Judging by the feedback, Perceptions and other essays have helped many to deal with the difficulties of our time. Contributing keeps the material flowing.
For a US contribution, use this link: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/my/profile. For a NIS contribution, use this one: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/my/profile. If you prefer an alternative, please write me at pinchasw@thirtysix.org. Thank you in advance and wishing only good news. Pinchas Winston
SOME OF YOU might have wondered at some point if it is the parsha that inspires me to write what I do about the current world situation or, the opposite. The answer is that it depends upon the week, and sometimes it is both at the same time.
For example, I have something to say about the direction of history, and my parsha sheet is one of my main venues to do that. But built into this week’s parsha is something that needs to be addressed, and it has much to say about the current world situation. Hence, my answer.
Rashi says:
“‘These are the numbers of the Mishkan, the Mishkan of the Testimony…’ (Shemos 38:21): [The word Mishkan is written] twice. This alludes to the Temple, which was taken as security (mashkon) by the two destructions because of the sins of the Jewish people.”
The real root of the word Mishkan is lishchon, which means to dwell, because that is what the Mishkan was, a dwelling place for the Shechinah. The word mashkon, which is a surety, has nothing to do with the word Mishkan. The Midrash that Rashi quotes is just making a play on words, a very gloomy play on words. It reminds me of the following comment at the very happy moment when Yosef and Binyomin were finally reunited after he revealed himself to his brothers.
Rashi says there:
“‘And he fell on his brother Binyomin’s neck and wept, and Binyomin wept on his neck’ (Bereishis 45:14): And he fell on his brother Binyomin’s neck and wept: for the two temples which were destined to be in Binyomin’s territory and would ultimately be destroyed. And Binyomin wept on his neck: for the Mishkan of Shiloh, which was destined to be in Yosef’s territory and would also ultimately be destroyed.
Can’t we enjoy a happy moment in Jewish history without alluding to destructive ones? I know people like that. They’re called Pessimists. No matter how good a situation looks they downplay it, or worry about the worst. It’s as if they are forbidden by some unwritten law to enjoy a moment and revel in the good that G–D has given them.
With examples like the ones just mentioned, can anyone really blame the pessimists? If the Torah can’t cope with happy moments without finding allusions to future bad ones, why should we? After all, for all the Purim and Chanukah happy endings we have known and celebrate, have there not been so many more tragic endings to anti-Semitism? After 3,296 years of Jewish history since entering the Land, how much joy have we known as a people, especially over the last 2,000 years?
MAYBE THAT IS why we Jews tend to wish one another, “Much nachas!” whenever we can. We know how easy it is not to have nachas in life, or how quickly it can vanish. In fact, “negative” Hashgochah Pratis (Divine Providence) has made more than just a few Jews jump ship over the ages.
It was extreme poverty in places like Russia that helped to fuel the Haskalah Movement there at the beginning of the 20th century. Many secular Jews since then seem to have done quite well for themselves, especially in recent times. And even though some Charedim (Orthodox Jews) have also done well financially, the Torah world remains poor and struggling to this very day. Not very enticing when it comes to trying to do outreach and reconnect unaffiliated Jews with their Torah roots.
This has given rise to statements such as, “It’s hard to be a Jew.” Aside from the many mitzvos we have to perform on a daily basis, circumstances often make it difficult to do so. Just ask a Jewish businessman who, watching the sun sink toward the horizon out a boardroom window, has to start thinking about finding a minyan in time so he can say Kaddish. In the meantime, his secular and gentile colleagues go about their business as usual with far less pressure.
Personally, I am always ecstatic when my flight somewhere does not necessitate dovening on an airplane. It is uncomfortable for so many reasons, including not being able to pray at breakneck speed. At least we no longer have to doven at the back of the plane, next to the bathrooms and with all the smokers.
Then there is the matter of all the outward manifestations of Torah life that make a person stand out. Not only does it call unwanted attention, but it also increases the need to be at your best behavior, even when you feel too tired and worn out to be so. A Chillul Hashem is a really, really serious sin, and to be avoided at all cost.
Obviously, Judaism is not without its happy moments. On the contrary, we have it quite good today, thank G–D. We have so much more than our ancestors ever did over the last couple of millennia. Not everyone, but a lot of people. But one has to wonder…again…as the situation around Israel and the world worsens, for how much longer?
In fact, unlike about 20 years ago, so many people today talk about the War of Gog and Magog. They feel it coming. They feel a very uncomfortable level of pressure being heaped upon the Jewish people while watching the nations around them prepare for a larger conflict. Allies who were once loyal are becoming less so. “For how much longer” seems to be answering itself, raising another question that has often been asked, “Why must history always turn against the Jewish people at some point?”
THE 27TH DAY of Adar Sheni will be the 98th yahrzeit of the Leshem, Rabbi Shlomo Elyashiv, zt”l, who I have quote often in my parsha sheets. Over the last few years, I have also published a couple of volumes of translations of some of his writings so others can benefit from his amazing insights into life and history. Regarding the latter, he says:
“This is why so much time must transpire from Creation until the time of the tikun: all the forces of Gevuros are rooted in the six sefiros—Chesed, Gevurah, Tifferes, Netzach, Hod, and Yesod—which are the six days of Creation, and the 6,000 years of history. Within them are the roots of all that will happen from the six days of Creation until the final tikun…We find that all that transpires is the result of the sparks from the time of tohu…”
(Drushei Olam HaTohu, Chelek 2, Drush 4, Anaf 18, Siman 6)
This is a translation that needs a “translation.” A full explanation would take a couple of Perceptions. The gist of the idea is that, even though we have been taught that history does not have to play out until the end, it seems likely to. History is not some river of events randomly meandering through time. It is a program from start to finish with immutable goals, goals that most people, seemingly, have little or no idea about.
If people knew about the goals, they could work together to accomplish them faster. Not knowing about them, Heaven has to work it out through history over time, and that has translated into far less desirable approaches to tikun than we would choose for ourselves, like the Holocaust, for example.
Why? What kind of goals necessitate that kind of tikun? The rectification of the forces of Gevuros. They’re responsible for the constriction of G–D’s light so that man can use his free will to reveal G–D. Making choices like that rectifies the Gevuros and brings Creation closer to completion.
The problem is when too many Gevuros remain unrectified given the timeline of history. Then history has to play catch-up to keep up with the Divine schedule for Creation. That’s when Jewish history tends to go south…like it seems to be doing again now.
THE WHOLE POINT of exile is to rectify the Gevuros, which basically can be done in one of two ways. We can harness them, which we do by disciplining ourselves to live spiritually meaningful lives, learning Torah and performing mitzvos. Or, we can fall victim to them through evil, in particular all the anti-Semitism they can potentially “inspire.”
You know those “golden eras” we’ve enjoyed in different exiles? Those weren’t G–D saying, “I’m going on a break, so have a blast.” They were G–D saying, “Now’s your chance to rectify the Gevuros in a pleasant way. Do a good job and you’ll keep Creation on schedule. Keep Creation on schedule, and exile can end smoothly, what the Gemora calls “Achishenah,” hastened.
It’s never happened, at least not for the entire nation at one time. We can bring redemption earlier, we are told, and we have to anticipate that Moshiach can come at any moment. And he can. We weren’t lied to. He just hasn’t, so far. Something about elevating every last spark out of the Klipos, just and fixing up the vessels that “broke” before Creation.
But that doesn’t mean that Moshiach isn’t here right now in the world. Perhaps he is quietly learning Torah in some out-of-the-way Bais Midrash, just waiting for G–D to tell him, “Shalom. You’re Moshiach. Now go save the Jewish people and the world! This program called human history has reached its intended conclusion.”
More than likely, the War of Gog and Magog will be just to use up the remaining Gevuros to end history. That’s why every Jewish exile ends the way it does. We won’t know how it will impact the masses until after it is over. But individuals will recognize the opportunity, read the writing on the wall, and act on it while there is still time. They certainly won’t sink back into the world of those who remain oblivious to the bigger picture of Jewish history. That’s what Mishkan-Mishkan tells us to avoid.
Chazak!
Good Shabbos,
Pinchas Winston
For essays on the current situation, go to www.shaarnunproductions.org.
No comments:
Post a Comment