When Nations Are At War, Think About Moshiach

אמר רבי אלעזר בר אבונא, אם ראית מלכיות מתגרות זו בזו צפה לרגליו של מלך המשיח.

-פסיקתא זוטרתא פרשת לך לך פרק י"ד. ובבראשית רבה מ"ב ד'

Free Translation:
Rabbi Eliezer Ben Avuna says if you see nations going to war against each other, lookout for the feet of Moshiach.
- Bereishit Raba, Parshas Lech Lecha

"הנה אף שענין זה הוא מסימני הגאולה, כלשון חז"ל "אם ראית מלכיות מתגרות זו בזו צפה לרגליו של משיח" - הרי בנוגע לענין הבלתי רצוי שבזה, בודאי יצאו כבר י"ח לכל הדעות [ועד"ז בנוגע לשאר הסימנים בענינים בלתי רצויים], ולא נותר עתה אלא לצפות "לרגליו של משיח", ולכן, צריכים כאו"א לעשות כל התלוי בהם לבטל את המצב הבלתי-רצוי מכל וכל."

-י"ט כסלו תשד"מ

Free Translation:

This idea is part of the signs of Geulah, as Chazal says, "If you have seen kings provoking one another, look for the feet of Moshiach". With regard to the undesirable aspects, all opinions agree that we already passed the negative Simonim. All that's left is to expect "the feet of Moshiach." Therefore, each person must do everything in their power to end the undesirable situation entirely.

- 19 Kislev, 5744

You Can Change the Political Scene!

We must bring stability by changing our seder and displaying extra Simchah earlier than usual.

Tensions between the US and Russia:

Tishrei time of תשד”מ (starting from כ”ג אלול) saw strong tensions between America and the USSR. During Chol Hamoed Sukkos, Russia was notified by its Early-Warning-Radar that America had launched five nuclear ballistic missiles towards Russia. Baruch Hashem, Russia realized in time that this was a malfunction and a false alarm.

No one knew about this story until ten years later.

However, that Simchas Torah, at the farbrengen before hakafos, the Rebbe clearly addressed the friction between world powers and what we can do to help.

The Rebbe discussed the fact that he had displayed an extra measure of simchah on Shemini Atzeres that year, although such great simchah is usually reserved for Simchas Torah. To explain this, the Rebbe related how the Alter Rebbe changed the seder on Rosh Hashanah of 5573. He blew the shofar before davening, in order to bring about Napoleon’s downfall. Similarly, we are in a time when countries are fighting with each other. We must bring stability by changing the seder and displaying extra simchah earlier than usual.

But what about us, regular people who are not on the level of the Alter Rebbe? Even we can have an effect. When we find out that there are countries at war, our yearning for Moshiach is heightened and we add in Torah and mitzvos. These actions have a real influence on world powers.

The Rebbe concluded that one way of initiating this global impact is by giving berachos to each other, especially with the nusach of Birchas Kohanim. The Rebbe then proceeded to do so himself, reciting aloud the pessukim of Yevarechecha etc. until Veyasem lecha shalom.

View the sicha inside here