What is it about Yerushalayim that makes it so central on the world stage? Why does the United States government care if we build in our capital? Why does the Arab world get up in arms if we build a synagogue in our capital city? What is it about the current situation that is so exciting, and at the same time stirs up such indignation inside of ourselves?
I have discussed the concept of Jerusalem at length in two previous posts (here and here), but there is always more depth to find about Yerushalayim and its centrality to the Divine plan.
It is important to realize that we have reached a crucial historic point in history. It would seem as if the United States has suddenly decided that the Jewish people do not have a right to Jerusalem, and that we can not build in our very own capital. This, however, is not a new phenomenon. Anyone who is a US citizen and has had a child born in Jerusalem (as I have) knows that although the American birth certificate states the place of birth as Jerusalem, the country of birth is left off. There was recently a court case which declared that one does not have the legal right to have Israel stated as the country of birth written on a passport if the child was born in Jerusalem. If you look carefully at that case, you will see that the issue there was that the United States can not take sides in deciding to whom the jurisdiction of Jerusalem will ultimately be given. The current dispute, however, seems to be the first time that the United States has gotten explicitly vocal about its displeasure with Israel claiming Jerusalem as its capital at all, as opposed to just passively staying out. This change in attitude has been getting more and more apparent with the entrance of the newest American administration. The question is, What is its significance, and is there a Torah source that can shed light on these events?
In thinking about this, I realized that it could be summed up that the West has a hatred for the Jewish people that is usually covert, but every now and then, it boils up above the surface and becomes overt. The West represents the current manifestation of Esav, and thus, we need search no further than Esav himself to find examples of hidden and revealed anger. These examples will give us an important clue as to where we are headed. As the Ramban writes, in reference to the meeting between Yakov and Esav when Yakov returned from Lavan's house, that meeting was a template for the interactions between the Jewish people and the West throughout history. Thus, there is much to be learned from carefully examining the Torah in that light.
The place where we see this pattern is in Esav's angry desire to kill Yakov after the blessings were stolen. Yakov was completely unaware that this was his evil intent, until Rivka makes it known to him. She herself only knew of his plans because of a Divine revelation that she received. As we have discussed, the blessings that Yakov stole were the very essence of the purpose of the Jewish people as the leaders of the world, in the capacity of Moshiach ben Yosef. Esav's hatred and jealousy were not simply because Yakov stole the blessings, but more importantly, because Esav had now been rejected from his role as a part of the Divine plan. Like Kayin before him, and Shaul after him, this rejection created a profound anger and desire to destroy his counterpart (Moshiach ben Dovid), and this fueled his angry plan to kill Yakov.
Sending Yakov away from the land of Israel was an important act on the part of Rivka, because as long as Yakov was in Israel, his function as Moshiach ben Yosef was resonating with the land, so to speak, creating a greater reason for Esav to want to kill him. As we saw, whoever has the function of Moshiach ben Yosef receives the land of Israel, which functions as the physical manifestation of Moshiach ben Yosef for the whole physical world. Thus, it was a calculated move to not only send Yakov away, but to send him out of Eretz Yisroel entirely. This helps us understand why Esav suddenly comes at Yakov with four hundred men - twenty two years later - when Yakov is on his way back to Israel. As he gets closer, the 'noise' of Yakov's resonance with Eretz Yisrael gets louder and again pushes Esav to try to kill him. Despite this, however, Yakov must only truly do battle with the spiritual power of Esav, which is the angel he fights with at the Yabok river. Once Yakov vanquishes that spiritual force, Esav is left powerless, and all he can do is have a harmless interaction with Yakov, without causing him any damage.
If we think about this in light of what is currently transpiring, we can see through to a deeper level than what is occurring on the surface alone. It is clear that both Yishmael (the Arab world) and Esav (the West) would wish to claim the job of Moshiach ben Yosef, that is, the ones who will lead and guide the world. This ability, however, is completely tied up in the control of Jerusalem. Whoever has control of Jerusalem has control of the world. The spiritual forces of each of these nations thus wishes to assert its domination over the city of Jerusalem, and can not admit that the true dominion belongs to the Jewish people. On the surface, it just seems that the Arabs want to claim Jerusalem because of the mosque, and that the West just wants there to be 'peace.' But underlying it all is a spiritual need to be in control of Jerusalem. Even the West that seems to want to give Jerusalem to the Arabs on a silver platter really only desires to be the one in control over Jerusalem. Whoever controls the city rules the world.
It is important to understand that when Yakov returns to Israel, after he has had eleven of his twelve sons, he is ready to begin the building of the Jewish people, and that can only occur in Israel. Thus, whereas Esav had only covertly wished to kill Yakov twenty two years before, at this point, as Yakov is resonating his mission of Moshiach ben Yosef to an even greater extent, Esav comes out with four hundred men to kill Yakov - his anger has boiled over to the surface.
Paralleling this, the closer we get to the revelation of Moshiach ben Yosef, the more the Jewish people resonate with our corresponding mission. As more and more of our people return to Israel, and the scales tip to the point where there are more Jews in Israel than outside of Israel, we are reaching the point in time that corresponds to Yakov Avinu returning with his family to Israel. We are thus reliving that time, when Esav left behind his hidden hatred and began to clearly show his true intentions. This is reflected in the current behavior of the United States government.
Although current events might seem disconcerting, the truth is that there is a tremendous Χ ΧΧΧ contained in this parallel. It may seem that the world is crashing down on us here in Eretz Yisrael, and it is not beyond imagination that we will soon see a scenario similar to the war of Gog Umagog described in Yechezkel. Nevertheless, just as Esav's aggressiveness was nothing more than an indicator that a spiritual battle was about to take place, which Yakov succeeded in, so too, the current events that we are witnessing are but an indicator that we are entering into a similar spiritual battle, which ultimately will be won by the offspring of Yisrael.
Showing posts with label United States. Show all posts
Showing posts with label United States. Show all posts
Monday, March 22, 2010
Monday, August 24, 2009
Washington, DC is Rome?
Someone shared this with me, and I thought it to be quite interesting. Here is the link to the actual wikipedia article.
Rome, Maryland, was the original name of a community within Prince George's County, Maryland, which would eventually become Washington, District of Columbia. Specifically, Rome was the original community name of Capitol Hill, upon which the United States Capitol Building sits.
In 1663, the property that would become the Capitol's site was inscribed in the Maryland property records as “Rome,” its owner a man named Francis Pope. The southern boundary of this property was shaped by a river named for the river that runs through Rome, Italy, the Tiber.
The community was part of the ten mile square tract of land which would become the American capital Washington, D.C., and its owner, Daniel Carroll, transferred the community to the federal government after the amendment to the United States Constitution sanctioning the building of the new United States capital city was ratified.
Daniel Carroll was the chairman of a three-man commission appointed by President George Washington to find a suitable location for the capital city. A signer of the Declaration of Independence, Daniel Carroll was a Roman Catholic educated by Jesuits in Maryland and France. His brother John Carroll became the first Catholic bishop in America, presiding over the See of Baltimore, which included Washington, D.C. John Carroll also founded Georgetown University.
Rome, Maryland, was the original name of a community within Prince George's County, Maryland, which would eventually become Washington, District of Columbia. Specifically, Rome was the original community name of Capitol Hill, upon which the United States Capitol Building sits.
In 1663, the property that would become the Capitol's site was inscribed in the Maryland property records as “Rome,” its owner a man named Francis Pope. The southern boundary of this property was shaped by a river named for the river that runs through Rome, Italy, the Tiber.
The community was part of the ten mile square tract of land which would become the American capital Washington, D.C., and its owner, Daniel Carroll, transferred the community to the federal government after the amendment to the United States Constitution sanctioning the building of the new United States capital city was ratified.
Daniel Carroll was the chairman of a three-man commission appointed by President George Washington to find a suitable location for the capital city. A signer of the Declaration of Independence, Daniel Carroll was a Roman Catholic educated by Jesuits in Maryland and France. His brother John Carroll became the first Catholic bishop in America, presiding over the See of Baltimore, which included Washington, D.C. John Carroll also founded Georgetown University.
Friday, August 21, 2009
Why are Jews in America?
Over the last two weeks, and for another week or so, I am visiting the United States for a family Simcha. I have not really had much of a chance until now to write any serious posts, but my thoughts have been rolling as always with ideas that beg expression. So, here I begin.
Before we left Israel for this visit to the US, my son, who is six years old, said that he does not want to go to America. When questioned as to why, he explained that his rebbe told him that one who lives in Eretz Yisrael is constantly getting mitzvos, and therefore, he does not want to go to a place where he is missing that.
On a different occasion, my son asked me, with incredulity, Why would anyone want to live in America?
I thought I would share some of the thoughts I shared with him.
This question really goes deeper, and the question really becomes, Why are Jews outside of Israel at all? What is the purpose of Jews being dispersed all over the world? How does this help accomplish Hashem's materplan? How do Jews in America, Europe, Asia, Africa, etc. help bring Moshiach?
The answer is that in order for Moshiach to come it is essential that Jews be in these countries! What? Essential? Don't we all need to be back in Israel?
Rav Kessin explains, based on the Ramchal, that the reason the Jew enters another nation is in order to draw out the sparks of holiness that are entrapped in that nation. There are two entities that vie for the sparks - the Jewish people and the Satan. If the Jewish people sin, the sparks are given to the Satan, and he in turn gives them to the nations of the world. Then the job of the Jewish people is to release those sparks of holiness and bring them back to the side of Good. This can only be accomoplished in three ways. One, is by keeping mitzvos despite being embedded in the host nation. The second way of releasing the sparks is by doing teshuva for the aveiros. The third way is through yisurin, difficulties.
When all the sparks have been completely redeemed, we reach the days of Moshiach.
This is precisely what occurred in Egypt. The job of the Jewish people was to stay strong in their mitzvah observance. As they lost their Jewish identity, they began to be enslaved and experience hardships. The greatest hardships came at the very end as the geulah fast approached. But who was exempt from the slavery? The Leviim who kept on learning the Torah! They were able to remove the sparks that way, while their brethren unfortunately had to remove the sparks through hardships.
Thus, the purpose of the Jewish people being spread throughout the world is to redeem the sparks that are entrapped in these far-flung places.
As the sparks are redeemed, the Jewish people can return more and more to Israel. It is extremely interesting that there is a tremendous amount of Aliyah (courtesy of Nefesh b'Nefesh) from the US, Britain, etc. This would seem to indicate that Esav is getting sucked out of the sparks, allowing for the sparks to be returned to the Jewish people, and allowing them to be rejoined with their Holy Land.
So what do the Jews in Israel do then? The answer is that they are pulling the sparks out of the Erev Rav, which is the last place the sparks will reside. As the sparks are sucked out of Esav, they end up trapped in the Erev Rav.
Both of these jobs are necessary and essential in order to bring Moshiach.
It is interesting to think about which job is greater. On one hand, removing the sparks from Edom is the first stage, one we have been 'working on' for close to 2000 years, or more. On the other hand, pulling out the sparks from the Erev Rav is the final stage before Geulah. Each of these entails difficulty and challenge.
Something interesting that bothered me was that we know that one of Moshiach ben Yosef's jobs is to destroy Edom - to completely remove the sparks from the Western world and return them to the Jewish people. It seems on the surface, however, that the Arabs are doing this job. They are slowly taking over the Western world as they have more and more children.
I was thinking that the fact that they are able to do this is actually a clear sign that we, the Jewish people, are successfully completing our job of removing the sparks from Esav. As long as Esav has the sparks, he is dominant and powerful, and Yishmael can not take over. As we suck out the power from Esav, however, Yishmael can easily come in and take over, because Esav is powerless to stop them.
The bottom line of it all is that no matter where we are, we have an important job to do in order to bring Moshiach closer. My instinct is that the greater feat is to be in Eretz Yisrael, finishing off the job, but this does not take away from the importance of those outside of Israel who are helping as well.
Our job is accomplished as we dedicate ourselves to Torah, striving to come close to Hashem and be in sync with who we really are. As we do that, we give new strength to the Jewish people. Our job is to do teshuva and repent the sins we have done, thereby further bringing back the sparks to our people. And finally, if Hashem must bring us difficulties, we can accept them with love, knowing that ultimately He is giving us the opportunity to take part in the Moshiach process, hastening the day that all will be able to intimately experience Hashem's closeness.
One final thought I had is that Elul is a tremendous time for releasing the sparks from Esav. This is the month that we rededicate ourselves to our Avodas Hashem, really being strong in learning, studying mussar, and thinking about Teshuva. I think it was not a coincidence that it was in Elul last year that the Economic downturn began. As we draw the sparks out, all the false ideals of Esav come crashing down. This is the greatest sign that we are indeed succeeding in our efforts to bring the downfall of spiritual blindness, and raising the banner of Moshiach.
Before we left Israel for this visit to the US, my son, who is six years old, said that he does not want to go to America. When questioned as to why, he explained that his rebbe told him that one who lives in Eretz Yisrael is constantly getting mitzvos, and therefore, he does not want to go to a place where he is missing that.
On a different occasion, my son asked me, with incredulity, Why would anyone want to live in America?
I thought I would share some of the thoughts I shared with him.
This question really goes deeper, and the question really becomes, Why are Jews outside of Israel at all? What is the purpose of Jews being dispersed all over the world? How does this help accomplish Hashem's materplan? How do Jews in America, Europe, Asia, Africa, etc. help bring Moshiach?
The answer is that in order for Moshiach to come it is essential that Jews be in these countries! What? Essential? Don't we all need to be back in Israel?
Rav Kessin explains, based on the Ramchal, that the reason the Jew enters another nation is in order to draw out the sparks of holiness that are entrapped in that nation. There are two entities that vie for the sparks - the Jewish people and the Satan. If the Jewish people sin, the sparks are given to the Satan, and he in turn gives them to the nations of the world. Then the job of the Jewish people is to release those sparks of holiness and bring them back to the side of Good. This can only be accomoplished in three ways. One, is by keeping mitzvos despite being embedded in the host nation. The second way of releasing the sparks is by doing teshuva for the aveiros. The third way is through yisurin, difficulties.
When all the sparks have been completely redeemed, we reach the days of Moshiach.
This is precisely what occurred in Egypt. The job of the Jewish people was to stay strong in their mitzvah observance. As they lost their Jewish identity, they began to be enslaved and experience hardships. The greatest hardships came at the very end as the geulah fast approached. But who was exempt from the slavery? The Leviim who kept on learning the Torah! They were able to remove the sparks that way, while their brethren unfortunately had to remove the sparks through hardships.
Thus, the purpose of the Jewish people being spread throughout the world is to redeem the sparks that are entrapped in these far-flung places.
As the sparks are redeemed, the Jewish people can return more and more to Israel. It is extremely interesting that there is a tremendous amount of Aliyah (courtesy of Nefesh b'Nefesh) from the US, Britain, etc. This would seem to indicate that Esav is getting sucked out of the sparks, allowing for the sparks to be returned to the Jewish people, and allowing them to be rejoined with their Holy Land.
So what do the Jews in Israel do then? The answer is that they are pulling the sparks out of the Erev Rav, which is the last place the sparks will reside. As the sparks are sucked out of Esav, they end up trapped in the Erev Rav.
Both of these jobs are necessary and essential in order to bring Moshiach.
It is interesting to think about which job is greater. On one hand, removing the sparks from Edom is the first stage, one we have been 'working on' for close to 2000 years, or more. On the other hand, pulling out the sparks from the Erev Rav is the final stage before Geulah. Each of these entails difficulty and challenge.
Something interesting that bothered me was that we know that one of Moshiach ben Yosef's jobs is to destroy Edom - to completely remove the sparks from the Western world and return them to the Jewish people. It seems on the surface, however, that the Arabs are doing this job. They are slowly taking over the Western world as they have more and more children.
I was thinking that the fact that they are able to do this is actually a clear sign that we, the Jewish people, are successfully completing our job of removing the sparks from Esav. As long as Esav has the sparks, he is dominant and powerful, and Yishmael can not take over. As we suck out the power from Esav, however, Yishmael can easily come in and take over, because Esav is powerless to stop them.
The bottom line of it all is that no matter where we are, we have an important job to do in order to bring Moshiach closer. My instinct is that the greater feat is to be in Eretz Yisrael, finishing off the job, but this does not take away from the importance of those outside of Israel who are helping as well.
Our job is accomplished as we dedicate ourselves to Torah, striving to come close to Hashem and be in sync with who we really are. As we do that, we give new strength to the Jewish people. Our job is to do teshuva and repent the sins we have done, thereby further bringing back the sparks to our people. And finally, if Hashem must bring us difficulties, we can accept them with love, knowing that ultimately He is giving us the opportunity to take part in the Moshiach process, hastening the day that all will be able to intimately experience Hashem's closeness.
One final thought I had is that Elul is a tremendous time for releasing the sparks from Esav. This is the month that we rededicate ourselves to our Avodas Hashem, really being strong in learning, studying mussar, and thinking about Teshuva. I think it was not a coincidence that it was in Elul last year that the Economic downturn began. As we draw the sparks out, all the false ideals of Esav come crashing down. This is the greatest sign that we are indeed succeeding in our efforts to bring the downfall of spiritual blindness, and raising the banner of Moshiach.
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