Here is a footnote from the article.
There are many levels of parallelism between the two "Erevs." On the political front there is an important facet that can be observed although, at this point, it can only be presented as speculation. The year 1990 witnessed extraordinary political events not only in the world at large but also in Israel. After 42 years in power the Israeli government of the secular Zionist leaders - the Erev Rav - fell at the hands of the religious non-Zionist leaders. First, the recognized Sepharadi halachic authority R. Ovadia Yosef and his Shas party were the key pin that were instrumental in bringing down the Shamir led government. Then, R. Eliezer Shach, the Rosh Yeshivah of Ponavitch and acclaimed leader of the Lithuwanian Yeshivah world, and his Degel HaTorah party were handed the political reigns and wrought havoc throughout the secular Israeli community and abroad. This was following the totally unprecedented power granted to him (or to any other rabbinic leader to date) through the vast media coverage of a speech he delivered on the media's false assumption that his party was going to announce a significant change in political policy. This was followed by the world leader of Chassidic Jewry and acclaimed Tzaddik of the generation R. Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the Lubuvitzcher Rebbe, directing his representative in the Agudat Yisrael party not to join in a Perez led government. Only after Perez was assured of the support of all the members of Agudat Yisrael and only after his public proclamation that he was indeed going to form the next government, did the Lubavitcher Rebbe, in affect, pull the political carpet out from beneath Shimon Perez - the archetypal representative of the Erev Rav - and topple his dreams as well as most likely his career.
What is most amazing about this new phenomenon of religious political activism is that only a few years prior Shas and Degel HaTorah did not exist and Agudat Yisrael played a very low profile in the Kenesset. Furthermore, prior to this, these Torah leaders made repeated claims based upon their religious convictions that they did not want to be directly involved in a secular and anti-religious government (of the Erev Rav). Certainly, they made it clear that they did not want to be the ones responsible for making or breaking the government. Yet, as they entered the year 1990 the One Above threw the political ball into their courts and now, almost against their own will, they were drawn into the furnace of Israeli politics and granted the gift of unprecedented political control over the destiny of the Nation of Israel. Now, could there be a hidden pattern of the Trein Mesheecheen lying somewhere beneath these political events?
As the GRA explained above,one of the reasons the Erev Rav is called by that name is because it was during the period of the ascent of the sun during the the 6th hour of the day - the "Great Evening" - that the "mazal" of this collective group ascended and they gained power. The Erev Zeir, on the other hand, was that collective group of leaders whose "mazal" ascended afterwards and gained power only as the sun began setting - the "Lesser Evening." As explained in the introduction, according to the GRA each 1,000 year period is divided into 24 hours - one day. Thus, each "hour" is equal to 41 years and 8 months From the rise of the sun on the "6th millennial day" (1740) to high noon (1990) 6 full "hours" have passed (41 years and 8 months times 6 equals exactly 250 years or a quarter of the millennia). The 6th hour itself began in 1948 and finished in 1990 precisely as Israel observed its 42nd year of independence . The symmetry now speaks for itself. It was only in 1948 as the ascent of the 6th hour played into their hands that the "New Erev Rav" of secular Zionism gained miraculous political control over the Land of Israel and its direction. And it was only in 1990 as the power of the 6th hour weakened and the period of the "Lesser Evening" gained ascendency that the "New Erev Zeir" - the religious leaders - emerged and were compelled to play their different although equally vital role in the final unfolding of the Divine Drama of the Trein Mesheecheen.
Topic: Erev Rav (Mixed Multitude) & Erev Ze'ir (Mixed Minitude) (Read 2782 times)