Parshas Devarim
By Rabbi Dovid Zauderer
BREAKING NEWS AP - THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ALL THE GENTILE NATIONS OF THE WORLD - UNITED AS ONE – HAVE JUST ISSUED A WORLD-WIDE PROCLAMATION IN WHICH THEY RECOGNIZE THE JEWISH PEOPLE AS G-D’S CHOSEN PEOPLE, THE TORAH AS G-D’S FINAL WORD, AND ISRAEL AS G-D’S HOLY LAND. THE NATIONS FURTHER PROCLAIM THAT AS THE JEWISH PEOPLE ARE TRULY A ‘KINGDOM OF PRIESTS’ AND A ‘HOLY NATION’, IT BEHOOVES THE WORLD’S NON-JEWS TO SERVE AND ASSIST THEM ANY WAY THEY CAN, THUS ENABLING THE JEWS TO LEARN TORAH UNDISTURBED AND TO TEACH THE KNOWLEDGE OF G-D TO THE WORLD!
Now, imagine for a second that the above Breaking News story from The Associated Press were one-hundred percent true!
How would you feel?
Wouldn’t you feel incredibly proud to be Jewish?
Wouldn’t you want to learn more about the Torah, the Holyland, and the Jewish people?
Wouldn’t you want to know exactly what it means to be a ‘kingdom of priests’ and a ‘holy nation’?
And wouldn’t you be curious to learn exactly how the Jewish people got the job – and the awesome responsibility - of learning Torah undisturbed and teaching the knowledge of G-d to the world?
Well, guess what, folks? According to Jewish tradition, the Breaking News from AP is one-hundred percent true! ….just that it hasn’t happened yet!
In fact, this breaking news is exactly what we mourn for each year on the upcoming fast day of Tishah B’Av.
As Maimonides writes in his Mishneh Torah, Laws of Kings and Wars 12:5:
“The Sages and the prophets did not yearn for the Messianic era in order to have dominion over the entire world, to rule over the gentiles, to be exalted by the nations, or to eat, drink, and celebrate. Rather, they desired to be free to involve themselves in Torah and wisdom without any pressures or disturbances, so that they would merit the world to come, as explained in Hilchos Teshuvah [Laws of Repentance.]
In that era, there will be neither famine or war, envy or competition for good will flow in abundance and all the delights will be freely available as dust. The occupation of the entire world will be solely to know G-d. Therefore, the Jews will be great sages and know the hidden matters, grasping the knowledge of their Creator according to the full extent of human potential, as Isaiah 11:9 states: 'The world will be filled with the knowledge of G-d as the waters cover the ocean bed.’"
So why wait until the Messianic Era to start learning all about the ‘knowledge of G-d’ which you will soon be teaching the whole world about?
Instead, make a commitment this year on Tishah B’Av (the fast begins on Saturday evening August 6th and ends on Sunday evening August 7th) to learn all you need to know about Judaism so that you will be ready for the big day.
And don’t forget to check for breaking news each day ….
You never know (-;
http://www.torchweb.org/torah_detail.php?id=722