the third time is the charm. What I don't understand is why people treat Rav Berland's statement as meaningful, when he has (incorrectly) predicted the same thing every year? My guess is that people have very short memories.
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4. Matzav reports that the Gabbai of the Rachmastrivke Rebbe was almost stabbed.
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5. Life In Israel has the Peshkevil of the Day. And updates on the protests regarding the girls school, Orot. And a guest personal account of the Orot situation. And so too, Reb Akiva at Mystical Paths also reports on the social battle in Bet Shemesh.
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6. National Geographic reports on a new shark species discovered, on the way to the dinner plate.
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7. DovBear with great moments in biblical interpretation, about dying in battle, and whether one could die if not prompted by sin.
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8. Here on parshablog, check out Abarbanel on yibbum, Yehuda, and Boaz.