All that matters is the will of God

by Rabbi Pinchas Winston

Friday Night
ACCORDING TO THE Talmud, the Jewish people were first redeemed on the 15th of Nissan, and they will be redeemed a final time on the 15th of Nissan (Rosh Hashanah 10b).

Zoom class on Purim, b”H, Tuesday, March 22, 7:30 pm Israel time. Meeting ID: 836 1383 3117, Passcode: 327302, or see it on YouTube

Why does it make a difference as long as we’re redeemed? If the point is that just as God redeemed us from Egypt in the Spring when the weather is more merciful, then just say that. Why mention the exact date?

The answer is obvious. There is something special about the 15th of Nissan when it comes to redemption, other than the season. But even still, it seems as if different days of the year are also redemption days, such as the 15th of Adar. Why is the 15th of Nissan more relevant to the final redemption than that day?

This time the answer is in the name of the month itself. Even though the name of the month Nissan did not originate in the Torah but in Bavel, it was chosen as the name of the month because of its meaning, which is neis—miracle, the root of the word Nissan.

True, Adar is also a month of redemption, but as Purim emphasizes, less obviously miraculous redemptions. The story of Purim speaks about how God saved the Jewish people in a more hidden way. Pesach celebrates God’s OVERT intrusion into history on behalf of the Jewish people. So when the Talmud says that the final redemption will be more along the lines of Pesach than Purim, it means that it will be packed full of overt miracles.

The Talmud seems to say that the miracles of the final redemption will even best the miracles of the first redemption. The Midrash seems to say that the miracles will have to do that in order to impress the world into full belief in God and His providence.

After all, we are a world that has seen a lot. Between the imaginary stuff of movie producers and what technology has shown us in real life, we’ve kind of been around the “miracle” block. But as amazing as everything has been, is, and will be, we’re talking about God. Both Man and technology have big limitations. God has none. The issue will not be how big or clever a miracle God will make. The issue will be how much of a miracle people will be able to handle and not blow up from awe and amazement. Circuits get overloaded from a lot less.

Shabbos Day
THE KLI YAKAR in Vayishlach says that it will not be that the miracles will be more fantastic. The main thing will be that unlike leaving Egypt, we won’t have to leave quickly like fleeing gypsies. We will leave on our own terms, and at our own pace.

If so, maybe we have been undergoing Kibbutz Golios for over 200 years now. At the beginning, back in the time of the Vilna Gaon, there were only a handful of Jews living on the land. Today half the world’s Jewish population, if not more, live here in Israel, ingathered from different parts of the world. And even though many were forced to leave their original lands because of circumstance, they could have chosen to live elsewhere in the world and not in Israel, as many have over the centuries.

But they chose to come to Eretz Yisroel in the end, or even in the beginning. Maybe that’s called coming on our own terms too, because there is no question that Kibbutz Golios, the ingathering of the exiles has been happening for hundreds of years already. We just may not appreciate that it has.

We take too much for granted about history. I know I do. I assume too much about life and Jewish history in particular. I only know this because I have seen many sources over the years, especially more kabbalistic ones, about both life and Jewish history. They have opened my eyes and my mind, and in particular, my mind’s eye.

I have tried to share some of that in past essays, books, and on my web site. This has included concepts such kavshei d’Rachmana—Mysteries of God (Brochos 10a), alah b’machshavah lefanai—went up in My mind (Menachos 29b), mirmah utachbulos—scheming and trickery (Sha’ar HaGilgulim, Ch. 32), and allilus—pretext (Midrash Tanchuma, Vayaishev 4). All of them say basically the same thing: As straightforward as Jewish history may appear, it is anything but. The sooner a person learns this, the safer they will be.

You wouldn’t go for a Sunday stroll through a dangerous neighborhood, and if for some reason you would, you certainly shouldn’t do it without being ready for the worst. If you have to run across a minefield to be safe, you have to do it carefully and while paying close attention to each step you take, so that it won’t be your last, God forbid.

I’m not saying life is a minefield, though at times it sure seems that way. Like now, for example, with the war between Russian and, really, the rest of the world. On the ground it is against Ukraine, but the rest of the world would like Russia to back down and let the Ukrainians be.

The trouble is that Putin’s not interested, and the world does not want to go to war. So Putin unabashedly moves forward with his conquest, the world only wags its finger in anger and disgust, and Ukrainians suffer and lose their lives and their country. Just another example of Russia bullying a less powerful country, a fearful world standing back and doing little about it, and history meandering back to a familiar but dangerous scenario.

Yes, all of this is true, but far from incidental. This war was meant to be since Creation. The people carrying it out were chosen for their roles long before they were ever born. The outcome, whatever it will end up being, will not be random but intended since the beginning by God. It will have been to accomplish a very specific purpose that was, is, meant to expedite the final redemption of the Jewish people.

It’s only the how that eludes us at this time.

Shalosh Seudot
BELIEVE IT OR not, this is a major part of the message of this week’s parsha. It starts off with the word tzav, and Rashi explains why:

The expression tzav always denotes urging [to promptly and meticulously fulfill a particular commandment] for the present and also for future generations. Rebi Shimon taught: The Torah especially needs to urge [people to fulfill commandments,] where monetary loss is involved. (Rashi, Vayikra 6:2)

Though true, it is not really understandable in this context. Everything to do with sacrifices has to do with a mitzvah. If it wasn’t commanded, it can’t be done. If it is done, the person is in BIG trouble. Just ask all those tzadukim who bought the right to be Kohen Gadol and died when they tried to freestyle a bit. A real kohen knew this and was very careful about it.

And if ever there was a section of the Jewish people who weren’t in it for the money, it was the kohanim. Their world was the Temple service, as intermediaries between God and the rest of the nation. We would expect them to do the best they could at what they had to do regardless of material recompense. So why the need for the word tzav here?

It’s not that the kohanim served with the idea of being rewarded. It’s just that they were. They had to be supported by the community so they could function on their behalf, and when that happens it is easy to become desensitized to Who is really behind everything we are and everything we get. It’s just human nature once the yetzer hara moved in full time. It is easy to forget that we serve God because that is what we do, and any benefit we receive is really a chesed, even tzedakah (Brochos 17a).

We may not seem to be reminded of it when we have everything we need or want, but it becomes clear that we do once we don’t. When the going gets tough, the tough get going. Likewise, when serving God becomes difficult, that is when the committed wake up and realize that their service to God goes beyond any benefit that they might receive for it. All that matters is the will of God. Everything else is just distraction, including what nations decide to do against one another.