Devarim (2c): A Kiss Goodbye

We have explained through the words of the Sfas Emes and the Chozeh zy"a that recognizing the goodness of exile is the ultimate tool to end it.  What exactly is this 'goodness'? Let's take a moment to explain if Hashem gave us any hint to this and how to accomplish it practically.

 

The Gemara tells us that when the Beis HaMikdash was being destroyed and the holy vessles were being cleared out the exilers notices that the Keruvim atop the Aron HaKodesh were in full embrace. They mocked. "This is what the Jews are hiding in their Holiest of places?" The insult was twofold: They could not understand what this image of Divine Intimacy was doing in the Kodesh HaKodoshim at all, and all the more so they couldn't understand how the image of love displayed by the hugging Keruvim could be relavent at a time such as this. The irony was too cutting.

 

The She'eiris Yisroel of V'lednik (see more here and here) zy"a explained the siginificace of this imagery by putting it in context with another  Gemara that obligates a husband to marital intimacy with his wife before he sets out on a journey. It reminds  him where home is and it keeps her desire for him alive even when not in his pressence. Romance is needed specifically when partners are taking seperate roads for now.

 

This is the deeper meaning of why the Keruvim were found embracing Davka when the Beis HaMikdash was being destroyed.  Says Hashem, "The relationship is not where it should be. We need some (a lot of) alone time. I still love you. I aways have and always will." Distance will make the heart grow fonder.

 

We know that Chazal taught that Moschiach is born on Tisha B'Av. He was born, so-to-speak, through the Keruvim's embrace. An embrace that signified the enternal bond of Hashem and His people, even when they are apart. He is born out of Am Yisroel's desire to reconnect. The intimacy at the time of parting ways.

 

Appreciating the Galus means taking advantage of the distance to build up our Retzonos. Provided with some "alone time", we are given the oppurtunity to create an inner passion to re-establish the relationship even higher than it ever was.

 

וע"ע בספה"ק קדושת לוי בריש הפירוש על איכה, ד"ה דוב אורב, אריה בסתרים

You will also notice that the video posted in the link is a metaphor for this idea.

Dvarim (2b): Ending exile with joy

We mentioned in a previous post in the name of the Sfas Emes that one of the roots of the Galus was misinterpereting an act of love as an act of hate. He explained that the Tikun is found in doing the opposite: correctly understanding that the Galus, which seems as though it is hateful is really an act of love.

 

the Kever of The Chozeh zy"a

The Chozeh M'Lublin explained that this is the meaning of what Chazal said in Ta'anis (29), משנכנס אב ממעטין בשמחה. The simple understanding is that we are called upon to dampen the mood in these days. The Rebbe comes to explain a different Pshat: We can make the mourning of the month of Av shorter through Simcha.

 

We can shorten the Galus by understanding its benifit.משנכנס אב ממעטין בשמחה

 

Before Shabbos we will hopefully post a third installment on how to practically contemplate and internalize this idea.

Devarim (2a): Projecting our feelings

When giving Mussar to the Jewish people, Moshe Rabbeinu quotes Am Yisrael as saying that they felt as if Hashem took them out of Egypt to spite them  because of a secret, scheming hatred towthards them. בשנאת ה' אותנו הוציאנו מארץ מצרים. This connects to the verse in Yirmiyah (12:8) that says - נתנה עלי בקולה על כן שנאתיה - "The Jews raised their voices gainst Me (in protest), therefore I have hated her." Harsh words.

 

In other words:

בשנאת ה' אותנו creates the reality of על כן שנאתיה

Caught the connection?

The Sfas Emes zy"a (Dvarim תרמ"ב) explains that the meaning of the connection is as follows:

The fact that Am Yisrael lodged complaints about their redemption set the stage for the process to eventually reverse itself. They were unappreciative of their Geulah, so they went back to Galus. We misinterpreted an act of sheer love to be a stroke of cunning. Hashem didn't hate us when He took out of Mitzrayim. חס ושלום. The Divine Fury only entered the picture once we ourselves dreamed it into being.

 

This is the meaning of what we said above: Only once Am Yisrael said בשנאת ה' אותנו, did it it become possible to hear Hashem say על כן שנאתיה. What can be the Tikun?

 

This wrong needs to be made right at the source. Listen to a delicate idea... If the Galus was rooted in misinterpeting the Geulah as hate, then it's rectification is found in it's diametric opposite: correctly interpereting the Galus as an act of love.

 

Chazal (Avos 6:6) praise the Midah of אוהב את התוכחות, one who loves rebuke. The deeper meaning of אוהב את התוכחות is he who is able to correctly receive the love that it contained in the rebuke. As the Passuk says, אשר יאהב ה' יוכיח - Hashem rebukes the ones that He loves.

בשנאת ה' אותנו created the reality of על כן שנאתיה, we imagined a hidden hate, but if we learn to be אוהב את התוכחות, then we can reveal the hidden affection.

 

Practical thought: Hashem is so good. But sometimes my lack of appreciation and small state of mind let me twist things inside out. I see bad in the good, yet fail to see the good in the bad. Hashem, help me see properly.

 

More on this to come...

Bein HaMeitzarim 2a: Chasing

כל רודפיה השיגוה בין המיצרים
All those who chased her trapped her between the constraints.

The Baal Shem Tov explained that this Passuk teaches us that these days of mourning are Mesugal for Kabolas HaTefilos. It is a time where our prayers are more readily accepted, and those who are seeking to attain closeness with G-d have a highened access now.

The aformentioned verse is famously re-read:
כל רודף י-ה הישיגוה בין המיצרים.
All those who are chasing G-d can reach Him during Bein HaMeitzarim.

The Mezricher Magid offered a Mashal - a parable to explain why this is so: Imagine a king in his royal chamber surrounded by guards and advisors. He is in his full glory but the masses are locked out from accessing him. He is untouchable. But if the king leaves the palace and takes a stroll in the marketplace with the commonfolk then any layperson can approach and request.

During the Days of Bein HaMeitzarim Hashem too goes into a sort of Galus. The Beis HaMikdash was His house, and every year we re-experience His departue from that palace.

גלו ישראל שכינה עמהם
When the Jews go into exile - the Divine Pressence follows them.

Now that Hashem is in a state (as we experience it) of exile, all who want to approach may do so.
כל רודפיה השיגוה בין המיצרים
כל רודף י-ה הישיגוה בין המיצרים

More on this to follow...

Devarim (1b): Torah for all

We mentioned in a previous post that the Chiddush, the novelty of Sefer Bamidbar is that we are hearing from a post-Matan-Torah Moshe who is now an איש דברים, and can relate the Torah to all languages and therefore all situation.

 

The Beis Aharon of Karlin zy"a gives a sweet touch:

 

The Passuk here tells us that this Shmooze was delivered בעבר הירדן, on the far-side of the Jordan River. But the Beis Aharon interperets not as a geographic indicator, rather as a revelation to the nature of what was said.

 

מעבר הירדן is to mean לעבור כל הירידות - to overcome any downfall. By taking the Torah and translating it into seventy lagnuages Moshe did us the tremendous favor of exposing the Torah's relvancy to every struggle.

 

Practical thought: The Torah is, Baruch Hashem, the ultimate tool-box for dealing with any of my struggles. My teachers and mentors who are more in touch with the Torah, are able to help me work things out.

Bein HaMeitzarim (1): Lost and Confused

The Baal Shem Tov zy"a (as quoted in Toldos Yaakov Yosef, Devarim) says that the root of Galus is doubt.

 

What does this mean? Doubt means uncertainty. Uncertainty is the lack of secutiry that where I am is really where I'm supposed to be, or what I think is really correct. If Geulah means being secure at home, then Galus means not being sure where home really is. The root of Galus is doubt.

 

These days are called Bein HaMeitzarim - Between the constraints. The Toldos zy"a offers an explanation to this name based on the above: A Meitzar is a tight place. It's secure. It holds me in. But in these days we are Bein HaMeitzarim. We are between fortresses. We are neither here nor there. We can't even be sure where we are supposed to be. This is Bein HaMeitzarim. The Exile of Limbo.

 

Practical thought: Am I too secure with my way of life? If I'm so cool and confident - can I really experience Galus?

Devarim (1a) A Man of Many Words

This week's Parsha begins with the words, אלא הדברים אשר דיבר משה: These are the words that Moshe Rabbeinu spoke. The Midrash interestingly compares this to the first conversation between Hakadosh Baruch Hu and Moshe. There, when Hashem was trying to convince him to speak with Paroh he said, "לא איש דברים אנכי", I am not a man of words. Someone claiming not to be a man of words now being the sourse of "These are the words."

 

An interesting turn-around. How did it happen?

 

The Midrash goes on to explain that the Torah taught Moshe Rabbeinu how to speak. "עץ חיים מרפא לשון" - The tree of life, the Torah, heals the tounge.

 

The Sfas Emes (תרל"א) zy"a, asks: How could it be that Moshe could say about himself "לא איש דברים אנכי"? He said those words whilst speaking with Hashem Himself. Is that not the most exalted level of speech?

 

The Passuk says later on that Moshe stood before the people and gave the Torah over to them באר היטב, with spectacular clarity. Chazal explain that this means that he repeated the Torah seventy times - in seventy different languages. What was he trying to prove with this?

 

The Sfas Emes explains that when Moshe Rabbeinu had first complained about his oratory capabilities he was trying to convey that he saw it impossible to take that which G-d was telling him and draw it down to a level that would be understandable to Paroh. Speaking to Hashem would be no big deal for Moshe. On the other hand, dumbing-down the Divine Word? That's a whole other story. (We will hopefully post a clarification post on the unique nature of Moshe.)

 

Receiving the Torah rectified this.

 

Chazal teach us that Hashem used the Torah as a metaphorical blue-print for the world creation.Every iota of reality is rooted in those holy words. Before Matan Torah there was spiritual theory of the heavens and concrete physicality of this world. Ma'amad Har Sinai bonded the dichotomy. Now the Ruchani content of the Torah was fused with its mundane manifestation and the Hashem's messages could be directly connected to the mundane (see המועדים בחסידות by HaRav Yoel Kahn Shlit"a on Shavuos).

 

This is the meaning of the translation of the Torah into all seventy languages. After receiving the Torah, not only did Moshe Rabbeinu become an איש דברים, but he was able to draw down the potent internal energy of the Dvar Hashem into every spoken language. By doing this, he gave us the ability to find the Dvar Hashem in every situation.

 

The Torah's connection to every language means as follows: Hashem is constantly relating to every Jew, even in the farthest throws of the exile. The Torah is the life source of all things. Thus, anything I may come in contact with can serve as a point-of-connection to a higher plane of reality.

 

More on this to come...

The Radishitzer and blintzes

R' Yissachar Dov of Radshitz zy"a related the following story:

When I was younger I exiled myself from town to town. I would never stay too long in one place. One night I found myself staying in the home of a baker. In the middle of the night I got up to say Tikun Chatzos. I was about to start when I heard the baker release such a deep Krechtz, such a poweful sigh that it shook my whole being. I began to do Teshuva on how in all of my Galus I never reached such a powerful place of empathizing with Tzar Ha'Shechinah.

Then I heard how the baker's wife asked him why he was moaning so intensely, to which he replied, "How long will you keep feeding me boiled potatoes over and over! I'm simply dying for a cheeze blintz!"

והמבין יבין ויקח מוסר

Maharal on Bein HaMeitzarim continued

We mentioned in the previous post that the exile is like pregnancy and redemption is like birth. Just like birth must be preceded by pregnancy, so too it is the longing for redemption during the exile that creates Geulah.

 

We can add a layer of nuance. It's not just that צפיה לישוע creates redemption. The depth is that there is a reflexive relationship between the longing for the redemption and profundity of its arrival. Let's explain:

 

We say every morning in Davening: יהי חסדך ה' עלינו כאשר ינחלנו לך. Hashem, let your kindness be upon us as we have hoped from You.

 

R' Moshe Shapiro Shlit"a explains that the depth of this Passuk is that in so much as one hopes and longs for Hashem's Grace, that is the level in which he will experience it in the end. He who has a deeper longing will undergo a more transformative salvation. יהי חסדך ה' עלינו כאשר ינחלנו לך. Let Your Kindness be upon us in-so-much as we have hoped for it. A more thirsty Galus makes for a more profound Geulah.

 

Practical thought: The exile is the opportunity for us to determine how meaningful the redemption will be. If the Galus doesn't strike me as such a big deal, then I won't be blown away by the Geulah either...

Maharal on Bein HaMeitzarim 1: The Fetal Nature of Exile

אמר רב יהודה אמר רב: אין בן דוד בא עד שתפשוט מלכות אדום כל העולם כולו ט' חדשים

The Gemara (Yoma 10a)  says that Moshiach will only come after Malchus Edom, the final evil superpower, enjoys world domination for nine months. This is proved by the Pasuk that says, לכן יתנם עד עת יולדה ילדה, in which Geulah is compared to birth. Just as birth is preceded by nine months of pregnancy, so too the redemption will follow nine months of peak exile.

What is the depth of this comparison?

The Maharal (Netzach Yisrael 21) explains that Am Yisrael hasn't yet begun to truly be. The potential of the people has not realized its actualization. The state of the Jewish people in the exile is likened to that of a fetus in the womb: raw potential, barely alive and harbored-up waiting to thrive in the light of day. ויגידו צדקתו לעם נולד. Many Psukim drive this point home. (There are also Psukim that make a similar reference to the Jews upon their exodus from Mitzrayim.)

Geulah marks the birth of our truer selves.

This applies to my life as well: Rebbe Nachman Mi'Breslev zy"a explains that we most often fall, or enter a state of spiritual exile so-to-speak right when we are on the cusp of attaining a higher level in Avodas Hashem. The obstacle is there to create the Razton needed to grow further.



Just as it is with the individual so to is it with the nation as a whole. This is the meaning of why the Galus must maintain its zenith for nine months. The nation is waiting to be "born". The individual's personal exile drives him to a higher state of being. The צפיה לישועה - the nationwide longing for the redemption, can only stem forth within the context of Galus.

More on this to come...