As the Northeast attempts to recover from the destruction and devastation wrought by Hurricane Irene, Matzav.com reached out to a personal gabbai of Maran Rav Aharon Leib Shteinman for the roshyeshiva‘s insights regarding the impact of the storm and what message we are to glean from it and other recent events. These are Rav Shteinman’s words, verbatim:
“Hakadosh Boruch Hu brought a mabul to the world and, after the mabul, He vowed never to bring another mabul upon the entire world, but on part of the world He would bring [a mabul]. Recently, what happened in America, that there was a large scale storm, is considered a mabul in that specific place, with torrential rains and powerful winds. In the mabul [of Noach’s times], there was hot water, while in this instance there was not, but it was ‘mei’ein a mabul‘ (a small-scale mabul).
Rav Shteinman continued:
“As for lemaaseh, it comes to awaken and inspire us, especially during these days, which are the days of Elul. Rav Yisroel Salanter said – I heard that Rav Naftali Amsterdam said it in his name – that if a person dies a sudden death, then for three days one need not learn mussar [because of the impact of the tragic event]. Here, that such events happened, both the powerful winds and also the tragedies in which people were murdered in Eretz Yisroel and in chutz la’aretz, this comes to awaken us to be mechzeik ourselves in preparation for the Yom Hadin. In fact, we are already in Elul, but the truth is that we view it as if the day of judgment is maybe fifty years away or so, and therefore [Hakadosh Boruch Hu] has come to arouse us that we should be mischazeik in preparation for the Yom Hadin, Rosh Hashanah, habah aleinu letovah.”
{Shmiel Gellman-Matzav.com Newscenter}
You either don’t know what verbatim means, or R’ shteinman learnt Engish
Which gabbai?
“but the truth is that we view it as if the day of judgment is maybe fifty years away or so”
Does this mean that we assume mashiach is going to come in around 50 years?
To #3
“Achakeh Lo Bechol Yom She’yavo”
of course it has come to awaken us to TESHUVA.
if klal yisroel had only started doing teshuva when 7 tzaddikim left this world in a matter of 5 WEEKS & gotten the message from Hashem.
we would not need an earthquake & a hurricane to bring us to teshuva
START DOING TESHUVA NOW BEFORE MORE TRAGEDY STRIKES RL its up to all of us to prevent more tzaros from happening. we are causing it to ourselves & giving Hashem no choice.
Hashem loves every single yid-tzaddik or russia alike-& is waiting for our teshuva towards bringing the geula to begin.
The fact is that TORAH is the calling to make Teshuvah. Did we miss that fact?
It is undoubted that the coming weeks and months will witness a confluence of events that will lead to a certain paradigm.
Watch the divine calender.
Zion will be redeemed in judgment”
Isaiah 1:27
“Which gabbai?”
A “personal gabbai”, that’s who.
Or, if you prefer, “an unattributable source who spoke on terms of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak in the rebbe’s name”.