Monday, April 21, 2008

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”

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

REDEMPTION IS IN OUR HANDS BUT ONLY IF YOU WANT IT TO BE

REDEMPTION IS IN OUR HANDS
BUT ONLY IF YOU WANT IT TO BE

http://thesanhedrin.org/Vaad/KorbanPesach/

It is clear that the major goal of the Seder night is to recite the Hagaddah and to fulfill the mitzvah, "…and you shall tell your children."

That is, by recounting the story of the Exodus from Egypt to our children (and to ourselves as well), we actualize in our minds these events of history. As a result, we strengthen our emunah. But no matter how convincingly one tells the story about the PAST redemption, he misses the point if he ignores the discussion of the FUTURE redemption.

Rabbi Menachem Kasher, ZT"L, in his book "HaTkufa HaGidola" (The Great Era) elaborates for us the following. He says that during the night of the Seder, one is obligated to include thanks to G-d for the miracles that we have witnessed in our generation. As proof he brings the words of the Rashba, who says that the mitzvah of remembering our Exodus from Egypt is to glorify G-d's Name and to teach trust (Bitachon) in G-d. This being the case, these same lessons can be learned by the miracles we have recently witnessed in our times, miracles of the Final Redemption.

The Hagaddah recites a story that sharpens the point: "It happened that Rabbi Eliezer, Rabbi Yehoshua, Rabbi Elazar Ben Azariah, Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Tarphon were reclining (at a Seder) in Bnei Brak. They were discussing the Exodus all that night, until their students came and told them, ‘Rabbis! It is time for the Morning Prayer Shma!’”

The obvious questions are: how could the Rabbis not have paid attention to themselves that the time for the reading of the Shma had arrived? In addition, what were these Rabbis doing sitting together on Seder night, when each had a family and a Yeshiva of his own in different parts of the country? Why were they sitting in Bnei Brak, the place of (the student) Rabbi Akiva?

Before giving the answer, some historical background is necessary. Only a few years had passed since the destruction of the Second Temple, and the Romans controlled the Land of Israel. But secretly, the planning of the revolution had begun. This revolution saw Rabbi Akiva play a central role as the "arms bearer" of Bar-Cochba (See Rambam, Hilchot Milachim). The rest of the Rabbis were also quite active in the rebellion, as the Rambam writes, "…and he (Rabbi Akiva) and ALL THE RABBIS OF HIS GENERATION thought that he (Bar-Cochba) was the Messiah."

And so the Rabbis, with Rabbi Akiva, were sitting together on the SEDER NIGHT to learn and discuss the FUNDAMENTALS OF THE REDEMPTION AND TO MAKE PREPARATIONS FOR THE REBELLION. Perhaps they were learning, covertly, in the famous Caves of Bar-Cochba. If so, it would be clear why their students would need to inform them that morning had broke.

It is worth pointing out a nice explanation for " …until their students came and told them, ‘Rabbis! It is time for the Morning Prayer Shma!’” Shma Yisrael is a symbol for Kiddush Hashem, and the students were saying to their Rabbis, “OUR RABBIS! THE TIME FOR KIDDUSH HASHEM HAS ARRIVED! REBEL AGAINST THE ROMANS AND BRING THE REDEMPTION!”

Here is the crucial lesson: the Rabbis understood that the purpose of the Seder night was not just to retell a story that once was. The Exodus from Egypt is the source and inspiration for the Future Redemption as well, and that is why our sages tell us that the first redemption is a sign for the Final Redemption. Since the Rabbis believed at that point that bringing the Final Redemption was a real possibility (And that Bar-Cochba was a candidate for Messiah), they sat on the Seder night planning the tactics and natural stages of this rebellion and redemption.

This generation has merited to see what our ancestors did not merit since the destruction: a rebuilt Land of Israel, the ingathering of the exiles, and miraculous victories over our enemies. Surely we are not more worthy than our ancestors and somehow more deserving. Rather, it was done for G-d's Holy Name, which had been so desecrated during a 2,000-year exile. Unfortunately we witness a redemption that is not one of Achishena (Swiftly and with glory) but rather one of Bi-Eta (Slowly, in its time), which is a redemption accompanied by great suffering and pain. It is the type of redemption that G-d brings upon us against our will, since we refuse to participate in it. Moreover, Israeli leadership has only worked to toss a monkey wrench in the works...

This Passover night let us not only discuss the past, but the following two items as well:
We must contemplate the miracles that we have witnessed in our generation, with an understanding that it is G-d's Hand and the expression of His Will to bring us the Final Redemption.
If the great sages sat on the Seder Night and occupied themselves with the revolution, which had not yet begun, certainly we are obligated to sit and engross ourselves with the redemption process that has already begun. We must sit and think in a PRACTICAL WAY how we can remove the monkey wrench that the wicked have tossed in the wheels. We must contemplate how we can quicken and advance the process with acts of Kiddush Hashem, Emunah, and Msirut Nefesh, which are the keys to redemption.
May we merit to properly fulfill the mitzvah of telling the Passover story, and to act upon the practical conclusions derived from learning about the First Redemption.

Have a happy and kosher Passover.

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IZZY KAPLAN