by Rav David Shlomo Levy, yeshiva.org.il, translated by Hillel Fendel.
The Prophet Isaiah provides us with words of comfort and encouragement in the face of those who would harm us. For example: "Do not fear, for I am with you… I also helped you, I also supported you with My righteous hand. Behold, all those incensed against you shall be ashamed and confounded; those who quarreled with you shall be as naught and be lost." (41,10-11)
The Holy Zohar, on Parashat Ki Tisa, explains the second verse as follows: G-d will certainly in the future fulfill all the promises He made via His prophets. If not for these prophecies, Israel would not have been able to withstand the tribulations of the Exile. When suffering came upon them, they entered the Beit Medrash, opened the holy books, read of the great goodness that waits in store for them, and became consoled.
Thus, the Redemption, even before it arrives, comforts and strengthens Israel during times of troubles, via the Prophetic promises.
How does it do this? How can our anticipation comfort us and give us strength, if the Redemption itself has not yet appeared? More specifically: When times are really difficult and it appears that there is barely any hope, how can we find solace in a future event whose time and date are unknown to us?
The Ramchal (R. Meir Chaim Luzatto, 18th century author of Mesilat Yesharim) writes in Derekh Hashem: "In terms of the man himself, we mentioned above that he is comprised of two opposite elements, which are the soul and the body… and within his body, everything is also physical and dark… But from the depths of G-d's wisdom He set up matters such that even though mortals are immersed in that which is physical, he can still attain completeness and raise himself to that which is pure and virtuous."
We learn from the Ramchal that Creation is comprised of opposites: Soul and body; impure and pure; evil and good; deceit and truth. We live in This World, which in terms of physical nature is material and dark, but even in this state - and perhaps because of it - he can attain completeness, he can attain Torah.
World of Lies vs. World of Redemption
There are two worlds. One is a world of darkness and deceit, and the other is the spiritual world, one of truth and Redemption. Man, too, is made up of both these elements, but the question he faces is: Where will he rest his head? In which world does he actually live? Where is he headed? Is he totally immersed in the problems of This World – the pogroms, the troubles, the difficulties – causing him to despair and break? Or are his soul and spirit in the world of the spirit, the world of cleanliness and purity, the world of truth and sanctity, the world of Redemption?
The world of Redemption is not just something of the future. It rather exists all the time, even if not in its complete form. The question is just when it will appear in its perfect configuration; when will evil in totality – the smoke blocking off the truth –waft away and disappear. A Jew enters the Beit Medrash and learns the promises of the Prophets – and already then he lives the world of Redemption; his essential approach to reality is not just vis-à-vis the problems of the hour, but also to eternal life. As the above Zohar passage states: "They enter the Torah study halls" – they enter a different world.
Redemption is Always With Us
The Holy Zohar thus teaches us that the Nation of Israel withstood and outlasted all our enemies. How? In the merit of our being well-rooted and connected to the world of Redemption. Yes, we had trials and tribulations, but they passed us by – very close by, for certain, but they never were able to harm the source of our spiritual strength. Those who sought to hurt us succeeded in breaking some of our branches, but not the very roots, which are way beyond where the enemies can reach. It is from those roots that we always derived our strengths of renewal, our ability to rebuild from the ruins something bigger and taller.
Thus, we mortal Jews live on two planes: the spiritual, Torah plane, independent of temporary and transient events – and the practical plane, that in which G-d is currently running His world. We are not permitted or able to detach ourselves from the physical reality and sink into the spiritual world; on the contrary, This World is the place in which we are charged to act and to rectify. Here is where G-d has put us to live, here we fulfill His mitzvot, and here we struggle for the holiness of the Land and the sanctity of His blessed name.
But at the same time, deep inside us and in our souls, we must drink in from the world of Redemption traits and values such as serenity, trust in G-d, and joy. We are like the ladder Yaakov saw in his dream: "Its legs planted in the ground, and its head reached the heavens." Our ability to meet this great challenge that reality places before us, and to see our day-to-day problems in their proper proportion and not to allow ourselves to fall before them – comes precisely from our perpetual attachment to the world of Redemption which is not yet seen completely in This World.
We must wage this struggle with self-sacrifice and stubbornness; certainly not out of despair or self-hatred, but rather with the understanding that, as we learn in Pirkei Avot, "it is not incumbent upon you to complete the job – but you are also not permitted to abandon it." We will do all that we can, and G-d will do what is best.
And may we merit quickly the fulfillment of the conclusion of the above prophecy: "Those who quarrel with you, those who war with you shall be as nought and as nothing."
No comments:
Post a Comment