Several places in the Talmud quote the following principle:
"Virtue is transferred through the virtuous, and deficiency through the deficient."
When the heavenly court deems that a righteous individual is deserving of a reward, it will be bestowed upon him through the medium of another righteous person. Conversely, for one who is destined to be punished, it will be through the actions of another evildoer.
Water
In Hebrew, two nouns can be very similar in spelling and pronunciation but worlds apart in meaning. For example: oheiv (אוֹהֵב) meaning an endeared person vs. oyev (אוֹיֵב) meaning an enemy.
Too often in life, we encounter people who view the enemy as beloved, and the loved one as hated! One example: a Jew who is enamored of his gentile surroundings and the decorum and solemnity in the local church but feels repulsed when anything Jewish is discussed.
There are similar words which abound in the discourse of current events, for example Holland vs. Holyland. One distinction deals with water, 27% of Holland is below sea level with the threatening waters of the North Sea held back from the population by dikes and dunes. In contrast to the Holyland and its holy people regarding which the prophet Yeshayahu (55,1) says:
Let everyone who thirsts go to water…
Interpreted by Chazal to mean whoever thirsts for spirituality, “let him go to the Torah which is likened to water in many ways”.
Holland and The Jews
Why did Hashem now choose Holland to be the opening shot of today’s Jews being driven out of Europe?
Answer: Holland played a large role in the efforts to annihilate European Jewry. The Jewish community of Holland was delivered to the Gestapo by the Dutch government with great energy and delight.
The government collaborated with the Nazis during the entire war. They implemented Nazi policies, including the registration and identification of Jews, up to and including the deportation to concentration camps.
A significant portion of the Dutch population remains passive and even hostile towards Jews, maintaining virulent anti-Semitic sentiments.
Therefore, it should not come as a surprise that the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the principal judicial organ of the United Nations established to resolve legal disputes between states, is located in The Hague, Netherlands.
Nor is it surprising that the ICJ is in the process of prosecuting the State of Israel. The International Criminal Court (ICC) an intergovernmental organization and international tribunal that investigates and tries individuals charged with the gravest crimes of concern to the international community: genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and the crime of aggression, is also located in The Hague, Netherlands. The following is a quote from the decision of chief ICC Prosecutor Karim A.A. Khan:
“Today I am filing applications for warrants of arrest before Pre-Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court in the Situation in the State of Palestine...
On the basis of evidence collected and examined by my Office, I have reasonable grounds to believe that Benjamin NETANYAHU, the Prime Minister of Israel, and Yoav GALLANT, the Minister of Defence of Israel, bear criminal responsibility for the following war crimes and crimes against humanity committed on the territory of the State of Palestine (in the Gaza strip) from at least 8 October 2023.” (source)
As stated above:
"Virtue is transferred through the virtuous, and deficiency through the deficient."
Stages in the Redemption Process
This new phase in our redemption process will be followed by similar antisemitic actions across the western world and beyond. What transpired in Amsterdam is a prologue of what to expect in the near future in Paris, London, Rome, Lisbon, Madrid, and on the other side of the Atlantic - north, central and south.
This is a ‘subtle’ message sent by Hashem for the stages of redemption:
- In the preliminary (first) stage, to make the Jews in galut feel uncomfortable.
- The second stage will involve letters and pressure on political officials to pass legislation banning anti-social acts intended against any ethnic group in the country.
- While the problems become more severe, the third stage will involve Jews contacting the Israeli consulate officials for help.
- Then the fourth stage will be making contact with real-estate agents in an effort to liquidate assets in galut.
- The fifth stage will be getting one’s papers in order, including permission from the local draft board for the teenage children to leave the country.
- And when there is no more hope left for a Jew to remain in galut, the last stage will be turning out the lights and making aliyah.
However, a star has now appeared to brighten the lives of Jews in the galut, President-elect Trump and his cabinet will quench the fires of anti-Semitism – at least during his term in office. So, no need to panic for now, as in the game of Monopoly, you may "return to Go” to repeat the cycle and delay the inevitable.
Rabbi Nachman Kahana is a Torah scholar, author, teacher and lecturer, Founder and Director of the Center for Kohanim, Co-founder of the Temple Institute, Co-founder of Atara Leyoshna – Ateret Kohanim, was rabbi of Chazon Yechezkel Synagogue – Young Israel of the Old City of Jerusalem for 32 years, and is the author of the 15-volume “Mei Menuchot” series on Tosefot, and 3-volume “With All Your Might: The Torah of Eretz Yisrael in the Weekly Parashah” (2009-2011), and “Reflections from Yerushalayim: Thoughts on the Torah, the Land and the Nation of Israel” (2019) as well as weekly parasha commentary available where he blogs at https://NachmanKahana.com