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From:Dell Griffin
To: heb_roots_chr@hebroots.org
Subject: Orthodox and Hassidic Rabbonim Declare "Time of Jacob's Trouble"

Shalom,

Well, you exchatology buffs will LOVE this one.

At the Western Wall today and in yeshivas and synagogues and religious schools throughout Israel the sound of shofar blasts, the singing of Hebrew Psalms and cries and tears and wails of repentance were heard in response to a declaration by the Gedolei Yisrael (Great Ones of Israel) formally recognizing the beginning of the "time of Jacob's trouble."

Thursday, March 22, 2001 (the 27th of Adar, 5761), was earlier designated the time to celebrate Rosh Chodesh Nisan, (the first day of Nisan), since the first day of Nisan actually falls on Sunday. Ordinarily Rosh Chodesh Nisan is designated a Yom Kippur Katan (a small Yom Kippur).

So over the past 24 hours the Jewish community here in Israel and throughout the world has united in prayer. What is unusual about this year's Yom Kippur Katan is that in light of the 6-month-old Palestinian uprising which has claimed the lives of 57 Israelis, including more than 20 through the direct involvment and participation of Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority, the rabbis have added the designation as "a time of Jacob's trouble."

Further it is signed by ALL 27 of the leading Orthodox and Chassidic sages, both the "maranan verabonon" (masters and teachers) and the "gedolei ha-Torah vehaChassidus (Torah sages among the Chassidut)."

The declaration begins and is formally designated:

"IT IS A TROUBLED TIME FOR YA'ACOV BUT HE WILL BE SAVED."

The declaration continues in full:

"Israel, the holy nation, is experiencing a time of suffering. Wicked people are launching attacks against our people, and are intent on causing trouble for the Jews in the Holy Land."

"May Hashem safeguard the Jewish nation in Eretz Hakodesh (the holy land) from the wicked machinations of our enemies. May He protect us from the oppressive calamities which crush body and soul. May He grant succor to those who suffer from severe and bitter illnesses. May he save us from the terrible plague in the form of traffic accidents. May He ease the pain of the hearts which grieve over the spiritual degeneration in our times, and over the decline in the belief in our sacred Torah.

"Our only power is in exercising of the age-old tool of our fathers, which is to cry out and to cause an uproar, as the Rambam says at the beginning of Hilchos Taanis: "It is a positive command of the Torah to cry out and to soud the shofar over every calamity which strikes the community, as it is written, "At hatsar hastsoreir eschem veharei'osem bechatzotzeros (against the adversary that oppresses you, you should blow an alarm with the trumpets -- Numbers 10:9) - the word tsar alluding to everything which oppresses (metsar) you.

"Therefore we entreat Jews everywhere -- men, womem and children -- to assemble at worldwide prayer rallies and to plead with the A-mighty, Who is most compassionate and kind, for deliverance. On Thursday, 27 Adar, ever rosh chodesh Nisan, in the shmittah year, we will gather with one heart, to issue pleas and fervent cries to the Master of all, and to recite the prayers of Yom Kippur Katan, selichos and Tehillim.

"Hashem will not reject the prayers of the many, and will accept our prayers and hearken to our outcries with compassion and grace. He will issue a spirit of purity from Above, in order to return us to Ovinu shebaShomayim. Fathers will return to their sons and sons to their fathers. Hashem will heed us, and we will not be lost. We will merit the coming of Moshiach tzidkeinu speedily, out of great mercy and kindness."

While precious minutes of 27 Adar remain, I encourage every JOE on this list who wishes to unite his heart in prayer with Judah to MINIMALLY pray the MINCHAH prayers (on my website www.torahvoice.org/minchah.htm ) or the prayers for the State of Israel www.torahvoice.org/prayers.htm and if you have a shofar to sound it before sunset tonight. (The alarm of Yom Kippur is "one continuous blast" but I heard a variety of blasts today.)

The special prayers for 27 Adar actually began last night in a celebration of Thanksgiving to Hashem for what was being termed througout Jerusalem today as a "very great NES (miracle)." A car packed full of explosives was parked in the heart of Jerusalem's Mea Shearim neighborhood on Rehov Mea Shearim in Kikar Shabbat (Shabbat Square). An off-duty parking warden
noticed the car parked illegally in a taxi-only zone, looked inside and thought he saw suspicious wires coming out of a cellphone. He recruited local passersby to clear pedestrians and bloc traffic until police arrived and confirmed it was a car-bomb.

Helicopters flew overhead as a mass evacuation took place of the neighborhood surrounding the car and Israeli bomb squads (Sappers) to partially disarm the device and to conduct two controlled detonations. Buses and cars were backed up for miles in all directions but the inconvenience of walking two miles and more from Mea Shearim to the nearest bus stop that was still accessible was mitigated by the spontaneous praises and thanksgivings ... and added to the crowds on hand in the shuls for Yom Kippur Katan.

The air in and around Jerusalem today was noticeably lighter and spirits were noticeably uplifted as this REVIVAL INITIATED BY THE MODERN TORAH SAGES got underway.

Shalom Shalom & Hashem's love & blessings,
ben Yosef

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