Dear Dr. Yael,
I am a regular middle of the road Orthodox Jew. No major problems, baruch Hashem. I have a great wife, wonderful children, some who are happily married and some who are still home. (I prefer not to give you details, since many of my chevra read your column and I don’t want them to realize it is me.)
In short, I am not writing to you about a problem but rather about how I see our current political situation. No one today who is Jewish and remotely Orthodox or Conservadox (not the liberal self-hating Jews) can argue that we finally have a president who loves Israel. The last president who was like Trump was Ronald Regan. I truly think that we are living in the beginning times of Mashiach. Probably the true beginning started with the Holocaust, where today even non-Jews cannot believe it happened. I think every Jew and even non-Jew should adore Trump! We finally have a president who is putting America to work, where our dollar is getting stronger, and who actually cares about Israel enough to help them.
Most importantly, our president is fearless, and the other nations realize that no longer will the terrorists control the world (a tragedy that will destroy the whole world). Trump has an amazing foreign policy record and he is trying to establish relationships with every nation.
I am writing to you because you often write about having derech eretz (respect) for one another. If we really are living in the times of Mashiach, how can we think Mashiach can possibly come when even Orthodox Jews do not treat each other well? I am so sad about what is happening in Israel with the fighting between chareidim and other Jews. I am writing as a plea to all Jews to stop fighting. There is so much fighting outside of Israel between Jews as well. Who cares what kind of kippah someone is wearing? Look what happened on Simchas Torah. Did the terrorists care what type of head covering each person wore or if they covered their hair/head at all? No, they killed/kidnapped everyone, simply because they were Jewish (and even some non-Jews because they were caring for Jews or working for them). Did Hitler differentiate between cosmopolitan enlightened Jews in Germany and chassidic Jews? No! He even killed people that halachically were not Jewish (I.e., their father was a Jew).
So please Dr. Respler, spread the word “If we want Mashiach to come we can’t just daven and sing Ani Ma’amin.” We can’t be happy with finishing Yom Kippur davening or our Pesach Seder with “Next year in Jerusalem.” We must try to treat every human being with respect. Yes, we must try to treat all Jews and non-Jews with respect. That is the only way we will be zoche to bring Mashiach! Thanks for your amazing column and hatzlacha to you!
Anonymous
Dear Anonymous,
Thank you for your heartfelt letter! If we really understood that Hashem is recording in Shamayim everything we do, we would speak less lashon hara, not fight about stupidity, and respect everyone. I hope that people will read your letter and listen to your important words! IF WE WANT MASHIACH, WE MUST MAKE IT HAPPEN BY TREATING EVERYONE WITH RESPECT AND LOVING EVERY JEW! We don’t have to always agree with each other, but we must love each other and stop the fighting. It is true that we should have a lot of hakaras hatov to President Trump, but really Hashem is behind the scenes and pulling the strings. We have to thank Hashem every day for the amazing things He is doing and for giving us a president that seems to really care about our country’s and Israel’s well-being. While much of what you said is true, we have to always remember that Hashem is really in charge!
Hatzlacha and thank you for your important message! May we all work on our love for each other and bring Mashiach speedily in our days.
