Small tidbits and Sparks of wisdom

The path to exile began when even a man as great as Shlomo HaMelech thought he could decide without rebuke. The way back — the road to geulah — begins when we choose the opposite:

To live under Torah guidance

To make ourselves accountable

To accept rebuke with humility

To never trust our own brilliance over the will of Hashem

But here lies the modern tragedy: today’s galus is sustained not only by individual arrogance, but by communal silence.

The Tragic Immunity of the Powerful

In our time, many of the wealthiest and most influential individuals have become untouchable — not because they are above Torah, but because no one dares to tell them they’re wrong.

Why?

Because their money funds schools, institutions, kollelim, shuls.
Because their approval is sought.
Because even great rabbis — knowingly or unknowingly — feel the pressure of dependence.

> And so, no one rebukes them.
No one reminds them that wealth doesn’t excuse arrogance, or that influence demands greater accountability, not less.

These powerful figures should be role models for the generation — models of humility, responsibility, and Torah-true behavior. Instead, some of them live with the false illusion that their charity or community status absolves them from self-accountability.

A Silent Generation is a Lost One

If our leaders — both spiritual and lay — are afraid to speak truth to power, then the cycle of galus continues. Because once again, just like in the days of Shlomo, decisions are being made without rebuke, without oversight, without spiritual restraint.

And so the path forward is clear:

We must demand accountability from our leaders and ourselves.

We must rebuild a culture of mussar and honest rebuke, especially among those who lead with wealth and status.

We must remind the powerful that their merit comes not from their giving, but from their living.

> The day we break the fear of rebuking the powerful is the day we begin rebuilding Yerushalayim.

—