Everyone is going to convert
Excerpt of a shiur given by Rav Eliezer Berland, shlita, on Wednesday of Parshat Pincus, 5778.
Shimshon [contained the souls] of both Yafet and Shem[1]. On the shoulders of both of them, they united to go forward together under one covering[2]. So, Hashem brought them together into one soul, the soul of Shimshon.
For all of us are fused together from a few different souls.
The good needs to overcome the bad
The soul of Shem should have always overcome the soul of Yafet. The moment that Shem’s soul would have overcome Yafet’s, then it would have stopped acting evilly.
But if a person fails to guard his speech – if even just one incorrect word comes from his mouth – then he won’t be able to make his ‘good’ overcome his ‘bad’. Because Shimshon failed in one single word, so Shem couldn’t overcome Yafet – and the good couldn’t overcome the bad.
Everyone comes down [to planet earth] to fix netzitzot, sparks of their soul. There are sparks from tzaddikim, and there are sparks from reshaim (evildoers), as we saw by Rabbi Akiva, who contained a spark of Zimri. And the 24,000[3] that died at the end of Parshat Balak, Rabbi Akiva needed to rectify this matter. (They were the 24,000 students who died between Pesach and L’ag B’Omer).
So the wife of Turnus Rufus[4] was a soul spark from Cozbi, because [Cozbi] really wanted to convert. She was willing and ready to do it, so she returned in a reincarnation as the wife of Turnus Rufus.
Every non-Jewish woman wants to convert
Every non-Jewish woman needs to return in a different reincarnation to be a Jewess, because all the non-Jewish woman want to convert. If, God forbid, she misses her first opportunity [to convert], then she will have to return in a different reincarnation, as happened to Cozbi, who returned as the wife of the rasha Turnus Rufus. And then she did convert.
So ultimately, everyone SHOULD convert, like Rahav[5] converted. In the future, everyone will convert, all the non-Jewish women.
And so, Rabbi Meir said that it’s permitted to lekadesh (sanctify for marriage) a non-Jewish woman on the basis that she will convert, because every non-Jewish woman want to become a Jewess.
There is no goy that does not want to become a Jew.
And then, Hashem’s glory will be revealed, and exalted and valued, and then Moshiach ben David will be revealed, and “Hashem alone will be exalted“, (Isaiah 2:11), and a Temple of fire will come down, may it be speedily in our days, amen.
[1] Two of the three sons of Noach.
[2] Referring to when the two sons went forward together to cover up Noach’s nakedness.
[3] Zimri was the Prince of the House of Shimeon, who sinned with the Midianite Princess Cozbi, and was killed by Pincus. 24,000 men from the house of Shimeon subsequently died in a plague as a result of their licentious behavior. These 24,000 were reincarnated as the students of Rabbi Akiva, who died between Pesach and L’ag B’Omer.
[4] Turnus Rufus was the Roman Governor of Israel at the time of Rabbi Akiva, and a Jew-hater. When Rabbi Akiva’s first wife, Rachel, passed away, Rabbi Akiva ended up marrying Turnus Rufus’ wife who’d left him and converted to yiddishkeit.
[5] Rahav was a woman of the night who lived in Jericho at the time the Israelites conquered the Land of Canaan, and who gave shelter to the Israelite spies Joshua had sent to spy out the land. Rahav was the most famous consort of her time – and she ended up converting and marrying Joshua, the leader of the Jewish people.
Where is the author here getting his information? After Moshiach, there will be no converts. The rest of the world that remains will become ‘Bnai Noach’. They will accept the seven laws of Noach and will live in their respective lands and will come once a year to Yerushalayim to make Oleh Regel to pay homage to H’. What is written in this article is very disturbing. Don’t know where the sources are for such thinking. The righteous of the nations will be living according to the 7 laws of Noach. No conversions other than that. H’ will see to it that the whole world will recognize that there is only Hashem. Ain Od Milvado! There is no co-mingling with the other nations. All of Eretz Yisrael will be considered as Yerushalayim and the rest of the world will be like Eretz Yisrael, for the other nations.
The information is coming straight from translations of the Rav’s own words in the Hebrew. There are two points here: Firstly, if you go back and read the post carefully, the Rav makes clear that all this should be taking place BEFORE Moshiach comes. He’s not at all saying that this will happen after Moshiach comes, as you’re 100% correct that it states there will no converts after Moshiach.
The second point is that while the Rav is saying the righteous of the nations ideally SHOULD convert before Moshiach comes, clearly not all of them will.
In essence, there is no disagreement between what you have stated in your comment and what the Rav himself has said.
BH I think this article is the most appropriate place to send this request!
Can you please publish a prayer by Rav Berland to help non-Jewish women and her family convert?
I love the Rav’s openness to potential converts, and his apparent stance that anyone who favors the Jews has a spark of Jewish soul (I read this in Volume II of One in a Generation.)
May we all be embraced in our local communities and gracefully supported in our desire to join the Jewish nation.