NEXT YEAR IN THE LAND OF ISRAEL

This Pesach is the 44th yortzeit of our father "R. Dovid Leib Ben Harav Yitzchak Yosef. On the second day of Pesach which is the first day of Chol Hamoed in Israel, we invited a small group of friends and relatives to come and have a small seudah and make a l'chayim in our home in Yerushalayim. Some of our friends were unable to attend as they were keeping two days of Pesach and others were able since they have either purchased a home or have adopted the minhag of coming to Israel for all the regalim. Our father came to Israel the first time when he was approx. 39 years of age. What brought him to Israel to my recollection was that he had undergone a serious operation to remove a kidney and came to Israel to both recouperate and I suppose his gratitude to Hashem that he came through the test. This visit to Israel may have been an important healing agent for my father as he lived for another 10 years and sucumbed to kidney failure at the young age of 49. It was the decision of my mother and my father's parents to bury him on Har Hamenuchot where our parents have come to rest until Moshiach arrives soon and in our days. In my short address about my father I further mentioned that perhaps in some way he has been the catalist throughout our years to bring us closer to Eretz Yisrael as did our Avos for the entire Jewish people. Susie & I are zocheh to see a number of our children and grandchildren settle in Eretz Yisrael and we are sure that my father and mothers neshomos play a role in bringing us to the place where all Jews will one day settle.


NEXT YEAR IN THE LAND OF ISRAEL

THERE IS NO SHORTAGE OF REFERENCES TO ERETZ YISRAEL IN THE HOLIDAY OF PESACH AND THE HAGGADAH WE HAVE JUST READ AT THE SEDER. IN FACT, THE ENTIRE GOAL OF THE EXODUS WAS TO ENTER THE LAND OF ISRAEL, AS WE SAY AT THE END OF MAGGID: HASHEM DID NOT REDEEM ONLY OUR ANCESTORS, RATHER HE REDEEMED US WITH THEM, AS IT SAYS “V’OTANU HOTZEE MEESHUM L’MAN……. HE BROUGHT US OUT OF THERE, IN ORDER TO BRING US, TO GIVE US THE LAND THAT HE SWORE TO OUR FOREFATHERS (DVARIM 6:23).

IN RAV ELIYAHU KI TOV’S HAGGADAH IN THE NAME OF R’ YAAKOV EMDEN WE READ IN THE HA LACHMA ANYA: NOW WE ARE HERE; NEXT YEAR (MAY WE BE) IN THE LAND OF ISRAEL. NOW WE ARE SLAVES: NEXT YEAR MAY WE BE FREE MEN. RAV YAAKOV EMDEN IS BOTHERED BY THE REPETITION. IF WE PRAY TO BE IN ERETZ YISRAEL, ARE WE NOT BY DEFINITION PRAYING TO BE FREE AS IN BEING REDEEMED? THIS IS HOW ELIYAHU KITOV QUOTES HIS ANSWER. WHEN ONE READS THIS IT IS IMPORTANT TO KEEP IN MIND THAT R’ YAAKOV EMDEN LIVED IN GERMANY APPROX. THREE HUNDRED YEARS AGO.

ONE SHOULD NOT SAY “WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF ALL THESE DISPLAYS OF FREEDOM THAT WE EXHIBIT ON PESACH NIGHT? ARE WE NOT STILL IN EXILE? WHAT, THEN IS THE PURPOSE OF BEING HAPPY? THEREFORE, THE HAGGADAH TELLS US THAT THIS IS NOT CONSIDERED TRUE EXILE. FOR EVEN IF WE LIVE IN A FOREIGN LAND TODAY, NEXT YEAR WE COULD BE IN ERETZ YISRAEL BY OUR OWN FREE WILL. NO ONE IS STOPPING US (AT LEAST THE JEWS ARE NOT IMPRISONED IN EXILE TODAY AS THEY WERE IN EGYPT, FROM WHRE NO SLAVE WAS EVER ABLE TO ESACAPE). EVEN IF, G-D FORBID, THE TIME OF REDEMPTION HAS NOT YET COME, THE LAND OF ISRAEL IS BEFORE US, TO GO AND DWELL THERE ANY TIME. (OUR EXILE) IS NOT LIKE THE EGYPTIAN EXILE, WHERE WE WERE SLAVES AND CAPTIVES IN PRISON.

IN OTHER WORDS, WE FIRST SAY, “NEXT YEAR IN THE LAND OF ISRAEL” TO DEMONSTRATE THAT WE HOPE TO BE IN THE HOLY LAND NEXT YEAR, EVEN IF THE FINAL REDEMPTION DOES NOT YET MATERIALIZE. THEN WE PRAY FOR THE COMPLETE REDEMPTION TO ARISE- IN BOTH A PHYSICAL AND SPRITUAL SENSE BY NEXT PESACH

THIS IDEA UNDERSCORES A VERY IMPORTANT CONCEPT THAT MANY PEOPLE HAVE YET TO FULLY GRASP. MANY DIASPORA JEWS RATIONALIZE THEIR REFUSAL TO MAKE ALIYA BY SAYING “WHAT IS SO SPECIAL ABOUT ERETZ YISRAEL TODAY? THERE ARE SO MANY PROBLEMS THERE. I’LL COME WHEN MASHIACH ARRIVES.” RAV YA’AKOV EMDEN TEACHES US THAT THERE IS MERIT IN LIVING IN GOD’S CHOSEN LAND EVEN IF THINGS ARE NOT YET PERFECT .

THERE ARE BASICALLY THREE LEVELS OF EXILE: ONE EXTREME IS “ABSOLUTE EXILE”. THIS IS WHEN THE JEWISH PEOPLE ARE PHYSICALLY BANISHED FROM THEIR LAND AND SPIRITUALLY EXILED AS WELL. THEY ARE IN GALUT (A STATE OF EXILE) AND IN THE GOLAH (THE LANDS OF EXILE, OR THE DIASPORA). THE OTHER EXTREME IS “ABSOLUTE REDEMPTION”. THIS WILL OCCUR WHEN MASHIACH ARRIVES AND BRINGS US BACK TO HASHEM, BOTH PHYSICALLY (TO HIS LAND) AND SPIRITUALLY (COMPLETE REPENTANCE). HOWEVER, THERE IS A MIDDLE GROUND IN WHICH THE JEWS ARE IN A STATE OF EXILE BUT DO NOT LIVE IN LANDS OF EXILE. THIS IS CERTAINLY NOT THE ULTIMATE REDEMPTION, BUT IT IS ALSO NOT ABSOLUTE EXILE, BECAUSE AT LEAST THEY ARE PHYSICALLY CLOSER TO GOD. JEWS WHO LIVE OUTSIDE THE LAND OF ISRAEL ARE IN BOTH A STATE AND PLACE OF EXILE. JEWS WHO LIVE IN ISRAEL, HOWEVER, ARE ONE STEP CLOSER TO REDEMPTION, BECAUSE THEY DO NOT LIVE IN THE GOLAH.

THERE IS ONE MORE LESSON TO BE LEARNED FROM RAV YAAKOV EMDENS WORDS OF WISDOM. AS STATED, RAV EMDEN GAVE THIS INTERPRETATION ALMOST THREE HUNDRED YEARS AGO, WHEN IT WAS EXTREMELY DIFFICULT TO TRAVEL TO AND SELTTLE IN ERETZ YISRAEL, AND WHEN THE LAND WAS NOT IN JEWISH HANDS. NONETHELESS, HE SAID : “NEXT YEAR WE COULD BE IN ERETZ YISRAEL BY OUR OWN FREE WILL. NO ONE IS STOPPING US….THE LAND OF ISRAEL IS BEFORE US, TO GO AND DWELL THERE AT ANY TIME.” WHAT ARE WE TO SAY TODAY, WHEN CONDITIONS IN THE HOLY LAND ARE IMMEASURABLY BETTER? WE HAVE THE ALMOST UNPRECEDENTED OPPORTUNITY TO ANSWER OUR FIRST PLEA IN “HA LACHAMA ANYA NEXT YEAR IN THE LAND OF ISRAEL”. PERHAPS IF WE MAKE THE EFFORT TO REALLY BE IN ERETZ YISRAEL NEXT YEAR, HASHEM WILL INTERVENE AND FULFILL OUR SECOND REQUEST- “NEXT YEAR (MAY WE BE) FREE MEN”