הדרך הישרה - נסיונות האמונה של הדור שלנו

Yes, good afternoon to everyone, and long live the King Messiah. Today we will talk about the matter of all the trials that the people of Israel will face approaching the coming of the Messiah. So, generally regarding this matter of listening to the words of the Sages, listening to the words of the Torah, to what the Holy One, Blessed be He, wants , there is a verse in the Book of Deuteronomy that says: "According to the law which they shall teach you and the judgment which they

shall tell you, you shall do; you shall not turn aside from the sentence which they shall declare to you, to the right hand or to the left." Yes, simply put, what the Rabbi says must be done. To the right, to the right ; to the left, to the left.

Now, it does not seem—it is not that simple; there is the commentary of Rashi on this, where he says that even when the Rabbi tells you that the left side is the right side and the right side is the left side, you must still listen to the Rabbi. Well, that is already interesting. There is a reality that you see on the ground—it is a reality that is clear to you, that the right side is the right and the left is the left—yet the Rabbi comes to you and tells you the opposite. So, the Sages 'books clarify that the point is that even with what you think is right, if he says it is left, you must listen to the Rabbi and not follow what seems right to you.

This means you must always know that the Rabbi knows much better than you; the Rabbi has a much broader vision than yours. You have your interests, you have things that you want, that you desire, and that is what usually leads you on your path. The Rabbi has the interest of the Torah, which is the general interest of the Holy One, Blessed be He. And therefore, in this situation where there is a contradiction, you must always listen to what the Rabbi says.

Now, it is written that before the coming of the Messiah—so, it is really, really close to the coming of the Messiah, when very soon they will come to build the Holy Temple—it is written that there will be a very, very great division among the people of Israel. It is written that the people of Israel will divide into two sides: there will be the truly righteous ones who will go out to bring a High Priest as God wants and to build the Holy Temple, and there will

be those who will go out to follow other gods. And they—it is just like in the time of Elijah the Prophet. >> And they did exactly as it was with Elijah the Prophet, when the prophet stood against all the prophets of Baal; he brought the entire people of Israel, and they built two altars and said they would offer a sacrifice, and whoever the fire descended upon was a sign that the Holy One, Blessed be He, wanted him.

He said truly that at this time, before the coming of the Messiah, there will be a much, much harder trial. Why? Because the fire will not descend on the side of the righteous; it will not descend on the side of those who want the Holy One , Blessed be He; it will descend on the other side. And that will actually be the real trial: to see who, even after it seemingly appears in the world that the Holy One, Blessed be He, is on the other side, who will still continue to believe in God and keep the Torah and the commandments.

And how can one really hold on in such a situation when you see that everything is going in favor of the *Sitra Achra*(the other side)? It is only by being connected to the righteous and to Jews who are connected and linked to the Torah. Because the Torah is eternal; the Torah is always there. Therefore, anyone connected to the Torah continues to stand firm.

Related to this is a story in the book Shivchei Ha'Ari, that one Friday, right before welcoming the Sabbath, the Ari (the holy Arizal) called all his students and said to them : "Let us go up to Jerusalem, let us observe the Sabbath welcoming today in Jerusalem." All the students, who were righteous, said with joy: "Of course we will come to Jerusalem, but just a moment, I will go to update my wife, so each one can let his wife know we aren't coming so they can prepare

for the Sabbath." In short, the Arizal looked at them and said: "Then we will not go to Jerusalem , and it is a great pity, because if we had gone to Jerusalem, we would have merited bringing the Messiah today." Now , seemingly, the King Messiah asks: what was wrong with their conduct? They did exactly what they were supposed to do according to the book. A man, before he travels, before he goes to another place , needs to ask permission from his wife . Because at the

end of the day, who will make Kiddush if he is not there?

So the Ari made this point: it is a correct calculation, and all is good and well, and that is what is written in the Shulchan Aruch. But in life, it cannot be. A soldier, when he is drafted into the army, he cannot now before every mission go: "Wait a second commander, I will go ask my wife if she agrees, then I will come." I won't even just go to update her; it doesn't work that way, things need to move forward. If we don't do it now, if we don't do it this very moment , we miss the whole opportunity.

And the point is even more than that. That is one side. But the real issue is that the students should have trusted the Arizal. The Arizal, after all, is much greater than them in Torah.

Everything they know in Halacha, they ultimately received from him. Therefore , if the Rebbe tells you to do something , if your Rabbi tells you to do something, you must take into account that he has already considered this calculation too. When the Rabbi tells you something, you must go with it all the way. And so, by listening and believing in the words of the Rabbi, the King Messiah, we merit the true revelation immediately, Messiah our Master, our Teacher, and our Rabbi, King Messiah, forever and ever.