Almost Eden

BS"D Am Yisrael at War - Parashat Vayechee 5769

Yechezkel 25:15-18:
"This is what the LORD God says: 'Because the Philistines acted in vengeance and took revenge with malice in their hearts, and with ancient hostility sought to destroy Judah, Therefore this is what the LORD God says: I am about to stretch out my hand against the Philistines, and I will cut off the Kerethites and destroy those remaining along the coast. I will carry out great vengeance on them and punish them in my wrath. Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I take vengeance on them."

Amos 1:7:
"I will send fire upon the walls of Gaza that will consume her fortresses."

On the 10th of Tevet in the year 588 BCE, Nevuchadnezzar King of Babylonia laid siege to the holy city of Yerushalayim in preparation for its destruction and exile of all its Jewish inhabitants.

Follow up:

Two thousand and six hundred years later to the day, the army of Israel began its siege of the profane, depraved and sacrilegious people of Gaza City. As prophesied by Yechezkel and Amos "payoff time" come has begun against these people of Amalek

Don’t cry for the people of Azza (Gaza). Had we waited too long, the names of the victims on CNN BBC Sky News etc., would not be Ibrahim and Sura, but Avraham and Sarah. Stop and think for a moment what these and other insane Islamics are planning to do to you - to your wife and children - not only in Eretz Yisrael, but wherever they would get the upper hand.

I would not be far off by saying that 90% of Americans and sane people the world over - including the most vicious anti-Jews, are quite happy with the tiny spearhead of freedom and hope called Tzahal - Israel Defense Forces. If the pictures are offensive, they would be infinitely more so if they were the faces of your grandchildren.

The options in our struggle here are very clear: Either we destroy these vicious polluters of religion who use the name of God only as a tactic to further their bestial, brutal ambitions, or they will destroy us. Thank God for the brave soldiers of our army, in this holy war for the sanctification of His holy name!

In Eretz Yisrael one measures the duration of being here not by years, but by the number of wars one has experienced.

This was a reality at the time of Yehoshua bin Nun, throughout the period of the Judges, the Kings, the two Temples up to the final years before our exile, and it remains true today during the process of our national re-birth in Eretz Yisrael. And what we are witnessing today, in our "war to the death" against the dark force of Islam, is a stage in the process whereby HaShem, through His people Yisrael, is eradicating the rot which Man has wrought in his nearly 6000 year trek after being expelled from Gan Eden.

The essence of our tumultuous era is in fact the substance of this week’s parasha - Vayechi.

Ya’akov Aveinu in the last hours of his physical existence in this world (Ya'akov lo met - Ya’akov, we are taught, did not go through the experience which we call "death") gathers together his 12 male children, progenitors of the tribes of israel. He wishes to reveal to them the exact details of what lay in store for the Jewish nation at the end of the cycle of time called "olam hazeh" (this world).

However, at the precise moment when the hearts and minds of his sons are at their peak attentiveness, HaShem withdrew His shechina and Ya’akov’s mind became cloudy, obscuring the revelation of the future. This is cited in tractate Pesachim 56a.

The gemara then proceeds to describe what transpired after Ya’akov realized that HaSHem had revoked the revelation.

Ya’akov was at a loss to understand why his ability to reveal the future was nullified. He looked at his 12 sons with apprehension, lest the reason be that one or more of the brothers was a heretic. For just as his grandfather, Avraham, had begot the sinful Yishmael, and his own father, Yizchak, begot the evil Aysav, he too might be cursed with a wayward son.

The gemara relates that the brothers then turned to their father in order to assuage his fears and in unison recited the Shema:

Harken Yisrael (our father) the Lord is our God, the Lord is One

Ya’akov then replied:

Blessed be the name of His glorious kingdom forever

When reciting "Shema Yisrael" morning and night, the halacha is that "Shema" is said aloud, but "Baruch shem etc." is said quietly.

This Gemara presents several difficulties:
1- Prior to this episode there is no precedent for reciting "Shema Yisrael" in preparation for one’s final moments in life. We are not told that either Avraham or Yitzchak said "Shema". on their death beds. Moreover, the ones reciting "Shema" here are not Ya’akov who is about to die, but rather his sons. (This is not a question.)
2- Why are we obliged to recite the six words of Shema twice every day just because the brothers said them?
3- Why is "Baruch shem..." recited quietly?

I suggest:
The brothers were waiting impatiently to hear from Ya’akov details of the future ge’ula (redemption). When Ya’akov realized that HaShem did not want the details to be disclosed, he turned to his sons suspecting that they were the cause.

At that moment, in order to dispel Ya’akov’s fears, HaShem brought His holy Shechina onto the brothers and they began to prophesy how the future redemption will evolve, albeit in general terms.

They prophesied that the --- ge’ula will come about in three stages:
1) Shema Yisrael - Harken Israel
2) HaShem Elokaynu - the Lord is our God
3) HaShem Echad - the Lord is one

1) In the initial stage of "Shema Yisrael", HaShem’s name is not mentioned only the name of Am Yisrael. This stage will see the in-gathering of Bnei Yisrael from the far corners of the globe to Eretz Yisrael. They will return for a variety of reasons, many of them not of a religious nature; anti-semitism, escape from totalitarian regimes, secular Zionism, and more.

2) The second stage "HaShem Elokaynu" now includes the name "Elokaynu". This will be characterized by the return of the Jewish people to HaShem through unprecedented miracles of salvation from the hands of our enemies.

The third stage "HaShem Echad", will mark the unity of Am Yisrael under the leadership of the Mashiach, with the re-built Bet HaMikdash on the Temple Mount.

Ya’akov upon hearing the revelations voiced by his sons, added a fourth stage:
"Baruch shem kevod malchuto le'olam va'ed." (blessed be the name of His glorious kingdom forever) signaling the universal acceptance of HaShem’s total mastery as Creator and Preserver of all things.

The halacha states that the first three stages be said aloud because they pertain exclusively to the Jewish nation. But the fourth stage, which will be recited by all mankind is out of our realm and thus is to be recited quietly until that time when the tikun (restoration, repentance) of mankind will bring us back full circle to the days of Gan Eden.

Today, with the near majority of Jews in the world having returned to Eretz Yisrael, we stand on the seam of history between the first and second stages of "Shema Yisrael."

The desire and plans of our many enemies to destroy Medinat Yisrael signify the approach of the the second stage where we, in Eretz YIsrael, shall witness miracles far surpassing those of the exodus from Egypt, as the gemara says at the end of the first chapter of tractate Berachot.

We are about to witness a religious awakening among the people of Eretz Yisrael, unparalleled since the time of Ezra Ha’Sofer.

HaShem will "shine His countenance upon all those who will be here to receive it.

May HaShem grant our gallant soldiers an overwhelming victory over the forces of evil. And may His people Israel, wherever they are, be wise enough to realize that the victory will come about in the merit of the mesirat nefesh (self-sacrifice) of His loyal children in Eretz Yisrael.

Nachman Kahana
Copyright © 2008 Nachman Kahana