Desire | Geulah Brachamim Program – By Pinchas Winston
IT IS ALWAYS amazing how we can be aware of something, and yet not REALLY be aware of it. The verses:
You will arise and have mercy on Tzion, because the time to favor her, the Appointed Time has come. For, Your servants desire her stones, and her dust, they cherish. (Tehillim 102:14-15)
are said countless times a day by countless Jews, and have been for thousands of years. Yet, their LIFE-SAVING message goes, for the most part, undetected.
In essence, the verses say that at the time of the Final Redemption God WILL show mercy BECAUSE the Jewish people will “desire her stones” and “cherish her dust.” In other words, the mercy at the time of redemption, it seems from these verses, will be tied to what Jews will feel about ERETZ YISROEL at the End-of-Days.
This message was confirmed much later in history by the Malbim:
God said: “Sing, O Ya’akov, with gladness, exult on the peaks of the nations; announce, laud [God], and say, ‘O God, save Your people, the remnant of Yisroel!’ Behold, I will bring them from the land of the north and gather them from the ends of the earth. Among them will be the blind and the lame, the pregnant and birthing together; a great congregation will return here. With weeping they will come and through supplications I will bring them; I will guide them on streams of water, on a direct path in which they will not stumble; for I have been a father to Israel, and Ephraim is My firstborn.” (Yir-miyahu 31:6-8)
At the end of their exile, the oppression will be removed from them and they will be joyous because they will be on the peak of the nations. The gentiles will give them honor and they will be their leaders, instead of being disgraced and lowered among them as they were at first. “Ya’akov” will be the masses of the people, and the lesser among them; “Yisroel” will be the great ones. The joyousness from being at the peak of the nations will be Ya’akov’s only, and not Yisroel’s, because they will want to return His Presence to Tzion. However, at that time they will “announce” and publicly proclaim, and “praise” God when they say, “O God, save Your [righteous] people, the remnant of Yisroel,” because they will want the true salvation of the ingathering of the exile and return to Tzion. Then it will be, “Behold, I will bring them . . .” (Malbim, q.v. v’Tzahalu B’Rosh HaGoyim)
The Malbim says clearly that at the time of the Final Redemption the Jewish people will be divided into two groups, a larger contingent called “Ya’akov,” and a smaller one called “Yisroel.” They will have very different attitudes, the Malbim predicts, towards Eretz Yisroel and the Final Redemption.
It will be “Ya’akov,” satisfied with status and material success among the gentiles, who will have little desire for any more “redemption” that they are already enjoying. Only the “Yisroel” component will desire the FULL redemption—the ingathering of ALL Jews to Eretz Yisroel, the building of the the third and final Temple, and the return of the Shechinah to it—and actually MERIT it.
People who do not take this idea seriously may not realize that it is connected to the following:
Rava said, “When a person is brought in for [their final] judgment, they are asked . . . ‘Did you anticipate salvation . . .’ ” (Shabbos 31a)
Aside from being one of the “13 Principles of Faith,” the anticipation of redemption is CRUCIAL, not only to be redeemed MERCIFULLY, but to be redeemed at all:
The exodus from Egypt liberated only one out of five Jews—and some say one out of every fifty—because all those who were bound to Egypt and did not want to depart died in the three days of darkness and were not privileged to leave. That is, only those who DESIRED redemption with ALL their hearts were redeemed. The Final Redemption, likewise, DEPENDS upon our YEARNING. (Ohr Yechez-kel, Emunas HaGeulah, p. 288)
There is a VERY important message here that MAS-SES of Jews completely miss. REALLY miss. When it comes to being a COMPLETE Jew, there is the learning of Torah and the performance of mitzvos, and something else called the DESIRE FOR REDEMPTION. Just as a person has to consciously make time for Torah learning, they have to consciously anticipate redemption.
Why is it so important? That’s like asking why it was so important for God to promise Eretz Yisroel to Avraham, Yitzchak, and Ya’akov. After all, it is a person’s relationship with God that counts most, and that can exist beyond any physical land, can’t it?
Theoretically, yes. Practically-speaking, no.
When God made Creation, He made one land holier than the rest: Eretz Yisroel. The Talmud is filled with all kinds of anecdotes about the specialness of Eretz Yisroel, but they all come down to the same idea: it is the holiest land. It may not be clear WHY it had to be this way, but that is the way it is.
Kabbalah teaches that the opening to Heaven is directly above Eretz Yisroel, mirroring its borders. Consequently, the holiness MAN generates ascends to Heaven only over Eretz Yisroel, and the blessing GOD returns likewise descends only there as well. The rest of the world has to work through Eretz Yisroel.
This means that one’s potential connection to God is GREATLY enhanced when living on the Land. It doesn’t make a difference where history is holding. The reality of Eretz Yisroel’s correspondence remains at all times. But, of course, it is far more obvious when the Temple exists and the Divine Presence occupies it.
This is also why “there is no Torah like Toras Eretz Yisroel.” Learning in such a place of holiness greatly enhances one’s learning capacity to the point that even the air of Eretz Yisroel makes a person wiser. The connection to the light of God is far more intense there and far less filtered, the result being a far CLOSER relationship with God.
Anticipating redemption means yearning for this incredible spiritual opportunity. It means that the person understands that, as great as the learning is in the Diaspora, and as easy as it may be to perform mitzvos there, it doesn’t compare to doing the same thing in Eretz HaKodesh. It says that the person knows that, as good a time as they are having living as a Jew in the Diaspora, it does not measure up to living as a Jew in the land of the Divine Presence.
It means that the Jew MISSES GOD.
The thing about learning Torah is that a person can actually do it without connecting to God. The learning of Torah can be so extremely rewarding even if it does not bring a person closer to their Creator. The need to know it and the desire to master it can become an end unto itself, and often does.
The same thing is true about mitzvos. Mitzvos are obligations. We have to do them. We have to learn how to properly perform them, and then make a point of doing so. It can all be quite mechanical, and gratifying just to know that you have successfully fulfilled your obligations. A person may believe that they have made God happy, but it is not crucial to know that they have brought God closer. That’s for the World-to-Come.
Prayer is a good example of this. It is THE opportunity of the day to actually TALK to God. One would think that this would inspire to make each prayer the most meaningful experience of the day. Instead, for many, it is just another obligation to be fulfilled during the course of their religious day.
Even if a person does everything right in Chutz L’Aretz, using their Torah learning and mitzvah performance to enhance their relationship with God, it will still be limited by the spiritual limitations of the Diaspora. If it wasn’t, then redemption from exile would be a moot point, and not something that anyone would have to long for.
But it IS something we have to long for:
Rebi Elazar said: “Why are there three [mentionings of] tears [in the verse, ‘And if you do not listen to it, in secret My soul will WEEP because of your pride, and My eye will WEEP sore and run down with TEARS, for God’s flock has been captured’ (Yirmiyahu 13:17)]? One for the First Temple, one for the Second Temple, and one for the Jewish people, who have become exiled from their place.”
Some say: “One is for the neglect of Torah [study].”
It is good according to the view that [one] is for the Jewish people who have become exiled from their place, because it agrees with that which is written: “for God’s flock has been captured.” But, according to the view that it was for the neglect of Torah [study], how do you explain, “for God’s flock has been captured”?
There is no greater neglect of Torah [study] than the Jewish people being exiled from their place. (Chagigah 5b)
Given the amount of synagogues and places of Torah learning that have sprung up around the world, one might think otherwise. In fact, one of the most common reasons given by yeshiva students for NOT living in Israel IS their Torah learning, which is going well for them in the Diaspora. Is the Talmud out of date?
Given that the Talmud’s statement was said IN the Diaspora by AUTHORS of the Talmud, there must be something to it. They must have known something that we don’t know or appreciate today. Today, if a person masters the technical aspect of Torah, they have succeeded. In the time of Bavel, it was only a stepping stone to a more ultimate relationship with God, unachievable in the Diaspora no matter HOW great their learning was.
In several places, Rebi Yirmiyah said, “since [the scholars of Bavel] live in a dark land, they make ‘dark’ statements.” He maintained that the people of Bavel did not learn with clarity.
Similarly, the Talmud relates that Rebi Zeira, who also went from Bavel to Eretz Yisrael, fasted for 100 days so that God would help him forget the Torah that he had learned in Bavel. He was the one who said that “the air of Eretz Yisroel makes a person wise,” even though Bavel at the time was the center of Torah learning.
The Talmud Bavli says it even clearer here:
One should always live in the Land of Israel, even in a town whose inhabitants are mostly idolaters. No one however should live outside the Land, even in a town whose inhabitants are mostly Jewish. (Kesuvos 110b)
All those who dwell in Eretz Yisroel are like those who have a God, and all those who dwell outside the Land are like those without a God. (Kesuvos 110b)
Needless to say, these statements are controversial, at least for those who believe that the benefits of living in the Diaspora still outweigh those of living in Eretz Yisroel. And, it is not an argument that will be resolved until Moshiach, or just history itself, makes the answer perfectly clear.
That, however, only concerns the person who is trying to decide whether or not to actually make aliyah. It has NOTHING to do with desiring her stones, and cherishing her dust, or yearning for redemption. That is something that is incumbent on EVERY Jew and at EVERY time, whether on the land or off it.
After all, what are we really yearning for? We are yearning for the return of the Temple to earth, so that the Shechinah can dwell within it. Then everyone will know without any doubt whatsoever that God is the God of EVERYTHING, and they will willingly and lovingly wish to connect to Him, to serve Him.
Peace will finally reign. All Jews will live in Eretz Yisroel, and WANT to. We’ll have our priorities straight because the yetzer hara and evil will be a thing of the past. As the prophet has said, “On that day, God will be One, and His Name, One.” The Kiddush Hashem, the main reason for the Final Redemption, the GR”A explains, will be unimaginable. Utopia.
Learn Torah WELL?
We can’t even imagine what that will be like THEN. We can’t fathom the level of Torah we will be able to learn at that time. We only know that it was the level that Moshe Rabbeinu tried to give us, until that is we built the golden calf. When he broke the first tablets, he locked THAT level of Torah away until Yemos HaMoshiach. It’s even called “Toras Moshiach.” What we learn today is only a fraction of a fraction of THAT level of Torah.
So, yes, we really ought to yearn for redemption. We really should desire the stones of Eretz Yisroel and cherish her dust, because that is the ONLY place in the world where we can have the best relationship possible with God. It is the only place to truly learn His Torah and perform His mitzvos. It is the land that God loves the most.
The program therefore is to create that love for redemption, and to enhance it. You can be sure that if we don’t, and the time for redemption is close, history will teach us how to develop that love. Maybe Hashgochah Pratis will be merciful. Given our past, relying on that too is a dangerous gamble.
Pinchas Winston
Thirtysix.org
