Answers posted to questions asked on this post.
See comments section below.

“No proselytizing of any faith.”

But this is my blog.  What can I say.  I built it.  I write it.  I pay for it.  So here’s what is pressing on my heart and mind as world events hurl us closer toward the final redemption…

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MY THOUGHTS ON CONVERTING TO JUDAISM

Time is running out to do so.

When Mashiach arrives, the ability for Gentiles to join the congregation of Israel as converts (i.e. as Jews) will end forever.

Converting to Judaism can take several years.  It is not a simple addition of beliefs, nor a simple declaration of faith.  It is a transformative process.

I am not a rabbi, able to guide you.
On the other hand, I am born of a convert.
And I am so grateful and honored
to have that (eternal) privilege.

Ruth converted.
Ruth was the great grandmother of King David, forefather of Mashiach.

Additionally, I, personally like to delve deep and far.
If I were a gentile, I, personally, would be converting.

Having said that…

Conversion is not for everyone.

But conversion certainly is for some Gentiles.

For them, I say:
Time is running out.

Some very needed words by Rabbi Lazer Brody.

Beware of being swept up with Messianic speculation! I know it’s inspiring…but we should know the dangerous pitfalls of exciting over such speculation.

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(Source: Breslev)

According to Rebbe Yehoshua’s opinion in the Midrash (Yalkut Shimoni, Bo, 210), “Moshiach” (Hebrew for Messiah) will come during the month of Nissan (Rebbe Eliezer disagrees, and says that Moshiach will come in Tishrei). Perhaps that’s why everyone’s longing for redemption reawakens during the month of Nissan, when G-d redeemed the children of Israel from bondage in Egypt.

Everybody seems to be writing about Moshiach these days and everyone seems to be talking about him. Tamar Yonah (Israel’s Oprah, but a lot more talented) asked for my opinion during one of my recent appearances on her weekend Israel National Radio show broadcast.

My answer was a cold sponge on the enthusiam of the Messianic double-guessers: The Gemara curses those who second-guess the coming of the Messiah and says תפח רוחם, or “May they drop dead!” (tractate Sanhedrin, 97B). The Rambam actually codified this curse into religious law (Hilchot Melachim 12:2); in his classic “Thirteen Principles of Faith” (see Rambam’s commentary on the Mishna, tractate Sanhedrin, 10:1, principle number 12), and writes that we must believe in the coming of the Messiah with complete faith, and although he may tarry, we must await his arrival whenever he comes.

According to both the Lithuanian tradition (disciples of the Vilna Gaon) and the Chassidic tradition (disciples of of the Baal Shem Tov), we must patiently wait for Moshiach with simple and pure faith. Torah, prayer, and good deeds are what the soul needs, not Messianic speculation.

Throughout Jewish history, whenever a false messiah or an expected “moshiach” arrival date became a disappointment, many people lost their faith.

I once heard a very sharp joke that the big tobacco companies finance the messianic movements, because whenever a messianic movement is proved wrong - either when the messianic candidate fails to save the world or when the speculated due date expires - then many of the movement’s members, former Sabbath observers, begin smoking on the Sabbath, and tobacco sales increase.

My esteemed teacher, the Melitzer Rebbe shlit”a, told me the following story: In 1860, rumors spread like wildfire that the Messiah will be coming that very year (1860 in the Jewish calendar is 5620, and 620 is the numerical equivalent of כתר, “keter”, which means “crown”, an allusion to Moshiach and the kingdom of David). In the prayer house of the great Chassidic master Rebbe Yechezkel of Shinova, the son of the renown Rebbe Chaim of Tsanz, the chassidim were all whispering Moshiach conjectures during a prayer service. Rebbe Yechezkel banged on the podium with his fist - bringing the services to an abrupt halt - and roared, “I promise you - Moshiach will not come this year!”

Maybe speculation about the coming of the Messiah would make interesting betting in Las Vegas, but it adds nothing to a person’s love of G-d, fear of G-d, Torah scholarship, soul development, and/or spiritual awareness. So why speculate? Why give yourself a broken heart by being disappointed when your expected Moshiach due date becomes just another day?

Rebbe Nachman of Breslev teaches us that the only way to safely make it through these times is with simple and innocent faith. I strongly suggest that we all follow his advice.

Again, my apologies for the damp sponge, but one must extinguish a fire when it burns in the wrong place. A candle-light of simple faith is always better than the fire of messianic conjecture; the latter - unfortunately, destroys everything in its path.

One answer only this time.

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I would like to comment after enough votes are in.

(Source: Nava)
The author of this post is a very holy woman who often has remarkable dreams that have led her on journeys across the world, and have impacted thousands of people.

Ever wonder why a dog barks “arf! arf!” or a large dog barks “roof! roof!”? Or a bird chirps ‘tzif tzipf”? Or a sheep says “baaaaa! baaaaa! baaaa!”? And why do cows go “moo”?

Last night in a dream, 26 Tamuz, I saw a large herd of cows loudly ‘mooooooing’. Although I thought that it was extremely funny to see a large herd of cows loudly ‘mooooing’ in the dream, I realized that it’s not funny at all and there is a strong message in their mooing. During the dream, a unique thought came to me and it suddenly dawned on me why cows say “mooooo”. In Hebrew, Mooooo is spelled מוּ and its gematria is 46. The Roshei Tevot (initial letters of the consecutive words) of Moshiach ben David is MBD - מבד and its gematria is also 46! In the dream, the cows were mooing because they too are excited that Moshiach ben David is coming to redeem us.

The sheep says ‘baaaaa!’ In Hebrew, baaaaa is בא and it means ‘coming’ - who is coming? Moshiach ben David.

It says that the animals will be spiritually elevated and stop preying upon each other when Moshiach comes. As the prophet Isaiah, zs’kl, states, “The wolf will lie down with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the kid goat; the calf, the young lion, and the fattened ox will flock together, and a young child will lead them… The knowledge of G-d will fill the earth as the water covers the sea.”

Animals offers us great possibilities in deepening our connections with HKB’H (the Holy One Blessed is He). So next time you hear any animal species barking, chirping, growling, yapping, bellowing, mooing, etc. know that also the animal are all anxiously yearning for Moshiach.

I thought that this would be appropriate to post now, at the beginning of the month of Av - a month filled with calamities for the Jewish people throughout history. Yet this month is associated with the coming of Mashiach, and in the future (please G-d soon) will become a day of celebration instead of mourning.

Hi friend,

I wanted to point out something that I think the author of the article you posted should have told us.
The author says:

Let me be frank, the apocalypse is coming and there is no way to avoid it

The Rambam, of blessed memory, would disagree with such a statement, and he does so here in the Mishneh Torah:

Mishne Torah > Sefer Mada > Hilchot Yesodey HaTorah > Perek yud > chelek dalet:

דברי הפורענות שהנביא אומר, כגון שיאמר פלוני ימות או שנה פלונית שנת רעב או מלחמה וכיוצא בדברים אלו, אם לא עמדו דבריו אין בזה הכחשה לנבואתו ואין אומרין הנה דבר ולא בא. שהקב”ה ארך אפים ורב חסד וניחם על הרעה. ואפשר שעשו תשובה ונסלח להם כאנשי נינוה או שתלה להם כחזקיה: אבל אם הבטיח על הטובה ואמר שיהיה כך וכך ולא באה הטובה שאמר בידוע שהוא נביא שקר, שכל דבר טובה שיגזור הא–ל אפילו על תנאי אינו חוזר.

Translation:
“Words of calamity that a prophet says, for example that he says So-and-So will die or Such-and-Such a year will be a year of famine or war, and similar type words - if his words do not come about in the future, this is not a proof against his being a true prophet, and we do not say “He spoke and it did not come true!” Rather, we know that The Holy One Blessed is He is slow to anger and great in kindness and relented on the calamity that was decreed.

And it’s possible that the people [upon whom the calamity was decreed] repented and were forgiven, as in the case of the people of Ninveh [in the story of Yonah and the whale]…But if the prophet promised something positive and said that there will be Such-and-Such [positive things] and the positive things that the prophet said did not come about - with certainty he is a false prophet, because everything good that G-d will decree, even on condition, will never be reversed!”
END RAMBAM QUOTE.

The prophecies involving calamities that our prophets made do NOT have to come about since Hashem is forgiving, merciful, and compassionate.

When world events happen according to the frightening prophecies, it is a proof that we have not done enough teshuvah (repentence). But if the terrible things do NOT happen (G-d willing), it means that our teshuvah was accepted, and Mashiach will come ברחמים through mercy and compassion as opposed to through calamities.

Part of this is understanding - knowing - that Hashem is compassionate and merciful and wants us to improve our ways so that the calamities will not come about.

Another thing that disturbs me about the above quote from the article is that it goes against the following teaching in Judaism from the Talmud:

The sages taught in the Talmud that one must not give up hope in G-d’s Mercy even when “the blade is against your throat.”

Having said the above (Rambam and the Talmud), I am perplexed and concerned that the author of the article you posted for us would say:

“the apocalypse is coming and there is no way to avoid it…“

What do you think? Perhaps I’m reading this wrong?

May Hashem send us Mashiach with mercy and compassion speedily in our days. And may we know what to do to merit such a future.

blessings,
Daniel

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Guest post by Reb Ari

I recently verified this story from the grandson of the couple involved.

My friend’s elderly grandmother, Miriam, remarried a number of years ago to R’ Shalom. They live in Jerusalem. R’ Shalom is now in his mid nineties and in his youth he studied in yeshiva in Mir in Poland and had the opportunity to spend a week at the home of the Chofetz Chaim (R’ Yisroel Meir Hacohen Kagan, zs’kl). A few nights ago, in the middle of the night he woke and told his wife that the Chofetz Chaim had appeared to him in a dream and simply said that Moshiach will be here soon. The Chofetz Chaim said that it is time to get ready and to spread the message. My friend’s father (Miriam’s son) asked his rav, Rav Asher Weiss if this is something to take seriously. His response was that we are clearly standing right before Moshiach, and it certainly should be taken seriously and we should undertake to do Teshuva.

The second story I heard directly from the people involved.

There is a young girl about eight years old who needs a refuah (אביבא מלכה בת לאה) - she is currently in the hospital with loss of vision. Please pray for her. She has been in and out of the hospital for chemotherapy, and she has had multiple complications. A few months ago she had been in a coma for an extended period of time. When she finally came out of the coma, one of the first things she said was, “Did I miss the weddings? Did I miss Moshiach coming?” Her two older sisters were not engaged yet (I don’t even know if Aviva knew they were dating), but both became engaged and were married over the following few months. I was at the sheva brachos (post-wedding celebration).

May Hashem heal Aviva Malka bat Leah along with all the ill people of Israel with the coming of Moshiach, Amen.

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Reb Ari wrote a beautiful inspiring song about the coming of Moshiach: To listen, click here

Lyrics of “Finally Here”
As he walked home from yeshiva,
a sound reached his ears
clear and majestic, unmistakably near
Joy filled his heart
HE’S FINALLY HERE!!! Moshiach’s finally here!!!
He ran all the way home
said to his dad,
“Did you hear it - the shofar
or am I going mad?”
“Not now, my son,
can it wait ’til later, when the business news is done.”

CHORUS:
Where is our hope, our faith, our pride?
Where’s the desire, the love deep inside?
When we say we want Ben Dovid to come
We can’t fool ourselves or the Holy One.

She heard it, at first faintly
a note long and clear
steadily the sound grew
’til it was all she could hear
Joy filled her heart
HE’S FINALLY HERE!!! Moshiach’s finally here!!!
She rushed to the kitchen,
got on the phone.
“Sister, can you hear it
or is it me alone?”
“Can you call back tonight?
I’m facebooking now, so I hope it’s alright…”
CHORUS

When we finally hear the shofar
After all these many years
Our emotions can run deeply
moving us to tears
Joy will fill our hearts
WHEN HE’S FINALLY HERE!!! When Moshiach’s finally here!!!

We must strengthen our hope, our faith, our pride.
We can find the desire, the love deep inside.
When we say we want Moshiach to come
We can reconnect to the Holy One.

A new poll is up!

New Noahide Poll - Will Mashiach Arrive in Our Lifetime?

Can’t wait to see the results.
The poll will remain open so new readers can still vote weeks from now.

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