An impressive event was held at the home of Rabbi Yoshiyahu Pinto in New York, with the participation of Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei, ranking Guatemalan government ministers and many other guests.
The Guatemalan president took advantage of his participation at the UN General Assembly to visit Rabbi Pinto's home and receive his blessing.
At the event, Rabbi Pinto was flanked by his sons, his successor Rabbi Yoel Moshe Pinto, and Rabbi Meir Eliyahu Pinto. Rabbi Pinto's daughter, Yehudit Simcha, also participated in the event and gave the Guatemalan president a unique gift.
Also participating in the special event were Guatemala’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Mario Búcaro; Chief Rabbi Yoshiyahu Yosef Pinto of Morocco; Belarus’s national opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, Vice President of the Global Imams Council Imam Mohammad Tawhidi, and Guatemala’s Commissioner for Religious Freedom, Pastor Robin Garcia.
In addition, the following participated in the prestigious event at Rabbi Pinto's house in Manhattan: Chairman of the Bitcoin Foundation Brock Pierce, actress and television personality Marla Maples, CEO of the Newsmax TV network Chris Rudy, the event organizer and initiator Yaakov Flitchkin, TV personalities, ambassadors from many countries, elected officials from New York and other guests.
In his speech, Rabbi Pinto said, "We are very happy to have the president of Guatemala here; we have many friends in common. He is a wise and intelligent man, a man who has done a lot for the world.” Rabbi Pinto added, “All of you are beloved and lovely people. We welcome you to our home and to our Beth Midrash."
Rabbi Pinto inspired those present while elaborating on the complex global situation: "The world is in an extremely complex situation. The complexity is not only below; it started from above. It is written that when God created the world, He took 70 angels and divided the world into 70 parts. He appointed an angel for each part who is responsible and rules over that area. This angel goes to God and asks for sustenance and his country’s well-being. He is like an executive and lawyer for that area and he asks God for all that his country needs."
"But when the angel fails to attain what he seeks," Rabbi Pinto continued, "the country experiences difficult times and periods. Kabbalah states that when the angels quarrel above - there will be a war here in the world between 2 countries. And when all the angels quarrel with each other - there will be a world war here."
Rabbi Pinto explained, "We are experiencing a period in which there is a lot of tension and bad things happening in the world. Before, the situation was different and the world was different. The new situation the world is entering involves daily tremors and shocks. The world is not the same world.
"Morality and values are not keeping up with how the world is functioning and advancing. The more we take hold of ourselves and work on ourselves - and try to be inwardly better - the better we will be able to survive this period. A person should be looking at himself instead of at his fellow man and should try to work on himself. This will enable us to better influence the world. A person should think positively and should inspire his surroundings with his positivity,” Rabbi Pinto said in closing.
Rabbi Pinto once again blessed the President of Guatemala and the others present: "We bless all our dear friends. May God bless you and give you immense divine help. The President, about whom we hear many good things, is a wise and clever man. May God help him in the future and may he continue to influence the whole world for the good."
This article was written in cooperation with Shuva Israel