I guess this is the only way to post on the old message board. Is there any validity to know that what Rabbi kaduri said is true? I have not seen the e-mail that has been circulating, but I have heard about it. I am not doubting it, because there have been several major desasters the past year: the tsunami, Katrina, and Rita. Like how do we know that it is accurate?
Do you mean that it’s accurate that he said it, or that it will come true? I think it is obvious it is coming true, this past weekend there was another disaster, the earthquake near Pakistan and India (I think that’s where it was) Whether he said it or not, freaky stuff is going on!
It’s funny, but I think the opposite of Donny. I think it’s well documented that he said it, but I question whether or not it’s coming true. Not because I lack emunas chachomim (faith in our Sages), G-d forbid, but because I don’t see Diaspora rabbis rushing everybody to the airports. Why aren’t all the local authorities encouraging a speedy departure?
As far as Rita, Katrina, etc. - these things have always happened. Sure, Katrina was one of the biggest storms ever to hit the US, but it wasn’t the biggest ever. And hurricanes, like all weather patterns, are cyclical. There are twenty-year periods that are just full of them. We may be entering such a period now. So, yes, everything is from G-d and has a meaning and a message, but this is also part of life and isn’t anything the world hasn’t seen before, even if it’s new to us.
(I kind of *hope* he’s right, because we could sure sure Moshiach already, but the “chevlei Moshiach” (birthpangs of Moshiach) are going to be really unpleasant. According to the Gemara in Shabbos, the mitzvah of Shalosh Seudos helps defend against such difficulties. Just thought I’d mention.)
Jack, I’m an actuary, and I can tell you, there has never been a year like this before with regard to hurricanes, as far as damages go. We actually discussed it at the office, and it is by far the worst year ever. Now, it may be documented that R’ Kaduri said it, but I haven’t seen it. Not to say it isn’t true, just that I haven’t seen it for myself. Now, Rabbinic authorities may call on everyone to go to Israel, but how many people will actually do it? A few years ago, R’ Mattisyahu Soloman said in Lakewood just before Pesach that he felt sure Mashiach was going to come that year. As we know, it didn’t. Does this mean a big Rabbi was wrong? No, it may be that Mashiach COULD have come if we had acted in a certain way, deserving of it, and we failed to do so. So when a Rabbi says something, you have to listen, but sometimes it isn’t the literal interpretation. Ruach Hakodesh works in strange ways sometimes.
I don’t make stuff up, I only report what I read. Hurricane cycles run about 25 to 30 years. The current cycle started around 1995. Before then, from 1975 to 1995, only four major hurricanes (Category 3 or higher), hit Florida. 23 hurricanes (including 15 major ones) hit South Florida alone during the last cycle of high hurricane activity, which began in 1926. This included a Category 5 on Labor Day 1935. That sounds to me like a lot of hurricane activity.
But I’ll let the actuaries and the meterologists fight this one out.
I pretty much agree with the rest of your post. I had a discussion on another board where somebody said that the Lubavitcher Rebbe said that the Moshiach was coming “this generation.” I pointed out that the Lubavitcher Rebbe had said that over twenty years ago, before that person was even born so that, arguably, it was no longer that generation. Similarly, the Ramban said the Moshiach’s arrival was imminent. (Define “imminent.") If X,Y and Z happens, we can say that Rav so-and-so was clearly right. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t necessarily mean that he was “wrong.”
well to be truly honest i dont know what he truly said but it seems interesting and stuff but there is more in natural disasters that people are mentioning… the earthquake in pakistan, the mudslide in guatemala… and the list goes on… this is all in todays news so… but none the less… the point is that disasters like that we have no control over and we have to trust in hashem for this stuff. its the ones that are man made that we have control over and that is what makes mashiach come or not… whether we have a reason to kill each other but not and in my opinion ( agree or not) we dont.
Miriam, what do you mean by “each other”? If you mean other jewish people, then I have to agree with you, we can’t kill each other. But take, for example, the arabs, who are constantly trying to kill us, of course we have to defend ourselves! The Torah say that if someone is trying to kill you, you should kill him before he can get to you. So for people who are trying to harm us, we have to fight back.
<< well to be truly honest i dont know what he truly said but it seems interesting >>
I mentioned this on the other board, from where this topic migrated. Basically, he said that Jews should go to Israel in light of impending worldwide natural disasters.
Donny:
Miriam just said not to kill each other, which I think is good advice. She didn’t go into details of self-defense, etc. When you say, “If you mean other jewish people, then I have to agree with you, we can’t kill each other,” it sounds as if you think it’s okay to kill other people. Of course you don’t and I’m sure you don’t mean to make it sound as if you do. But when it comes to self-defense, we can kill anyone we need to - not just Arabs, but even other Jews (G-d forbid). And, by the way, while there is certainly tension with Arab terrorists and Islamo-fascists, I think just “Arabs” is too broad a stroke. My friends Omar and Joe are Arabs and they don’t want to kill me, so far as I know.
Remember that Lubavitcher Rebbe said that “Moshiach is Here, Just Open your Eyes.” Some even believe the the Rebbe never died cause tzadikkim never die. Eventually we will see................
The Gemara says that Yaakov Avinu never died. After all, the Torah never uses the word death in connection with Yaakov. Ah, but it says that he was buried, so is it not obvious that he died? He never died *metaphorically* - he lives on through his children.
Similarly, every month when we recite kiddush levana, we say “Dovid Melech Yisroel chai v’kayam” - “David, King of Israel, lives and endures.” Dovid HaMelech’s death is well detailed in Tanach. *Metaphorically* he lives on.
well its true that tzaddikim dont ever die as long as me remember what they taught us and stay forever in our thoughts. in the physical sense i think that they might but the lagacy that they left for us is always going to be there for us and future generations as long as we continue the traditions that they believed in… its basically the saying that those we love never die as long as they are in our hearts.
Smith, someone once asked one of my Rabbeim about the Lubavitch people who still believe the Rebbe is alive, or that he will come back and bring Mashiach. He said that they take the only argument we have to disprove the beliefs of christians, and throw it away. He said that those people are pretty much like christians themselves almost, as they believe in a “second coming”. Now, I have no problem with Lubavitch people, some of my closest friends are Lubavitch, but the people who still think the Rebbe is alive, or that he will come back to life and bring Mashiach are, in my opinion, slightly nuts. As far as I know, there are only two people who never died: Serach bas Asher, because Yakov Avinu gave her a bracha, and Eliyahu Hanavi, who became an angel.
Jack, about arabs not wanting to kill you, don’t fool yourself. Arabs are master manipulators, and they know that they can’t all openly show that they want us dead. But believe me, they all do, and would love nothing better than to be able to do it themselves, wuith their own bare hands. Every time I see an arab, I say to myself, “There goes a terrorist”. That’s what they all really are, they just can’t show it openly, or else they’d never get what they are after. R’ Meir Kahana had it right when he said arabs are dogs, just he got killed for saying it, so no one wants to say that openly anymore. Arabs don’t always need to do things like that, they manipulate Jews into fighting among themselves (look at Gaza). So even if they seem nice and friendly, remember, they HATE you.
Sorry, I refuse to believe that all Arabs hate Jews and are terrorists. I imagine most Arabs care about Islam about as much as most Jews care about Judaism and most Christians care about Christianity - that is, not too much.
And “Arab” does not automatically equal “Moslem” - there are Christian Arabs and American Moslems, for example! So who is it that you think automatically hates you?
I think all stereotypes are bad. While you assume they’re all terrorists, they’re teaching their kids that you and I control the world banks and media. I think you’re as wrong about most Arabs as they are about Jews.
