The Chofetz Chaim and the current times

By Elie Soble

There's a very interesting connection between the Chofetz Chaim and our times. The Chofetz Chaim had a student name R' Shachna Zohn who passed away in 2012. In 1968 he wrote a sefer called pirkei Geula. In this sefer he described how Moshiach begins his work with Am Yisroel and not everyone recognized him and that he is already at work. He records a conversation with R' Moshe Feinstein in which he asks him what his opinion is which R' Moshe responds " Er is shoin gevis da" , he's already here. Now in 2007 R'Zohn was interviewed by Mishpocha magazine and he said he had a dream twice in which the Chofetz Chaim told him the Geula is close and he has to be mfarsem to everyone to prepare. When the interviewer asked him if Moshiach is here , he said I answered that in the sefer pirkei Geula!

Rav Chaim Kanievsky: Coming of Mashiah is

Reb Chaim's Chizuk to Klal Yisroel
When asked what message he had for klal Yisroel at this time and for a chizuk for the Jews of chutz la'aretz (the Diaspora), Harav Kanievsky solemnly declared: "The coming of Moshiach is immanent and he is on his way… It is stated in the Talmud that after the conclusion of the shmitta year Ben Dovid (the scion of Dovid) will come." He then added that the avreichim of Shas Yiden will be among the first to welcome Moshiach Tzidkeinu. All left the 7th siyum of Shas Yiden with a message of hope and bitachon for klal Yisroel.

The matters of 22

 We're in the year 22 counting from Gimmel Tammuz, 5754. Below are some musings on the significance of the number 22 as elucidated by R. Elie Soble.



1. Yaakov was away from his parents for 22 years.

2. Yosef and Yakov were separated for 22 years. 

3. For 22 years Dovid Hamelech didn't have his Ruach Hakodesh. 

4. For 22 years Rabbi Akiva had to do a special avoda (described in Tana dbei Eliyahu). 

5. For 22 years one of the Neviem Yirmiyahu (?) was giving warning. 

6. After 22 years Yosef and Yehuda joined which is the sod of Geula. 

7.  When Yakov wanted to reveal the keitz (final deadline),  his Ruach hakodesh disappeared which is the final hint, that the final real keitz is tied to 22 years. This year the concealment ends.

What made Yosef be hidden for 22 years? He told his brothers he was the Melech and they didn't believe him. But in the end Yosef always has rachmonos.

The Rebbe explains in  sichos that  it is the Rebbetzin who binds together the Rebbe and the Previous Rebbe enabling the dirah btachtonim to manifest to fruition. The Previous Rebbe as described by the Rebbe as the Yosef of our generation. And there is a sicha which the Rebbe  describes the Previous Rebbe this way and explains how Yosef gave years of his life to Dovid HaMelech because he knew Moshiach Ben Dovid would return the favor and give life, techiya, to Moshiach Ben Yosaf.

8. It was Yechezkel whose Nevuo's spanned a 22 year period at the beginning warnings to the Bnei Yisroel - but then culminating in Nevuo's about wars and destruction in places to the North of Israel i.e.  Lebanon, Egypt, etc.

9.  Finally,  at the end of 22 years his Nevua was about the full Gilui of Moshiach. 

10. Rabbi Akiva's 22 years was that he had to learn from but also serve Nochum Ish Gam Zu,  the letters comprising the name Akiva are similar letters to Yaakov.

11. It is stated in the name of the Arizal Ha'Chai that these 22 years by Akiva were part of the tikkun for Yaakov's 22 years. These two Tzaddikim , R' Akiva and Nochum Ish Gam Zu - sat together for 22 years - what is one of the main teachings both have given us in their own way? How to deal with manifest adversity. Gam Zu L'tova and Kol D'a'vid Rachmona L'tav Avid.

Peace Through Power

The Size of the Universe @

Space, as Douglas Adams once so aptly wrote, is big. To try imagining how big, place a penny down in front of you. If our sun were the size of that penny, the nearest star, Alpha Centauri, would be 350 miles away. Depending on where you live, that’s very likely in the next state (or possibly country) over. Attempting to imagine distances larger than this quickly becomes troublesome. At this scale, the Milky Way galaxy would be 7.5 million miles

#413 Payment for Work Done on Shabbos

#413 Payment for Work Done on Shabbos

One may not accept schar Shabbos (payment for work done on Shabbos). Even if one is paid after Shabbos, it is nevertheless forbidden since the work is being done on Shabbos. Regarding work done for a mitzvah, there is a machlokes haposkim; even those poskim who rule that schar Shabbos is permitted if  done for a mitzvah maintain that one will not see a siman brachah (sign of blessing) in that money. Being paid for leining (reading from the Torah) on Shabbos, blowing shofar, chazanus are all forms of schar Shabbos. One way of being permitted to accept payment for these, and other similar tasks, is to be paid for the preparation rather than for the act itself; since the preparation is done during the week, it’s permissible to be paid for it, and the work done on Shabbos would be considered as being done “pro bono”.
Accepting payment for babysitting on Shabbos certainly falls under the category ofschar Shabbos. However, schar Shabbos behavla’ah (when “absorbed” with other payment) is permissible, but only if all of the following conditions are met:

• The employment agreement has to be structured in such a manner that the babysitter isn't hired by the hour or by the day, but rather per week or per month.
• The babysitter must be paid for babysitting done during the week or month, and not solely for babysitting on Shabbos. If either employee or employer have the right to opt out of the agreement, and the employee would then get paid pro rata (proportionally), it doesn’t qualify as schar Shabbos behavla’ah, even if it includes payment for weekdays. 

The direct path to the Redemption