Stop the Storms (Yona)

Yona (jona)- Then and Now

(In a Seichah (1985, Chaya Sara) it says): When you see there is “A great storm in the sea” (Yonah 1, 4), and “Countries are fighting with one another” (Midrash Lechach Tov), you need to know:
that the reason for this, is not because one nation had an argument, and got angry with another nation; but rather “Because of this great storm” (Yonah 1, 12): in order that a Jew should know, that Moshiach is ready to come.

(The Rebbe says (In Sefer HaSeichas, Nun-Alef, page 73): “The occurrence of “nations fighting one another,” this itself is a sign of the Geulah.”
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At least 2.5 billion people have been affected by natural disasters over the past 10 years- an increase of 60% over the past decade, the UN says.

Our generation can be compared to the generation of the prophet Yonah. Yonah was given a job to do by Hashem, but Yonah did not want to carry out his job, and tried to hide from Hashem.

But, of course, you can’t hide from Hashem. So Hashem, Who does things through natural means, caused a great storm to come about.

In order to try to stop the storm, everyone on the boat tried to worship their own particular god, but nothing worked. Finally they tried to find someone whose G-d would be powerful enough, to to stop the storm.

Then they realized that hiding deep in the bottom of the boat, was a lone Jew, Yonah. They went down and brought him up, and to told him to pray to his G-d in order to try to stop the storm.

He told them to throw him off the boat and the storm would stop. Which is what they did, and just as he said, the storm stopped. They then realized, that the Jewish G-d is the true G-d, more powerful than any other G-d.
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A similar thing is happening in our generation, the world is shaking, because of the many storms that have occurred, and that are going to occur. These storms include actual storms of weather, and also storms of a possible world war, and the attempted destruction of Israel.

Hashem is making this all happen, in order for the world to realize, that the only way to stop the storms, is through the Jewish people and their Torah and Moshiach.
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The Rebbe says (in Sefer HaSeichos, Nun-Alef, page 81); the reason that in Noach’s Tevah there was peace, was because,
“The world was full of the knowledge of G-d.”

So too now, when the knowledge of G-d is spread throughout the world (Chassidus and the Geula), then the storms will stop.