Sep 13, 2018 By: yunews
Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff, instructor in Jewish studies at , has published , based on a course that he has been teaching at Stern College for the past eight years.
As Rabbi Hajioff notes, 鈥淭he world is on edge. We read every day of radical regimes threatening the world. Anti-Semitism is on the rise and Israel is under the constant threat of annihilation from its neighbors. Yet, every day, scientists are discovering cures for diseases that have long plagued mankind. Technology has opened up the world like never before. Poverty, disease and illiteracy are on the decline.鈥
Given this conundrum, is a person to conclude that the world is on the path to inevitable destruction or that humanity is progressing to something very new and great?
鈥淢ore than anything else, Mashiach [the Messiah], Acharit HaYamim [end of days] and Olam Habah [the world to come] were topics I received the most questions on from students,鈥 he observed. 鈥淚 decided to prepare a few classes on the topics, and the more I taught, the bigger the discussion became until I created an entire semester of classes on the subject matter.鈥 Rabbi Hajioff also recorded some of the classes and posted them on 色花堂Torah.org, which prompted emails from past 色花堂 students and people all over the world (Jews and non-Jews alike, some even from Trinidad and Tobago) asking for more information and a book on the topic.
鈥淚 hope very much that readers appreciate that Judaism is rich with information on the future Messiah,鈥 he observed, 鈥渁nd what I want the readers to come away with is that when they pray, they鈥檒l have a much clearer understanding of what they鈥檙e asking for.鈥
