Words Do Matter! – vilnagaon.org

In the Talmud tractate Sanhedrin page 97a there is list of the expected sufferings expected before the advent of the Messiah. In the middle of this discussion the Talmud pauses with a seemingly unrelated story devoted to speaking the absolute truth.

Here is the translation according to Sefaria.org

§ Concerning the lack of truth, Rava says: Initially I would say that there is no truth anywhere in the world. There was a certain one of the Sages, and Rav Tavut is his name, and some say Rav Tavyomei is his name, who was so honest that if they were to give him the entire world, he would not deviate from the truth in his statement. He said to me: One time I happened to come to a certain place, and Truth is its name, and its residents would not deviate from the truth in their statements, and no person from there would die prematurely. I married a woman from among them, and I had two sons from her.

One day his wife was sitting and washing the hair on her head. Her neighbor came and knocked on the door. He thought: It is not proper conduct to tell the neighbor that his wife is bathing. He said to her: She is not here. Since he deviated from the truth his two sons died. The people residing in that place came before him and said to him: What is the meaning of this? He said to them: This was the nature of the incident, and told them what happened. They said to him: Please leave our place and do not provoke premature death upon these people.

My understanding that this story’s connection to the descriptions of the sufferings before the advent of Messiah is to inform us that part of the reason for the sufferings is a lack of willingness to follow the perfect truth without deviation. As it says in the Talmudic passage right before the Rav Tavut or Rav Tavyomei story:

The verse states: “That Your enemies taunted, Lord, that they have taunted the footsteps of Your anointed” (Psalms 89:52). It is taught in a baraita that Rabbi Yehuda says: During the generation that the son of David comes, the hall of the assembly of the Sages will be designated for prostitution, and the Galilee will be destroyed, and the Gavlan, i.e., Bashan, will be desolate, and the residents of the border who flee the neighboring gentiles will circulate from city to city and will receive no sympathy. The wisdom of scholars will diminish, and sin-fearing people will be despised. And the face of the generation will be like the face of a dog in its impudence and shamelessness.

And the truth will be lacking, as it is stated: “And the truth is lacking [ne’ederet], and he who departs from evil is negated” (Isaiah 59:15). What is the meaning of the phrase: And the truth is lacking [ne’ederet]? The Sages of the study hall of Rav said: This teaches that truth will become like so many flocks [adarim] and walk away. What is the meaning of the phrase: “And he that departs from evil is negated”? The Sages of the study hall of Rabbi Sheila said: Anyone who deviates from evil is deemed insane by the people.

The Benefits of Truth According to the online translation of Kol Hator – written by a disciple of the Vilna Gaon

Now the best and surest path and medicine to lighten, even remove all the tribulations of Gog and Magog and all the tribulations of Eretz Israel, is to correct one’s conduct by setting up people of Truth in the Holy City. This will lead to the redemption of Truth and sanctification of the Holy Name, which are the main purpose of all our deeds during the beginning of the Redemption. We have already explained above that, according to the Gaon, while the footsteps of the Mashiach progress through the ingathering of the exiles, the Sitra Achra becomes stronger and stronger in his main purpose, which is to deny and uproot truth and righteousness, as our Sages have said: “during the footsteps of the Mashiach, truth will be missing” [Sota 49b], etc. In order to counter this, we must act and fight with all our strength with the help of God, to overcome the Sitra Achra with good deeds and with all the corrections, as noted and explained below.

Trait 156 of Mashiach Ben Yosef

156. “Repair of the world in the Malchut of the Almighty” — Wherever repair is mentioned, it is part of the mission of Mashiach ben Yosef. This is the ultimate purpose of all the work connected with the beginning of the footsteps of the Mashiach, whose main goals are as follows: to gather in the exiles, rebuild Jerusalem, remove the impure spirit from Eretz Israel, redeem Truth, sanctify the name of God, and repair the world in the Malchut of the Almighty, as is written: “with their own eyes they will see when God returns to Zion” (Isa. 52:8). This refers to the ingathering of the exiles. “Burst out, sing glad songs together, O ruins of Jerusalem” (Isa. 52:9). This refers to rebuilding Jerusalem and reviving the land that has been desolate. “God has comforted his people, he has redeemed Jerusalem” (Isa. 52:9), refers to God’s redemption of Truth, for Jerusalem is called “the city of Truth” (Zach. 8:3). “God has exposed His holy arm before all the nations” (Isa. 52:10), refers to sanctifying the name of God. “All ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God” (Isa. 52:10), refers to repairing the world in the Malchut of the Almighty. All of these are the mission of the mashiach of the beginning, the first Mashiach, Mashiach ben Yosef, who comes at the time of the awakening from below, and will find completion when Mashiach ben David comes, speedily in our day, Amen

The Sitra Achra wishes to uproot Truth and to bring about desecration of God name, and we will fight him by redemption of the truth and sanctification of God’s Name

All this is obligatory upon us to know and understand beforehand, when we carry out our holy work of gathering in the exiles and rebuilding Jerusalem.
We must know beforehand that to the extent that this holy work will increase–so the Sitra Achra’s power to disturb and bring about failure will increase with his primary weapon which is eradicating the truth as explained above by our Sages and the Gaon. If we know all this ahead of time– the Sitra Achra’s desire and the force of his warfare, then we will know how to deal with it practically. We will know how to fight him, measure for measure. That is, the Sitra Achra wishes to uproot Truth and to bring about desecration of God’s name, and we will fight him by redemption of the truth and sanctification of God’s name. This is also what is meant by the verse: “God wages war against Amalek from generation to generation” [Ex. 17:16]. The forces of God’s seal is that truth will give us the strength as we proceed step by step in our war. We must remember that this power comes miraculously from Heaven according to our Sages (Sanhedrin 64a); in the incident when a note fell from Heaven, they state that “truth was written on it, which is the seal of God.” But in every commandment the awakening from below is required.
About this it says “the truth will sprout from the land” [Ps. 85:12]. When we act on behalf of redemption of Truth from below, then God will aid us with His imprint, and since the main center of the Sitra Achra is in the gates of Jerusalem, as it says “come to its gates; cast lots on Jerusalem” (Ovadia 1:11), and as it states: “sin crouches at the entrance” against the “entrance to the city” of Jerusalem, because all the desire of the impure force is to attach itself to the center of Holiness. It says about this: “God will denounce you O Satan…He who chooses Jerusalem” [Zach. 3:2]. Therefore here at the gates of the holy city of Jerusalem, may it be built and established, is the site and center for the supreme force to counterattack the angel of Esau who fights to uproot the truth.

Why am I bringing up this issue now?

There are quite a few people on the Israeli right that understand that Trump’s latest ~20 point peace plan for Gaza is a disaster for Israel, for Judaism, and for Jewish safety throughout the world. However, they believe that Hamas will turn down the plan, so why fight with Trump and Bibi about all the details.

My answer to them is that WORDS DO MATTER and agreement to Trump’s outrageous Gaza plan damages us no matter what the other side may or may not do.

Article by Shlomo Moshe Scheinman