A RABBI WRITES:

Many people have increasing mistrust in the mainstream media and social platforms like Facebook and Twitter, where increasingly heavy-handed censorship set in from the time of the Covid “pandemic” and the run-up to the 2020 US elections and continues until now.

The recent acquisition of Twitter by multi-billionaire Elon Musk and his subsequent loosening of some of the previous restrictions on freedom of expression on the platform – now rebranded as “X” – has thus been welcomed with caution by numerous highly qualified scientists, academics, doctors, investigative journalists and many others who previously faced exclusion from mainstream platforms and professional journals, dismissal from their positions and other forms of harassment for holding views different from the politically-correct mainstream “consensus”.
The return of many of these previously censored X-Tweeters has made the platform far livelier and informative than the increasingly predictable mainstream media. From what I am seeing, a common theme in many of their posts is a sense of deep concern and great anger over what they see as an aggressive push by powerful hidden forces to bring the world to new levels of governmental control over all aspects of people’s lives, even against the interests of the great majority of the population. These X-Tweeters are crying out for us to wake up from our slumber, because we are being led blindly to our doom like sheep to the slaughter.

Without wishing to depress you, I have drawn up a short list (in no particular order) of some of the main issues about which the Twitter-X activists whom I have been following are crying out. For if we are not willing to recognize the full extent of the disease, how will we begin to know where to seek the remedy? If you prefer not to enter into all the details, feel free to skip to Part II, where I try to put it all together and discuss how I believe you and I must respond in face of these challenges.

PART I: NOW TRENDING

1. WORLD GOVERNMENT

Many of the Twitter-X activists are crying out against what they see as an aggressive on-going power-grab by an unelected elite of the world’s wealthiest and mightiest in order to create a single World Government. This is said to have been planned and advanced for generations by the “Illuminati”, the Freemasons, the Bilderberg Group and other secretive organizations, and is now being put in place under the banner of “Agenda 2030” by the United Nations, World Health Organization and World Bank, spearheaded by the World Economic Forum (WEF). Among those actively and publicly promoting this global government are WEF Chairperson Klaus Schwab, Microsoft founder-turned-mass-disease-“expert” Bill Gates, and financier George Soros, while Dr Henry Kissinger, who is their chief living mentor, is still active (viz. his recent visit to Beijing for secret talks with the Chinese leader).
Powerful hidden players are said to be the two largest global investment companies, Blackrock and Vanguard, which control not only a huge portion of the world’s wealth but also all the mainstream media networks. Klaus Schwab himself publicly boasts of his alumni having penetrated premierships and other top cabinet positions in governments in America and Europe. While the promise is one of a Plato-Republic-style benevolent dictatorship wisely steering the world to sustainability, Twitter-X activists see the looming reality as a Communist-China-style totalitarian tyranny, where submissive workers are housed and fed according to a social credit system, while all dissenters are outlawed. These hidden forces have collectively been termed the “Censorship Industrial Complex”.

2. COVID

Numerous doctors and scientists who were banned from Facebook and Twitter during the worst of the Covid lockdowns, masks and vaccine mandates, have now come forward on the new Twitter-X with findings that go unreported in the mainstream media. Among them are glaring statistical evidence of many serious and even crippling side-effects of the vaccines, steep rises in death rates, myocarditis, cancers, miscarriages, deaths in childbirth, and a wave of sudden “unexplained” deaths especially among young previously healthy college athletes.

Some claim that the dangers of the barely-tested vaccines were known from the outset to the pharmaceutical companies who manufactured them, or worse, that those companies were working in collusion with powerful financial players, governments, the medical imperium and the media in order to coerce the public into being vaccinated, at the very least in order to make great profits for the companies and their investors, if not for more sinister purposes. It is widely believed that Covid was spread as an act of biological warfare, though by whom, against whom, and for what purpose is disputed. The mainstream media continue to promote the plausibility of the “Bats” theory about its origins, while ignoring overwhelming evidence that it was leaked, accidentally or intentionally, from a Chinese laboratory which was performing “gain of function” virus research, ironically funded in part by the US administration.

Governments across the world exploited the “pandemic” to greatly extend their own powers of control over their populations at the expense of individual freedom and privacy. The active official suppression of proven alternative treatments for Covid such as the Ivermectin protocol, the enforced lockdowns, social distancing and masking, the disruption of education and of entire economies are all seen to have been not only ineffective against Covid but far more destructive. Not a few of the Twitter-X activists see the entire “pandemic” as an experiment in social control through mass intimidation and, far more alarming, as the first stage in a long-term plan to deplete the world’s population drastically through manufactured epidemics and enforced vaccine mandates that are ruinous to health. Meanwhile the same pharmaceutical companies that made enormous profits from the vaccines are now marketing new products said to counter their side effects.

3. “CLIMATE CHANGE”

I confess I have never particularly followed the debate about “climate change” or what should be done about it, though I do preach and practice moderate living as a Torah principle (Deuteronomy 20:19). The mainstream politically-correct stand is that global heating is an indisputable “fact” and an imminent threat to our future, with the inevitable corollary that dangerous emissions must be brought to zero even at the cost of drastic lifestyle changes and reductions in most people’s standard of living, with no meat, no private cars, no jet travel, etc. for the masses but only for the global elite.
On Twitter-X many are questioning all this and casting doubt on the proposed strategies to fight it. Academics cite historical weather statistics that evidently belie the claims about “global warming” and its causes. Many see this as another scam coming from the same hidden forces that were behind Covid, pointing to the hypocrisy of top leaders and celebrities preaching austerity while hopping all over the globe in highly toxic private jets. They point to the folly of steps in many countries to undermine agriculture and other resources, the failure of wind-farms, electric buses and other “climate friendly” innovations, and the absurdity of schemes being proposed in all seriousness to “cover the sun” or ban all meat and feed the masses with bugs. There is much talk about suspected sinister reasons behind the ubiquitous “chem trails” in our skies and behind increasing numbers of mysterious destructive explosions and outbreaks of massive fires that some are attributing to the use (or rather, abuse) of Directed Energy Weapons.

4. THE FINANCIAL SQUEEZE

After all the strictures of Covid, the present unceasing inflation, ever-increasing taxes, deteriorating public services, unemployment, actual food and energy shortages and other hardships are driving many people to hopelessness, depression and even suicide. Some see government policies in Europe and America as aimed at systematically squeezing out small businesses for the benefit of large corporations and forcing small farmers to sell out in order to put food production under central control. While huge numbers of ordinary people now find themselves literally unable to pay their mortgage repayments, rent and basic needs, there is an ever-greater concentration of wealth in the hands of a few. The conspicuous consumption of celebrities and the super-rich, as splashed all over the mainstream media, is undiminished.

Steps are now well in advance to introduce CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currency) in order to eliminate all use of cash cash and to achieve an entirely digital global monetary system. This will enormously increase the power of government tyranny over the private lives of citizens, and particularly over all opposition, through direct access to all their financial transactions and the ability to freeze their accounts and assets (as has been demonstrated in the Canadian government’s response to the trucker’s protest against the vaccination mandate and in other cases).

5. WOKERS & GLBTQ

Severe damage to the social fabric and to actual life and property by “Black Lives Matter”, “Antifa” and similar radical movements and their supporters has been increasingly visible in recent years. “Wokers” – people who believe themselves to be uniquely enlightened and “awake” – claim to discern racism, discrimination and prejudice everywhere (except when it comes to blatant antisemitism and the persecution of people of traditional faith and values). “Wokers” insist that everyone must be treated “equally” (as opposed to fairly) regardless of race, color or gender, and that decisions about grades, hiring and promotion are no longer to be based on personal merit, even though this leads to the hiring of grossly incompetent individuals and their promotion to the highest positions in government, education and the private sector, with a corresponding decline in quality and performance.

Many of those I see posting on Twitter-X are parents, teachers, army veterans and many other ordinary citizens who are horrified at the infiltration of Gay-Lesbian-Bisexual-Transsexual-Queer culture into all levels of education. Today it is ubiquitous on the campuses, where students and faculty with fluorescent-colored hair and tattoos all over their faces and bodies can indulge themselves for years with gender-fluid fantasies. Far more alarming is its infiltration into junior schools and even nurseries, where tender little children are now being routinely fed with GLBTQ-themed books and stories, and taught all about sexual functioning and possible gender, sex and relationship options. This is often being done surreptitiously without parents’ consent or even against their objections. In the military, sex-change operations are now tax-payer financed in the name of “inclusiveness”. Police unashamedly sport rainbow emblems and enforce the right of every weirdo to choose his, her, its, their or other pronouns, while a person who openly affirms that there are only two genders is liable to arrest and prosecution.

At the same time, “The Sound of Freedom”, a movie about the trafficking of child sex slaves that has been derided by the mainstream media, was widely praised by many on Twitter-X as taking the lid off a profoundly shocking underworld of sex-trafficking that extends to the highest levels of the elites of Europe, America and many other countries. Questions continue to be raised about the mysteries surrounding Jeffrey Epstein’s death and about the many prominent living individuals who visited his “pleasure island” yet have never faced investigation. Faced with the clouds of obfuscation that surround these subjects, many speculate that the widespread promotion of GLBTQ culture in education, entertainment, the mainstream media and even on beer cans, is part of a full-scale, outright war on traditional culture and values, another prong of the attack on world population, and very likely actual devil worship.

6. MIGRATION & SOCIAL ENGINEERING

The current government of the United States has intentionally left its southern border wide open to huge waves of migrants who are being quickly dispersed all over the country. The migrations into countries across Europe from North Africa, Syria Afghanistan and other war zones have been in the news for years. Nationalists complain that the home countries they once knew are now unrecognizable because of the continuing influx of migrants who are entering with the clear and provable complicity of the host governments at precisely the same time as those governments claim to be clamping down on illegal immigration.

Left-inclining politicians have long favored mass immigration on the assumption that poor immigrants would most likely vote for their parties in future elections. The large corporations can also exploit them for cheap labor. But among the mysteries of the present migration phenomenon is that most of the migrants into America and Europe are clearly mostly able-bodied 15 to 35-year-old men, many of whom show obvious contempt and hatred for the people and cultures of the countries they are invading. On the ground, this translates into increased vandalism, theft, violent crime and murder, widespread rape, drug abuse and the destruction of traditional society and culture. Why would governments covertly encourage this population-mixing with abandon when the long-term consequences could be literally explosive.

7. UKRAINE

Actual war rages in Ukraine, where the situation continues to escalate. Now that the use of cluster bombs has been officially legitimized, discussion about the next stage is focused on the use of nuclear weapons on the battlefield. Who is right? Ukraine? Russia? USA? NATO? Regardless, many are asking what possible justification there can be for the billions sent in from outside to support the Ukraine war effort, which is widely seen to be faltering, unless the situation is being exploited by powerful interests such as major arms manufacturers who profit from endlessly prolonging and intensifying hostilities, or perhaps by clever operatives who have ways of secretly channeling enormous sums of taxpayer money into private offshore bank accounts. Meanwhile, the pundits speculate about the growing threat of a new war between China and Taiwan.

8. THE DEMISE OF AMERICA

From the run-up to the 2020 U.S. presidential election until today, the mainstream media and social platforms effectively stifled and even persecuted all who questioned the Democrat party narrative about the legitimacy of the election results. Those who have followed some of the many hours of recent testimony in US congressional committees of inquiry are aware of the constant accumulation of evidence to the contrary. What emerges is a picture of a regime where the Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, CIA, the judiciary, police and army are all politicized as weapons for neutralizing and persecuting of opponents, just as in any totalitarian state.

Many personify identify the villain of the piece as the present incumbent in the White House and have no doubts as to his deep involvement in corruption, his abuse of power for personal and family gain, and actual treason. Yet to focus on a single figurehead is to ignore how thoroughly corrupt and broken the entire system has become through decades of abuse. The term “swamp” is too mild to describe the mire into which the affairs of America have descended. The targeting of President Donald Trump, reminiscent of the worst of the Soviet show trials, is not only an attack on his entire constituency but on the US Constitution itself. The more he is persecuted, the stronger his support becomes. Yet even if he stands in the coming presidential election, might not the results be equally easily falsified? This would be an intentionally inflicted, crushing defeat for his following, but in practice what possible means would they have to effectively challenge a regime that has full control over the police, army, judiciary and means of communication, and can declare an unending state of emergency?

9. ISRAEL: WAR WITHIN AND ALL AROUND

It is ironic that the present incumbent in the White House has recently departed from all precedent in addressing Israel’s internal politics, roundly criticizing her democratically elected coalition government as “extremist” for pursuing legislation to reform the procedure for choosing High Court judges. The irony is that the proposed legislation would bring Israel’s judicial selection process more in line with the way in which US Supreme Court judges are appointed. However, Biden and his string-pullers evidently favor the present system for little Israel’s High Court (“BaGaTz”), in which “a friend brings a friend”, i.e., the leftist judges themselves select new judges, because this ensures an eternal left-wing majority on the bench of Israel’s High Court.

In fact, in the last Israeli elections, a majority of voters cast their ballots in favor of coalition parties supporting the reform. But that has not stopped the losing minority from organizing a protracted, often violent campaign of national disruption up and down the country led by several rejected former prime ministers, one of whom sat in prison for corruption, while the others probably ought to have done. The ongoing protests are lavishly funded by several George Soros-backed organizations as well as the CIA, and supported and encouraged by most of Israel’s left-dominated mainstream media. With the loudspeaker in their hands and full media attention on their sore-loser antics, they have created the impression of a deeply divided Israel.

Indeed, there is a profound chasm between those who choose to live in Israel in order to observe the Torah in G-D’s promised land, as opposed to those who after generations of Jewish assimilation and alienation from the tradition and a highly secular environment in Israel, insist that the entire array of post-sophisticated contemporary lifestyle should be fully available in 21st century Israel with no restrictions on their license to do anything they please. The majority who voted for the present pro-reform coalition desire an Israel that is Jewish in character at the very least, and many will never cease to dream of the Greater Israel of the future. However, the secular minority, who present themselves as the “majority”, would largely prefer to throw off all links with Torah Judaism.

Meanwhile the Hezbollah terror group in Lebanon is increasingly bold in challenging Israeli control over her northern border. In the south, Hamas in Gaza are ready to renew barrages of rockets at a moment’s notice. In the center of the country, the Palestinian Authority is collapsing and Arab areas in Israel are seething with actual and would-be terrorists, nurtured from earliest childhood on a diet of hatred and incitement. Day after day, Israelis are being murdered in terror attacks up and down the country. Yet so tight is the grip of the left-wing High Court judges on the government, police and army that when Jews are attacked, soldiers and policemen are frightened to protect them for fear of legal reprisals, and if the citizens protect themselves, they are liable to be arrested and prosecuted as “extremist terrorists”.

Israel’s Arab citizens as well as Arabs from other countries well know that Israel’s hospitals and other services are open to them without discrimination. Yet across the world, inciters of hatred against Jews and Israel daily tout its supposed “apartheid” – as if the exclusion of all Jews from Judenrein Gaza and PA areas at the risk of their very lives is not racist, while Arab citizens in Israel in fact enjoy complete freedom. Yet the United Nations daily castigate Israel for every kind of imagined crime, completely ignoring human rights abuses, war crimes and other evils in member states too numerous to name. In countries across the world Jews are daily targeted and attacked with impunity, and antisemitism in the guise of anti-Zionism or under no disguise at all has now become normalized in public discourse, entertainment, and on the streets.

PART II:

THE TIMES THEY ARE A-CHANGING… AND FAST!

Where is all this going? And how should we, people of faith who cherish the traditional values of the Torah, respond?

Let us keep in mind the Torah injunction: “Be whole-hearted with the Lord your G-D” (Deuteronomy 18:13.) Rashi explains: “Go with Him in innocence and put your hope in Him without attempting to investigate what the future holds. Rather, whatever may come upon you, accept wholeheartedly, and then you will be with Him and become His portion”.

If we are truly awake (not “woke”) and if we care about G-D’s world, we cannot but seek to understand soberly the challenges that we, our people, our dear ones and offspring now face. But we will find true answers only when we examine and evaluate the situation in the light of Torah wisdom and prophecy.

GOVERNMENT AGAINST THE PEOPLE

Many previously rejected “conspiracy theories” are now increasingly seen to be either fact, plausible, or at the very least, uncomfortably close to a truth that may be even worse than imagined. All the signs are that the world as we knew it is morphing rapidly before our very eyes into something new and unknown. At a time of enormous social and cultural upheavals that appear to be engineered, many believe that a proactive elite of the world’s most powerful and wealthy, with extensive tentacles into the highest levels of national governments, judiciaries, police, military, finance, giant corporations, big pharma, communications media, etc., are systematically hijacking cutting-edge digital, biological, agricultural, financial, communications and other technologies in order to bring the entire globe under a single government, the “New World Order”, which has been mentioned by prominent leaders for decades and is now rapidly being unveiled.

The traditional understanding of the “Social Contract” was that the citizens agree to submit to government authority, rules and regulations, taxation etc. in return for protection by the government against external enemies, internal crime, violence, and other evils. The abuse of government power by the few has been perennial and the cause of numerous rebellions and revolutions, sometimes successful, sometimes cruelly suppressed. It is said that, in ancient Egypt up until the time of the Exodus, no slaves had ever succeeded in breaking free of their servitude, so completely bewitched were they by their Egyptian masters. Today, the bewitchment of large sections of the population is maintained through mainstream education and communications media, and never more so than through your Internet-connected personal phone.

If it is anywhere near the truth that the Covid “pandemic” together with all the accompanying iron-fisted decrees was a scam of gigantic proportions, orchestrated by a shadow global government as the first stage in a program of global population depletion, could it be that we are now witnessing what can only be termed “governmental auto-immune disease”? In the case of bodily auto-immune disease, the very immune system whose purpose is to protect the body turns against and attacks the body, with potentially lethal consequences. Does ever-increasing government invasion into people’s private lives, their pockets and their very bodies mean that governments have turned against the populations their purpose is to protect?

Whether we consent or not, our governments control the police and armed forces. If we are to believe the testimony of various “whistleblowers” before the US Congress, key American government agencies such as the Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Central Intelligence Agency and the Internal Revenue Service have all been politicized to serve the partisan interests of the ruling regime, and the same may be inferred to be the case in most other countries. Few members of the general public can imagine what is discussed inside well-financed “think tanks”, where top brains play war games with one another and map out possible screenplays and strategies to further their masters’ agenda. With digital currency and biodata-registered, chip-implanted, dumbed-down populations fed exclusively with regime-friendly “information” and subject to a Chinese communist-style social credit system, the ability of the hidden rulers to control and direct humanity wherever they wish would appear to be unlimited. As Klaus Schwab, chairperson of the World Economic Forum has said: “There will be no need for elections, because we will already know the result.”

Are we witnessing the end of the “free world” as we once knew it? Ironically, posts, videos and other information about the Illuminati, the World Economic Forum, the shadow global government, top-level corruption, woke infiltration and much more are readily available on Facebook, YouTube, TikTok and other mega social media platforms. On Twitter-X and other platforms, people talk about “the great awakening”, declaring: “We will not let it happen!” Or will we? What action will people be able to take to stop it? Right now, they may able to let off steam with bravado and social media posts. Or are they being openly mocked by Klaus Schwab and his cronies, who are now publicly and unashamedly what they have planned? As if they are saying: “Scream as much as you like, but you will not be able to do anything about it.” Even in the direst of circumstances, how many citizens, unarmed or bearing only the puniest of weapons, will be willing or able to defy heavily armed, helmeted, shielded riot police trained to have zero sympathy for the crowds they are paid to control? One need look no further than the lack of success of the Iranian people in throwing off the mullah’s yoke of oppression notwithstanding large and well-organized protests.

Should the Russia-Ukraine war become nuclear and turn into a full world war, with all the likely fallout on every level, metaphorically and quite literally, this will almost certainly occasion even stricter government controls, more austerity and more painful strictures. If in the USA a one-party “Democrat” regime emerges from the 2024 elections, will a woke dictator-president supported by a politicized judiciary, police and military, complete America’s transition from the 20th Century leader of the Free World and ally-protector of Israel, to becoming the leader of a global tyranny that will finally betray Israel, so as to actualize the end of days Gog and Magog scenario (Ezekiel chapters 38-39; Zechariah chapters 12 & 14)?

WORLD RULERS AND THEIR DOWNFALL

“Let the name of God be blessed forever and ever, for wisdom and power are His. He changes times and seasons, removes rulers and installs rulers; He gives the wise their wisdom and knowledge to those who understand.” (Daniel 2: 20-21)

The outstanding villains of the Bible, Nimrod, Sennacherib and Nebuchadnezzar, were called by the rabbis “Cosmokrators”, “rulers of the cosmos” – because of their aspiration to rule over everything beneath the dome of the heavens and institute a world empire. The first such project – Nimrod’s Tower of Babel – ended in disaster, with the Tower sinking into the earth in a divinely controlled demolition, while all the people who sought “unity” descended into bitter conflict and mutual enmity. If the widely-held theories of the Twitter-X posts are anywhere close to the truth, figures like Karl Schwab, Bill Gates and George Soros would seem still to have such aspirations.

In truth, the Torah prophets teach that G-D will eventually bring down all the wicked tyrants and cast them into eternal hell (Isaiah chapters 10 & 14; Ezekiel chapters 31-32). But until then, we, the people of this world and our offspring, will have to learn to live under the conditions they are trying to impose. If indeed a New World Order is coming into being, where a small, privileged elite takes all the rest of the people captive, mentally, spiritually and physically, could this be the ultimate climax of our present protracted exile under the evil rule of the Ox joined with the Donkey, Edom and Ishmael, in the improbable alliance of clay and iron foreseen by Daniel, the prophets, the Talmud and Zohar?

Are we seeing the swift approach of the terrible final nine-months of extreme labor pangs immediately prior to the revelation of Mashiach (Micah 5:2; Sanhedrin 98b), when the strictures will squeeze all Israel to scream out in agony and desperation to the Holy One blessed-be-He to descend and save us, because in the end, “we have none upon whom to depend except Our Father in Heaven” (Sotah 49b)?

“Many are the thoughts in the hearts of man but G-D’s counsel shall stand” (Proverbs 19:21).

Do not be afraid, “For you will not leave in flight; for G-D is marching before you, the God of Israel is your rear guard.” (Isaiah 52:12) “For behold! Darkness shall cover the earth, and thick clouds the peoples; but upon you G-D will shine, and G-D’s Presence will be seen over you.” (Isaiah 60:2) Indeed, those with the eyes of faith see already that our times are those of which the Almighty said: “On that day… I shall surely hide My countenance…” (Deuteronomy 31:17-18), where the doubled verb “hide” in the Hebrew text implies that not only is G-D hidden from people, but that they can be completely unaware that anything is hidden from them (Rabbi Nachman, Likutey Moharan I:56).

Here we are! This is it:

“…a time of trouble, the like of which has never been since the nation came into being.”

But precisely then,

“…At that time, your people will be rescued, all who are found inscribed in the book. Many of those that sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to eternal life, others to reproaches, to everlasting abhorrence. And the knowledgeable will be radiant like the bright expanse of sky, and those who lead the many to righteousness will be like the stars forever and ever.”

(Daniel 12:1-3)

TORAH! TORAH! TORAH!

Those who are awake, or in stages of awakening, will understand. We know His Presence is with us, even in times of trouble and sorrow. The promotors of the “New World Order” repeatedly signal that their agenda is now inevitable and irreversible, and indeed, in many ways they seem to be enjoying great success (perhaps fueling the pride that comes before a great fall). Yet nothing in the human world is fixed and determined, for we, the Children of Israel, have free will and unimaginable spiritual power. Through our righteousness, prayers and good deeds, we can swing the entire world to the side of merit.

Our EMUNAH in the Holy One blessed be He and our fulfilment of His Torah free us from all slavery, because the Word of G-D engraved (harut) on the tablets of our hearts bestows the ultimate freedom (heirut). “For I am the Lord your G-D Who brought you out from the Land of Egypt, from the house of slaves” (Exodus 20:2). Indeed, through millennia of persecution, faithful Jews, despite being hated, despised, outcast, oppressed, attacked, injured, murdered and martyred, never lost their hope in G-D’s salvation. If the divine plan did not allow them to see it in their earthly lifetimes, they are most certainly granted to see it in the World of Truth.

We must keep our eyes on the ultimate goal: the complete Redemption, restoration and the building of the Future Temple. These are our hope. Assiduous practice of the Torah keeps us focused on this goal and separates the Jewish people from all the rest of humanity, so that we may maintain our role as G-D’s “unique treasure out of all the peoples… a kingdom of ministering priests and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:5-6). We refrain from impure foods that taint the soul — we will never agree to eat the bugs that are now being touted as humanity’s alternative to meat. Just as we separate ourselves from their foods, so we separate ourselves from the culture, worldview, beliefs, lifestyle, entertainment and fads of the gentile nations. We seek to insulate our children from their influence until they are mature enough to understand their empty vanity. On the Shabbat and festivals, we take our freedom to the ultimate level, when we switch off all our devices, accept no calls, suspend all tasks and errands except in life-threatening emergencies, turn our home into a sanctuary and our table into an altar, bedeck ourselves in our royal Shabbat finery, and stand as joyous servants, sons and daughters of the Supreme King.

It was through separation from the culture, beliefs and even the foods of the gentiles that Daniel was able to maintain his purity even in exile and to attain the highest levels of prophetic vision, saving his companions, Hananya, Misha’el and Azariyah, from Nebuchadnezzar’s wrath.

The Midrash tells that when the Babylonian tyrant demanded that Daniel’s three companions prostrate to his idol, they said to him: “Perhaps you rule over us when it comes to imposing taxes. But when you try to tell us how to serve G-D and what to believe in, you are no better than a dog!” (Vayikra Rabbah 33:6). “In other words,” explains Rabbi Nachman, “they said that he had no power to weaken Israel’s acceptance of the kingship of Heaven. This is because our Emunah surrounds and protects the heavenly Kingship from being defiled by a stranger.” (Likutey Moharan I:18:5)

Likewise, people of Torah faith will not bow to the dictates of the World Economic Forum -fostered “Agenda 2030” (now officially endorsed by 191 out of 193 United Nations member states), no matter how prettily they may be phrased, if they infringe in the slightest way on our practice of the Torah and the commandments.

All our strength comes from the Torah, the Prophets and Holy Writings, the teachings of our righteous Sages in the Talmud, Midrash, Zohar and Kabbalah, and especially from the outstanding latter day Tzaddikim, Baal Shem Tov, Rabbi Nachman, and, in our age, the Lubavitcher Rebbe.

Not G-D Almighty nor the Torah, the Restoration, the Ingathering of Israel or the Rebuilding of the Temple warrant any mention amidst the platitudes and pieties of “Agenda 2030”. This fulfills the statement of the Torah sages: “And the government will turn into heresy” (Sotah49b). If a global government with a monopoly on social control and the flow of information is not geared to the ultimate revelation of G-D’s unity, are they anything other than the new face of Amalek, seeking to conceal His perfect unity and divine power? (see Rashi on Exodus 17:16.)

We need MASHIACH BEN DAVID to catapult the stone of G-D’s perfect unity into the forehead of this end-of-days G-D-denying Goliath (Daniel 2:45 & 7:13-14; see Likutey Moharan II:4:7). For our part now, the task, as always, is to maintain our prayers and Torah studies day by day, as best as we can, and to practice the Torah commandments with all our strength. Even if we feel that we ourselves know little, there are many always others who know less. Each one of us should strive to teach and draw others to the Torah in every possible way, whether friends, children, students, or anyone else we may be able to influence. Our fundamental mission is to bring others to see that GOD IS. Even if we feel we are making little or no impact, if we try our best, we have fulfilled our obligation, as in the case of the Ezekiel’s Watchman (Ezekiel chapter 33).

“Go, my people, enter your chambers, and lock your doors behind you. Hide for a little moment, until the indignation passes.” (Isaiah 26:20)

“Enter your chambers” – “the synagogues and study halls; evaluate your deeds in the chambers of your hearts” (Rashi)

Will we see the salvation in our lifetime? The signs of the pangs of Mashiach are all around us, and so too are the signs of redemption and salvation. In Israel and across the world, souls are spontaneously awakening. When will the complete salvation come with the ingathering and building of the Temple? “Whoever says does not know, and whoever knows does not say.” But in the words of the Chassidic motto: Tracht gut, vet zein gut, “Think good and it will be good.”