Kristallnacht-70 Years Later

Kristallnacht or the Night of Broken Glass, was an anti-Jewish pogrom in Nazi Germany on 11/9/38. That night is viewed by many historians as the beginning of the "Final Solution" leading towards the genocide of the Holocaust. One of the significant purposes of Kristallnacht was the disarmament of the German Jews. All Jewish owned firearms were confiscated.
On this one night of broken glass and darkness, 91 Jews were beaten to death, over 30,000 Jewish men were arrested and brought to concentration camps, over 200 synagogues were destroyed, as well as 7,000 Jewish shops. If you factor in the suspected suicides resulting from this terror, then there were approximately 2,500 deaths attributable to the Kristallnacht pogrom. Heavy fines followed and the Jews themselves were responsible for repairing the broken windows and their damaged shops by reaching deep into their own pockets.
Kristallnacht changed the nature of persecution from economic, political, and social to actual physical beatings, incarceration and outright murder. In other words, "Kristallnacht came and everything changed." That night of terror was instigated by Nazi party officials and the Nazi storm troopers. But this terrible night would not have reached such a level of destruction and death if not for the overwhelming hatred that the average German citizen had for the Jewish People. When the "green light" went on telling the German population that it was okay for them to beat, harass and torment any Jew they could find, there was no hesitation. There was a carnival atmosphere in the streets of broken glass.
Could this ever happen again? The late Rabbi Meir Kahane who had visions of truth, urged the Jewish People to make sure that this will NEVER AGAIN occur. But people did not want to hear of the remote possibility that such a nightmare might repeat itself. It's much easier thinking that this was an isolated, historical calamity, and that the evil that Hitler was filled with, will never occur again. And so, many Jewish synagogues refused Rabbi Kahane to speak. He was a special Jew who was way ahead of his time. His message regarding what would take place in the State of Israel if the Arabs were not expelled was prophetic. When you look around the world and see how the slow build up of anti-Semitism is exploding before our eyes, how countless countries are forcing Jews to flee from lands that they thought were safe, secure and protective, how Chavez in Venezuela turned on the green light allowing the people to harass the Jewish community, we must understand that NEVER AGAIN can only be realized if we lift up our voices, hearts, and tear filled eyes to Hashem in Heaven. Once the media of the nations follow the lead of the dictators, kings and rulers by urging the populace to boycott Jewish business (as they recently did in Venezuela), the memories of Kristallnacht reappear.
What about Obama's land, the land of the free? Aren't we protected there? Let's examine the Hebrew expression for Kristallnacht. It consists of 2 words in Hebrew meaning "NIGHT OF" and "BROKEN GLASS." ליל means "night of" with a gematria of 70, and הבדולח means "broken glass" with a gematria of 55. Kristallnacht occurred on 11/9/38 and almost exactly to the day 70 years later on 11/4/08 a new king was crowned in America. So the 70 gematria of "night of" stands for a dangerous date in Jewish history. Indeed 70 years after Kristallnacht was the "night of" the winning election of the most dangerous man the Jewish People have faced since Hitler. Who are we talking about? The gematria of "broken glass" is 55, the same as the value of OBAMA אובּאמה.

The Secret Behind Na Nach Nachma Nachman

The phrase Na Nach Nachma Nachman Me'Uman was revealed and taught by Rabbi Yisroel Ber Odesser. Rabbi Odesser was born in 1888 in Tiberias, and was among the first Breslover Hasidim in Israel. In 1921 on the Fast of Tammuz he became weak and hungry and broke his fast. He felt guilty afterwards that he was unable to overcome his physical temptation. He prayed continuously for 5 days until he heard a voice instructing him to go into his room. He did that and randomly opened a book. In the book was a piece of paper that he later called "The Letter from Heaven." The English translation of this letter reads as follows, "It was very hard for me to descend to you, my precious student, to tell you that I benefited greatly from your service. And to you I say, my fire will burn until the coming of the Messiah. Be strong and courageous in your service. Na Nach Nachma Nachman Me'Uman. And with this I shall tell you a secret: Full and heaped up from line to line, and with strong devotional services you will understand it. And the sign is: They will say you are not fasting on the 17th of Tammuz."
The Rabbi believed the letter to be a message of consolation, directly from Rebbe Nachman of Breslov's spirit to himself. He adopted this phrase as his personal meditation, and became so personally identified with it that he later said that he was, Na Nach Nachma Nachman Me'Uman. He died at the age of 106, and this very expression appears on his grave stone in Jerusalem.
Rabbi Nachman of Breslov stated that a "song of redemption" would be revealed before the coming of Mashiach, and that this song would be in a single, double, triple, quadruple form, just like this phrase. In 1984 Rabbi Moshe Feinstein wrote a letter of approbation endorsing Rabbi Odesser's efforts to raise funds for publishing Rav Nachman's books. Rabbi Feinstein mentioned that he was inspired by a secret document which Rabbi Odesser possessed. Despite this, not all Breslover Hasidim use Na Nach Nachma, and not everyone believes that it is an authentic writing. Some believe that the letter was written by Rav Nachman to someone else and was placed in the old book, while others simply believe it was forged by one of Rabbi Odesser's students to distract him from feeling guilty over breaking his fast. There is even a theory that when he was a young student, a friend of his was just playing a trick on him and put the note in a book. But the Rabbi never opened that book until many, many years later. When he finally discovered it, his friend revealed the details of the practical joke to him. But, Rabbi Odesser refused to believe it was anything but a message from heaven.
But even if it was meant simply as a joke, and the words were just made up without any real meaning, it did come as a message from heaven. For who other than Hashem put those words into the mind of the friend? Indeed, these words have a significant connection to the end of days, and our upcoming, final geula. The key to uncovering this message is the atbash form of gematria. Let's examine the phrase carefully:
נ נח נחמ נחמן. The atbash of נ is 9. The atbash of נח is 69. The atbash of נחמ is 79 and finally the atbash of נחמן is 88. The difference between 9 and 69 is 60, the difference between 69 and 79 is 10 and finally the difference between 79 and 88 is 9. Thus we get 60 10 9. If you eliminate the 2 zeroes you are left with the number 619.
The Book of Torah containing more secrets about the end of days than any other is the Book of Daniel. Towards the end of this Book, Daniel asks G-d, מה אחרדת אלה, "what is the end of these matters?" G-d responds with the words לך דניאל, "go your way Daniel." G-d is not telling Daniel to stop inquiring about the end. His response is indeed the answer to Daniels's question, for the atbash of לך דניאל, is 619 which is also the same value as אחרית, which means the end. Thus, G-d is answering Daniel by telling him that the end is indeed the end. But the end of what or whom? It will be the end of evil, scepticism, doubt, falsehood and conflict. And just when will this end period begin? The last word of the phrase מאומן Me'Uman tells us. For the gematria of this word is 137, the same value as מגדלין (Towers) and בּן לאדן (Bin Laden). Thus, this clue tells us that at the time that Bin Laden destroys the towers (the twin towers on 9/11/01), know for certain that the end of days has arrived.
The letter indeed was a letter from Heaven telling mankind that for some there will be a final end, but for others there will be a brand new beginning.

The Beauty Of Your Work-A Poem By Joel Gallis

The beauty of your work surrounds me,
From majestic mountains to graceful streams,
My eyes can only see your glory,
By day, by night, and in my dreams.
Sounds of praise I hear all around me,
From babies' first cries to the song of a bird,
My ears can only hear your glory,
By day, by night, your praise is heard.
Your touch I always feel about me,
From the winds' soft kiss to the warmth of the sun,
My soul can only feel your glory,
By day, by night, my G-d is one.
But with frigid hearts of stone,
There are many who stand alone,
They cannot see though their eyes are opened wide,
They walk on your ground,
Without hearing a holy sound,
They just don't realize that you're always at their side.
The darkest part of night,
Precedes the morning light,
You wait for us to walk in your ways,
Your arms are opened wide,
To take us for your bride,
And embrace us till the End of Days.
I long for the start of each new day,
And grow sad when darkness comes and chases it away,
For each moment is a chance to see your light,
May there soon come a day before the setting of the sun,
When their eyes will be opened, and they'll know you are one,
Then they'll see the beauty of your work day and night.

The Jews In Egypt

Passover literally means that G-d had to pass over the houses of the Jewish People so that the Angel of Death could kill the Egyptian first born during the 10th and final plague. Why would that be necessary if the Jews lived separately from the Egyptians in their own distinct land? Hashem could have simply passed over the entire land of Goshen. But unfortunately this was not the case. We have previously mentioned that the Jews were in Egypt for 210 years. During that period they were enslaved for the final 116 years with hard labor. During the previous 94 years when things were going quite well for the Jews, they got tired of living in the Egyptian Boro Park section and moved out of Goshen. They moved to the other side of the tracks where they lived in close proximity to the Egyptians. They had business ventures and deals with the Egyptians, and some were able to get special treatment from them during the time of hard labor. It's interesting to note that despite being in Egypt for close to 100 years, the Jews were still looked upon as the newcomers, not good Egyptian civilians. The Egyptians wondered why should we respect people that don't respect themselves? Why do they treat our things dearer than their own?
The Egyptians actually did not bother the Jews as long as we kept to ourselves. But once we began to resemble "regular Egyptians", did the hatred begin. The Jewish Nation was called it by Pharaoh. Imagine being called "it"! That's the equivalent today of being called "you people". And suddenly without the necessary Jewish exposure and commitment to Jewish rituals and values their Jewish identity quickly vanished. They became slaves long before the Egyptians enforced slavery upon them because they had already become slaves to Egyptian culture, Egyptian fashion and Egyptian values. They were so engrossed and involved politically, and emotionally with this country that they would find it nearly impossible to pull themselves away when they had to. They looked upon themselves as good Egyptians who happened to be Jewish, instead of Jewish People who happened to be living temporarily in Egypt. This is very similar to American Jewry today.
Not only were the majority of Jews in Egypt blind to the redemption occurring right before their eyes, they were also blind to the plagues that were brought by Hashem through Moses and Aaron. These plagues were not natural disasters brought upon them by nature. They were afflictions sent upon the Egyptians to punish them measure for measure for their actions against the Jews. To quote Josephus Flavius, the Jewish historian who is actually mentioned by Rashi, "no such plagues ever happened to any other nation as happened to the Egyptians." The Jews who wound up leaving Egypt, unlike those who were too attached to Egyptian society to leave, saw the plagues from afar and understood what they meant. They knew the redemption was imminent and they prepared themselves for it. The current disasters that have struck the world over the past several years were really plagues. We are being tested at this current time period to see if we will close our eyes to what is really occurring, and go into denial, or if we will open our eyes and see the hand of G-d and the clear showing of His might. When we view these plagues we must be in awe of Hashem, pray that He protects us from them, and prepare ourselves for our imminent redemption.

Speedily In Our Days

Even though G-d promised Avrohom that his descendants would be strangers in a land that was not theirs, and they would be oppressed for 400 years, according to the Torah we left Egypt 190 years earlier than we were supposed to, and only spent 210 years there. The reality is that we were meant to be in Egypt a full 400 years. What makes this even more interesting is the fact that we refer to the Final Redemption as קץ הימים, "end of days." However, if the words are read correctly, it should really say, "end of THE days." Which days are we referring to? The days remaining from the 190 years when we left Egypt early. Hashem spread out the terrible oppression of those 190 years over 33 centuries, but soon, any day now, any moment now, there will be an end of THOSE days. We always pray בּמהרה בימינו, that Mashiach and our final redemption should come speedily in our days. Speedily? It appears to be so late, our exile so long. Well, just as in Egypt, to the very second, when it was time to leave, the redemption came so fast. So too, when the DAYS of the 190 years have passed, at the exact second, our redemption will surround us and unfold "speedily." Thus, as you can see there is a great connection between the redemption from Egypt at the beginning of Jewish history, and the final redemption towards the end of the historical 6,000 year period that the world will last (as we know it). Perhaps now, we can understand the Passover Haggadah when it says that every Jew should feel as if he or she also left Egypt. And it's also interesting to note that the gematria of the word קץ (end), as in End Of Days, is amazingly 190.

The First Ray Of Redemption

Daniel 7(23) speaks about the 4th beast of exile (the exile of Edom and Yishmael). Whereas the majority of this exile dealt with the power and control of Edom, the final stage has shifted to Yishmael's might and their lack of concern for the lives of others. Verse 24 states that this beast of exile will have 10 horns (meaning 10 kings), and then an 11th one will arise different from the former ones. Notice that the number 11 is once again involved. As we have mentioned in several writings, the number 11 represents the current exile of Yishmael. Verse 25 continues to speak about the 11th horn or king (the final one). He will speak words against G-d, will exhaust the strength of the Jewish People, and will try to "change" השׁניה the times and the laws. The Jewish People will, G-d forbid, be under his rule for a certain period of time, known only to Hashem.
When you study the description of this "final king" with your eyes opened, you realize that King Obama is the one that is being referred to. He is the king who will "change everything" in his kingdom, especially as it affects the Jewish People. To doubt this and say instead, "Let's give him a chance. Let's see how he does. He really means well," is to repeat the same mistakes the Jewish People made 70 years ago in Germany.
But all is not bleak and grave. In fact, Obama and the darkness he has brought to the world through his arrogant mouth, has actually let in a dim light of hope. He can't see it, or understand it. When Avrohom took his son Yitzchok to offer him up on the altar according to G-d's command, they saw the location that G-d had shown them. They were escorted by Eliezer and Yishmael, and asked them, "have you also seen what we have seen on that distant mountain?" They replied, "we do not see anything, only a mountain." Avrohom knew then that they could not go any further and told them to stay behind with the donkey. Obama too cannot see the first ray of redemption. He can only see the darkness that he has created. How appropriate it is that the 44th word in Torah corresponding to the 44th President is ולחשׁך, (and to the darkness).
The word that he has made famous השׁניה meaning "change" has the same gematria as "speedily in our days" בּמהרה בימינו. This very term which has been used by Jewish men, women, and children for thousands of years as a wish that our redemption would come suddenly, and during our lives, is a term that is connected to the "change" that Obama has brought to the world. But like Yishmael who was left behind to stay with the donkey, Obama cannot see the holy mountain that Avrohom saw. He can only see the darkness caused by his changes while the Jewish People see the first ray of redemption.

The Message Of The Burning Bush

When Moses saw the burning bush, he was amazed that the bush did not burn. In fact he said, מדוע לא יבער הסנה, "why will the bush not be burned?" These Hebrew words have the same gematria 553 as the words, מחיה מתים, (who resurrects the dead). Moses could not understand how the roots of the bush were not destroyed by the fire. For as long as the roots were alive, there was a connection to life which allowed the bush to return each spring. There are many Jews who have intermarried, many who've changed their Jewish names, many who have lived a totally assimilated life sytle, and many who are totally non-believing individuals. They think their Jewish roots have been burned and destroyed by the "fires of assimilation" but they are wrong. Their connection to a Jewish life and Hashem is still alive. G-d resurrects us anew each morning from our deep sleep. We can start any day as a new person by turning our backs on yesterday's mistakes and beliefs. That's all past history. We can spend the rest of our lives as Jews connected to G-d and each other.