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.
Showing posts with label kibbutz galios. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kibbutz galios. Show all posts
Friday, August 21, 2009
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Bring my children from afar
I recently read an article on Israel National News about the aliyah of a number of Yemenite Jews due to the terrorism there. It brought to mind the passuk in Yeshaya (43:6), "אומר לצפון תני ולתימן אל תכלאי הביאי בני מרחוק ובנותי מקצה הארץ" - "Say to the North wind, give, and to the Southerly wind, do not hold back. Bring my sons from afar, and my daughters from the ends of the Earth."
The psukim there are speaking about the redemption, and the special nature of Hashem's relationship with the Jewish people. It uses the word Teman for the word Southerly wind, and I could not help but think of a possible alternate explanation of the verse. The word Teman is also the Hebrew name of the country Yemen, so the passuk could also be saying that Hashem says to Yemen not to hold back its Jews, rather to bring them all back to Eretz Yisrael.
Thus, this article struck me as a sign that we are nearing a critical stage of Kibbutz Galiyos (ingathering of the exiles).
The following Gemara becomes all the more meaningful.
The Gemara in Menachos on Daf 110 explains the verse "Bring my sons from afar, and my daughters from the ends of the Earth," by saying that there are two groups of people referenced in the verse. As Rashi explains there, there is the group of 'sons', who live in Babylonia, who have special treatment from the government, and therefore feel quite settled and unthreatened there. They are referred to as 'sons' because in general men are more settled. Then there is the group of 'daughters' who are less settled and do not feel as comfortable in the lands that they live in.
In our day, the 'sons' would be those living in countries that are not hostile to the Jew, for example the United States, and the 'daughters' would be those living in countries that are indeed Anti-Semitic.
Putting together this Gemara with what we said previously, we can offer the following interpretation. When Yemen no longer holds back her people, all of the Jews will return to Israel, whether they feel comfortable where they are or not. כן יהי רצון מלפניו יתברך אמן
The psukim there are speaking about the redemption, and the special nature of Hashem's relationship with the Jewish people. It uses the word Teman for the word Southerly wind, and I could not help but think of a possible alternate explanation of the verse. The word Teman is also the Hebrew name of the country Yemen, so the passuk could also be saying that Hashem says to Yemen not to hold back its Jews, rather to bring them all back to Eretz Yisrael.
Thus, this article struck me as a sign that we are nearing a critical stage of Kibbutz Galiyos (ingathering of the exiles).
The following Gemara becomes all the more meaningful.
The Gemara in Menachos on Daf 110 explains the verse "Bring my sons from afar, and my daughters from the ends of the Earth," by saying that there are two groups of people referenced in the verse. As Rashi explains there, there is the group of 'sons', who live in Babylonia, who have special treatment from the government, and therefore feel quite settled and unthreatened there. They are referred to as 'sons' because in general men are more settled. Then there is the group of 'daughters' who are less settled and do not feel as comfortable in the lands that they live in.
In our day, the 'sons' would be those living in countries that are not hostile to the Jew, for example the United States, and the 'daughters' would be those living in countries that are indeed Anti-Semitic.
Putting together this Gemara with what we said previously, we can offer the following interpretation. When Yemen no longer holds back her people, all of the Jews will return to Israel, whether they feel comfortable where they are or not. כן יהי רצון מלפניו יתברך אמן
Monday, December 22, 2008
Who is Moshiach ben Yosef?
I would like to give a little idea of who exactly is Moshiach ben Yosef, and I would also like to weave in some strands of the dvar Torah that I said in my Parsha Podcast on Vayeshev.
Firstly, let us understand why we need two different Moshiachs.
The Moshiach we've all heard of is Moshiach ben Dovid, who we mention in our tefilos.
The lesser known is Moshiach ben Yosef. His job is the physical aspects of Klal Yisrael. He brings the Jewish people back to Eretz Yisrael (kibutz galuyos). He takes part in rebuilding the land of Israel. He builds the physical structure of the Beis Hamikdash. He is also privy to the secrets of the Torah (חכמת הנסתר). His job is to destroy Esav (see Rashi on Genesis 30:25). His power is the rectification of יסוד - the אות ברית קודש. He has full dominion over his physical desires - he rises above them and merits miracles. His power is also the power of Emunah/Bitachon - absolute trust in Hashem which also corresponds to יסוד. This also merits miracles, as per my earlier post "Bringing Miracles of Redemption."
The role of Moshiach ben Dovid on the other hand, is to bring the Shechina into the physical structures that Moshiach ben Yosef builds. Moshiach ben Dovid brings the Shechina into the Beis Hamikdash, into the Land of Israel, into the Jewish people. He is the מלך - which means that he reveals מלכות which is equal to שכינה.
This is why we say first ולירושלים עירך ברחמים תשוב - To Jerusalem your city return with mercy, before we even mention Moshiach ben Dovid. We say ובנה אותה בקרוב בימינו בנין עולם - rebuild it soon in our days an eternal building - this is reference to Moshiach ben Dovid. Then we say וכסא דוד עבדך מהרה לתוכה תכין - and the seat of David your servant quickly prepare in its midst. Here we see that it is a two step process, starting with the job of Moshiach ben Yosef and culminating with the job of Moshiach ben Dovid.
According to the Gemara in Succah, Moshiach ben Yosef is destined to die. The Gr'a holds that this is לאו דוקא, and says that in fact, the length of the gallus has already atoned for whatever would have necessitated his death. His שיטה is עוד יוסף חי - Moshiach ben Yosef will yet live.
Another interesting point which I have seen in more than one place is that besides for there being a single human being named Moshiach ben Yosef and Moshiach ben Dovid, there is a force within the Jewish people that corresponds to their role. This is actually similar to how you may have specialized cells in your body that perform a certain specific function, say the cells in your eyes. Nevertheless, every single cell in your body contains the same DNA, with that very information that makes those eye cells specialized. The only difference is that the other cells, say in your hand, do not express and bring out that specialized nature to its full expression. Nevertheless, that power exists everywhere within a person.
Thus, every Jew can donate to Moshiach ben Yosef's role, for there is a small piece of Moshiach ben Yosef in every Jew. In fact, people who work for Nefesh B'nefesh, as an example, are actually fulfilling one of the roles of Moshiach ben Yosef - kibbutz galuyos. When we bring spirituality into our lives or the lives of others, we are activating the Moshiach ben Dovid in each of us. This brings us a step closer to Geulah and effectively lightens the load of each of the Moshiachs.
Returning to Yosef, we see that his job was to take care of the physical welfare of the Jewish people. This was expressed in his dream with the stalks of produce, and later in his role of providing for Egypt and more specifically the seventy souls that descended to Egypt with Yakov. His role as the knower of the secrets of the Torah is also mentioned in numerous sources, and is hinted to by his name צפנת פענח - the revealer of secrets. It is also hinted to in the reference בן זקנים - the gematria of the bold is 207 which is the same as the word רז - secret (בעל הטורים).
Yosef was the master of תיקון הברית as he displayed in his difficult encounter with the wife of Potifar. He was also the quintessential בעל אמונה. He had the ultimate faith in Hashem and throughout the story of his trials stood steadfast in his faith in Hashem, never questioning, only constantly moving forward and staying strong. He himself constantly reassures his brothers that he bears them no ill will, but rather from the onset it was the will of Hashem that Yosef be sent to Mitzrayim.
Yehoshua bin Nun was from the tribe of Efraim (son of Yosef) and he fulfilled the role of Moshiach ben Yosef in his time - conquering the land of Israel and dividing it amongst the Jewish people.
Very interestingly, according to the site http://keitzmeguleh.blogspot.com, the current year (5769) corresponds to the first year of Yehoshua's conquest. Exactly what this means and how this will play itself out remains to be seen. (For more on that, please see his post Geulat Mitzraim to Yemot HaMoshiach)
Last point I would like to make is the pshat I said in my parsha podcast about Yosef's second dream. It is clear from the psukim that the second dream was a different dream (חלום אחר) as opposed to Paroh's dream which the Torah says ויחלום שנית - he dreamed a second time. Whereas Paroh had a repetition implying the dream would soon materialize, Yosef's second dream was a totally different dream with a totally different message.
The key to the message of the second dream is that the sun, moon and stars were bowing down to Yosef. The almost silly sounding question is, what do stars look like when they bow down?
The answer is that the prophets tell us that before Moshiach comes, the sun, the moon and the stars go out (יואל ד:ט"ו). They are extinguished, and then we are told that we no longer will be provided with light from the sun, but rather Hashem Himself will be our light. The message underlying this concept is that whereas until Moshiach Hashem directed the world through the מזלות - the constellations and the heavenly bodies, when Moshiach comes, Hashem Himself will be the One Who directly is involved in the world, with no more intermediaries. This is why the sun, moon and stars go out, to signify that they are no longer the conduits, but rather Hashem will now be leading us directly.
The concept of bowing - השתחוויה - is that one shows that he totally nullifies himself in the face of the one he is bowing to. This is what was happening in Yosef's dream. He saw of vision of the ultimate future when the sun, moon and stars would 'bow,' as it were, to Yosef's emunah. This emunah would bring about the days of Moshiach where Hashem himself would deal directly with the world. This emunah - which by definition taps into the concept that Hashem is directly involved in our lives - was what Yosef represented, and to this they bowed - showed their lack of existence - and were extinguished. The eleven stars represent the fact that all of the Jewish people will bow to Moshiach ben Yosef - that is, we will learn from him the power of Emunah and absolute trust in Hashem that will bring about Hashem's full display of His direct involvement in our lives.
May we merit that day soon.
Firstly, let us understand why we need two different Moshiachs.
The Moshiach we've all heard of is Moshiach ben Dovid, who we mention in our tefilos.
The lesser known is Moshiach ben Yosef. His job is the physical aspects of Klal Yisrael. He brings the Jewish people back to Eretz Yisrael (kibutz galuyos). He takes part in rebuilding the land of Israel. He builds the physical structure of the Beis Hamikdash. He is also privy to the secrets of the Torah (חכמת הנסתר). His job is to destroy Esav (see Rashi on Genesis 30:25). His power is the rectification of יסוד - the אות ברית קודש. He has full dominion over his physical desires - he rises above them and merits miracles. His power is also the power of Emunah/Bitachon - absolute trust in Hashem which also corresponds to יסוד. This also merits miracles, as per my earlier post "Bringing Miracles of Redemption."
The role of Moshiach ben Dovid on the other hand, is to bring the Shechina into the physical structures that Moshiach ben Yosef builds. Moshiach ben Dovid brings the Shechina into the Beis Hamikdash, into the Land of Israel, into the Jewish people. He is the מלך - which means that he reveals מלכות which is equal to שכינה.
This is why we say first ולירושלים עירך ברחמים תשוב - To Jerusalem your city return with mercy, before we even mention Moshiach ben Dovid. We say ובנה אותה בקרוב בימינו בנין עולם - rebuild it soon in our days an eternal building - this is reference to Moshiach ben Dovid. Then we say וכסא דוד עבדך מהרה לתוכה תכין - and the seat of David your servant quickly prepare in its midst. Here we see that it is a two step process, starting with the job of Moshiach ben Yosef and culminating with the job of Moshiach ben Dovid.
According to the Gemara in Succah, Moshiach ben Yosef is destined to die. The Gr'a holds that this is לאו דוקא, and says that in fact, the length of the gallus has already atoned for whatever would have necessitated his death. His שיטה is עוד יוסף חי - Moshiach ben Yosef will yet live.
Another interesting point which I have seen in more than one place is that besides for there being a single human being named Moshiach ben Yosef and Moshiach ben Dovid, there is a force within the Jewish people that corresponds to their role. This is actually similar to how you may have specialized cells in your body that perform a certain specific function, say the cells in your eyes. Nevertheless, every single cell in your body contains the same DNA, with that very information that makes those eye cells specialized. The only difference is that the other cells, say in your hand, do not express and bring out that specialized nature to its full expression. Nevertheless, that power exists everywhere within a person.
Thus, every Jew can donate to Moshiach ben Yosef's role, for there is a small piece of Moshiach ben Yosef in every Jew. In fact, people who work for Nefesh B'nefesh, as an example, are actually fulfilling one of the roles of Moshiach ben Yosef - kibbutz galuyos. When we bring spirituality into our lives or the lives of others, we are activating the Moshiach ben Dovid in each of us. This brings us a step closer to Geulah and effectively lightens the load of each of the Moshiachs.
Returning to Yosef, we see that his job was to take care of the physical welfare of the Jewish people. This was expressed in his dream with the stalks of produce, and later in his role of providing for Egypt and more specifically the seventy souls that descended to Egypt with Yakov. His role as the knower of the secrets of the Torah is also mentioned in numerous sources, and is hinted to by his name צפנת פענח - the revealer of secrets. It is also hinted to in the reference בן זקנים - the gematria of the bold is 207 which is the same as the word רז - secret (בעל הטורים).
Yosef was the master of תיקון הברית as he displayed in his difficult encounter with the wife of Potifar. He was also the quintessential בעל אמונה. He had the ultimate faith in Hashem and throughout the story of his trials stood steadfast in his faith in Hashem, never questioning, only constantly moving forward and staying strong. He himself constantly reassures his brothers that he bears them no ill will, but rather from the onset it was the will of Hashem that Yosef be sent to Mitzrayim.
Yehoshua bin Nun was from the tribe of Efraim (son of Yosef) and he fulfilled the role of Moshiach ben Yosef in his time - conquering the land of Israel and dividing it amongst the Jewish people.
Very interestingly, according to the site http://keitzmeguleh.blogspot.com, the current year (5769) corresponds to the first year of Yehoshua's conquest. Exactly what this means and how this will play itself out remains to be seen. (For more on that, please see his post Geulat Mitzraim to Yemot HaMoshiach)
Last point I would like to make is the pshat I said in my parsha podcast about Yosef's second dream. It is clear from the psukim that the second dream was a different dream (חלום אחר) as opposed to Paroh's dream which the Torah says ויחלום שנית - he dreamed a second time. Whereas Paroh had a repetition implying the dream would soon materialize, Yosef's second dream was a totally different dream with a totally different message.
The key to the message of the second dream is that the sun, moon and stars were bowing down to Yosef. The almost silly sounding question is, what do stars look like when they bow down?
The answer is that the prophets tell us that before Moshiach comes, the sun, the moon and the stars go out (יואל ד:ט"ו). They are extinguished, and then we are told that we no longer will be provided with light from the sun, but rather Hashem Himself will be our light. The message underlying this concept is that whereas until Moshiach Hashem directed the world through the מזלות - the constellations and the heavenly bodies, when Moshiach comes, Hashem Himself will be the One Who directly is involved in the world, with no more intermediaries. This is why the sun, moon and stars go out, to signify that they are no longer the conduits, but rather Hashem will now be leading us directly.
The concept of bowing - השתחוויה - is that one shows that he totally nullifies himself in the face of the one he is bowing to. This is what was happening in Yosef's dream. He saw of vision of the ultimate future when the sun, moon and stars would 'bow,' as it were, to Yosef's emunah. This emunah would bring about the days of Moshiach where Hashem himself would deal directly with the world. This emunah - which by definition taps into the concept that Hashem is directly involved in our lives - was what Yosef represented, and to this they bowed - showed their lack of existence - and were extinguished. The eleven stars represent the fact that all of the Jewish people will bow to Moshiach ben Yosef - that is, we will learn from him the power of Emunah and absolute trust in Hashem that will bring about Hashem's full display of His direct involvement in our lives.
May we merit that day soon.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Stuck in the US?
I received the following concern in an email:
I am very worried. I know that we should be moving to Eretz Yisroel, but we are stuck here in chutz l'aretz for many different reasons. I daven that Hashem should gather all yidden and bring us all safely to Eretz Yisroel.
to which I responded:
I think it's important to think about the fact that part of Moshiach's job is Kibbutz Galios. It may be more pleasant to have a 'front row seat' when Moshiach comes, but it's also important that we realize that all of our circumstances are almost completely controlled by Hashem, and although we do have some level of bechira that can affect our circumstances, we also have to trust Hashem that He would not put us in a place that isn't ultimately good for us. No matter what we will need miracles. True, the miracles may be more forthcoming here in Eretz Yisrael, but don't forget that the Geulas Mitzrayim and all of its accompanying miracles happened in the one place in the world that was known for being home to the greatest Tumah possible!
Kol tuv,
Ari Goldwag
After I posted this, I came across this post from R' Lazer Brody.
Bottom line is to follow your rav and put your trust in Hashem no matter what.
I am very worried. I know that we should be moving to Eretz Yisroel, but we are stuck here in chutz l'aretz for many different reasons. I daven that Hashem should gather all yidden and bring us all safely to Eretz Yisroel.
to which I responded:
I think it's important to think about the fact that part of Moshiach's job is Kibbutz Galios. It may be more pleasant to have a 'front row seat' when Moshiach comes, but it's also important that we realize that all of our circumstances are almost completely controlled by Hashem, and although we do have some level of bechira that can affect our circumstances, we also have to trust Hashem that He would not put us in a place that isn't ultimately good for us. No matter what we will need miracles. True, the miracles may be more forthcoming here in Eretz Yisrael, but don't forget that the Geulas Mitzrayim and all of its accompanying miracles happened in the one place in the world that was known for being home to the greatest Tumah possible!
Kol tuv,
Ari Goldwag
After I posted this, I came across this post from R' Lazer Brody.
Bottom line is to follow your rav and put your trust in Hashem no matter what.
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