The Face of the Dog

I decided to post this now although technically according to the clock, I have no time. It is the answer to a post asking what about the year 5764? What seminal event happened in the year 5764 (Fall 2003-Summer 2004) that corresponds with offering up the Paschal Lamb (Korban Pesach). It of course would need to be a miracle from below, an act of faith in our deliverance coming from something other than our own flesh and blood or from the efforts of gentile kings. Here is my answer to the question posed by one of the readers of this blog:

The answer to your question will be in an essay that I want to write on the gemarrah in tractate Sotah "Dor acharon dor pnai' hakelev" The final generation will have the face of a dog. It basically revolves around the fact that all the gods of Egypt were destroyed except for Baal Tzafon (the god of the north which supposedly trapped Israel between Pharoah's army and the sea) which according to the Vilna Gaon in his haggadah had the face of a dog. When we offered up the sheep god as a Pesach sacrifice we were rebelling against the world power of Egypt and its god for the month of Nissan, the sheep. The final false Egyptian god would need to wait to the final generation, our generation, for its destruction.

The face of the dog's principle hold on people is that all that matters is public opinion. Bill Clinton, the leader of that Avodah Zarah (idolotry) fashioned almost all of his public policy positions on focus groups and polls. He rarely had a core belief that was not formed by these polls. Polls and referenda are the stuff of serving this alien god. Yet, every once in a while G-d conducts his own referendum. He conducted one last year in 5764 to see if the Jews of Eretz Yisrael wanted to do tshuva (repentence) for the Sin of the Spies (rejection of the land of Israel when the spies in the Book of Numbers came back with a frightening report about the nature of our enemis there). Ariel Sharon has ignored the results of this poll. Apparently according to a growing number of mekubalim, G-d has not. Acording to Rav M. Eliyahu there will be miracles this summer if the Gaza uprooting is not stopped by natural means. G-d is as pleased as if we had offered up our own Korban Pesach. The Likud rank-in-file spit in the face of world public opinion, and like God's Dog, Kalev ben Yefunah, the mitpakdim (Likud rank and file) said that they did not want to become mitnatkim (disengagers from Gaza). By the way, the name Kalev Ben Yefunah has the exact same letters as Pnai Hakelev. When he prayed in Chevron he was not just requesting from G-d to be protected from the evil council of the majority of his fellow spies. I am sure he was praying for our generation, the Calev ben Yephunah generation ( Pnai HaKelev generation.) It is no accident that he chose Chevron, for while serving G-d lishma (for its own sake) is best done in the Holy City of Yerushalayim, serving G-d by loving one's fellow man (bain adam l'chavero) is best done in the Holy City of Chevron. Since commandments between man and G-d needed to be proceded by commandments between man and man, when it was time for the morning daily sacrifices in the Temple in Yerushalayim, first it needed to be decided if the sun had already risen in Chevron. For if the sun had not risen in the quintessential city of loving your fellow man, how could we dare to offer up animal sacrifices to repair our relationship with G-d.

In this vein, I believe much will be required of American Jews this summer to prevent this Gaza atrocity, for unlike those of us who live here, you have not yet offered up your Korban Pesach to repair the damage done by the sin of the spies. I do not know whether there will be open miracles or only hidden miracles before G-d redeems the Jews of Gush Katif this summer. I do not know what great spiritual awakening we will experience at the Pesach Seder, or if we will be uplifted in a natural way during the Counting of the Omer. I do sense though that our Avodah (service to G-d) regarding this issue has not yet been completed.

G-d willing this Pesach is our taste of our reward for that awesome "from below" miracle last year. Remember the dogs did not bark when we left Egypt because of our lofty spiritual status. May we leave the Egypt of our present exile like Calev, G-d's Dog, and not like Bill Clinton or any of his admirers, when the Clintons boarded Air Force One at the end of his term with the White House silverware. Happy Pesach, and prepare yourself for the Avodah ahead if it becomes necessary.

Remember, as that paragon of feelings, Sir Bill was accustomed to saying, we may all need to "feel the pain" of those who are about to lose their homes to Sharon's bulldozer and of those far and wide who will be bombed into oblivion from the evacuated areas by more advanced missiles in Hamas's hands. It is time to tell the world to "lech l'azezel" (go to H___!).

Note: The word Kalev which means dog is created with two words Kal Lev (All Heart). WE FEEL THEIR PAIN!!!