It has become trendy of late, with all the natural disasters we have seen recently, to make all kinds of predictions about when the world will end and why all this is happening.
But before you take your "The World Will End In ___ Days" sign out of the closet, remember: no one is a prophet and no one has a "lock" on the Almighty. While there certainly are special people whose tefilot are powerful, and while the b'racha of a tzaddik (or of any person, for that matter!) has merit, at the end of the day, it is HaShem who will decide what will happen and when, based on considerations to which only He is privy.
If anyone tells you otherwise, and says he can decide the course of natural or supernatural events, get it in writing - and check your wallet to make sure nothing is missing.
Yet, having said all that, we must acknowledge that, in the Torah's perspective, there definitely is a connection between human behavior and events in the physical world. Man's actions have a ripple effect not just on our Earth, but on the entire Universe.
Long before there was a Katrina, a Rita or a Wilma, there was a Great Flood, which made all the other weather systems feel like a summer sprinkle. The Flood not only destroyed humanity, but changed the planet into a radically different place. The giants that once roamed the Earth disappeared; human beings no longer routinely lived for centuries. Why?
S'forno explains: The physical world reflects the actions of humanity. When we live morally-correct lives, when we perform the mitzvot, when we treat others with respect, when we battle corruption and see to the welfare of the poor, the widowed and the orphaned, the Earth responds in kind. It yields abundant produce, it nurtures life, it allows people to live almost indefinitely. When the spirit flourishes, all life expands.
But when we abuse our responsibilities and violate each other and the Land itself, G-d "rolls back" the good, green Earth and it falls far short of the perfect world it could be. Indeed, the Hebrew word eretz (land) is connected to ratz (run), for chazal say that the Earth "runs" to do the bidding of the Almighty.
The Torah begins with an Bet and ends with a Lamed; Nach begins with a Vav and ends with a Lamed. These four letters spell Lulav. Why Lulav? "A Lulav," say the rabbis, "has taste." It does? Yes, for in the end of days, when we embody Torah and Tanach, the date palm will taste just like the date - the tree and its fruit will both be edible. Nature will rise to an unprecedented level of abundant giving and the Earth will serve - not sink - its righteous inhabitants.
But before you take your "The World Will End In ___ Days" sign out of the closet, remember: no one is a prophet and no one has a "lock" on the Almighty. While there certainly are special people whose tefilot are powerful, and while the b'racha of a tzaddik (or of any person, for that matter!) has merit, at the end of the day, it is HaShem who will decide what will happen and when, based on considerations to which only He is privy.
If anyone tells you otherwise, and says he can decide the course of natural or supernatural events, get it in writing - and check your wallet to make sure nothing is missing.
Yet, having said all that, we must acknowledge that, in the Torah's perspective, there definitely is a connection between human behavior and events in the physical world. Man's actions have a ripple effect not just on our Earth, but on the entire Universe.
Long before there was a Katrina, a Rita or a Wilma, there was a Great Flood, which made all the other weather systems feel like a summer sprinkle. The Flood not only destroyed humanity, but changed the planet into a radically different place. The giants that once roamed the Earth disappeared; human beings no longer routinely lived for centuries. Why?
S'forno explains: The physical world reflects the actions of humanity. When we live morally-correct lives, when we perform the mitzvot, when we treat others with respect, when we battle corruption and see to the welfare of the poor, the widowed and the orphaned, the Earth responds in kind. It yields abundant produce, it nurtures life, it allows people to live almost indefinitely. When the spirit flourishes, all life expands.
But when we abuse our responsibilities and violate each other and the Land itself, G-d "rolls back" the good, green Earth and it falls far short of the perfect world it could be. Indeed, the Hebrew word eretz (land) is connected to ratz (run), for chazal say that the Earth "runs" to do the bidding of the Almighty.
The Torah begins with an Bet and ends with a Lamed; Nach begins with a Vav and ends with a Lamed. These four letters spell Lulav. Why Lulav? "A Lulav," say the rabbis, "has taste." It does? Yes, for in the end of days, when we embody Torah and Tanach, the date palm will taste just like the date - the tree and its fruit will both be edible. Nature will rise to an unprecedented level of abundant giving and the Earth will serve - not sink - its righteous inhabitants.