Weekly Letter: There Is Only One Way to End the Golus

This week we present a letter from the Rebbe about what caused our current exile, and what is the only way it can be ended. The letter, written originally in English, is from the archives of the Rebbe’s personal trusted secretary, Rabbi Nissan Mindel.

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Mr. ________  5728

London, England

Greeting and Blessing:

I am in receipt of your (undated) letter.

The first observation I must make is that whenever a question is to be discussed, there can be a meaningful discus­sion only if both sides accept certain premises as a basis for the discussion.

From your letter I see that we both accept the Written and Oral Torah as indisputable authority.

Now, it is clearly explained, both in the Written as well as the Oral Torah, that insofar as Jews are concerned, Galut is the result, not of military circumstances, say, an outnumbered army, nor of economic pressures necessitating submission to a stronger power, nor of any such causes. Rather, as has been amply explained again and again in the Chumash, (including whole Sidras, such as Bechukotai and Ki Tavo), and in the books of the Prophets, and even more so in the Talmud and rabbinic literature, that if Jews had always adhered to the Torah and mitzvot, they would have never been driven into exile, re­gardless of the fact that “You are the smallest among the na­tions.” For Jews have always been outnumbered and ‘out­gunned,’ in terms of military and physical resources, as King David succinctly puts it: “These (come) in chariots, and those on horses, but we call upon the Name of G-d.”

Conversely, when Jews forsake the Torah and mitzvot, G-d forbid, neither strength in defense, nor military might, nor political alliances, are of the least avail, for the Torah clearly states, “If you will walk contrary unto me, then will I also walk contrary unto you,” with Galut as the inevitable conse­quence.

In light of the above, the true test of events purported to herald the Geula is to determine whether or not there has been an essential change in the causes which brought about the Galut in the first place, namely, the advent of a new tendency in the direction of stronger adherence to the Torah and mitzvot. A further point to consider: After the Churban, there were still a number of Jews remaining in Eretz Yisrael, upon whom it was also incumbent to observe everything connected with or commemorating the Galut. As a matter of fact, those who remained in Eretz Yisrael and saw the destruction with their own eyes, would have felt the impact of the Churban and the Galut even more. Let us remember, moreover, that the observance of Tisha B’Av, etc., was in effect even during the time of Gedalia ben Achikam, the Jewish Governor of the Jewish community in Eretz Yisrael, before his assassination by Ishmael.

As with many other Torah matters, there are sources where all this is explained at great length. However, inasmuch as not every person has the ability or patience to make an exhaustive study of such matters in their original sources, they are also to be found in a short and concentrated form. Thus, we find the subject under discussion formulated in succinct terms by the Great Teacher, the Rambam, who was not only the “Guide for the Perplexed” of his generation, but for the perplexed of all generations. In his Code, Yad Hachazaka, he describes in brief but highly meaningful terms the state of the last era of the Galut as it is going to be, and shows how the beginning of the Geula will follow. I will quote his words, but in English translation, and with interpolations to clarify the text, together with some prefatory remarks, namely that it has been amply explained in the Written and Oral Torah that the Geula will come through the Melech Hamashiach, as the Rambam also declares, simply as a matter of course, in the section which forms the last of his entire Code, so that in a sense it represents the very seal of it–the section of Hilchot Melachim. There, at the beginning of chapter II, he states that the Melech Hamashiach will bring the Geula, and at the end of this chapter he describes carefully the sequence of events that must precede his coming. And since this is not a book on philosophy, but a code of laws, the terms used are carefully chosen and strictly to the point, without polemics or homiletics. This is what he states, (Par. 4):

And when a king of the House of David will arise, dedicated, like his ancestor David, to the study of the Torah and observance of the mitzvot, according to the Torah Shebiktav and Shebe’al-Peh, and he will compel all the Jewish people to walk in it and strengthen its fences, and he will fight the wars of G-d, he is to be assumed to be the Mashiach.(Note that this is not yet a certain sign of the Geula, for all this can still take place in a state of Galut.) However–if he does so and succeeds (in the above matters, namely, having won all battles and compelled all the Jewish people to study the Torah and to mend its fences, we are still not sure and require a further sign, namely), and builds the Bet Hamikdash in its place (clearly in the Holy City of Jerusalem, indicating that there would be a large Jewish population in that city, yet we are still not certain of the end of the Galut, so a further factor must be fulfilled, namely), and he gathers in the dispersed ones of Israel–then he is certainly the Mashiach.

Surely, no further commentaries are necessary.

I will only add the following significant point, which is that this ruling and din of the Rambam is not contested by any posek. Even the author of the Shulchan Aruch, (also the author of the “Kesef Mishneh,” a well-known commentary on the Rambam, which deals with this chapter, too), finds noth­ing problematic here, accepting it without question. Nor, in­deed, are there any other Poskim who differ.

To be sure, there are, in the Agadah and Midrash and elsewhere, various homilies and references and allusions to the period of the Geula; but these are only homilies, and do not affect the practical halacha. Even in the halacha we find at first certain differences of opinion concerning different matters in the Mishna and Gemara, but once the final decision and psak din is determined, it is valid for all without demur.

It is clear from the above psak din of the Rambam that, before there can be Kibbutz Golyot, (in-gathering of the exiles), and the rebuilding of the Bet Hamikdash in its original place, there has to be a full and complete return to the Torah and mitzvot while Jews are still in the Galut, and it is this that constitutes the prelude and preparation for the Geula.

I am aware of the fact that there are many individuals who wish to rely on this or that saying of our Sages, (in the Tractate Sanhedrin, or in the Yerushalmi, and so on), in order to base their views upon them, but I have always marveled at the inconsistency of their entire approach. For surely the Rambam knew and understood the relevant sayings of the Sages, (as found in the Tractate Sanhedrin, the Jerusalem Talmud, etc.), at least as well as the individuals quoting them. The inconsistency lies in the fact that these very individuals consider every word and expression of the Rambam elsewhere to be meticulously exact, and study them with awesome reverence. Yet, when it comes to this simple and straightforward psak din of the Rambam, not finding it to their liking, they simply ignore it altogether!

My reason for replying to your letter at some length, (not that this length does justice to the subject matter), is that it is simply too painful to contemplate the misplaced concern of some well-meaning individuals. Instead of each and every Jew, young and old, men and women, dedicating themselves wholeheartedly to reduce, and eventually do away with, the causes which brought about the Galut, namely, mipnei chataenu–“because of our sins we have been exiled from our land,” and the nature of these “sins” is clearly spelled out in the Shulchan Aruch–there are many Jews, undoubtedly well-intentioned, who use all their energy and influence and bring to bear every kind of human ingenuity in the attempt to find ways to bring about the end of the Galut. This is in fact doubly painful: firstly, Jews are only deluding themselves when they put their trust in any other means of Geula than that which G-d has specified; and secondly, as long as they are taken up with these other ways and means, in their futile effort to end the Galut, they cannot engage fully in the true battle against the Galut as defined in the psak din of the Rambam.

May G-d grant that each and every one of us, in the midst of all Israel, should be inspired with true Heavenly in­spiration to walk in the way of the Torah and to mend its fences, for it is this, and this alone, that will pave the way for Mashiach by implementing all the conditions necessary to bring about the full and complete Geula.

With blessing,

[Sign.]

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The above letter is from Volume I of The Letter and the Spirit by Nissan Mindel Publications (NMP).

These letters were written originally in English and were prepared for publication by Rabbi Dr. Nissan Mindel, whose responsibility it was the Rebbe’s correspondence in English and several other languages.

We thank Rabbi Shalom Ber Schapiro, who was entrusted by his father-in-law Rabbi Mindel with his archives and who is Director of the Nissan Mindel Publications (NMP), for making the Rebbe’s letters available to the wider public. May the merit of the many stand him in good stead.