Eize Shiur!

I went to R' Riskins Shabbat Hagadol Drasha tonight. to be honest, I hadnt planned on going, but Shany had homework to do on the computer and Eli called and asked if I was going so I just went. I was very impressed. The topic was Tsunami: Are Natural Disasters Divine Punishments, and why do bad things happen to good people. His main point were:
G-d created an imperfect world with the purpose being of us to perfect it. Nature reflects human nature. So until we perfect ourselves, there are always going to be things like tsunamis and Holocausts going on. They arent cause and effect of anything specific, just nature taking its course.
If we were judged as we deserved, we would have been wiped out by the Chet HaEgel. Once we arent getting punished for sins, we cant complain about not getting rewarded for being good. It goes hand in hand. So were better off with bad things sometimes happening to good people, instead of everyone getting killed for doing bad things.
Mashiach will only some through our self sacrifice. The tenth plague was only able to come after the Jews killed the lamb and spread the blood on the door. Once they showed that they would do what G-d said even though they were scared of the Egyptians killing them for it, then they were redeemable. Also by Purim, the turning point of the story is when Esther risks her life to have an audience with Achashverosh. Bar Kochba could have been Mashiach, like R Akiva said, but the people didnt rally behind him and put themsleves at risk, so it didnt happen.
He told a great story that made me a big fan of his (this is especailly for Dad): Someone he knew died and he went to the funeral. There were two main groups of people at te funeral, kibbutznikim from the kibbutz he was from, and Yeshiva guys from the yeshiva he learned at. The Rosh Yeshiva came to tell everyone that the Tahara was almost finished and they wer going to start the funeral. He saw one of the kibbutz guys and asked him,
"Are you the one they used to call the Ilui (genius) in R' Shachs Yeshiva?
"Yes" he said.
"And wasnt R Shach mad when you left the Yeshiva?"
"Yes, he even sent me letters criticizing me for leaving."
"Those letters will be held against you in Heaven when you die!!"
"That may be, but the battles I fought for Israel, and the kibbutz I helped build will stand on my side, and I'll win."
The Rosh Yeshvia ended the argument at this time, and said,
"Yehuda, you havent changed!"
"No," he answered, "you havent changed. Your still living your life the way you lived it in Europe. You havent noticed its a different world were living in. Our mission is different then it was in Europe. I have changed. I have learned from the Holocaust, from the establishing of a Jewish State, that G-d is sending us a message. Its not a time to just sit and learn, its a time for action."
R Riskin was very moved by what the guy said and fully agreed with him.
All in all it was a very good Shiur. Lehavdil, after the shiur I walked with Eli into town and we saw a guy, with a small beard and peyos behind his ears, and nothing else. He was carrying a shirt with both his hands covering only his vitals. Just kinda walking around, not really going anywhere. At one point he tried to tie the shirt around his waist but it wasnt long enough. He had quite a large crowd watching him taking pictures until the cops came and took him away. I asked him why he wasnt wearing clothes but he just looked at me and didnt answer. I havent figured out what the point was. Shavua Tov to all.