Today's Erev Rav

Today's Erev Rav 
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Today's Erev Rav

By: Rivka Levy

Part 7 of "The Erev Rav"   What percentage of today's Jews may actually be Erev Rav?   There is no clear answer to this question. As we saw earlier, the Arizal in Shaarei HaPesukim, Shemot 1:8 explains that when Pharaoh complains that "The people, the Children of Israel are more numerous and greater than us," he wasn't just talking about Bnei Yisrael; he was also talking about the millions of Egyptians converts that Yosef and Yaacov converted.   According to the Arizal, these converts were the Erev Rav, who left together with the Jewish people in the Exodus - and they were more than double the Jewish people.    So according to the Arizal, the Erev Rav may be a sizeable majority of today's Jews. That's the high-end opinion.   In the Zohar, Beshallach 45b-46a, it's written: "…And the Children of Israel went up armed (chamushim). This signifies that the Erev Rav numbered one in every five(chamishah). According to R. Jose, for every five pure Israelites there was one who belonged to the Erev Rav. R. Judah said one in fifty (chamishim)."   That's the low-end opinion. But remember, the impact of the Erev Rav is much greater than just their sheer numbers. As we're going to learn now, Erev Rav are typically attracted to roles and positions where they can influence the people around them, which gives them the perfect platform for starting or encouraging negative trends that take Jews away from G-d. Even if the low number is correct, the number of real Jews who areinfluenced by the Erev Rav (and consequently acting like them) could be much greater.   "Let us make a name for ourselves"   Making a name for themselves is one of the main preoccupations of the Erev Rav, as set out both by Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai in the Zohar, and the Vilna Gaon.   Rabbi Chaim Vital, the main student of the Arizal, warns us in the introduction to his book Etz Chaim that a key way that the Erev Rav do this is by pursuing 'honourable' positions in the Jewish religious world, and making a point of doing mitzvoth that will get them kudos from others.   "All those that do kindness and toil in the Torah, all they do for themselves. And in particular through our many sins, in our times the Torah has been made into a hammer with which to do their own ends for many baalei Torah, who occupy themselves in the Torah in order to receive their reward and other benefits and luxuries, and in order to be in the group of heads of yeshivot, and judges in their courts, so that their names and fame spread throughout the land."   Rabbi Vital also tells us how we can spot who is the real deal:   "In Pirkei Avot (Ethics of our Fathers) 6:41, Rabbi Meir said: He who studies the Torah for its own sake (without ulterior motives) deserves many things, and not only that, but the whole world is indebted to him. And he is called beloved friend, loved by G-d and men, he pleases the Creator and humanity. The Torah covers him with modesty and fear, makes him virtuous, merciful, devoted, just and faithful, moves him away from sin, guiding him by the path of virtue, etc.   "The secrets of the Torah are revealed to him and he is turned into an endless fountain of wisdom, and he becomes modest, patient, forgiving offenses, etc."   Rebbe Nachman and false leaders   In the book Rebbe Nachman's Wisdom, paragraph 126, the Rebbe says the following about false leaders in the time preceding the coming of Moshiach:   "The Talmud teaches us that the angels will chant 'holy, holy, holy' before the Tzadikim, just like they do before G-d…the tzadikim who remain faithful before the Moshiach's coming will deserve this, and much more. So difficult will it be to remain firm in faith and not to be misled by everyone's mistaken beliefs in the pre-Messianic era.   "At that time, many who call themselves religious leaders will preach falsehood… There will remain some truly religious individuals, but they will be very widely scattered."   'Charm is deceit'   Lets conclude this section with an excerpt from the Peshiska Rav's book, the Sefer Or ha Ner (the Light of the Candle):   "…all the people are at a very low level and they are contaminated, G-d save us, by their sins and transgressions, and therefore their eyes are blocked and they can't see the truth. Therefore, they incline more to falsehood than to the truth.    "Our Master, the Holy Baal Shem Tov, said: 'Charm is deceit and beauty is vain' (Proverbs 31:30), that in the times before the coming of Moshiach, falsehood will be charming to people and vanity will be considered beauty, that all the people will call it beauty because everyone is pulled by falsehood.   "Therefore, you should fall to the floor with prayers before Hashem Yitborach from the depths of the heart, that He should light up your eyes, so that you will be able to come to the truth."   RECAP: Traits of the Erev Rav, as described by our holy Sages:   Erev Rav possess some or all of the following traits:   They are brazen - ie, they believe they are perfect and can do no wrong   They are stiff-necked or stubborn; you can't get them to reverse their opinions or change course   They make themselves leaders by force (ie, they are bullies)   They pursue their physical lusts   They want to 'make a name for themselves' and pursue honour, for example by building synagogues and adorning Torah scrolls   They abandon Israel whenever it's in trouble, preferring to band together with Israel's enemies   The promote strife and lashon hara   They pretend to be tzadikim, but their hearts are not straight   They run after money and strife   They lie to everyone, and they believe their own lies   They are constantly competing and making comparisons with other people   They are spiteful and vindictive, and constantly plotting how to 'get' the righteous people in their lives   They don't respect agreements, boundaries, or other people's property and rights   They watch righteous people for two reasons: first, to mimic how 'righteous people' behave; and secondly, to identify their insecurities and flaws so that they can use this knowledge to try to 'kill' them   They are full of evil 'judgement calls' about the people around them, ie, they criticise others harshly and speak a lot of lashon hara about them   You can't argue with them (or at least, you can never win an argument with them because they won't acknowledge the truth) - so you just have to wait silently for G-d to rescue you from them   They seem invincible and scary and permanent, but once they're unmasked for what they really are, and it's as though they completely vanish from the righteous person's life   They are angry, stubborn and refuse to mend their ways, even when they are shown what they are doing wrong.   They hide their evil and heresy behind a veneer of 'good' and 'religious', which confuses us, and makes it very hard for us to know what's going on, or what to do about it   Their 'big thing' is making peace, at any pric..