Gateway to the Geulah Shleimah

“UNDERSTOOD ONLY BY HASHEM”

By Roy S. Neuberger

We are not going to be able to unravel the mystery of the Para Aduma. If Shlomo Hamelech could not fathom this, how can we expect to? Nevertheless, I would like to think about this unique mitzvah.

The mitzvah of Para Aduma is very relevant to our world, all the more so because we cannot at this time perform it. It represents the gateway to the Geulah Shelemah. Without it, we will not be permitted to enter the Bais Hamikdosh. In order to participate in the great events which will b’ezras Hashem, soon take place, we must have the Para Aduma, just as our ancestors needed Bris Milah in order to participate in Yetzias Mitzraim.

Perhaps the very mystery of the Parah Aduma is its message. Perhaps Hashem is telling us that, when we go through the purification process prior to the arrival of Moshiach, we will not be able to understand what is happening. It is like the navua of Zechariah which we read the First Day of Sukkos: “Behold, G-d’s awaited day is coming … And it will happen on that day that there will be neither clear light nor heavy darkness. This will go on for a whole day – understood only by Hashem – neither day nor night, but toward evening it will be perceived as light.” It is also like the revelation at Har Sinai, where Hashem said to Moshe Rabbeinu, “Behold, I come to you in the thickness of the cloud ….” (Shemos 19:9) Or like the words of Dovid Hamelech, who said, “When Hashem will reign … cloud and dense darkness will surround him.” (Tehillim 97)

Hashem’s Presence appears to us in this world as darkness. The process of Chevlei Moshiach is extremely obscure. Events will appear to be incomprehensible. As I suggest in my book, Worldstorm, it may be that, as a result of mankind’s continuing rebellion against Hashem, we have wound back Creation to the very beginning, during which the world is described as “Tohu Vavohu … astonishingly empty, with darkness upon the surface of the deep ….” (Bereishis 1:2)

Right now, in our generation, chaos is rapidly increasing. Moral and social standards are becoming unraveled on every level. Practices which were previously accepted, even by non-Jews, as the basis for normal life are being discarded in favor of deviant forms of behavior, which are not only accepted, but institutionalized and incorporated into law.

Readers may remember that, several years ago, I wrote an account of a conversation I had with a highway patrolman near the Goethals Bridge. We were discussing driving habits, and he told me, “Today, crazy is the norm!” He spoke the truth.

The process of reinstating normalcy in the world and bringing about conditions conducive to the reappearance of the Bais Hamikdosh cannot be accomplished “our own way.” When morality in the world deviates past a certain point, it seems that Hashem takes things into His “own hands,” kavayachol, just as He did at the time of the Mabul. The world did not understand why Noach was constructing the teva. Apparently, the way in which Hashem will enable us – who are so steeped in tumah – to enter the Bais Hamikdosh is completely beyond our ability to comprehend.

Who could have predicted that Dovid Hamelech would arise from Moav or from Yehudah’s encounter with Tamar? This was incomprehensible and unpredictable. Even Shmuel Hanovi was taken by surprise. But it happened! So will it be with the coming of Moshiach ben Dovid.

There are those who think that they can rush or push the Geulah by forcing themselves onto Har Habayis. I am afraid they will end up like those described in Parshas Shelach, who tried to enter Eretz Canaan after the debacle of the Miraglim. Moshe warned them, “It will not succeed. Do not ascend, for Hashem is not in your midst… But they defiantly ascended the mountain” (Bamidbar 14:41-44), with disastrous consequences.

My friends, we have to learn from the mystery of the Para Aduma: we do not understand how the Geulah will come – “It is understood only by Hashem” – and so we must play by Hashem’s rules, and only by His rules. The process must play out according to His timetable. We cannot rush it or prevent it. There are things which are revealed and things which are hidden. Foolish mankind wants to believe that we can outsmart the Torah. That is a recipe for suicide. The Para Aduma is coming to teach us that we have no clue as to the workings of Shomayim, except for that which Hashem has enabled us to understand.

“It will be that when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse that I have presented before you, then you will take it to heart among the nations where Hashem, your G-d, has dispersed you…. For this commandment … is not hidden from you and it is not distant … it is not in heaven … rather the matter is very near you…. (Dvarim 30:1ff)

Our avoda is to follow the Torah as it has been given to us and not try to ascend to Heaven to “outsmart” Hashem. Even before we open the Torah, we have an obligation in derech eretz, and we don’t have an easy time with that! We cannot unravel the mysteries of the Para Aduma, but we can follow Hashem’s will: “To love Hashem, your G-d, to walk in His ways, to observe His commandments, His decrees and His ordinances. Then you will live and … multiply and Hashem, your G-d, will bless you in the Land to which you come to possess it.” (Dvarim 30:15-16)

May these blessings come upon us soon in our days!

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Roy Neuberger, author and public speaker, can be reached at roy@2020vision.co.il.

© Copyright 2016 by Roy S. Neuberger

"By the way, we (my wife and I) do public speaking and will IYH be in Israel for about ten weeks starting after Tisha B’Av, just in case you are interested. Our daughter in Israel handles the arrangements.”  If anyone is interested in having Roy and his wife give a presentation, please email me and I can give you the contact info. Neshama