Revealing Redemption
Adapted by Channie Koplowitz Stein
As Yaakov Avinu senses he is approaching the end of his life, he gathers his sons around him to impart final words of wisdom. According to the medrash, Yaakov Avinu wanted to reveal when Moshiach would come, but Hashem withdrew the power of prophecy from him so that he could not reveal it. Instead, Yaakov directs his attention to each son individually, giving each a blessing with insights that will help each develop his potential and mission in Bnei Yisroel.
Why did Hashem prevent Yaakov from revealing when the end of days would arrive? Rabbi Tauber, reporting the lessons of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, suggests that this knowledge would be counterproductive, would be a source of discouragement and despair for Bnei Yisroel in Egypt who would view their enslavement and salvation as only as small step in a 3,500 year exile. Perhaps even more important, for us to be fully involved in the process of redemption, it is imperative that we engage in positive deeds as a constant preparation for redemption rather than as steps toward a guaranteed result with a time stamped end. Hashem wants us to demonstrate the absolute faith in His promise, a burning desire for that coming era, even in the darkest times, even when we cannot realistically imagine that perfected time. That era is not meant to be a cure all for every physical or material problem; it is meant to be a time of a spiritually perfected world when God’s presence will be recognized and felt by all mankind as water covers the sea.
What Hashem wanted, continues Rabbi Tauber, was for Bnei Yisroel to acquire the desire for redemption from their ancestor Yaakov, a desire that would inform and strengthen them during the many years they would spend in exile.
When Yaakov then blesses his sons, the forefathers of the tribes, his words are meant both to encourage and unite them in working on their relationship with Hakodosh Boruch Hu, as that will hasten the arrival of Moshiach, writes Rav Scheinerman in Ohel Moshe. Exile itself then becomes a beacon in anticipating the redemption, firm in the knowledge that it will come. Further, redemption itself is about the primacy of the knowledge of Hashem, even more than just having our problems disappear.
Herein lies an important distinction between secular thinking and Jewish thinking, writes Rabbi Eisenberger in Mesillot Bilvovom. In the secular world, when several options are being discussed, and one option is chosen, the other options are cast aside. In Jewish law, in the Talmud, all opinions remain cited and are considered to have some spiritual truth, even though only one opinion becomes accepted practice. When Yaakov Avinu wanted to reveal the end of days, that truth was somehow encrypted in the blessing to his sons.
In a slightly different interpretation, the Tosher Rebbe, based on the teachings of the Baal Shem Tov, writes that Yaakov was not trying to reveal a date of the redemption. Rather, he wanted to give Bnei Yisroel the tools through which they could hasten the redemption. But Hashem did not want this to be openly revealed either. Instead, within the blessings, Yaakov made allusions to the redemption process, redemptions that may be national/cosmic, personal, or both. Let us begin by scrutinizing Yaakov’s blessing to Dan.
“Dan yadin/will avenge his people… Dan will be a serpent on a highway, a viper by the path, that bites a horse’s heels so its rider falls backwards.” Then Yaakov concludes with an unusual exclamation: “For Your salvation do I long, Hashem!” First, the doubling of Dan, as a name and as a verb, alludes to the dual nature of salvation, national and personal. Our commentators suggest that Samson, from the Tribe of Dan, could have been Moshiach. Although he failed in that role, he did save Bnei Yisroel from continued Philistine persecution. When he was finally captured, blinded, and brought out for public display and humiliation, Samson cried out for Hashem to grant him one final revenge against the Philistines. With renewed power, he shattered the pillars of their temple, killing thousands of Philistines. Just as Samson cried out to Hashem and hoped for salvation in the darkness of his blinded condition, so should we all, both as a nation and as individuals, call out in our darkness and always retain hope for God’s salvation. In fact, we express that hope and longing for salvation constantly in our prayers: God is “Matzmiach yeshuah/grows our salvation,” He is already” Boneh Yerushalayim/Building Jerusalem.” As the Tosher Rebbe reminds us, one of the pivotal questions we will be asked when our souls ascend to heaven is,”Did you long for and anticipate the salvation,” for just as you believe in God, so must you believe in the words of His prophets who predict the salvation.
The Oshover Rebbe, the Be’er Moshe, then makes an interesting observation. He notes that both the rooster and the bat eagerly await the dawn. But while the rooster wants the light to see and move about, most bats are nocturnal, preferring to sleep the day away. In deference to this distinction, the first blessing of the Morning Blessings is, “Blessed is Hashem… Who has given to the sechvi/rooster/heart understanding to distinguish between day and night.” Therefore, according to The Song of the Universe, the verse the rooster sings is this verse, “For Your salvation do I yearn, Hashem.”
Interestingly, Rabbi Schorr points out, the rooster crows at the moment of deepest darkness, just before the light of dawn breaks through. Even though the world is dark and corrupt, we must always know in the deepest recesses of our heart, that light will again come.
The mindset of the secular world is to resign oneself to his circumstances, to live with the present reality. Not so the Jew, writes Eisenberger in Mesillot Bilvovom. The Jew always lives with hope for the future, with the belief that salvation can come in the blink of an eye. A Jew can accept a virtual reality of already living in the better state, of already thanking Hashem for the salvation that he believes in, albeit it has not yet come. The hope and salvation of the Jew, adds the Oshorover Rebbe, is that he has hope, he rests his hope in Hakodosh Boruch Hu.
With striking imagery, the Misellat Bilvavam writes that the seeds of salvation are often watered with our tears. Just as a seed must disintegrate to nothingness before it begins to sprout anew, so must we not descend to despair when we seem to be disintegrating into nothingness, for it is from this seemingly rotting earth that the sprout of David is beginning to grow to bring our salvation. One must go through that terribly challenging phase to experience the growth that follows. One must continue to hope, to strengthen one’s heart until salvation comes. Like a farmer who has planted the seeds, writes Rabbi Eisenberger, we must have faith that the good will grow. Whether in finding one’s match or struggling with a livelihood, both compared to being as difficult as the splitting of the Sea, we must recognize that we rely on Hashem, not on the stars, and put in our own effort and our prayers.
While Hashem prevented Yaakov from revealing the date of salvation lest Bnei Yisroel despair at the length of the exile, Yaakov still wanted to give Bnei Yisroel a message of hope for the future. Citing Rav Yaakov Kaminetsky, Rabbi Frand explains that Yaakov Avinu brought cedar trees with him when he and his family descended to Egypt, trees that would form the planks of the Mishkan/Tabernacle that Bnei Yisroel would build upon their redemption. The trees would provide hope and be a tangible reminder of the promise of redemption.
Every day we yearn for the salvation. When we verbalize it in our daily prayer, when we recite, “Et tzemach David… May You speedily cause [David’s offspring]to flourish…” we echo the word in Dan’s blessing, “Ki lyeshuascha kivinu kol hayom/for we hope for Your salvation all day long.” The yearning itself brings salvation.
In addition to the yearning, we have to build ourselves up to be ready for redemption, writes the Tosher Rebbe. We must create within ourselves a place where God’s Presence can reside. Perhaps we can devote more time to Torah study, or focus more intently on our prayers, or be more involved in acts of chesed.
The allusions and guideposts to the redemption continue in the blessings of the other tribes as well. Let us move on to the blessing for Gad. Of the six words that comprise his entire blessing, the two letters of his name, the gimmel and daled are repeated four times. That repetition is highly instructive. What the pair of letters conveys in their intrinsic meaning and their structure is significant. The Gimel and Daled stand for Gmul Dalim/Support [benefit] the Poor through acts of chesed. As the Prophet Isaiah says, "The world is built on chesed and Zion will be redeemed through tzedakah." As Rabbi Schwadron notes, this is the lesson inherent in the blessing to Gad. If we are to bring the redemption, we must increase our acts of loving kindness to others. When I am helping the poor, I am tapping into my inner godliness by emulating Hakodosh Boruch Hu Himself.
Let us now turn to another one of the blessings Yaakov conferred on his sons, the blessing to the Tribe of Issachar. Issachar serves as a model for life. Issachar "saw tranquility that it was good, and the land that it was pleasant, yet he bent his shoulder to bear and he became an indentured servant." Rest and ease is not the purpose of this world. Rather, the purpose of life is to live a life of Torah, of being a servant to Hashem. The Torah itself was not given in tranquil, surroundings, but in a desert. The body will never be happily satisfied, writes the Rabbi Scheinerman, and tranquility can only be achieved by feeding the eternal soul.
This was a truth Yaakov himself lived by. Even in the depraved culture of Egypt, Yaakov kept his connection to Hakodosh Boruch Hu. Vayechi -- He lived, fully, spiritually, writes the Sifsei Daas on the Sefas Emes. This is what Yaakov was teaching, that although you may be in physical exile, you must retain your connection to Hashem. If you struggle with the study of Torah, you will find sweetness even when you are in exile.
The challenges we face are only to prepare us for the ultimate redemption, continues the Sefas Emes. It is all Hashem Who "brings death and restores life, and makes salvation sprout." In the future, when that which was death is all resuscitated, we will see all the good and all that we thought was bad as all different aspects of goodness. If you can keep your mind focused on that ultimate truth, that all is from Hashem the Ultimate Good, then you are never living in galut/exile, the "iron bars" of galut "do not a prison make" for you. You are already living a life of salvation and redemption. This was the message encrypted in the blessings Yaakov Avinu gave his sons and us, the future descendants of the Bnei Yisroel/ Sons of Israel. This is how we survive and even thrive until the coming of Moshiach, may it be speedily, in our day.