Rav Yoel Schwartz on the Geula

Cosmic X posted a link to a great article from Arutz Sheva's Hebrew magazine B'Sheva site about Rav Yoel Schwartz, one of the Roshei Yeshiva of Yeshivat Dvar Yerushalayim.

Rav Schwartz has an impresive resume and workload besides his role in the Yeshiva: he is very active in leading Bnei Noah, was highly involved with advising the production of Gush Katif bug-free produce, was the founder of the Nahal Hareidi, and has written about 200 books.

These are excerpts of his thoughts on the Ge'ula, and how to bring it to fruition:

• [After giving it to secular Zionism, he was asked, "What about Religious Zionism?" His reply:]"There are people who call themselves Zionists, but they really go with the approach of the Vilna Gaon, who holds that one can hasten the Ge'ula by building Israel, actively - not passively. There are 3 approaches: The first holds not to do anything [in building up the infrastructure of the Land of Israel], and that anything done will just slow down the Geula process. The Zionists' approach is "We'll take our fate into our own hands." The third approach is that of the Vilna Gaon, explained in his book "Kol Hator", that it's incumbant upon us to be partners with Hashem in the world, and that this is what will hasten the Geula. I believe that the Halacha in heaven is like this [third] opinion because events in the field prove so: the center of Torah today is in Eretz Yisrael. It's incumbant upon us to understand the greatness of the hour.
  I explain the matter like this: In the Diaspora, we had a Shabbos Goy. In Israel, we had a Jewish Goy, and now Hashem wants there to be a Jewish Jew. In other words, in the Diaspora, we left the positions of public office to the non-Jews. In Israel, we left them to the secular Zionists, who "break the head" let them wrack their brains [and figure out how to solve the problems of running a state]. However, Hashem wants us to take everything upon us. The words of the Hatam Sofer are constantly opposite my eyes: that if a man says that he doesn't want to build up Eretz Yisrael in order not to be Mevatel Torah, it's as if he refuses to put on Tefillin in order not to be Mevatel Torah."


• [When asked what we need to do today, he replied:] "To build Eretz Yisrael. I'll explain what I said. Why was a Hareidi mayor [Rabbi Uri Lapolianski] elected in Yerushalayim? Because he established [the charitable medical-supply organization] Yad Sarah. Why is the Hareidi influence in Netanya greater than their numbers? Because they established Laniado Hospital. If you also worry for the material well-being of a person, he will be convinced that you really want to help him."


• "Preparation for Geula fills the life of Rav Schwartz. He sees the Nahal Hareidi as another step in the Geula process, and he showed me [the author of the article] how the connection of the Nahal Hareidi to Mashiah ben Yosef is hinted to. He found support for the importance of his efforts of dealing with Bnei Noah from (the Vilna Gaon's) Kol Hator. And even in the appearance of bug-free lettuce near Passover 1990, he sees a sign that works out according to the dates of Geula of the Vilna Gaon"


• "The Geula will not come on its own; you need to bring it."

Also, see the amazing Gematriot near the end of the article based on the Pasuk in Shir Hashirim:

הנצנים נראו בארץ עת הזמיר הגיע וקול התור נשמע בארצנו

If there's interest, I'll translate or summarize this, BL"N.

There's another Gematria involving the color orange mentioned by Rav Schwartz that I found pretty amazing:

• The Hebrew word for yellow is Tzahov - צהוב - with a Gematria of 103. This is the same Gematria as Oslo - אוסלו.


• The Hebrew word for red is Adom - אדם - with a Gematria of 45 (without the vav). This is the same Gematria as Geula - גאולה.


• We are currently in between Oslo and Geula, so the colors are now mixed, and we get orange.