Holy Galloping Geulah!

Embracing today's racehorse pace of change.

There's no way around it.

With the chevlei haMashiach now upon us, events are beginning to accelerate in a manner heretofore unseen.

Unfortunately, the corresponding pain that’s about to be unleashed will also be unprecedented.

It will engender a good measure of fear and panic — even despair — both in Israel and across the globe. There will be disruptions and dislocations; nothing will work as it once had.

B’SHA’AH TOVA U’MUTZLACHAT

And yet, from amid the chaos, we know, something new will arise, something to be cherished — entirely good.

So, don’t fear, dear brothers and sisters, and don’t despair. For yours is the privilege of the midwife who merits a place at the birth, even to assist in that sacred process of delivering the new world into being.

May you be blessed with all the quiet calm of the experienced midwife, with her assurance and her empathy, with her focus and her skills both to encourage and to guide.

And may you find great pleasure in the soon-to-be born child!

WHO CAN I TRUST?

That said, during periods of upheaval, there invariably arises a chorus of competing voices with conflicting suggestions, advice and direction on how to navigate the crisis at hand.

And that will apply equally to the chain of crises that’s about to descend upon us.

So, what to do? How does one manage such a cacophony? Are there rules available to guide us in the matter of exactly what is to be done and upon whom we can rely?

Of course there is.

Hereunder, find a brief excursus into the matter…

The first, and possibly most important (and obvious) rule, is to avoid attaching oneself to hysterical individuals. This is a good practice at all times, in fact, and not just during periods of crisis.

Hysterical individuals can't be trusted because their very essence is to overreact to every development, thereby sowing panic among their confreres, a phenomenon that nearly always leads to unacceptable results.

They often grow hysterical, too, when there are no developments to speak of, when there’s an excess of quiet, and they become moved to do something — anything — just to satisfy some unknown inclination to act, as if action, and not inaction, were always the best course to follow.

A relative who’s prone to hysteria should be kept close, quiet and, in a worst case scenario, warned sternly against generating discord among the ranks.

Hysterical people, in particular, but more generally, people with bad middot should not be followed. Anyone prone to anger or laziness or miserliness, negativity etc. is bound to prove incapable, in the end, of walking a straight line path to safety.

On the flip side, a person who exhibits self-control in both stressful and peaceful times can generally be accounted trustworthy to offer advice, whether he’s endowed with great knowledge or not.

Closely related to the issue of middot is that of loquaciousness.

People who talk a lot are less trustworthy than those more laconic in nature.

That doesn't mean that talkative types don’t possess any know-how. Indeed, they may be endowed with a profound intellect or vast knowledge, or both. But that does not render them reliable purveyors of advice.

On the contrary, their overwhelming desire for an audience will often induce them to speak, even convincingly and rationally, about things that they'd best be silent about, or to admit to their limited understanding or experience with certain situations or topics.

In short, their arrogance regularly overtakes them, forces them to speak for the sake being listened to, and G-d forbid, could easily lead people astray.

Quiet individuals, on the other hand, who don't seek a spotlight are generally more humble and aware of their shortcomings. It’s rare for a taciturn person to give advice of which he’s not fully confident. At the very least, he’ll couch it with appropriate, honest caveats, explaining why this or that part of any plan may be more likely to succeed or fall short.

This is precisely the type of advice you're looking for.

A FAMILY MAN

Individuals who are not wholly dedicated to their families and their families’ welfare should also be suspect. Scoring points with neighbors and ‘important’ people — at the expense of one’s kin — is never a good indication, and should be understood as a sign of instability and possible treachery. By contrast, those bound by an unshakeable sense of familial loyalty will almost always make superior advisors.

Finally, one should be extremely wary of anyone holding certain currently popular worldviews.

Such as…?

Anyone beholden to a communist or socialist ideology will tend to value the individual far below that of the community or nation of which he is a part. That is, he’ll ultimately judge that individual lives are expendable for the sake of the advancement of the ‘group’, however he might define it.

Equally, anyone of a statist bent, who defines his interests as comporting with those of the nation state in which he resides — or any other nation state, for that matter — should be viewed with suspicion.

A man’s allegiance, first and beyond all, is to G-d. Thereafter, to his family. Should anyone appear to you waving a flag and trumpeting the value of the sacred state, he must be regarded with deep distrust.

The place of G-d and prayer and following one's own course.

During periods of turmoil, one will inevitably be saddled with situations with which one has little experience and even less knowledge.

The normal practice of prayer, thoughtful reflection and self-counsel may prove insufficient at such an hour; you simply may have to rely on others for answers or instruction on how to behave, where to go, or what exactly to do to survive now or in the immediate future.

In cases such as these, of course, one must seek out sound advice, and best it should come from a source that accords with what we've written above.

May G-d help you always to be surrounded by good people who will help you think and act in you and your family’s best interest.

And when mayhem engulfs the streets, G-d forbid!, remember there’s a warm fire burning in the Shomron for any contemplating fleeing their current station.

Choref tov!

And hatzlacha raba!

Dean Maughvet