Rav Avigdor Miller on The Warning for the Jews in America (November 1991)

A:

When the United States went into World War II, I wasn’t much of a thinking man. I read newspapers, but I didn’t think too much then. I knew what was going on, but I wasn’t thinking anything then.

But I’ll tell you what Hashem was thinking. That’s a more difficult question, but I’ll tell you. How can I know what He’s thinking? I can guess what He’s thinking.

Everything in the world is לנסות את ישראל, to test the עם ישראל. World War I was the warning. Hashem was saying, “Watch out! This is only the beginning. You Jews in Europe, watch yourselves. America is coming to help you this time; but next time, they’ll come a little too late. If you allow the Socialists, and the Communists, and the Bundists, and the Hebrew nationalists, to lead you astray – and that’s what happened – then it’s only going to get worse.”

If the Jews would have listened to the warnings of World War I and done t’shuva and they would have forsaken all of the false torahs that were being taught in Europe at that time, they would have been saved. But they didn’t listen, and they became worse and worse.

I was in Europe from 1932, from תרצ’ב, and I saw what was happening. The tarbus schools were spreading everywhere. Schools of atheism! The Jews were taking their children out of the chadorim, and sending them to atheistic places. So Hakodosh Boruch Hu said, “I gave you a warning. I gave you a great warning! World War I was a very strict warning. But you didn’t listen.”

And when World War II came along, it was already too late. America came in too late to save the Jews. Because they didn’t listen then. And so, everything is a warning.

And by the way, I want to tell you something. What happened in World War II is a warning for us too. American Jews are going wild, going crazy meshuga, over worthless things here in America and – [THE TAPE ENDED HERE וחבל על דאבדין]

TAPE # 854 (November 1991)