When Moshiach comes, all the Nations of the world are going to realize that whatever they did in the world succeeding in enriching themselves, building a world military-power, making scientific discoveries, becoming an economic-power, whatever they are going to see that the point of it all had to do with what impact it would have on the Jews. Were supposed to be A Light Unto The Nations. Thats our own particular G-d given role in the world. Thats what light is all about. When we perform as light, when we do something about bringing the light of Torah into the world, thats when there is light! And when there isnt, when we arent learning Torah or performing mitzvos, when we assimilate, G-d sends us the Babylonians, the Persians, the Greeks, the Romans, the crusaders and the pogromists, Enlightenment and Emancipation, and the Western World, and all the other threats that happened throughout history. They are sent to stimulate us, to wake us up, and to arouse us back to our original purpose. If we are going to forget our purpose, and if we are going to try to become the 71st Nation of the world, then G-d will stop us. He wont tolerate that. We cant be a 71st Nation because then the entire world will surely sink into the morass of immorality and corruption. There has to be at least one Nation that is pulling everybody up and not copping out of its responsibility. And if we dont do this, then somebody is going to come around and remind us that were Jews and that we have this responsibility. Why do you think that all the attempts of Jews to become the 71st Nation - to assimilate - have failed? And dont think that they havent tried hard enough Jews have tried, oh have Jews tried in our time perhaps harder than any other time there has been an attempt of Jews to disguise or to forget their Jewishness and to just blend in to the melting pot, to just blend in with the rest of the world. You know why it has failed? It has failed for one very simple reason: you can change your Moses, but you cant change your noses. Meaning, you can say all the protestations you want about what you believe, and you can try to dress likethem, eat their food, sing their songs, speak their language, and do everything like them, but there is always going to be somebody who will recognize some feature of your Jewishness, and he is going to be the one who reminds you. That is his purpose. G-d sends them to shake us back into a realization of what were all about and that we can never be part of those 70 Nations because we have a unique role to play in the world. In the end of days our Sages tell us that there is going to be a world trial, like a post Nuremberg trial, except that there is going to be only one judge: The One Judge; G-d. And G-d will ask the 70 Nations: what did you do to promote Torah in this world? And the Talmud says that all the Nations will come forward with their new understanding of world history, and they will try to take credit for having enabled Jews to learn Torah by providing them with such necessities as marketplaces, roads, bridges, and bathhouses. But G-d will reject their claim telling them: Although your achievements did actually benefit the people of the Torah, it was only because My Divine Plan of World History put you in a position to do so; but, in fact, your motivations were purely selfish ones: either for economic exploitation or physical gratification. In a broader sense, throughout history, the persecution of Jews, although motivated by primitive anti-Semitism, has also been part of The Divine Plan for reminding Jews of their special mission in this world. Hence when we are lighting our Chanukia this year, we should have in mind that, in our encounter with darkness, we dont want to use the flame to burn and destroy the world, rather, we want to use it to illuminate the whole world with Torah. We want to light the way for all the Nations so that they can prosper materially and spiritually. The prescription for overcoming darkness in our time, is the same as it was in the time of the Hellenistic oppression: by increasing our light. If we increase our learning, and if we increase our holiness, then we will truly be A Light Unto The Nations.
Posted on: Wed, 17 Dec 2014 18:00:00 +0000
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