R' Winston sent this by email and wrote, "Feel free to send this around." So, here we are! Thank you, Rabbi. (UPDATE: I chose the picture. I think the Rav might like it because it resembles at least part of the path the Jewish people has taken through the centuries.)
NO
ONE CAN deny that we are living in “special” times. There is so much
going on that could easily have MAJOR significance, positively AND
negatively. The first part of this book started that conversation and
pointed out many such details.
The
question is, are we living in THE special time? Are we at the end of
history? Is Moshiach about to reveal himself and, finally, to do what
“we” have been waiting for him to do now for thousands of years? In
Egypt, Messianic times lasted 79 years before they finally ended in
departure from Egyptian slavery. How many years will OUR Messianic times
last before they end the utopian world of Yemos HaMoshiach?
Until
now there have been many “possibilities.” Dates that were actually
predicted for Moshiach’s arrival by those who could have known such
things have, in the end, come and gone. They may have resulted in
something to do with the Final Redemption with redemption-like things
occurring at that time. But, they have not resulted in the Final
Redemption itself.
Now
it is 5778, 2018 in Western terms. We’re definitely one year closer to
the “end” than we were last year. But are we AT the end? Is there
anything to indicate that this might be THE special year, a year in the
scheme of things that says, “No matter where the Jewish people are
holding, Moshiach must come!”
Who
knows for sure? Yet, the following facts are, at the very least, very
interesting. They don’t PROVE anything—yet. But they do indicate a
certain specialness about 5778 that, we may LATER find out, were signs
of BIG things to come, REDEMPTION-like things.
One: GOLUS EDOM
The
last of the four exiles is Golus Edom. When Ya’akov Avinu had his dream
about the four exiles, he was only told the length of the first three:
Bavel (52 years), Media (18 years), and Yavan (180 years). Golus Edom,
or the “Roman Exile” was left open-ended. Ya’akov never saw the Angel of
Edom descend the ladder like the previous three angels.
When
did Golus Edom even start? Officially, it seems to have begun when
Pompey conquered Jerusalem in 63 BCE, or 3698. That is when Israel
became an official vassal state of the Roman Empire, and Jews were taken
from their homeland to other parts of the Roman Empire. The Jewish
people would not regain control of their land again until 1948, 2,010
years later when the UN officially sanctioned the establishment of a
Jewish State and homeland.
Ten
years prior to 1948, or 2,000 years from the start of the Roman Exile,
was 1938—the year of “Kristallnacht,” a pogrom against Jews throughout
Nazi Germany by SA paramilitary forces and German civilians. The name
comes from the shards of broken glass that littered the streets after
the windows of Jewish-owned stores, buildings, and synagogues were
smashed.
It wasn’t just a pogrom, however. Kristallnacht was the beginning of something bigger:
Kristallnacht
changed the nature of the persecution from economic, political, and
social to physical with beatings, incarceration, and murder; the event
is often referred to as the beginning of the Holocaust. In the words of
historian Max Rein in 1988, "Kristallnacht came...and everything was
changed.” While
November 1938 predated the overt articulation of the “Final Solution,”
it foreshadowed the genocide to come. Around the time of Kristallnacht,
the SS newspaper Das Schwarze Korps called for a “destruction by swords
and flames.” At a conference on the day after the pogrom, Hermann Göring
said: “The Jewish problem will reach its solution if, in anytime soon,
we will be drawn into war beyond our border—then it is obvious that we
will have to manage a final account with the Jews.” (Kristallnacht,
Wikipedia)
This
part was obvious. The part that was NOT obvious was the more historical
event it signaled. For all intents-and-purposes, the Holocaust brought
about the end of the “European Exile,” which was really just the
extension of the Roman Exile.
It
had been the Romans who had exiled Jews from Eretz Yisroel to different
parts of Europe, and though the names of the kingdoms of Europe have
changed many times over the millennia, the locations of the Jews rarely
did. Exactly 2,000 years since the Romans began their exile of the
Jewish people, the Nazis, who viewed themselves as the third “Roman
Empire,” began to end it, and the fourth and final exile of the Jewish
people.
Two: NEW JEWISH STATE
It
is said that “Eretz Yisroel was built upon the ashes of the Holocaust.”
This is true for a number of reasons which, collectively, explain why
it took TEN years (never an insignificant number) for the Jewish people
to go from Kristallnacht to being an officially accepted nation by the
rest of the world.
To
begin with, though some emigrated from Europe to Eretz Yisroel prior to
World War II, the vast majority of European Jews were content to remain
where they were. They had put up with anti-Semitism and the pogroms
until then, and had built up communities where they were. The status quo
reigned, especially since America had yet to be a major draw for them.
The Holocaust changed all of that.
Secondly,
though the Balfour Declaration of 1917 gave the Jewish people the right
to a “homeland,” it did not give them the right of statehood. There
were too many other political forces with which to contend, and the
British were wary of rocking the Arab boat. It was the Holocaust that
compelled leaders like President Truman to give the survivors of the
worst genocide ever a country of their own.
The
Holocaust also shook the Jewish people out of their complacency. Until
that time there was little sense of having to build up the Jewish
people. The Torah world had strong centers of learning, and the rest of
the Jewish world was content pursuing its own course of “Jewish” life.
However,
the quick loss of half the nation meant having to pour a lot of energy
and resources into the rebuilding of the nation. The Holocaust
reiterated in very strong terms what many Jews had always known: the
safest place for a Jew is in their own country.
Three: SEVENTY YEARS
As
had been foretold to Ya’akov Avinu, the Babylonian-Median Exile lasted
70 years in total. According to Rashi, it was the number of Shmittah
years the Jewish people had violated. Perhaps, but the number 70 is
specifically associated with the concept of redemption:
So
says Hashem: After 70 years of Bavel are completed, I will remember you
and fulfill My good word concerning you, to return you to this place.
(Yirmiyahu 29:10)
I,
Daniel, pondered in the books the number of years of the word of God
that came to Yirmiyahu the prophet regarding the completion of the
destruction of Yerushalayim: 70 years. (Daniel 9:2)
After
52 years, the gematria of “Eliyahu,” Koresh allowed the Jews to return
to Eretz Yisroel to begin reconstructing the Temple. Eighteen years
later, the miracle of Purim occurred, and the Jewish people were free to
return to Eretz Yisroel, completing the redemption that had begun in
Koresh’s time.
The story of Haman is told in 70 verses. He also only ruled for 70 days.
In
5708, the Jewish State was reborn. Fifty-two years later was 5760, 2000
CE, a year predicted to be one of redemption, including by the Vilna
Gaon. It was the year of the “Millennium Bug,” otherwise known as,
“Y2K,” which in Hebrew is Yud-Bais-Kuf, the word “Yabok.” That is the
name of the river Ya’akov Avinu crossed in advance of his battle with
the Angel of Eisav, which symbolized Golus Edom.
“Yabok”
is also the gematria of three names of God, and therefore represents
the spiritual completion of a person. When a person rectifies his three
lower levels of soul—Nefesh, Ruach, and Neshamah—they gain access to the
levels of light associated with these three Names of God.
It
is now 5778, 18 years later. Is the completion of the first level of
redemption that occurred back in 5760, when because of the potential
problems of Y2K even the mainstream media began talking about Armageddon
and the arrival of Moshiach, set to occur this Pesach?
Rabbi
Yehoshua says: “In Nisan, the world was created . . . in Nisan, they
were redeemed, and in Nisan they will be redeemed in the future.” (Rosh
Hashanah 10b)
Even
the names “Gog and Magog,” the perpetrators of the final war of history
and threshold to the Messianic Era, has a gematria of 70. Historically
there are really only 70 nations, each with its own ministering angel,
PLUS the Jewish people. All other nations have descended from one of the
70 Biblical nations.
According to Kabbalah, 70 represents the concept of “Da’as Elohim,” which is Torah knowledge:
Anyone who becomes settled through wine has the da’as of his Creator . . . the da’as of the Seventy Elders . . . (Eiruvin 65a)
There are 70 facets to Torah. (Zohar, Bereishis 36)
Furthermore, it also says:
God,
Who has 70 Names, gave the Torah, which has 70 names, to Yisroel, who
has 70 names which originated from the 70 souls that went down to Egypt
with Ya’akov, and which was chosen from among 70 nations, to celebrate
70 holy days in the year—52 days of Shabbos and 18 days of Yom Tov,
including Chol HaMoed—the Torah was transmitted to 70 elders. (Midrash
Yelamdaynu)
Since
the month of Nisan is the Rosh Hashanah of months, the Shabbos before
Rosh Chodesh Nisan would be the 52nd, and Shemini Atzeres would have
been the 18th “Yom Tov.” It just adds another redemption element to the
year 2018.
The Final Redemption is also spoken about in terms of da’as:
After
[the War of Gog and Magog], The Holy One, Blessed is He, will take His
revenge against them, as spoken about in Yechezkel, and the Jewish
people will dwell in their land in security and with much good.
DA’AS—Godly knowledge—will greatly increase, as will wisdom and purity.
(Drushei Olam HaTohu, Chelek 2, Drush 4, Anaf 12, Siman 9)
The number 70 also seems to represent the end of a cycle at which time a certain Divine purging takes place:
Rebi
Chanina said: Once every 60 or 70 years, The Holy One, Blessed is He,
brings calamity to the world to destroy the mamzerim . . . (Yerushalmi,
Yevamos 49b)
As
it is known, the period in advance of Moshiach’s arrival is called
“Chevlei Moshiach,” or the “Birth Pangs of Moshiach.” The rabbis
compared the arrival of Moshiach to the birth of a baby, which is
usually preceded by painful contractions. So too is the “birth” of
Moshiach, if the Jewish people do not merit a merciful and miraculous
redemption, preceded by difficult times for the Jewish people.
The
comparison is more profound than this. Kabbalah explains that the
entire build-up to and arrival of Moshiach is like a birth. Redemption
is a function of Divine light that must be spiritually “conceived” and
then “born” before it can be actualized.
For
example, the light necessary to free the Jewish people from Egyptian
slavery was “conceived” the night of the first Seder. The light was not
“born” until seven days later when the Jewish people miraculously
crossed the sea. The crossing itself was a physical gesture that was
part of the spiritual birth of the light that made total freedom
possible.
Four: THE SECOND TEMPLE
The
Second Temple was built in 350 BCE and stood for 420 years, before
being destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE, or 3830. If 3,830 is subtracted
from the current year, 5778, 1948 remains. That was the year in which
Avraham Avinu was born, which began the destiny of the Jewish nation.
This
means that the amount of time from Creation until the destruction of
the Second Temple, 3,830 years, is the same amount of time from the
birth of Avraham Avinu until the current year, 5778. It may mean
nothing, or it may mean everything.
The
Midrash compares the birth of Avraham Avinu to the creation of the
original light on the first day of Creation, the “Ohr HaGanuz.” It was
this light that the Temple was supposed to radiate to the rest of the
world, and which was lost when the Temple was destroyed.
Even
though the Second Temple did not reach the status of the First Temple,
since it was missing key elements like the Aron HaKodesh, it was still
the Temple. This concept still remained true, as the Talmud reports:
Herod
[revealed himself and] said: “I am Herod. Had I known that the rabbis
were so careful with their words, I would not have killed them. Now tell
me what I can do as an amends.” [Bava
ben Buta] answered: “As you have extinguished the light of the world
[by killing so many Torah leaders] . . . go and attend to the light of
the world [that is, the Temple, of which] it is written, ‘And all the
nations become enlightened by it’ (Yeshayahu 2:2).” (Bava Basra 4a)
If
this is true about the Second Temple then it was certainly true about
the first one, which was destroyed in 423 BCE, 429 years earlier.
However, the destruction of that Temple by Nebuchadnetzar only signaled
the beginning of Golus Bavel, which ended with the story of Purim. It
was the destruction of the SECOND Temple that concretized Golus Edom—the
Roman Exile.
Furthermore,
it occurred just 20 years prior to the end of one of the most important
periods of history, the “2,000 Years of Torah.” The first 2,000 years
are called by the Talmud the “2,000 Years of Tohu,” because the world
was Torah-less until that time. Therefore, history during that period is
compared to the null and void that preceded Creation.
At
the age of 52, Avraham Avinu began educating the world about God. That
happened in the year 2000, and it began what the Talmud calls the “2,000
Years of Torah.” The high point of that period was the actual giving of
Torah at Mt. Sinai to the Jewish people in 2448, or 1313 BCE, which also
started a 1,000-year period of prophecy that ended in 3448, or 313 BCE.
Another 552 years later, the period came to an end at 4000, or 240 CE.
This
began the LAST of three periods of 2,000 years, called “2,000 Years of
Moshiach.” As the name indicates, it is the time period during which
Moshiach MUST come. The more time passes, the more this is the case.
This year, 5778, is 1,778 years into this period of time which began
just after the destruction of the Second Temple and the end of a
3,830-year period of time stretching back to Creation.
Will
the events of 5778 also signal the end of 3,830-year period stretching
back to the birth of Avraham Avinu? Will it be the beginning of a whole
new era, and will its threshold be the final War of Gog and Magog? It is
hard to know and even harder to predict correctly. But, this certainly
gives us reason to go into Pesach with eyes wide open. If the Seder
teaches anything, it is the importance of preparation when it comes to
redemption.
***
See part 2: R' Ephraim Sprecher's latest video, "Song of the Sea: Our National Anthem" illustrates how Pesach celebrates the Final Redemption as well as the first one led by Moshe Rabbenu.
חג פםח כשר ושמח... או חג שמח וכשר...לכל עם ישראל
