This year’s presidential election has brought into focus the ominous polarization between right and left in America. Indeed, political turmoil marks the current political climate around the world. But, beyond the obvious, several political movements are progressing far below the radar. None of them is grabbing headlines, but, if successful, their repercussions would be disastrous.
Interestingly, the
words of our talmidei chachamim are
often relevant to current events. Consider the Malbim’s commentary on these pesukim:
“A river issues
forth from Eden to water the garden, and from there it is divided and becomes
four headwaters. The name of the first is Pishon… The gold of that land is good…
and the Shoham stone. The name of the second river is Gichon… that encircles
the whole land of Cush. The name of the third river is Chiddekel…that flows
toward the east of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates” (Bereishis, 2:10-14).
The Malbim (Rabbi
Leibush ben Yechiel Michel Wisser, 1809-1879) of Ukraine offers the following
explanation: Each of these tributaries, through its respective description,
represents a particular drive or mode of human conduct. Pishon denotes a person
who seeks to accumulate wealth and possessions. The Gichon symbolizes a person
who pursues a life of physical pleasure. The Chiddekel signifies one who
strives to conquer and control, as Assyria stands for might. The Euphrates
(Pras), on the other hand, watered
the garden, thereby serving as the source for the other waters, and it too
flowed out of Eden. The Euphrates connotes the G-d fearing chachamim and prophets among our people.
Later in Bereishis
(4:20-22), we find that three of Lamech’s children brought certain innovations
into the world. Namely, Yaval pitched tents and bred cattle; Yuval handled the
harp and flute, while Tuval Cayin fashioned cutting devices of copper and iron.
Says the Malbim, these individuals reflect the human tendencies outlined above:
Yaval settled in the land adjacent to Pishon and used his talents to develop
commerce, trade, and wealth. Yuval settled in Cush, a land known for immorality
and invented musical instruments to facilitate such behavior. Tuval Cain invented
weapons of war and moved to the powerful land of Assyria. The fourth child was
Naamah, of whom the Torah offers no description. She was known as a righteous
woman who lived near the Euphrates and became the wife of Noach. As such, she
signifies a life of Torah.
Read on to understand
just how relevant the Malbim’s insights are in today’s world.
Central Banking Digital Currency (CBDC)
Our U.S.
government, through the Federal Reserve, is presently planning to replace hard
currency (cash and coins) with digital currency, somewhat akin to Bitcoin. However,
unlike Bitcoin, in this scenario, the U.S. government becomes our central bank,
empowering it to monitor and control every financial transaction made. Specifically,
this digital program allows the government to approve, disapprove, or limit
every expenditure and even “empty” your wallet if your spending habits do not
sufficiently conform to a targeted “social credit score,” i.e., desired
purchase and saving behaviors. In short, CBDC would entitle the government to
dictate how our lives are lived and can very readily strip the citizenry of any
ability to accumulate wealth.
This would bring
ruin to the financial wellbeing initiated by Yaval. Whatever upside to this
system may be touted by our government, the above-described features are very
much part of the picture and pose a grave threat to financial privacy and
freedom. To date, this system is used in China and is well underway in Europe.
A bill in the US
Senate, S887, is pending, which would prevent the Fed from issuing a CBDC.
The Equality Act: HR15 and S5
Due to relentless
pressure from the LGBTQ lobby, Congress is poised to pass the Equality Act,
which would, among other things, mainstream gender-deviant orientations into
our society. Specifically, it would:
·
Mandate religious schools,
hospitals and places of worship to hire and train such individuals.
·
Permit and fund gender-related
medical procedures.
·
Revoke the Religious Freedom
Restoration Act of 1993.
·
Overturn Title IX, which presently
offers protection for women in all fields of sports.
In short, this bill, still pending, would
upend the institution of family and obliterate all traditional standards of
morality in the U.S.
Regarding Yuval, although
the Torah does not demonstrate
that Yuval's depraved ways were imposed beyond the confines of his land, Cush,
under this bill, a
depraved lifestyle would be imposed by law upon the entire U.S.
World Health Organization (WHO)
Since its
inception in 1948, this UN organization has drafted recommendations to enhance
global health. Currently, however, it seeks to pass an international “Pandemic
Agreement/Treaty” granting it binding,
global authority to “regulate any
risk to public health.” Pursuant to proposed amendments to its “International
Health Regulations” (IHR), the WHO would enact the following:
·
Digital Health Certificates for
every individual, without which the ability to worship publicly, travel, shop,
dine, etc. could be limited or banned.
·
“One Health Approach” would be
invoked to control every aspect of medicine, treatment, supply chain, exports,
shipping, vaccines, food, immigration, climate, and many more areas – all in
the name of health.
If a simple
majority of member nations signs on to the IHR amendments, including the U.S.
president, national autonomy and personal freedoms would be jeopardized. The
WHO treaty would thus stymie the lifestyle of Tuval Cayin as individuals and
nations would lose a large portion of their constitutional rights and sovereignty
to their dictates.
Congress needs to
pass S444 with at least a 66% vote from the U.S. Senate to ratify any agreement
with the WHO. An alternative bill, HR79, would exit and defund the WHO.
* * *
Despite Trump’s
electoral victory, today’s political environment remains fluid, and it is still
possible for the above-listed agendas to gain traction and acceptance. Although
passage of these bills does not seem imminent, we have recently seen how
political developments can happen in an instant, taking us unawares. If, Heaven
forbid, all of them pass into law, we
will be at the threshold of some form of one-world government, at which point
the individual becomes a mere pawn in the hands of tyrants. Though a global
state promises utopia, in reality, all it would offer is a saga of failure,
destitution, and misery. Unchecked, we could also be facing a worldwide
population implosion, not to mention a grave threat to all religious
observance. What sobering thoughts.
When I realized
how precisely the above movements
align with or, rather, against the
Malbim, I was left absolutely stunned and flabbergasted. Let me explain: The
Malbim does not, of course, endorse
any of the first three lifestyles he portrays. In fact, he goes on to clarify
that these facilitated the advent of idol worship and also provided a gateway
to the undesirable traits outlined in Pirkei
Avos (4:28): envy, lust, and the
pursuit of honor. Rather, the correct way for us to live is that which is
guided by Torah; each of us should strive to be a ben aliyah. Nevertheless, G-d, in his Infinite Wisdom, saw fit to
design the world in which these alternative lifestyles exist so that
a person, including the Jew, can direct his life as he sees fit. Accordingly,
it is implicitly understood that a human has the right to choose.
With this
backdrop, a one-world government undermines and eviscerates our Creator’s
design by depriving humanity of these rights. Such despots are in essence
defying G-d’s will. We should be forever vigilant that the day of global
tyranny never comes and undertake the proper hishtadlus, with Hashem’s help, to effect this.
