Given: February 22, 2022
Recap
Last week, I spoke about a very profound theme and I brought the “akeida,” when Avraham brought his son Yitzchak to be sacrificed, to elucidate what it really means. I want to elaborate on that and go into the repercussions of that event, which is fascinating. That will bring us to the difficulties and trials of the Mashiach ben Yosef.
Last week I brought in an important concept from Rashi in pasuk yud-beis---verse12, the akeida portion, chaf-beis---22, which I mentioned. Just as Avraham was about to slaughter Yitzchak, a malach---angel tells him not to and, “in the name of G-D,” on behalf of G-D, says, “ki ata yodati ki y’reh Elokim ata”---because now I know that you are G-D-fearing because you didn’t withhold your son from the slaughter. One question is: what does it mean, “now I know”? G-D didn’t know already before? Rashi brings down a very important idea that explains what has to happen at the End of Time: “Now I know” does not imply that G-D didn’t know beforehand. It means: now I have what to answer the Satan, the prosecuting angel, and the nations of the world.
We wonder, what do you mean you “have what to answer”? The tanai’im—rabbinic sages wonder: what is the love that You bear the Jewish people. This is what it speaks of. Therefore, G-D could say, “Now I know,” meaning, now I have a response, the evidence I can present, an argument I can justifiably make. I see that Avraham is a G-D-fearing person and that is why I love them, the Jewish people, so much. That’s what Rashi says.
I explained the discussion among the Satan, the nations of the world, and G-D vis-à-vis why the Ribono Shel Olam loves the Jewish people. The ultimate consequence for everybody’s life experience in this world is based upon how he or she acted. That’s the concept of din—justice. It’s cause-and-effect. What you do is exactly what happens to you in the reverse. It’s called “measure-for-measure” and it’s a universal principle. That is how G-D created it.
It goes something like this: The Satan says to G-D: I don’t understand. If everything is based on justice, on cause-and-effect, on din, why do you love them so much? They don’t deserve the good You do them. They sin a great deal and don’t deserve to be redeemed but I see that you are always performing actions that will redeem them. What’s going on here? The Satan is doing what he was created to do, defend justice. He sees G-D activating “hanhagas ha’yichud,” those merciful actions G-D takes that suspend the demands of justice to save the Jews and allow them existence in the Future World.
The Nations of the World
The nations of the world could say the same. They’re hoping: we too will be saved despite our unworthiness. We have a problem; we sin too, right? G-D doesn’t necessarily save the gentiles.They will be destroyed unless they deserve to be saved and have eternal life in the Future World. Why won’t G-D do for us what He does for the Jews? the gentiles wonder.
The “now I know they are G-D-fearing” is the answer to the Satan and the nations. This is why the Jews deserve it. It was their loyalty, their devotion as demonstrated by Avraham who did My bidding though I came across as irrational—I spoke about that last week. The actions G-D takes based on hanhagas ha’yichud are justified, legally. This quiets the Satan.
What about the nations of the world? G-D can argue: in the end, the Jews, to some extent, do fear Me because they’re, overall, a peaceful nation. Even if they don’t observe the commandments, they’re not war-like, don’t slaughter people, don’t butcher people, whereas gentiles are always warring. If you study the history of mankind, it’s basically a history of butchery, slaughter, one nation conquering another. It’s always going on. There’s hardly ever a time in world history when the nations are not slaughtering each other, and for what? No nation has the justification to conquer another to obtain tribute—money, slaves, or whatever. Look at what Christianity has done for the last 2,000 years. I’ve explained that one or two lectures ago. How many Jews have died at the hands of Christian campaigns resulting in pogroms, inquisitions, expulsions, holocausts, being burnt at the stake in Spain, etc. These guys just don’t stop slaughtering Jews!
Even if many Jews don’t always observe the commandments, they observe the precepts of their religion and realize that there’s such a thing as morality, ethics, values. Due to this, they are upstanding and, in many ways, righteous in the ways between man-and-man. The non-Jews, historically, are not. So, G-D’s response to the Satan is really also an answer to the gentiles as to why hanhagas ha’yichud applies to the Jews but not to any other group. That is the purpose of the akeida, the binding of Yitzchak. Everything about that command must have seemed illogical, to slaughter his son despite the fact that Yitzchak is the last Jew and G-D promised that a great nation would descend from him. Also seemingly illogical was the edict to sacrifice when Avraham knew that human sacrifice is forbidden and abhorrent. This is why it was Avraham’s last test. This demonstration of loyalty would be necessary at the End of Time when the Jews will not deserve Redemption.
The Source for the Suffering Mashiach
This situation leads to an incredible situation with the Mashiach ben Yosef. You will see that this is alluded to in the akeida. There’s an excerpt from “Yalkut Shimoni” a famous collection of midrashim—exegetical commentaries. It’s in “Yeshayahu,” section 499, which speaks about Mashiach ben Yosef. I mentioned it a long time ago but want to now interpret it based on this principle that G-D “needs,” based on his own created system, a justification to satisfy justice at the End of Time. It is written in this midrash where G-D says, “Your children, your people will have sinned grievously and requires that they must suffer.”
At the End of Time, right before mashiach comes, G-D has to re-activate hanhagas ha’yichud, those actions that rehabilitate the Jews to guarantee their existence in the Future World. In order to active those actions, He has to demand loyalty despite, again, appearing irrational. Who is going to bear that task as Avraham did?
So, G-D addresses the Mashiach ben Yosef: “Ephraim tzidki--My righteous one (Ephraim we know as a son of Yosef, the righteous messiah and title of Mashiach ben Yosef) I’m going to need somebody to subject to unbelievable pain, suffering, agony, anguish, enough to appear irrational, and that person will have to be totally devoted to me no matter what I do to him. That will be My justification at the End to save the Jews. Will you accept these terms?
He accepts the terms. His response adds up to: I will mekabel--accept the task to enable all the souls of Israel to survive in the Future World, and not only all the souls of Israel who live during my time—which is, of course, at the End--but all those people who died before the Redemption, all those souls who lived from the time of adam ha’rishon—first man,primordial man, until the End. All who lived during these 6,000 years, every soul that needs your intervention to survive, I will be the--I hate to use the term “guinea pig”--the sacrifice for all these Jews.
G-D then places a ohl barzel--yoke of iron on the neck of Mashiach ben Yosef who bends down under its unbelievably heavy weight and screams. It says that his scream goes up to heaven which says, “I’m just basar v’dom---flesh and blood. I can’t bear this!” In other words, the Mashiach ben Yosef didn’t realize the task would demand such tremendous suffering and yet require his loyalty under such circumstances.
G-D reminds him that he said he would accept it. The mashiach says: okay. Since I said it, I will accept it. G-D then tells him that He, Himself, will also “suffer,” in a certain sense. Say’s G-D, “I will not sit on My throne as long as you are taking such suffering upon yourself.” This is an amazing midrash.
We now understand this midrash from the perspective that G-D needs that justification to activate those actions to save the Jews. He’s arguing with Mashiach ben Yosef, impressing upon him that he said he’d accepted the terms. His suffering will be as great as that of the Avraham of the akeida. The mashiach’s self-sacrifice is as great as Avraham’s and Yitzchak’s. We don’t know what that suffering entails, what that sacrifice demands, but we see from the midrash, from the discussion between G-D and mashiach, that it must be travail beyond belief.
Nature of the Messiah’s Suffering
In order to lend some credence, some understanding, of what that suffering can be, I also want to present some ideas about that. I mentioned this quite a while ago, the key idea being that the spirituality of Mashiach ben Yosef is his chochma--wisdom.
At the end of the chumash—five books of Moses, in the parasha “Zos ha’Beracha,” it says of the tribe of Yosef, that the “firstborn of his ox, beauty is his.” Who does that refer to? The firstborn of the ox—the symbol of Mashiach ben Yosef—is beautiful, particularly the “karnei re’em” the horns of the re’em (it is unclear what kind of creature the “re’em” was). It doesn’t have ox’s horns which are short and stout. The horns of the re’em, apparently a majestic animal, has magnificent horns. These represent, protruding from the head as they do, powerful wisdom. As horns, they are also weapons. So, the “weapon” of Mashiach ben Yosef is his wisdom, a weapon he will use against the nations of the world because it says, “with these (the horns), he will gore the nations of the world.” The spirituality, the uniqueness of this individual, Mashiach ben Yosef, is that he has these metaphorical horns, the ohr mashiach--messianic Light. His spiritual essence stems from his tremendous cognitive, analytical abilities which are, apparently, so great as to influence the nations of the world because it is the messianic Light, Divine truth.
Therefore, if you want to make this person suffer, what you need to do is deny him his talent, his ability, to block his great capabilities from being put into practice. His inability to come up with stunning spiritual insights will have caused him unbelievable pain and frustration. Such deprivation would be a direct interference with his very essence. He, of course, will not understand this because he’s unaware that he’s mashiach. He realizes that he has great talents but he has no idea as to why he’s being blocked. How G-D does this is unknown but, clearly, there are many ways He could. It could be a physical disease, mental illness, whatever.
Is this true? It makes a lot of sense and, to the Mashiach ben Yosef, it is completely irrational and doesn’t make sense. Imagine taking a guy—just to illustrate this with an example—let’s say an Einstein as a secular example. Suddenly, the guy can’t think. He knows he’s a brilliant thinker. Or, imagine taking a guy like Beethoven and depriving him of the ability to conceive of music, to compose. Imagine this deprivation goes on and on for years. Imagine too that he’s not completely blocked but he can’t quite “put it together.” Imagine Beethoven has these incredible melodies and harmonies going around in his head but, for some reason, his brain doesn’t allow him to put it together as a composition. That will produce anguish.
To use a Jewish example, the Vilna Gaon had a superlative mind, a photographic memory. I once read—you’ve maybe heard of Ripley’s “Believe it or Not,” a written record of phenomena that were true yet hard to believe—that the Vilna Gaon knew over 25,000 books by heart. Imagine being able to memorize something like that! He knows he’s brilliant, has a photographic memory, has incredible insight enabling him to analyze. So, imagine what would happen if, suddenly, he can’t think, as if he suddenly developed ADHD. He’d wonder: why is G-D doing this to me? Imagine the suffering he’d have to endure every day! That’s the yesurim--suffering of Mashiach ben Yosef.
Source: Yehudi Ha’Kodosh
Who says this? There’s a sefer—book entitled: “Nifla’ot Ha’Yehudi” written by Yehudi Ha’Kodosh—Holy Jew, also known as Yaakov Yitzchak of Peshischa Poland, one of the great, fundamental, foundational Hasidic rebbes and founder of Hasidic philosophy. He writes that, if you want to understand the suffering of the Mashiach ben Yosef—he actually describes it—imagine that the mashiach sits down and starts to learn. By the end of the day, he’s acquired a certain amount of knowledge. The next day, he awakens to have completely forgotten everything he learned—everything! Perhaps he remembers a smattering. What does he do then? He’s got to learn it again. Let’s say he learned it on Sunday and forgot it by Monday. He’s got to relearn it on Monday. By Monday night, he’s completely forgotten it again. So, he restarts the process on Tuesday and he completely forgets it again. This continues week after week, month after month, year after year. He can’t believe what’s going on. During the day, he’s having stupendous spiritual insights but, by the time the day is over and he goes to sleep, he’s a beginner, always having to start again! Eventually, he thinks that what G-D is doing to him is completely irrational, especially since this individual is unique in his thinking ability. This is what Yehudi Ha’Kodosh writes. A unique ability of the person is severely compromised to the extent that he cannot understand why G-D is subjecting him to a deprivation of exactly that which is his greatest talent. When faced with what appears absurd irrationality, his test is clear. He cannot abandon G-D.
No matter what the Ribono Shel Olam throws at him, he’s got to do what G-D wants which is to do the mitzvahs. We have to understand that not only does Mashiach ben Yosef have this awesome ability in Torah, in spiritual insight, he’s also an incredibly spiritual person, has incredible dveikus—attachment to G-D, a clinging to G-D, and yet G-D interferes with that. The interference is tied to the mashiach’s very ability to learn Torah. G-D blocks him from precisely that drive to exercise his greatest gifts: learning Torah and his drive to be attached to G-D. We’re looking at a guy who, as they say in Yiddish is “oyse menche”-a goodly person, and he doesn’t understand what’s going on and his agony continues for years. His test continues for years. G-D needs his loyalty to argue for the rehabilitation of the Jews to get them into the Future World.
This person, who’s a real person, is the manifestation of the Mashiach ben Yosef who accepted upon himself that agreement six thousand years ago at the beginning of Creation. G-D was telling him what will be. Imagine!
The Conversation at the Beginning of Creation
That discussion between G-D and the Mashiach ben Yosef tells us something else. There were a number of Amaro’im--sages that said, “Let the mashiach come, but I don’t want to see him,” meaning they don’t want to be alive at the time before mashiach comes, or even when he comes because the essential difficulty at the End of Time is how to justify redeeming and rehabilitating the Jewish people. They knew G-D would appear irrational and that abandoning G-D would be the temptation and the test. Pain is going to be required at the End of Time to justify G-D’s “right” to redeem them. They didn’t want to suffer so.
The mashiach agreed to this 5,782 years ago. That’s the problem. He is a man. He is the sacrifice to allow the Redemption to come. He has been specifically appointed, assigned. That is alluded to in Rashi regarding the akeida. When the malach—angel told Avraham to withdraw his hand, to avoid harming Yitzchak, Avraham lifted his eyes and saw the ayil acher—an “other” ram entangled in the thicket. How was he entangled?—by those majestic horns! Avraham retrieves the animal and offers it “tachat b’no”—instead of his son.
Rashi says in portion yud-gimel—13, that the ayil—ram had been waiting there for 6,000 years, since “sheishes yamei bereishis”—six days of Creation. That ayil was prepared for this task, to be a substitute for Yitzchak, from the beginning of Creation. Many would think: I don’t see why G-D needed that. There could have been an ayil who just found his way to that place where the binding, the sacrifice was taking place. Why would G-D need one that’s been there for 6,000 years? And why should we care that it was entangled in the thicket by its horns? What’s the difference how it got entangled?
These details are the metaphor for Mashiach ben Yosef. It’s the deal he made with G-D at the beginning of Creation. The ayil represents the mashiach, and he was entangled by his horns because those horns represent the essential spirituality of the Mashiach ben Yosef. They symbolize his incredible chochma—wisdom, the Light. Rashi says this.
The major individual that’s enabling this to happen is Mashiach ben Yosef. It uses the phrase “tachas b’no”—instead of his son because the Mashiach ben Yosef is the one chosen, and the one who agreed, not to abandon G-D no matter what. He is the substitute for Yitzchak.
To further demonstrate the precision of this concept, that midrash from the Yalkut Shimoni, says that “avos ha’olam”—-patriarchs of the world—-and “olam” both refer to all the tzadikim--righteous ones who start praising Mashiach ben Yosef. They exclaim that what he did is unheard of, that what he agreed to do and did has never been done before him or after him. What do they mean? Tzadikim suffer. In fact, their suffering is referred to as “sovlei choloyim” those who bear the suffering for the iniquities of the Jewish people. How has the mashiach’s suffering outdone even theirs?
The Mashiach ben Yosef’s profound spiritual capabilities are something we cannot understand. The amount of spiritual insight he’s privy to is enormous so, having such insights and then being deprived of them, forgetting them day after day for decades, for almost a lifetime until he’s freed, is immense suffering, obviously. The suffering of the tzadikim certainly helps erase the sins of the Jewish people—fine. But the mashiach’s type of suffering, being denied such unparalleled spirituality, that which is precisely his greatest capability, never happened before. It’s like the Vilna Gaon who can’t learn. That doesn’t happen. It could be that he’s going to learn and gets a terrible Pneumonia, or goes to the hospital often—fine. That suffering is external to what he can do with his spiritual gifts but what happens when the suffering destroys his spiritual gifts, those gifts of the mashiach which we cannot begin to fathom? Imagine such agony! This is the spectacular suffering of the mashiach that the tzadikim acknowledge and that allows G-D to have the argument against the Satan to satisfy justice and bring the Redemption.
There’s a Gemara by Rav Shimon ben Elazar, a tremendous scholar, who was always sick. His wife accepted his infirmity with a kind of resignation, as if thinking: okay, what can you do. One day, she walks into his room and he’s in bed, very sick, and she hears him say, “bo elai yessurim”—come upon me, suffering and I will use it as an atonement for the Jewish people. She could hardly believe what was happening. She realized her husband was welcoming, inviting, such suffering to help the Jewish people get an atonement. Tzadikim do have this, you see. He was still an unbelievable amora—scholar, Rabbi Shimon. As great as this phenomenon is, what we’re looking at with Mashiach ben Yosef is someone who is completely thwarted, blocked from his colossal spiritual gifts.
Such is what it takes to give G-D an answer to the Satan when he presents his case: justice does not demand what you are doing! How could you do it—redeem the Jews? G-D obligated Himself, volunteered to obligate Himself, based on how He created with world, to present the ultimate argument, a “pischon peh”—opening of the mouth.
One other midrash says—which is interesting—is that G-D raises the mashiach to an unparalleled height of reward because, if you think about it, what he does is save the Jewish people. That’s an awesome merit. One of the things we see from all this and which is worthwhile acknowledging is how the akeida ends, is resolved. It doesn’t end with Avraham’s knife slipping from his grasp or something mundane like that. It ends supernaturally. An angel actually tells Avraham: Don’t do it! Don’t slash his throat! Don’t slaughter him!
It’s the same idea at the End of Time. This world will be redeemed in a supernatural way we cannot anticipate. We cannot imagine what G-D will do. With all those miracles that happened such as the ten plagues, the splitting of the yam suf—Reed Sea, all those miracles that were not to be believed, we all know what they were. And it’s not just that the sea split. It split into twelve sections and each section could be seen through. It grew fruit out of the water so people could eat as they travelled through it. Astounding!
What going to happen at the final Redemption is beyond imagining, the miraculous events that G-D has in store and which will last for hundreds of years. G-D doesn’t just want to End the world and you simply go either to Gehenom or Gan Eden or whatever—no. He wants this world itself to be a utopia, to become a messianic era. That’s an important concept. G-D could end it so that everybody dies and gets judged on that final Judgement Day, but He wants the world to becomes a utopia. It becomes Gan Eden, a messianic era. The Ribono Shel Olam wants to show you that olam ha’ze-- this world, really is a Gan Eden except for the purposes of the test. For the purposes of dinim—justice, he did this, concealed the fact that the world really is Edenic. I mentioned before that this is the concept of the Beis Ha’Mikdash—Holy Temple, the third and final one, coming down. It comes down from Olam Yetzira which is Gan Eden and that’s the reason the shechina—Divine Presence of the third Beis Ha’Mikdash in heaven becomes the third Temple with the Divine Presence here, in this world. That happens because the world is restored to being Gan Eden. That’s what G-D wants.
The world started out as Edenic with adam ha’rishon---the first man, but changed due to his sin and the subsequent sins of the generations. It will be restored to its original, pristine, edenic state which is why there will be no more death. That is the way it was before the sin. You’re looking at a complete reversal, a complete restoration of Gan Eden in this world which is called the “messianic era.”
And that’s not even Olam Ha’Ba! Like I’ve said, the world ends and it takes a couple of thousand years. Then, in the nine thousandth year begins a reality that nobody knows what it is. It’s a different type of existence. Gan Eden we can understand even though it is beyond comprehension but nobody knows the Future World because it’s different qualitatively in terms of the type of existence there will be.
The person responsible for all this is at the End of Time is Mashiach ben Yosef and the agreement that was reached between him and G-D. We have to recognize that. Hopefully, all of this will happen very shortly.
Q & A
Participant: How will we know that Mashiach ben Yosef’s suffering has been fulfilled, has ended, and that his wisdom is restored, has started.
R’Kessin: …because he will be released. That’s how. And I mentioned that the pasuk in Yeshayahu 48 speaks of four expressions of growth. Now we understand why he has to grow. It says, “Behold my servant will grow in terms of “yaskil,” from the word “sechel”—wisdom. That is the suffering I mentioned, because, right now, he has terrible obstacles, inabilities to think in the profound way that he’s capable of.
Then it says, “v’yorum”—will grow to become greater than Avraham Avinu.
The third expression of growth is “v’niso,” meaning to grow further and become even greater in wisdom and knowledge than Moshe Rabbeinu!
Lastly, “v’gova meod,” means he will become wiser than the angels in heaven. The growth is in the area of haskala—thinking, restoration of his spiritual insights. Why? This is the proof that the suffering he bears is in the area of cognition.
Participant: That is the pekida—reminder to bring Redemption?
R’Kessin: Yes. Well, the pekida is really the decision to end his suffering. How soon after that decision is made comes the restoration of his gifts, we don’t know. The decision is the critical aspect, that the decree has to end. Once that decree has been rescinded, is gone, then things happen. In terms of time, it’s hard to say. Maybe it’s a day later; we don’t really know. The key to all this is the decision as to when G-D stops the decree. It’s like in parashas Shemos, what G-D expresses there: “I’ve seen the cries of the Jewish people and pokod pokaditi.” The verse says, ostensibly, it’s over. I will now begin actively to bring the Redemption. You never know; it could be that the pekida already started but it takes time for it to unfold. We may actually be in the unfolding which, I believe, to a certain extent, is true. I think the pekida happened except we are in a holding pattern in the unfolding. It’s very possible that we are in that stage.
Participant: I have a question about what you’ve said about Olam Ha’Ba and the messianic era. After t’chiat ha’meitim—resurrection of the dead, everybody gets up and then begins the messianic era?
R’Kessin: The messianic era begins with Mashiach ben Yosef. I mentioned that the Beis Ha’Mikdash comes down by G-D before Mashiach ben David. Obviously, that means it’s the messianic era but, remember; the messianic era consists of two phases. Phase one removes, gets rid of the bad which is the nations of the world, their dominance. The second phase is when there’s no longer any evil; now it’s all good. So, both comprise the messianic era. But the real messianic era obviously (is presided over) by Mashiach ben David because (his reign) means all the evil has been removed, obliterated; now there’s only good. We don’t have any idea what that kind of good is. It’s beyond imagining.
Participant: Once the six thousandth year hits….
R’Kessin: Once the six thousandth year hits, that the end of the messianic era. So, then nature changes.
Participant: Everyone already woke up and, if you woke up late, then you missed most of the messianic era, but if you woke up early because that’s why it takes 210 years depending on whoever wakes up, whenever they wake up, …. right?
R’Kessin: Right.
Participant: Let’s say it’s now the year 6,000 and everyone who is ever to be up is now up, so now what? It’s not Olam Ha’Ba yet, so now what?
R’Kessin: Well, the rule is: just like Mashiach ben Yosef is a change from Olam Ha’ze—this world, the evil of this world where the Satan exists and dominates, even that has to change into the Mashiach ben David era where everything is unbelievably righteous and holy. Same thing. There’s no longer any evil, no more zoama but there’s still geshem—physicality, materiality. If you recall, quite a while ago, I said that the world was supposed to have been just geshem, without zoama, but the world turned toward evil because of adam ha’rishon’s sin. When Mashiach ben David comes, the world changes from one that included zoama, which is then gone, which is why everybody gets up from the dead and we live in a material world without the zoama so there’s no death, no destruction or decomposition; that’s all gone. Everything is incredible, fabulous, but it’s fabulous from the perspective of a material world.
You get up in the morning, and everything that happens to you is unbelievable, but from the perspective of a material world. You have all the money you need, or food, or whatever is conceptualized as a good life. However, after 6,000, that changes. The geshem begins to change so that the physical, material world changes into spirituality. It becomes the world the angels inhabit. You become material that is angelic which means you cease to be the former person that was physical.
That transformation starts from the year 6,000 which is the Gregorian calendar year 2240 which is 218 years from now. The world actually goes from a physical, material world to become an angelic world and it takes three thousand years to change because you have to “go up” three thousand years, three worlds: Olam Yetzira from 6001-7000, then Olam Beriya from 7001-8000 which is a greater angelic dimension, and then it changes into a yet greater dimension than that of the angels, Olam Atzilus, which is really Divine. That occurs from 8001-9000. You change into something which we don’t understand because it is neither a world of zoama, not material, not a world of angelic substance; it’s beyond the malachim—angels. They don’t even know what this is but everyone assumes it will be a type of substance which is unknown and incomprehensible, unimaginable. Let’s just call it that of divinity, “Divine.” Somehow you become a being that is Divine although it’s not G-D, obviously, but, whatever it is, that Divine substance is not even angelic. It’s Divine and unknown, and that’s the substance that will remain with you, that type of nature, for eternity.
So, we’re looking at what?—at a different substance so even angels are inferior to what you will be in the Future World. It all starts—and I’m now giving you the changes, the grade differences.
The progression start from the zoama, that Satanic influence in the world we occupy now which changes with the messianic era of Mashiach ben David, changing from one of physicality with zoama to one without it.
Then, after six thousand years, that condition completely changes to one of angelic material like malachim. There are the evolutions in between until end of the year 9000.
Finally, by end of 9000, we become—let’s call it “Divine material”—and you remain with that type of substance forever. That material itself alters because you grow in Olam Ha’Ba; you don’t remain static. Every—I don’t know what it is—second, nanosecond, you actually get greater and greater, closer to G-D within the Divine material that you are made of, whatever that is. I’m just giving you a rough sketch of what’s going to happen.
But there’s a substantial difference between Mashiach ben David’s era until 6000 and the period afterwards because one is the world of materiality and the other is the world of angels. I think I’ve given you a good explanation.
Participant: You know how you said that in 2240 that’s equivalent to the year 6000 and that means that techiat ha’meitim will be eight or nine years (from now).
R’Kessin: Correct. I told you that the Zohar—I’ve stated it several times—says that tchias ha’meisim, which comes when Mashiach ben David comes (is anointed). There’s an argument. One amora says that it will take place 210 years before the End which is 2030. There’s someone else who argues, “no,” that it will happen 214 years before the End which is 2026 so, according to one (of these calculations), it’s in four years (from now) and, according to the other, it’s eight years from now. Isn’t that amazing! By the way, that’s why we are seeing historical events occur with such incredible acceleration. So, we don’t have long to go.
And, by the way, if Mashiach ben David has to come before 2030—and that’s after Mashiach ben Yosef and everything that he does—that means that within eight years Mashaich ben Yosef has to appear, the third Beis Ha’Mikdash has to appear, and then he (Mashiach ben David) arrives at the end of that to begin t’chias ha’meisim. So, within eight years, everything about Mashiach ben Yosef has to happen.
Participant: Do you think this Russia problem has something to do with Mashiach ben Yosef and Gog u’Magog?
R’Kessin: It definitely does because we’re not looking at a local crisis but a crisis involving the entire world. It’s hard to know why or how it fits into the scenario but, right now, there’s no question that it does. I can see certain scenarios for what it could very well do, if you want to hear one….
It’s going to embolden Russia and China because they’re going to take a look at what the U.S. (reaction) will be and, therefore, Putin is going to make tremendous mistakes which will embolden China to also make tremendous mistakes—let’s say by taking over Taiwan—which may generate a backlash against Russia and China as evil forces in the world. That may gather the nations against both. You never know what that will do because we’re looking at global events so it’s possible to embolden both these two countries to make mistakes. It could be a major blow to evil but it’s hard to know. It’s a possibility.
Participant: I’ve been thinking about the borders of Israel being now open. It’s like Ha’Shem wants us back home. For a long time, we were as if being punished, unable to go, and now that it’s opening, it’s as if: it’s okay; now you could come back. Now I want you back.
R’Kessin: Yes. The answer is, yes. Yes, that’s clearly what G-D does. He wants the Jews to come back to Israel and, for whatever reason, He restricted their entry as a punishment and now He wants them back. That’s also why Covid is ending. That’s what seems to be happening because, Covid, as I said before, is receding. You don’t hear news as often about it. Mandates are being removed, the mask requirement—all of this. It seems that the phase during which the world had to suffer from Covid is ending. This includes the ability to enter Eretz Yisrael. The Ribono Shel Olam wants the Jews back which is very good.
Participant: You don’t need the vaccine to be able to enter Israel.
R’Kessin: Exactly, yeah. The truth is that the vaccine doesn’t help. People got Omicron with or without the vaccine. So, all that was done was to destroy economies but that’s also a good sign, which means that the next step—it’s interesting to see where it will come from—is that the government of Israel has to collapse.
What’s interesting is that the Zohar says that the Arabs will rule Israel for nine months so the question is: how can that be? This guy, Mansour Abbas, has unbelievable power because, without him, there’s no coalition. This could fulfill the statement of the Zohar. Even though he has only four seats, yet has so much power and influence…maybe that’s what the Zohar means by saying that the Arabs will control for nine months which they do. They need him desperately.
The government of Israel has to collapse and there has to be somebody that will be an intermediary between the secular and the religious. There has to be somebody to be an intermediary between the Israel the way it is now—with those who are trying to remove the Jewish character of the state—and Mashiach ben Yosef. I think that’s up ahead. If the timetable is accurate, when 2030 is the time of Mashiach ben David and Covid is receding, the next critical thing—as I mentioned how the Eirev Rav have been given power to be dominant over kashrus, gerus--conversion, marriage, divorce, Shabbos, the draft—nobody’s ever seen them wield such power—it’s possible that something will happen so that it will end and they’ll be gone because that decree that they can rule is evil’s last chance. Who will take over, be the intermediary? I have a suspicion but we’ll see what happens.
Participant: When did the nine months begin?
R’Kessin: I think in May or June, one of those months. We’re now in February.
Participant: Everything is unraveling in the month of Adar.
R’Kessin: ….which makes sense. I spoke about that last time, why there are two Adars. The main thing is that the other Adar, the sheini—second, which is the real Adar because it’s next to Nisan, hasn’t happened yet, so you never know. We may be seeing something that’s right up ahead, especially during Nisan. So, don’t be shocked if, suddenly, there’s a major movement forward in the Redemption process in a month.
Participant: This Pesach…?
R’Kessin: I’m wondering if somebody’s gonna walk around in a (Purim) costume as the mashiach. That would be interesting. Is there such a costume?
Participant: You think there’s going to be a fake mashiach before…
R’Kessin: No. That’s over, no. The next sign is the fall of the Israeli government and the fall of the Democratic Party because they are the ra she’b’Esav—the evil aspect of Esav, tremendously evil. They will fall which, hopefully, will happen next November and Biden will be a lame duck. He’s over. Then, things will happen, especially the main idea of the “Eirev Rav” and their collapse. There are many interesting things coming up ahead, and with tremendous speed.
Participant: The days are going by and every week it just….you feel like it’s so fast.
R’Kessin: Right. Look, it’s very logical to assume that G-D wants to end this, and I told you why. The real impetus is the exact same as that which happened at the mabul—Flood when a guy would marry another guy had to write a kesuba—marriage contract, and also if he married an animal. You believe this? That sealed the fate of the world before the Flood. I mentioned that many times. Well, guess what?—that’s exactly what’s happening now.
It is now not just acceptable, but preferred, to be sexually deviant. This will not reverse itself. It’s over with. That rasha—evil-doer, that Supreme Court Justice, actually made it constitutional that you cannot discriminate if some guy wants to marry another guy or a woman to marry another woman. This has become accepted throughout the entire Unites States and, on the contrary, you are called “racist” or whatever (if you oppose it) and America is seen as a beacon (of light) to the world. I hear it’s all over Tel-Aviv. Somebody was telling me—it’s just incredible!
Participant: Tel-Aviv is the heart of it, by the way.
R’Kessin: I know. But it’s not just the gays, not just them. The people of Tel-Aviv have accepted this and it’s become part of the literature…
Participant: They have a huge parade that the gays in America make plans to attend. This is for years now, not just a recent thing. If you’re gay, it’s the thing to do. You want to go to this “pride parade” in Tel-Aviv.
R’Kessin: It’s not only that. Somebody was telling me that they took their kid to a bookstore in Tel-Aviv to buy a book in English and the only children’s book in English was about gender, lauding the concept of gender “fluidity.” This was the kids’ book they had. Insanity has taken over the culture of Israel. That’s bad. Why? It’s bad enough that adults do this but they are trying to destroy the youth. This means the chinuch—education is about LGBTQ and G-D will not tolerate that, the effect on kids. In schools, they are being taught, the curriculum itself includes, that (this behavior) is acceptable and approved and natural. How long is the Ribono Shel Olam going to tolerate this? He’s not, and I believe that’s what we’re looking at—the End. He’s giving evil its due and He’s going to wipe them out. That’s what you’re going to see.
Participant: Rabbi, do you think that our lack of freedom of speech….we can’t even say anything about gender without getting in trouble. Do you think we will get that (freedom) back before this happens?
R’Kessin: America lives in fear. They have succeeded in frightening everybody that they will be called “racist” or whatever. Everybody’s afraid to say anything. They’re trying to change the vocabulary. They’re afraid to lose their jobs, to be labeled “racist” or “sexist” or whatever. But that’s the ra’ she’b’Esav, particularly the Democratic Party, incredible evil. They have been given their due by Divine decree because the evil of Esav, which I’ve talked about, has been given permission to do their thing and then, that’s it. Once it’s over, it’s over and they will be destroyed. I think they’re gonna really have a bloodbath in November when the whole country will reject them, just slaughter them due to what they’ve done. They’ve made America unbelievably corrupt, have destroyed the morals and ethics, the values, and G-D will not forgive them. He’ll destroy them. So, yes, of course it (free speech) will come back.