WE'VE MOURNED, SO now it is time for consolation. This is part of that consolation, from a little different angle.
According to tradition, not only is Tisha B’Av a day of tremendous destruction and hardship, but it is also the day on which Moshiach is supposed to be, and probably already was, born. For all we know, that day was already decades ago, even though all we see is the destruction and mourning.
After all, Moshe Rabbeinu had been walking the face of the earth for seventy-nine years before G–D gave him the tap to be the redeemer in his time. And even after he revealed himself, things got worse before they got better. And even after he led the nation out of Egypt, there were ups and downs, good times and bad times, and, in the end, he never made it across the Jordan River.
That tells us that Moshiach can be in the world for a long time before he actually assumes his role. Even after G–D called on Moshe to tell him His plan, Moshe refused the opportunity until G–D finally ended the discussion and commanded him to redeem the nation.
G–D had obviously known that Moshe was the redeemer from birth. Miriam suspected it, but Amram, their father, had lost hope when the baby Moshe had to be sent up the river in a basket and no paddle. Every last part of it was part of the redemption process, but no one down here knew that or how it was. The Lord works in mysterious ways, especially when it comes to the redemption of the Jewish People.
So, here’s the question. At what point did Moshe Rabbeinu become Moshiach? When he was born? When G–D spoke to him at the burning bush? When he finally accepted his role and responsibility? He fulfilled his destiny for forty years, but he had years of training for it while the Jewish people still suffered back in Egypt. Are you Moshiach the entire time you’re on the way, or only when you actually act out the part?
The answer to the question may come from here:
The earth was null and void, and there was darkness upon the face of the deep, and the Spirit of G–D hovered above the water. (Bereishis 1:2).
Not many know it, but this verse covers all of history, but specifically, Jewish history. There are allusions to all four exiles the Jewish People, yet to even exist, would be destined to undergo…Babylonian…Median…Greek…Roman. As for the Spirit of G–D, says the Ba’al HaTurim, “Zu rucho shel Moshiach,” that is the spirit of Moshiach.
Ruach Moshiach. It’s an interesting concept. We all have a ruach, in general and specific sense. Ruach is the second lowest of the five levels of soul, but it can also be used generically for the entire soul of a person. The Nefesh Chayah that G–D breathed into man to give him life is translated by Onkeles as Ruach Memalela, and Speaking Spirit.
If you look in Tanach you will notice that so often great leaders are born more than once. There seems to be their physical birth, which, as in the case of Yiftach the judge, is anything but glorious. Even Dovid HaMelech, the premier ancestor of Moshiach himself, was rejected and vilified until G–D personally vouched for him…as he did for Pinchas, who was about to be lynched for killing Zimri. More than great Jewish leaders are physically born, they are spiritually born, and that can happen really late in their lives. Yiftach was a nobody for many years until G–D arranged a war that forced the elders to seek him out, appoint him leader, and make him fitting for the messianic spirit to enter and elevate him.
Who is Moshiach, and when will he deliver the Jewish People once and for all? That is a secret that even Moshiach himself doesn’t seem to know, until G–D tells him. Or, in the case of Moshe Rabbeinu (who is supposed to reincarnate and be the final redeemer as well), G–D imposes it on him. It also seems like one of the qualifications.
Having said all of that, we might re-interpret what it means that Moshiach will be born on Tisha B’Av. According to this, it may be that Moshiach can be physically born on any day of the year, like the seventh of Adar, in Moshe’s case. But the spiritual birth of Moshiach is destined to occur on the ninth day of Av, when G–D puts His ruach, the ruach of Moshiach, into him and, just like that, in a single moment, Moshiach is “born,” ready, and prepared to redeem.
We’ve always said “yeshuas Hashem k’heref ayin,” that the salvation of G–D is like the blinking of an eye. The moment during Moshiach goes from being just a great person to a great redeemer is part of that blink.
Previous Seminar: Kabbalah & Tisha B’Av, available by writing to pinchasw@shaarnun.org.
Upcoming Seminar, b”H: Best Rosh Hashanah Ever. Details to come, b”H.
Have a great Shabbos Nachamu,
Pinchas Winston
thirtysix.org / shaarnunproductions.org
No comments:
Post a Comment