5776 looms as a propitious year for all the world. If you
add the integers, they add up to 25 - this is the Hebrew word, ko, which is the first word used when Gd speaks to the Prophets, saying ko amar Hashem - so says G-d. We learn that the Moshiach will be heralded by the Prophet Elijah, and he will say these words, informing us, accompanied by the sound of the Great Shofar, that the Moshiach is here! Our rabbaim tell us that we live in the footsteps of the Moshiach, and the signs are all around us -- many of them foreboding, but when looked through the prism of Biblical prophecy and the Truth of Torah, they may cause us to laugh as the sight of foxes on the ruins of the Temple Mount, thousands of years ago, caused Rabbi Akiva to laugh -- for that bleak sight had been prophesied and if that came true then the accompanying prophecy of children dancing in the streets of Jerusalem in the Days to Come would also come true. So, while so many storm clouds loom, and while our daily news is frightening, it is important to SEE through the eyes of the heart, through the depth of our neshamos, that they are illusions and transient clouds that will be blotted out by the "Sun" of G-d's Everlasting LIght that will shine onto this world and let all the world know that He is One and His Name is One. All artificial differences, all biases and prejudices, all war and conflict, all hate and evil, will be burned away, and the world will live in Peace. May this Year bring us G-d's Light! Chasiva v'chasima tova!