I have thanked and acknowledged Rabbi Winston personally as my source of inspiration of my aliyah to Eretz Yisrael in the past. Even though not every olah/oleh remains in EY after aliyah, due to reasons unknown to man only to Hashem, Rabbi Winston's message continues to inspire. He has dedicated the rest of his life to bringing awareness of his project, Geulah B'Rachamim (Redemption with Mercy). It's not easy living in EY. Everytime, I communicate with my relatives in EY, they tell me it's getting so difficult in terms of financial means. Before I left, I thought everything was so expensive. Even after I left, prices continue to soar.
On another note, in my experience of having been there and done that, I realize that there is a lot that Jews have to do wherever they are. Rabbi Joey Haber, a very dynamic Ashkenazic Rabbi leading a Sephardi Syrian community in DEAL, NJ, is not shy in giving mussar to his beloved community in public. His shiur was towards the women of his community, how women shape their community, and what his community needs to do -- modesty, not flaunting wealth, not being inconsistent with what they do privately and what they do publicly, influencing their husbands to do the right thing. I am sure this issue is prevalent in many communities, many ba'al teshuvah communities. Israel, especially, is such a divided, pluralistic, community with so much teshuva to do. Click on picture below to watch the video.
Are we ready for Moshiach? The answer, is "I don't think so." We are so way behind in what we are supposed to be doing right, that Hashem gives us reminders constantly, and more frequently, through korbanos and anti-semitism to remind us that we have so much to do. Hashem is patient, and Moshiach is ready to come anytime, but we are NOT ready. We need to be serious about our avodah and be ready to meet Moshiach.
