Libi BaMizrach

(Translator’s note: The following are remarks delivered last week by the Klauseberg-Sanzer Rebbe in Netanya, Admor Tzvi Elimelech Halberstam שליט"א.   I thought it important to make these important words available to the English speaking world.) He began by citing the verse in Yeshayahu (26:20-21): לֵךְ עַמִּי בֹּא בַחֲדָרֶיךָ וּסְגֹר דְּלָתְךָ בַּעֲדֶךָ חֲבִי כִמְעַט רֶגַע עַד יַעֲבָר זָעַם. כִּי הִנֵּה ה' יֹצֵא מִמְּקוֹמוֹ לִפְקֹד עֲו‍ֹן יֹשֵׁב הָאָרֶץ עָלָיו וְגִלְּתָה הָאָרֶץ אֶת דָּמֶיהָ וְלֹא תְכַסֶּה עוֹד עַל הֲרוּגֶיהָ Go, my people, enter your chambers and lock your doors behind you. Hide but a short while, until the anger passes.  For Hashem shall come forth from His place ao punish the dwellers of the earth for their sins, and the earth shall disclose its bloodshed and shall no longer conceal its slain. There will come a time that there will be a judgment in the world directed against the enemies of Israel; what will be required of ...

There sure has been a VeNehafoch Hu since Purim. . . the world that we are living seems to be totally changed and turned over – but it is hard to see how it is for the better.  Coronavirus has had a devastating worldwide impact, and according to many scientists and epidemiologists, we ain't see nothing yet. Some have dire predictions of millions dying, industries collapsing, and health care systems being overwhelmed with no end in sight – and there are reminders of the devastation that the Spanish flu caused just about a century ago.  Just about everyone knows someone (or knows someone who knows someone – חברא דחברא) who has tested positive for the virus, which so far has no vaccine, although the mortality rate is "only" about 3-4 percent.  It is hard to remember that we are still in the month of Adar. For me personally, Baruch Hashem, no one in my family or immediate circle of friends has become ill.  But my investments have been devastated, many of my neighbors a...