And I'm far from being the first to come to this conclusion.
Right now, I don't want to go into the nitty-gritty of what we're all seeing and what I think it portends, but I do want to talk about the best response.
And it's not about prepping or making aliyah (which most Jews either won't or can't do right now anyway — and who even says that the Erev Rav leaders would allow millions of Jews, especially if they're frum, to enter?) or writing letters to representatives or newspapers, or signing petitions, and so forth.
(Although if those things will help, then it's good to do them. But they shouldn't be your sole focus.)
There's a lot we can't control and I think this creeping inability to positively affect opinions & situations is only going to increase.
So it's time to re-focus on an age-old authentically Jewish response:
HANG ON TO YOUR EMUNA
He said that the End of Days will feel like a rope being jerked around.
Only the people who can hold on tight will make it.
This means that you already need to be holding on to the rope when it starts jerking & shaking.
Sure, if you're not already holding on, you can always make a lunge for the rope, hoping to grab onto it as it wildly whips around.
And maybe you'll find a place to grasp. Some people will, I'm sure.
But that's pretty risky.
Better to grab on to the rope NOW.
And to take the metaphor even further:
Who has a better chance of hanging on:
- the person with only their index finger curled around the rope?
- the person who has wrapped their arms and legs around the rope and clings to it for dear life?
Or even better:
- the person who coiled that part of the rope around them, so even if their hands slip, they still can't fall off?
I don't know Hashem's Secrets & Cheshbonot, nor do I know the soul-tikkun of others, but it seems to me that part of the reason why so many people are having such a hard time, not just with obvious nisayonot, but with inner trials too.
Their moods, their perceptions, their feelings...
So many people struggle with depression, despair, disappointment, anger, lethargy, apathy, feelings of rejection, loneliness, and distance from Hashem, and so on.
But those of you who fight your way out of these pits (even when you fall in again for the umpteenth time) are actually forging your connection to Hashem.
In other words, you are securing your grip on the rope.
It may not feel like it, but you are.
And that's exactly what we all need to strengthen ourselves to continue doing.
But if Mashiach doesn't come already, I think things are going to get increasingly more bizarre & difficult in the not-so-distant future.
And I think that focusing on strengthening our relationship with Hashem is a positive way of facing that future.