Noach - The flood and the dispersion

What is the deeper story behind the generation of the dispersion? What was their sin? What did they mean when they said, 'Let us make a name for ourselves?' What is the contrast between their sin and the generation of the flood? Why is the name Elokim used in the story of the flood, as opposed to the story of the dispersion, where the Essential name of Hashem is used? What is the deeper concept of names, in general, and more specifically, The Name of Hashem?

Find out in this week's Parsha Podcast.

Running time: 20:22

Rav Shimon Schwab on Moshiach, et al

One of my most favorite sefarim in the world is a sefer by Rav Shimon Schwab on the parsha, entitled Mayan Beis Hashoeva. It recently dawned on me that he makes reference in his introduction to a book that he had written at the behest of Rav Elchanan Wasserman many years earlier. This first work was entitled simply "Beis Hasho'eva," and its purpose was to bring together the many statements of chazal about the period of Ikvisa d'mishicha (the footsteps of Moshiach), and to clearly demonstrate how the time period we find ourselves in has all of the signs our sages enumerated.

I went to hebrewbooks.org, which is a wonderful resource for free seforim, and I searched for the book, and lo and behold, it was there. It was remarkable to me that Rav Schwab had written the book in 1942, smack in the middle of the war, and had published the book anonymously. His writing is so beautiful and poetic, constantly weaving fragments of psukim into the theme he is conveying. I have not gone through the whole book yet, but I wanted to share a thought or two.

On the title page, Rav Schwab has the following short introduction:

"This is a book of inspiration for those who await salvation. It does not deal with the hidden, but only with those things that are revealed and obvious to all. And it does not come to reveal that which the Ancient of Days covered, nor to calculate the end of days which is concealed from the eyes of all living creatures."

With that said, he begins the book with an introduction as to the greatness of Eretz Yisrael and living in the land, warning, however, that living here carries with it the weight of great responsibility to keeping the Torah.

He also gives us a word from the Chofetz Chaim:

"When I merited to see the tzadik of the generation, the teacher of all of Israel, the author of the Chofetz Chaim, of blessed memory, and to visit in his home, I heard the following with my own ears, 'explicitly from the mouth of the Kohen Gadol.' He said that the current time, without a question, is the period of the footsteps of Moshiach, and the signs that our Chazal gave us have been fulfilled. In later years, many of his students heard this same statement from him, as he repeated it often. We have also heard in the name of the rest of the leaders of the generation that we are currently living in the final time period before the coming of the redemption. It is clear, however, that we can not know how long this period of the 'footsteps of Moshiach' will extend, and Hashem has not revealed how long the 'birthpangs of Moshiach' will last. May we be saved from them, and I pray that Hashem will bring our redemption speedily."

The book also provides a very interesting window into the thoughts of a religious Jew in 1942, while the Nazi murder machine was in full swing. The fact that Rav Schwab had recently moved to Baltimore from Germany is also an important backdrop to the context of the book. Many years later, Rav Schwab would author the Kinah on the holocaust that many of us say on Tisha B'av. Here we see him struggling to understand the Holocaust at the very moment that it was occurring. He does not question Hashem's judgment, and musters the courage to shoulder the blame for the Holocaust through his understanding of the distance that the Jewish people had created between themselves and their Creator over the previous one hundred and fifty years.

As Rav Schwab gets into the meat of his discussion on the period of the 'footsteps of Moshiach,' he brings numerous quotes from chazal, as well as many psukim that speak of this time. It was very interesting to see how he quoted the famous piece that we have seen from the yalkut shimoni that speaks about the nations of the world fighting with each other, ultimately leading to a situation where the Jewish people are confused and do not know where to turn. What was humorous to me was that he skips the part that speaks about Persia and Arabia and Aram (or Edom) having altercations, and he also skips the part that Persia 'destroys the whole world.' Based on this omission, it was obviously clear to Rav Schwab that World War II was a fulfillment of the 'nations fighting with each other,' but the involvement of Persia (Iran) was just not there at the time.

So far, this is all I have seen of note, and perhaps I will share more as I continue reading it.

Im Eshkachech

Bereshis - The snake and the Satan

Why does the snake cause man to sin? What does it mean that the spiritual being, the Satan, that 'rode' on the snake was jealous? How does an exalted spiritual being experience jealousy? What was the 'meat' and 'wine' that Adam ate in the Garden? What was the significance of naming the animals?

Find out in this week's Parsha Podcast.

Running time: 20:24

Succos - Beyond relationship

What is the deeper concept of Lulav and succah? How are they connected? Why don't we perform these mitzvos on Shmini Atzeres? Why is the concept of Succah related to shade? Why is our Succah connected to the future Succah of the righteous in the times of Moshiach?

Find out in this week's Parsha Podcast.

Running time: 19:41

Yom Kippur - Bribing the Satan

What is the secret of the goat that was sent to the wilderness? How can we conceive of the concept of a bribe for the Satan? What is the parallel to the story of Yakov and Esav? How does this apply to our unique times?

Find out in this week's Parsha Podcast.

Running time: 22:39

Succos video from Torah Live

Haazinu & Rosh Hashana - Bearing witness

How can the heavens and earth bear witness? Why is the Torah referred to as a song? How can a song bear witness? Why is Rosh Hashana on the only holiday on the first day of the month? Why was Adam created on this day? Why do we blow the Shofar on this day? What does the Shofar represent?

Find out in this week's Parsha Podcast.

(Running time: 20:16)

Nitzavim-Vayelech - Hashem is close

Why does the Torah stress that the commandments are not far away? What does it mean that they are in 'your mouth and your heart to do them?' What is the deeper concept of Teshuva - repentance - and why does it begin on Rosh Hashana, the day we crown Hashem our King? What is the deeper understanding of this coronation of Hashem?

Find out in this week's Parsha Podcast. (16:08)

Leshem on the time of Moshiach

This piece of Leshem is found in the Hakdamos v'she'arim on page 86B, paragraph beginning v'hinei. It gives a deeper understanding of the concept of b'itah achishena.

...This [that was previously spoken of] is the secret of the days of Moshiach at the end of the sixth millennium, which is the time of the ruling of the crown [of yesod, corresponding to Moshiach ben Yosef], which in our context became a king unto himself. Similarly, he will will shine and rule until the times of Moshiach [ben Dovid] because he is a separate king at his root, and the yesod was split into two parts, therefore the sixth millennium, which corresponds to yesod, will also split into two parts. The time that corresponds to the yesod itself will be characterized by continuing exile and destruction, but the time that corresponds to the crown [of yesod] will then see the advent of Moshiach. The measure of the crown in proportion to the yesod is known to all who taste the taste of the Eitz Chaim [which is one third], for the crown is the covenant with Israel that was given to Avraham Avinu...

...For the crown (עטרה) is the crown (כתר) of kingship (מלכות), [meaning that the last third of the sixth millenium is the cross-over time into the seventh millenium,] and therefore the revelation of His kingship will begin then, but the actual dominion of Kingship itself will not be revealed until the seventh millenium, the seventh day, the day that is all Shabbos. In all of the six days it says "it was evening and it was morning," whereas, on the seventh day it does not. This hints to that which it says about the seventh millennium in Zechariah 14, "And one day will come, known to Hashem, neither day nor night." This is when Kingship itself will reign, which is after the days of Moshiach, in the seventh millennium, about which our sages spoke when they said there will be one millennium of desolation. This is when all will be rectified in preparation for the life of the world to come, which is after the seventh millennium and onwards...

In the back of the book, the Leshem adds the following note:

The length of the crown of yesod [that is, the last third of the sixth millennium] is known to all who have tasted the taste of the Eitz Chaim, and is also a lengthy amount of time. That whole period of time [from 5666/1906 until 6000/2240] is included in the the end-time of בעתה, 'in its time.' This is the simple understanding of the verse (Yeshaya 60:22) "אני ה' בעתה אחישנה" - "I am Hashem, in its time I will hasten it." This means that the verse promises that Moshiach will not wait the entire length of 'in its time' in order to come, rather it will be hastened within this time period. Nevertheless, the 'hastening' will only be within this time period of 'in its time.' In this way, both 'in its time' and 'hastening' will be fulfilled at once. This is also the understanding of the verse (Chavakuk 2:3), "If he will tarry, wait for him, for he will surely come without delay." This means that he will not wait until the end of the period of 'in its time' heaven forbid, but rather, he will hasten to come, as well, as we explained. This, however, is only when the crown reaches its lowest point, as I wrote in chapter 42. This is what it means in the verse when it says (Zecharia 14:7), "And it will be at the time of evening [or sunset - לעת ערב], there will be light."

The bottom line here is that "In its time" refers to a period of time from 1906 until 2240. Within this time, Hashem promises He will hasten Moshiach's arrival, and we need not worry that it will come at the end of this period, but rather, closer to the beginning of this period. 1906 was the beginning of the fifth hour, within which we saw the two World Wars which culminated in the sixth hour, which began in 1948, with the establishment of the state of Israel. Let us pray for the speedy revelation of Moshiach ben Yosef, who will infuse this country and this forlorn people with a new spirit and sense of purpose, בב"א.