The Grandmaster

By BJLife/Country Yossi Toiv
Posted on 11/24/20

Many years ago I attended a chess match at a local tennis club. We were watching two grandmasters play for a big money prize. I, along with all the other observers, were mere chess buffs and were nowhere near the level of the players we were observing. Suddenly, In the middle of the match, one of the players made a surprising move that elicited groans and looks of bewilderment from the crowd. Even the analyst who was explaining the moves seemed to be at a loss. It was incomprehensible and seemed to be an egregious error that could cost him the match. However, to our surprise, a mere three moves later his opponent abruptly stood up, shook his hand and left!


We were all dumbfounded! After studying the board for a few minutes our analyst suddenly broke into a broad smile. He then explained the logic of the perplexing move which caused his opponent to suddenly resign. As he played out the rest of the game for us we suddenly realized that what had seemed to be a foolish and incomprehensible move suddenly became a stroke of genius.

In the weeks and months leading up to the November 3rd presidential election many pseudo-Kabbalists, End of Days prophets and messianic mystics all confidently predicted a victory for Donald Trump.


It had to be! The good aspect of Eisuv, personified by Donald Trump, had to continue the rectification by continuing to do great things for Israel and the Jews.


A loss was unthinkable ! It would mean the end of the United States as a great nation. The liberal far left under a Biden presidency would destroy the very fabric of our republic - which was unthinkable!After all, our great country which had done so much for the Jewish people with its freedom of religion enabling Torah to thrive deserved a better fate. On the other hand, an inevitable Trump second term would assure an uninterrupted prophetic timeline leading straight to coming of the Messiah!

Now however, after the still uncertified but probable Biden win they’re all scrambling to rethink their predictions and like all the red faced pollsters are trying to figure out where they went wrong.

I’ll tell them!

“MY WAYS ARE NOT YOUR WAYS” saith the L-rd!

Hashem’s plans and methods are inscrutable. The road to Moshiach has from antiquity been cloaked and hidden in mystery and intrigue. From Lot and his daughters to Rus and on to Yehudah and Tamar, the royal lineage of Malchus Bais Dovid has defied easy comprehension.

We cannot fathom all the unknowable twists and turns still to come in the incredible journey of the royal soul of King David as it wends its way through the End of Days scenario. As we have seen, no one can predict what the next moment holds let alone the coming weeks and months. Trump or Biden, it doesn’t matter!


Hashem is the ultimate grandmaster and as we watch his dramatic moves on the global chessboard we can only gaze in shock and awe as we struggle to comprehend the Master plan.

But rest assured. Like our ancestors as they stood trapped with the mighty sea before them and the fearsome Egyptian army behind them, they were suddenly saved by miraculous, divine intervention as the sea split. So too today, as we stand surrounded by a raging, deadly pandemic, rising, virulent anti-Semitism, looting, rioting, lawlessness, immorality and the imminent collapse of society we stand poised and ready for Hashem’s master stroke. It’ll be a move so dramatic and unforgettable that the entire world will say
“HASHEM HU HUHELOKIM!”

So while the match is still being played it is futile to try to understand every move.
His ways are not our ways!


None of us are grandmasters of the divine plan. Only when the game is finally over will we be able to look back over our entire history and see the genius in every move.

So sit back, relax and watch the match. We may not understand the significance of every move but we already know the pre-ordained outcome. We know who’s going to win!

Chazak Chazak v’nisChazeik