Rabbi Winston: Metzora – Refined speech is what life is all about

 THE LAWS OF purification from tzora’as seemingly have little to do with Shabbos HaGadol. True, Moshe himself became a metzora on Har Sinai when he spoke badly about the Jewish people:

“…his hand was leprous like snow” (Shemos 4:7)”: It is usual for tzora’as to be white [as it says:] “If it will be a white blemish” (Vayikra 13:4). With this sign He (God) also hinted to him (Moshe) that he spoke slanderously when he said, “They will not believe me.” It is for this reason that He afflicted him with tzora’as, just as Miriam was for speaking slanderously. (Rashi)

But that seems to have been more incidental to the story, not a central part of it, right? Maybe not. On a Pshat level perhaps, and that is the level Rashi speaks on. On a deeper level, actually not.

After all, Pesach is peh sach, the mouth that spoke. Pharaoh is peh ra, the evil mouth. Moshe complained about having uncircumcised lips, which he felt made him unfit to redeem the nation. The Jewish people finally escaped the Egyptian people at Pi HaChiros, the mouth of the freedom. That’s a lot of mouths in the redemption story. 

Maybe it has something to do with this:

Berurya came and found a student learning Torah in a whisper rather than out loud. She smacked him and said to him: “Isn’t it written: ‘Ordered in all things and secure’ (II Shmuel 23:5), that is, if [Torah is] ‘ordered’ in your 248 limbs, it will be secure (i.e., not forgotten), and if not, it will not be secure.” (Eiruvin 53b)

It’s true. Everyone who has learned anything knows that there is something different about letting your mouth speak and your ears hear what your eyes are seeing. It’s as if the information resonates more with the person, and affects more parts of them, somehow making what was learned a more memorable experience.

But even if a person jumps and down and acts out what they are learning, which definitely helps a person to be more connected to the information, there is something unique about speech itself. This is especially so since the Gemora says God only made a bris with the Jewish people because of Torah Sh’b’al Peh, the Oral Law (Gittin 60b). According to the Arizal, learning the Oral Law is transformative:

A person who only performs mitzvos merits [access to] the [level of soul called] Nefesh, which corresponds to [the level] called Asiyah, but not more…[But] a Nefesh without Ruach…hasn’t any light or intelligence to understand. If they make an additional effort to learn Torah, learning, thinking about, and constantly teaching Oral Law, learning it for its own sake (lishmah), then they will merit [access to] the [level of soul called] Ruach, from [the level of] Yetzirah…Then their Nefesh will be filled with the spirit of wisdom, and their Nefesh will ascend from Asiyah to Yetzirah. (Sha’ar HaGilgulim, Introduction 18)

The answer to the question comes from a short but profound Targum Onkeles: 

God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils a living soul, and the man became a living spirit. (Bereishis 2:7) 

A living spirit: A speaking spirit. (Onkeles) 

Until God gave man a soul he was just a golem, a lifeless body. But after receiving a soul, man not only became a living being, he became a speaking being. Speech may use the body, but it is a function of the soul. Hence, the Zohar says:

From a person’s mouth you can tell what they are. (Zohar, Balak 193b)

Refined speech is what life is all about:

Rebi Elazar said: “Every man was created to toil, as it says, ‘Because man was made to toil’ (Iyov 5:7). I do not know if this means to toil through speech or actual labor, but once it says, ‘A toiling soul toils for him, for his mouth compels him’ (Mishlei 16:26), I know that a person was created to toil with his mouth. I do not know if this means to toil in [oral] Torah or just in mundane conversation. However, once it says, ‘This Torah should not leave your mouth’ (Yehoshua 1: 8), I know that man was created to toil in Torah [speech].” (Sanhedrin 99b) 

Talk? It should never be cheap, but the song of the soul and a ticket to freedom. History is changing quickly. Prophecies are coming true. We need to know what to work on during these challenging times. Subscribe to Thirtysix.org Plus for Strategy For the End of the Days at www.thirtysix.org or write to thirtysixorgplus@thirtysix.org

Eliezer Meir Saidel: THIS IS BIG! – Metzora – Shabbat HaGadol

 

וְחִטֵּא אֶת הַבַּיִת בְּדַם הַצִּפּוֹר וּבַמַּיִם הַחַיִּים וּבַצִּפֹּר הַחַיָּה וּבְעֵץ הָאֶרֶז וּבָאֵזֹב וּבִשְׁנִי הַתּוֹלָעַת (ויקרא יד, נב).

 

The Tur says that whenever a chag occurs during the week, it is hinted to in the parshat hashavua preceding it. It is not hard to find the hint to Pesach in our parsha which deals with צָרַעַת. In the past few weeks, we have been discussing the connection between צָרַעַת which is the result of sins of the mouth, and Pesach, פֶּה סָח, which comes to atone for sins of the mouth.

 

Cleansing a home afflicted with a blemish is akin to Pesach cleaning "on steroids". The descriptions of the cleansing process in the parsha remind me of a story my mother a"h told us as kids, of how her father used to kasher their dining room table for Pesach by spreading burning, hot coals over it. That must have been a pretty resilient table, I don't think modern furniture would stand up to that.

 

In this shiur, I would like to focus on a different subject – Shabbat HaGadol. This week, the Shabbat preceding Pesach, we read the special haftara of Shabbat HaGadol from sefer Malachi (chap. 3). All the eidot, except for the Yemenites, read this special haftara this Shabbat (the Yemenite custom is to simply read the haftara of the parshat hashavua).

 

What is Shabbat HaGadol and why is it thus named?

 

Shabbat HaGadol is different to the other "special" haftarot of the period. With the others (Shekalim, Zachor, Parah, HaChodesh), we first read a special maftir from the Torah and after that, the special haftara. Shabbat Hagadol has no special maftir – we do not take out a second sefer Torah.

 

The only other special haftara that resembles it is Shabbat Shuva (we also have Shabbat Chazon and Shabbat Nachamu, but these are not of the same stature of a special haftara before a major chag). Shabbat Shuva too has no special maftir, only the haftara. Shabbat HaGadol and Shabbat Shuva share another similarity – on both of them it is customary to deliver a special drasha to the congregation (more on this later). Both on Shabbat Shuva and Shabbat HaGadol we read the haftara from the תְּרֵי עֲשַׂר, the minor prophets – Shabbat Shuva from the first הוֹשֵׁעַ and Shabbat HaGadol from the last מַלְאָכִי.

 

In order to understand the essence of Shabbat HaGadol, we need to explore the origin of its name.

 

The most common reason given why we call it Shabbat HaGadol is brought by the דעת זקנים מבעלי התוספות (שמות יב, ג) quoting a Midrash (of unknown origin), also by the Tosfot (Gemara Shabbat 87b) and in Sefer HaOrah (חלק ב, סימן סב, עמ' רא). According to these sources, it is called Shabbat HaGadol because of the miracle(s) that occurred on this Shabbat in Egypt.

 

On the Shabbat preceding יְצִיאַת מִצְרַיִם, which, according to the דעת זקנים מבעלי התוספות was the tenth of Nisan, the Israelites had just undergone Brit Milah and they were physically weak and could not defend themselves. The Egyptians saw the Israelites procuring sheep, their god, with the intention of slaughtering it and planned to unleash a "pogrom" on us. However, HKB"H performed a miracle and they could not harm Am Yisrael.

 

Another reason, given by the Chizkuni (שמות יב, ג) and the Abudraham (אבודרהם השלם, עמ' רי) is that on this Shabbat, Am Yisrael performed their first mitzva – taking the lamb for bringing the Korban Pesach.

 

The צפנת פענח (דף סז, ד) says that on that Shabbat, the עֲבוֹדַת פָּרֶךְ in Egypt ceased.

 

The above are all certainly special occurrences and worth commemorating, but what connection is there between these events and the name Shabbat HaGadol? It would have better been named "Shabbat HaNes", or "Shabbat HaMitzva", or "Shabbat HaMenucha"?

 

Other Mefarshim connect the name Shabbat HaGadol to the special drasha given on that Shabbat, which is longer (bigger) than the normal weekly drasha, or alternatively, given by a more prominent (bigger) Rav.

 

Sometimes, it is not necessarily the length of the drasha that makes an impression, but simply the stature of the Rav. A story is told, I think about R' Isser Zalman Meltzer zt"l, who travelled numerous times on fundraising drives to the US to collect for his Yeshiva. As was his custom, he would deliver his drasha in Yiddish. One time he was giving a drasha to a very wealthy community, but not the closest to Yiddishkeit. 

In the audience was a young boy, who obviously spoke no Yiddish, but appeared to be listening intently. After the drasha, the Rav went up to him and asked him (in English) if he understood Yiddish, to which the boy replied "No". The Rav then asked him "You were listening very intently. Did you understand what I was saying?"  The boy replied "Yes Rabbi, you were asking for money!"

 

 Yet another reason given for naming it Shabbat HaGadol is brought by the Maharshal (מטה משה, סימן תקמב), who says that the name of Shabbat HaGadol stems from the last passuk in the haftara –

 

הִנֵּה אָנֹכִי שֹׁלֵחַ לָכֶם אֵת אֵלִיָּה הַנָּבִיא לִפְנֵי בּוֹא יוֹם ה' הַגָּדוֹל וְהַנּוֹרָא (מלאכי ג, כג).

 

It would not be the only such named haftara. Shabbat Chazon and Shabbat Nachamu are also named after words in the haftara, but it seems a very weak reason to call it Shabbat HaGadol, simply because that is the second last word in the haftara. It would be more logical to call it "Shabbat VeArva", which is the first word in the haftara –

 

וְעָרְבָה לַה' מִנְחַת יְהוּדָה וִירוּשָׁלָ͏ִם כִּימֵי עוֹלָם וּכְשָׁנִים קַדְמֹנִיּוֹת (מלאכי ג, ד).

 

just as Chazon and Nachamu are named after the first word in the haftara.

 

I believe that, although seemingly superficial, the reason of the Maharshal is the correct one, but it embodies much greater depth.

 

Before we explore this further, a short perusal of the haftara is necessary.

 

Every time we end the Amidah, we say the above passuk וְעָרְבָה לַה' מִנְחַת יְהוּדָה וִירוּשָׁלָיִם כִּימֵי עוֹלָם וּכְשָׁנִים קַדְמֹנִיּוֹת, that HKB"H will derive pleasure from the Mincha offering of Yehudah and Yerushalayim, as it once was כִּימֵי עוֹלָם and כְשָׁנִים קַדְמֹנִיּוֹת. What do these last two phrases mean?

 

It is a machloket in the Midrash (ויקרא רבה פרשה ז סימן ד). According to the first opinion כִּימֵי עוֹלָם refers to the days of Moshe and כְשָׁנִים קַדְמֹנִיּוֹת refers to the time of Shlomo Hamelech, when fire came down directly from Heaven (on the form of a crouching lion) and consumed the offerings on the Mizbeach. The second opinion (Rebi) says that כִּימֵי עוֹלָם refers to the days of Noach and כְשָׁנִים קַדְמֹנִיּוֹת refers to the days of Hevel. In both these periods, there was no avodah zara in the world. In the time of Noach, the rest of the world was wiped out and the world was reset with no avodah zara, Avodah zara only began in the generation of Enosh, which was after Hevel.

 

Our haftara begins with HKB"H saying how He yearns for those times when Am Yisrael were worthy, like before mankind began serving idols.

 

Unfortunately, however, mankind and Am Yisrael sinned, but HKB"H was steadfast in His promise to the Avot, that even though Am Yisrael would sin He would not wipe us out. When Am Yisrael sin, HKB"H immediately punishes us in small doses and doesn't "bottle things up". When evil nations sin, HKB"H does not immediately punish them, He "bottles up" their sins and at the end of days, He will bring retribution upon them by completely wiping them out (Malbim). Am Yisrael became confused, they observed the goyim prospering while we were suffering צַדִּיק וְרַע לוֹ, רָשָׁע וְטוֹב לוֹ. They lacked understanding of the above principle.

 

HKB"H chastises Am Yisrael saying that since the Avot, we have sinned and that He implored us to do tshuva שׁוּבוּ אֵלַי וְאָשׁוּבָה אֲלֵיכֶם (another link to Shabbat Shuva) and we had the audacity to respond "Us? Sin? When did we sin?" HKB"H replies "You stole from Me with trumot and m'aasrot."

 

The Gemara (Gitin 81a) explains that this does not mean that Am Yisrael were actually violating the halacha. It is simply a comparison between the earlier generations who went out of their way to be able to perform the mitzva of truma and ma'aser, while the later generations did the opposite. The later generations were not ignorant of the halacha, they were perhaps "too well versed" in the halacha, so much so that they abused it to get out of performing the mitzva, whenever possible.

 

The halacha says that you are only required to separate truma and ma'aser from produce if you bring it into your home through the main entrance. However, if you bring the produce in from another place, like from the roof or the window, into your home, you are not required to separate truma and ma'aser. The later generation was not ignorant of the law, but instead of showing how they loved to perform HKB"H's mitzvas at every possible opportunity, they showed their disdain for His mitzvas, by looking for every loophole to get out of performing them.

 

However, they kicked themselves in the foot, because by their actions, by denying the Kohanim and Levi'im the trumot and ma'asraot, they were not deserving of the Heavenly abundance and their labors bore no fruit.

 

Their reluctance to relinquish the produce that they gathered and give trumot and ma'asrot reflected a lack of gratitude to HKB"H. Their mistaken thinking "Why should I part with this tenth apple from the tree, which I worked so hard to prune, fertilize, shield with nets from the birds, wrap in paper bags so that they fully ripen, etc.? I deserve this apple more than the Kohen/Levi does, it is my apple, not his" came back to bite them.

 

Trumot/ma'asrot are not simply gifts to the Kohanim/Levi'im, they are a sign of recognition and gratitude to HKB"H. When a person separates truma and ma'aser, he/she is not "losing out on the tenth apple", quite the opposite, the very act of recognition and gratitude that is truma and ma'aser, ensures that HKB"H heaps abundance on him/her that far outweighs one measly apple. 

Not only does HKB"H cause the earth to produce more abundant harvest, He also protects that harvest from locusts and other pests that threaten crops. When Am Yisrael perform HKB"H's mitzvot willingly and enthusiastically, HKB"H blesses us and we become the envy of other nations.

 

True servants of HKB"H though, do not perform mitzvot to get reward, they do so out of their love for HKB"H. They understand that the ikar is not this world but the next, and even so, they observe the mitzvot from love and not because they want to be rewarded in olam habah. As a true son loves his father - unconditionally.

 

Unconditional love for HKB"H will result in the greatest reward, when we return to this world after the Geulah and תְּחִיַּת הַמֵּתִים and ultimately understand HKB"H's truth and why it only appears as if צַדִּיק וְרַע לוֹ, רָשָׁע וְטוֹב לוֹ, but in fact is the opposite.

 

The day of the Geulah is coming like a fiery furnace, when HKB"H uncloaks His Heavenly light, which will heal the righteous in a loving embrace and devour the evildoers like fire to straw, and no memory of evil will remain.

 

The nevuah of Malachi draws to an end with HKB"H entreating us to remember the Torah of Moshe His servant, that He commanded at Har Sinai, the חֻקִּים וּמִשְׁפָּטִים.

 

Behold, I (HKB"H) am sending you Eliyahu Hanavi, before this great and terrible day (the Geulah) to announce its coming. And Eliyahu will cause the entire world to do tshuva and the hearts of the sons will return to the hearts of the fathers. This is the ultimate chessed, that before HKB"H reveals Himself in the Geulah, we will have done tshuva and will not perish together with the evildoers.

 

When is this great day?

 

The Gemara (Rosh Hashana 11a) brings a machloket when the future Geulah will take place – in Tishrei (R' Eliezer) or Nisan (R' Yehoshua). Another Gemara (Sanhedrin 97b) brings the conclusion – both are right, they are each referring to the two possible timelines of Geulah בְּעִתָּהּ אֲחִישֶׁנָּה. R' Eliezer/Tishrei is referring to the eventuality that Am Yisrael all preemptively do tshuva אֲחִישֶׁנָּה. R' Yehoshua/Nisan refers to the set final date regardless of whether Am Yisrael do tshuva or not בְּעִתָּהּ.

 

The reason it is called Shabbat HaGadol is not because of what happened in the past, but rather because of what will happen in the future. The Maharshal's reason is "correct", but it is not simply a play on words, as the Maharshal's reason superficially appears to be, like Shabbat Chazon or Shabbat Nachamu, it is commemoration of THE BIG DAY which is yet to come, the Shabbat before the Geulah.

 

This is why Shabbat HaGadol and Shabbat Shuva are linked in so many respects, because they are both intricately intertwined with the two timelines of the future Geulah.

 

The million-dollar question is – "Is the Geulah going to happen this month, during Nisan תשפ"ד?" The answer is … "I don’t know, nobody does!"

 

What I do know is that we need to behave as if it will. It is one of the Rambam's 13 principles of faith –

 

אֲנִי מַאֲמִין בֶּאֱמוּנָה שְׁלֵמָה בְּבִיאַת הַמָּשִׁיחַ. וְאַף עַל פִּי שֶׁיִּתְמַהְמֵהַּ, עִם כָּל זֶה אֲחַכֶּה לּוֹ בְּכָל יוֹם שֶׁיָּבוֹא

 

We have to live every day of our lives as if Mashiach is going to come today!

 

We all have contingency plans. We have savings schemes in the bank "in case of …". We have emergency lights in our homes "in case of …" We like to keep the gas tank filled in our car "in case of …" We back up our media on our smartphones "in case of …"

 

How many of us have a contingency plan if Mashiach would suddenly appear today? What will we wear? How will we get to Yerushalayim to witness the Beit HaMikdash descending from Heaven? By car/bus/taxi? Where will we dispose of our spectacles / hearing-aids / crutches / walkers / Advil / Acamol / Bandaids / etc. that we will no longer need – because all our ailments will be miraculously cured. Where is the closest place I can get a sheep to bring Korban Pesach? etc.

 

Unfortunately, the answer is – very few of us have such a contingency plan. Human nature is that we make contingencies for bad things that could possibly happen, not good things, especially not the "best of the best" things.

 

This is a failing amongst all of us and could very well be the very reason that the Geulah has not yet come, because we do not truly believe in its reality, the same way we feel the need to save money in the bank. It is a failing in emunah.

 

This is what Shabbat HaGadol truly is or at least should be. We all congregate to listen to the Rav doresh on Hilchot HaPesach. How to kasher keilim? What percentage of a factory matza is a kezayit? Should we dip our fingers in the cup during the Ten Plagues or tip a drop out of the cup?

 

How many Shabbat HaGadol drashot have you heard that include the halachot of Korban Pesach? How to roast the sheep? What amount of sheep's meat to include in the Korech? Or the laws of bringing the Omer? What quantity of barley flour? How much oil? Levonah? How to wave it around? The answer is zero! And why? Because we do not have the Beit HaMikdash today and these halachot are not immediately applicable.

 

There is one Rav, however, who, although he lives in a reality where the Beit HaMikdash does not exist, this does not stop him from devoting his entire Shabbat HaGadol drasha to the halachot of Pesach in the Beit HaMikdash. You know who this Rav is? His name is מָרְדְּכַי הַיְּהוּדִי. He had a surprise gatecrasher to his drasha – Haman. Haman entered the Yeshiva in the middle of the drasha – which was all about … Kemitza. Haman had never heard of Kemitza before, so he asked what it was. One of the tinokot shel beit rabban explained to him that Kemitza is a measure of barley flour.

 

Why was Mordechai giving his Shabbat HaGadol drasha on Kemitza? There was no Beit HaMikdash in sight. Am Yisrael were in their darkest hour on the edge of oblivion … Davka to doresh on Kemitza for the Omer? What Omer? What Beit Hamikdash? What Am Yisrael? Tomorrow is the end of the world!

 

Mordechai's Shabbat HaGadol drasha was the TRUE Shabbat HaGadol drasha. It was total emunah. Making contingency plans for what HKB"H promised us will be, even though the current reality does not seem to corroborate that promise.

 

And what was the result of that Shabbat HaGadol drasha? Less than 70 years later, Am Yisrael were actually bringing the Omer again in the Beit HaMikdash!

 

If we really want the Geulah, we have to start living the reality of the Geulah, as if it is going to happen today.

 

Then it will.

 

 

Shabbat Shalom and Chag Kasher Ve'Sameach

See you on Monday night in the Beit HaMikdash.

Eliezer Meir Saidel

Machon Lechem Hapanim

www.machonlechemhapanim.org 

Rabbi Weissman: Abudarham and Chazal Set the Record Straight

Rabbis who make a business out of Torah.

True prophets who became false prophets.

Why children suffer.

The blessing of our troubles.

What Jerusalem is waiting for.

More explicit proof that we return to Israel en masse BEFORE Moshiach comes...and take care of business too.

This week's Torah class is filled with powerful lessons and inspiration from Chazal.

https://rumble.com/v4pzjdk-r-and-b-torah-fellowship-103-powerful-lessons-and-inspiration-from-chazal.html

*   *   *

Abudarham and Chazal Set the Record Straight

As we see time and time again, no amount of evidence will convince people who choose to blind themselves — and it's a choice. 

If a thousand people get injected with something the "experts" declare is "safe and effective" and drop dead right before their eyes, some people will insist it was a coincidence, or it would have been worse if they didn't take the shots.  They are blinded by their egos, their dependence on the false gods of scientism, and the terrifying implications of admitting their foolishness.  Better to remain a fool, even if it destroys whatever is left of their health, even if it means sacrificing their children and their children, too..

Some people will continue to believe we can simply vote genocidal tyrants out of power, because we live in a "democracy" and we have "rights".  The government committed another atrocity, and some minister called it a travesty in a press-release, so he must be anointed the next Prime Minister, nay, Moshiach himself.  Never mind that he's done nothing of consequence, and quietly advances the globalist agenda like all his colleagues on the other side of the pretend aisle.

Some people will continue to believe the corporation known as the State of Israel actually represents the Jewish people, because the people behind it have Jewish-sounding names and pay lip service to the Torah when it suits them.

Some people will continue to believe the IDF is a Jewish army and that the principal obligation of every Jew is to join and otherwise support this institution, no matter what.  No matter that the IDF is run by heretics.  No matter that the IDF is filled with immorality — deliberately, as a matter of official policy, by people who are at war with Hashem and His laws.  

No matter that the IDF has been systematically destroying Jewish communities for decades.  The IDF has destroyed more Jewish communities than every external enemy combined since Israel Inc. was founded, and it's not even close.  The IDF  continues to do so regularly, while other "security agencies" are devoted to persecuting Jewish "settlers", even while we are supposedly under "existential threat" from Hamas and Iran, and the IDF supposedly has a severe manpower shortage. 

No matter that the IDF is sending endless truckloads of supplies to our enemies, and beating the families of hostages who protest, while Israelis can't afford their grocery bills, and the IDF's own slaves — er, soldiers need Jews around the world to donate food and gear.

No matter that the IDF has a long and glorious history of sending our best people into death traps, on suicide missions, while it boasts about being the "most moral army in the world".  No matter that the IDF stood down on October 7 while our people were slaughtered, tortured, disfigured, and led away to hell in Gaza.  We must continue to "support the IDF" with our wallets, serve up our children, and force "haredim" to perform hara-kiri too.  Why should they get to keep their legs? 

No matter that the policies and agenda of those giving orders to the soldiers — who must follow orders, of course, or face criminal prosecution — have little to do with the health and wellbeing of the soldiers or the best interests of the Jewish people.  No matter that the IDF is never deployed to actually vanquish an enemy, decisively win a war, and achieve clear gains that we will never relinquish — things that might actually be worth the price.

No country in the history of mankind has refused to win as a matter of official policy, and surrendered so much of what it gained in spite of itself.  No matter — we must continue to send people to be maimed and killed for Pyrrhic victories that aren't even victories at all, because state-controlled rabbis say so, the media pulls our emotional strings, and we wish so badly that it wasn't all a sham.

At the same time, partially because of all the above, but mainly due to the yetzer hara and the many "reasonable" excuses it provides, some people will continue to believe that it is against the Torah for the Jewish people to return en masse to our homeland until Moshiach comes and brings them.  

No matter that there is overwhelming evidence to the contrary throughout Tanach and Chazal.  These people cling desperately to one source, hide behind contemporary rabbinic statements against the Zionist gangsters who founded Israel Inc., and conveniently disregard the mountain of Torah sources that don't suit them.  The three oaths!  Vayoel Moshe! 

Nothing will get through to some of these people.  They are buried in a plague of darkness, like so many others in so many ways, and it is their free choice.  You cannot convince anyone of anything.  You can only present them with information.  If they are humble, intelligent, and intellectually honest, maybe they will acknowledge a mistake and change course.  But you cannot make them do it, no matter what.

In this week's Torah class I shared yet another explicit source people can ignore, but they cannot contradict.  It comes from Sefer Abudarham, whichc was written by a Rishon.  In his explanation of the Shemoneh Esrei, which we say three times every day, he quoted the Riva, one of the Ba'alei Tosfos, as follows:

וכן תחלת הגאולה קבוץ גליות ובהתקבצם ימנו שופטים להשמיד הרשעים ובכן צדיקים יראו וישמחו ותשכון שכינה בישראל ואז בן דוד בא. ולמדת שקבוץ גליות קודם לצמח דוד בדברים רבים

And so the beginning of the redemption is ingathering of the exiles, and when they gather they will appoint judges to destroy the wicked, and because of this the righteous will see and rejoice, and the divine presence will settle in Israel, and then the son of David will come.  And you learn from here that ingathering of the exiles precedes the blossom of David in many matters.

I am fairly confident that the Rishonim knew the Gemara in Kesubos about the oaths, not to mention the Anshei K'nsesses Hagedola, who preceded the Gemara and arranged the Shemoneh Esrei.  There is no contradiction.

We're not returning en masse because of the Erev Rev gangsters who run Israel Inc.  We're returning in spite of them — because we can, and therefore it is a divine sign that we must.

The Yefeh Kol writes on Medrash Shir HaShirim 4:1:16 as follows:

מזה נראה כי מתחלה יהיה קבוץ גליות ואח"ז יבוא מלך המשיח והכי משמע בפ"ב דמגילה שתקנו תקע בשופר מתחלה על קבוץ גליות ואחר זה שאר הברכות עד בונה ירושלים ע"ש. ושים עינך היטב פה על סדור הישועה אשר עליה אנחנו מצפים

From here it seems that at first will be ingathering of the exiles, and after this the King Moshiach will come, and so is indicated in the second chapter of Megilla, that they instituted [the blessing in Shemoneh Esrei] "blow the Shofar" first regarding the ingathering of the exile, and after that the other blessings until "Who builds Jerusalem".  Pay good attention here to the order of the salvation about which we are anticipating.

If your first reaction is to deny, explain it away, or hide behind authority, please accept that you are an intellectually dishonest person and no amount of Torah sources will ever convince you.  At least do that, because there is no point having a conversation with someone about Torah who engages in such shenanigans.  There is no need to write to me with your angry retorts.  Go on believing whatever suits you, and face the consequences in due time.  You'll be on the wrong side of the ocean when Moshiach comes, and you won't participate in the really important work that precedes his arrival, but eventually, hopefully, you'll be able to return, and we'll still let you in.

If you previously believed in all innocence that we are forbidden from returning en masse until Moshiach comes, and you are both intrigued and delighted to learn otherwise, I'm thrilled to be the shaliach to deliver this important information, and look forward to seeing you soon. 

We have a lot of work to do, and we need all the straight-thinking, Torah-true Jews we can get.

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