Frontline Tours In The Holy Land
Our world is designed to be confusing – so much so that we are often pulled onto paths that effectively draw us away from our mission here. How do we draw out the good from within all the darkness? Dovid Mark discusses this in reference to his ongoing class on Rebbe Nachman’s story “The Lost Princess.”
There is a common misnomer when speaking about “Middle East Peace” that assumes all things are political and if one can just come to some sort of compromise then there would be eternal and utopian peace. This is of course a fantasy and based on false Western assumptions about the region.
Peace is not some sort of accommodation or agreement or even an acceptance of the area, but rather true peace is a harmonious balance that exists when one recognizes the Divine quality of the other.
The Land of Israel is meant to be a vessel for the Jewish people’s Divine purpose in this world. It is not meant to be merely a political expression of some sort of Western notion of morality, but rather the State is one if approached with clarity should be seen as tool for the Kingship of the Almighty. After all, the Divine Presence we all seek is embedded within the Land itself. However, it remains just out of our reach due to the vessels of sovereignty being without rectification.
This rectification is necessary to harness the true Divine light flowing throughout the Creation. However, it has been stalled by the refusal to lead by those most suited to lead it.
The current political crisis is a message to those who have the knowhow to complete the State’s transformation from Western Liberalism to a rectified political entity with a Jewish core at its engine, to step up and take the reins.
True peace is not about domination of one group over the other or a division of the Land, which cannot be divided, but rather only by the Jewish people accepting their responsibility to be a Kingdom of Priests. The first task of the redeemers within the State is to bring true harmony to the structure of the State itself and only then can peace be achieved.
The journey continues. What are we searching for in life? Why are we here? Can we retrieve that part of ourselves we feel is lost within the noise and distractions of modern society? What is expected of us? What happens if I fail?
The political stalemate in Israel continues to drag on, with most people assuming there will be a third round of elections. What is going on and how does the root of this current crisis stem from the creation of the State?
There is no question about it, the present political quagmire between the so called right-wing block and the left-wing block is directly rooted in the way Israel’s political system was designed from the outset. The challenges in Israel are systemic and understanding this will enable real change and rectification across the national fabric.
We understand that the vessels for the Redemption of the Jewish people and in return the entire world were meant to manifest in a particular manner as to enable the Divine light of the Infinite to flow into the universe, thus rectifying and repairing the world. When those of us who were meant to take hold of these vessels passed up on the opportunity, the vessels fell into the wrong hands.
These hands belonged to the socialist wing of the Zionist movement who succeeded in building the beginning of the bureaucratic apparatus of the state in a way which allowed them to remain in control. With the six million Jews of Europe burnt up and the Jews of Middle Eastern origins broken once they moved to the transit camps within the State, permanent control seemed to be inevitable. However, something miraculous happened along the way.
In 1967, Israel won the Six Day War receiving the Biblical heartland of the Jewish people. This reinvigorated the Religious-Secular debate and inspired the real beginnings of Israel’s Jewish renaissance. A few years later, another unforeseen event took place: The Likud’s Menachem Begin of the Irgun together won a sweeping election after the near disaster of the 1973 Yom Kippur war. This brought the Left’s most “hated” enemy into the premiership for the first time. Worst of all for the Left, the Sefardim (Jews of Middle Eastern origin) who had been economic slaves to the Socialist elite, broke ranks and supported the rightwing camp. This political partnership has for the most part stayed intact.
This ended the Left’s overt control of the State. However, the Israeli Deep State is run by the Left’s bureaucratic control of the military and courts.
With Jews returning to a traditional lifestyle increasing year in and year out as well as the Arab-Israeli peace initiatives floundering due to a realization that “Land for Peace” does not work, the Begin revolution that upended Israel has now led the political super structure into proverbial brick wall.
Ultimately, the traditional blocks of the Left and Right are now implacably butting heads as the Israeli Arab parties have essentially required someone to shift one way or the other. Traditionally, this has been Avigdor Liberman’s role. However, since the Palestinian-Israeli peace plan appears to be frozen indefinitely, Liberman’s views on Secular-Religious issues have become the new divide in the political landscape.
Israel’s present situation is untenable. While there are many long term solutions to reconfiguring the political structure, none of those will be implemented in the current climate.
Iran is surrounding Israel, while the State budget cannot be past in a caretaker government. The IDF needs upgrades and no new foreign policy initiatives can be undertaken. There will be a war sooner rather later. With the vacuum in politics, coupled with an external threat, the chaos coming will lead to a new paradigm.
The current vessels of the State were built within the darkness of the Bundist and self-loathing Jewish socialist leadership at the beginning of the State. This leadership was vicious and determined to root out any vestiges of Jewish roots of Israel’s raison d’etre. The coming chaos provides a unique opportunity to rectify the vessels of sovereignty and redemption, uplifting from the darkness from which they came.
Expect many surprises along the way.
Join Dovid Mark on a journey we can all relate to – a journey we all share and yet is unique to each one of us. In our modern world, where money drives our lives and the products we are shown grab at our senses, we yearn for something more. In this episode, which is a continuation of Rebbe Nachman’s famous story the Lost Princess, we learn the secrets of our Created space and its Divine root embedded within. Why are we here? And what is our mission?
Our world is a difficult universe. Each yid descends down to this lower world in a state of deep amnesia about his or her purpose here. True, we often times find our stride and push forward. Yet, we know deep down inside that we usually forget why and what we are doing all of this for. The distractions are endless.
Each one of us is considered a mini-world, a vessel containing the blueprint of the universe – the Torah stamped within. This stamp, this is our soul, our Godly will – ultimately our kingship.
Because we have been sent down without remembering our purpose, this stamp, the soul, remains hidden deep within. No matter the Torah we learn or the Mitzvot we do, we feel disconnected until we begin to dig inside of ourselves and discover who we really are.
The Tzaddik’s role is to facilitate this self discovery – to be a guide to the Nation of Israel in order for each yid to move beyond the rote actions of exile and reach the heights of Geulah.
The purpose in this world is to reveal the Kingship of the Creator within the entirety of Creation and yet we cannot even hope to undertake this mission without first discovering that Kingship within.
Rosh Hashana is the beginning o the year. It is also the best time to begin a new path within – a path of memory and conscious connection to the Creator’s will that flows throughout the Creation and is most deeply held within each of us, waiting to be discovered.
In the cosmic struggle between our authentic divine expressions and our limited physical wrappings we allow this inner confrontation to disconnect us from our purpose and path in this universe. The trauma that each one of us feels to a certain degree stems from this disconnection, which has become the best means to sidestepping the tremendous pain our divine element feels while being “trapped” in this world.
Despite the reasons for this disconnection, it has ultimately resulted in a lack of memory for who we really are and what we are meant to be doing here – both as individuals and as a national collective.
Most of us disregard the feeling of yearning our soul has for where it came from. We stare at those who have made the leap to live a life of expanded consciousness and connection, looking at them as special. In return, we view ourselves as simply “not on their level.”
Yet, we must know that as far as the Creator is concerned, there are no differences between the myriads of people within the Jewish national collective and those who have risen above known as the tzaddikim. All yidden descend from lofty levels – from the world of emunah, simple faith.
The difference between the tzaddikim and those who have yet to unlock their eternal memories and their internal God wisdom, is the toil and effort the tzaddikim undertook to achieve great heights.
The “common” yid must know and believe that the disconnection he feels within, can be overcome when a decision is made to embark on repairing his inner memory and working on following the path of the true tzaddikim.
The Land of Israel is about memory. It is gateway both nationally and individually to our inner Godly awareness and wisdom, yet this gateway cannot be fully traversed unless one follows the light of the tzaddik, whose mission it is to unlock God awareness within each yid – no matter how far away he is.
The first step is realizing that each one of us is a child of the Creator – a prince or princess to the king. Only then we can begin to return to who we truly are.
(Based on Likutey Halachot Birchat HaShachar, Halacha 3.6)
Originally published on BRI Breslov.org
Galus is more than a physical separation between the Jewish people and the Land of Israel – it is a state of mind; a loss of conscious awareness of the Creator’s providence. To be in Galus is to be in a spiritual slumber.
This is our reality.
This was and has been the Jewish people’s predicament since the destruction of the first Temple and it is the paradigm in which the Purim story unfolds.
We are in a continuous state of Purim – an unfolding drama woven within the tapestry of politics and the mundane and yet when we stir from our slumber for just a moment we see the lost princess, Esther, the Shechina that was hidden from us. We are reminded in those moments that it is possible to awaken from our perpetual sleep.
As the Kingdom of Haman-Amalek grows, we remain asleep. It strengthens, inundating us with ambient information, uncontrolled desires, and false yearnings. However, we can awaken, we can reclaim our lives and authentic selves, but we have to cling to the Tzaddik – only he has the key to the story we need to hear.
Which story is that? Our story – special to each one of us. When we hear it – we awaken.
The Jews clung to Mordechai and were saved. They recognized that Esther was theirs and freed the “lost princess” from the confines of the palace of the “no good” – ruled by Achashverosh – destroying Haman descendent of Amalek.
We too, must hold fast to the teachings and stories of the Tzaddik. His stories and advice are specific to our generation – the generation meant to awaken and destroy the Kingdom of Haman-Amalek forever.
(Based on the Lost Princess; Likutey Halachot Purim Halacha Alef)
There is a Temple inside each of us, but how do we rebuild it when we feel it has been destroyed?
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The final struggle over the Land of Israel is not rooted in the physical. While it’s true that Yishmael appears to be the violent opposing force to the yidden’s ability to draw closure to the galus, exile, the fact that we could crush our enemies in a matter of days or hours means that the key to the final redemption is not found in our military might.
So what’s holding us back?
Most of us have heard the famous gematria where the letters making up Amalek (עמלק) equal Safek (ספק) or doubt. While this concept has been applied to our personal relationship with the almighty in a daily sense for thousands of years – it is important to to see its connection to the current national predicament in the Land of Israel at the End of Days.
Rebbe Nachman teaches that the Kingdom of Haman/Amalek will use as its weapon the insatiable desire for money and material success. This weapon hangs over each of us and has penetrated the very makeup of our national enterprise. All of us have become pulled into its clutches and it has turned us from a nation of idealists to an extension of the Western consumer empire.
This safek, doubt about where we are heading flows from our fear of losing the material goals we have grown accustom to setting for ourselves. Zionism has in effect become pacified by its material success. Amalek has gained control. It is this pacification that prevents us from finishing the journey home, because home is not just a piece of land, but rather a recognition that the Land is above the material equation so often used when sizing the value of whatever it is one wants. The Land of Israel and the Nation of Israel are not quantifiable. We seek quiet and “normalcy,” but the more we seek these things the more Yishamel rises and pushes against us.
Amalek uses material pursuits not as a means to build vessels for holiness in our world, but rather as an end to themselves. This shift creates the space for doubt and the malaise that exists within us and the world. This doubt causes the perception that there is a disconnect between the divine and the physical world, which has caused us to pull back leaving us to clutch the material as the only meaning we feel we have created in our lives.
We can only rescue the Lost Princess from the castle and restore the Divine Presence to our Land by first removing the desire for the “castle of pearls on a mountain of gold” in its entirety. Doing this, will restore the pursuit of material wealth to just a means to create real holiness. This will naturally fill our national collective with a unifying Divine goal reclaiming our soul and Land forever.