by Rabbi Yoseph Kahanov - Jax, FL

The Urgency of the Matter – Taking G-d Out of Exile

The chassidic master Rabbi Dov Ber of Radoshitz  stayed over at inn, he awakened in the morning to the chime of an old grandfather clock. Excitedly he asks the innkeeper where he got his clock from.  The innkeeper says: What’s the big deal, it’s just a plain old clock.” The Rabbi persists.  After an investigation, they find out the clock once belonged to the  “Seer of Lublin,” Rabbi Yaakov Yitzchak Horowitz.  “Aha,” says the Rabbi, “I knew it. “  You see, he explains, all other clocks strike a mournful note at the start of each new hour, as if to say, “You are one hour closer to the grave,” but this clock, since it came from a very holy Rabbi, it is a joyous clock and when it strikes its chord every hour, it says: “You are one hour closer to Redemption and the perfection of the world.”

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“When the Holy One, blessed be His name, comes to liberate the children of Israel from their exile, they will say to him: ‘Master of the Universe, it is You who dispersed us among the nations, driving us from Your abode and now it is You who brings us back. Why is that?’ And the Holy One blessed be His name, will reply with this parable: ‘One day a king drove his wife from his palace, and the next day he had her brought back. The queen, astonished, asked him ‘Why did you send me away yesterday only to bring me back today?’ ‘Know this,’ replied the king, ‘I followed you out of the palace, for I could not live in it alone.’ So the Holy One, blessed be His name, tells the children of Israel: ‘Having seen you leave my abode, I left it too, that I might return with you,’” Midrash.

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In our Torah portion we find what might be considered one of the most perplexing statements made in the entire Torah. What I am referring to is the very last verse of our Parsha, Beshalach, Chapter 17, Verse 16:

“And He [G-d] said, For there is a hand on the throne of the Eternal, [that there shall be] a war for the Lord against Amalek from generation to generation.”

Rashi explains these words as follows: For there is a hand on the throne of the Eternal:
“Heb. הּ-יָ כֵּס עַל יָד כִּי. The hand of the Holy One, blessed be He, was raised to swear by His throne, to have a war and [bear] hatred against Amalek for eternity. Now what is the meaning of כֵּס [as opposed to כִּסֵא (throne) and also [why is] the Divine Name divided in half? [I.e., why is the Name הּ-יָ used instead of ה-ו-ה-י ?] [The answer is that] the Holy One, blessed be He, swore that His Name will not be complete and His throne will not be complete until the name of Amalek is completely obliterated …” Thus the incomplete words.

These are mind boggling words. G-d by definition is perfect, as is clear from the Rambam’s Thirteen Principles Of Jewish Faith:

1. I believe with perfect faith that G-d is the Creator and Ruler of all things. He alone has made, does make, and will make all things.

2. I believe with perfect faith that G-d is One. There is no unity that is in any way like His. He alone is our G-d He was, He is, and He will be.

3. I believe with perfect faith that G-d does not have a body. Physical concepts do not apply to Him. There is nothing whatsoever that resembles Him at all.

4. I believe with perfect faith that G-d is first and last.

How then can it be said that G-d’s throne and G-d’s name are incomplete? Is this not the ultimate heretical statement? The obvious answer is that while nothing and nobody can cause a Divine incompletion, G-d himself can choose to be affected by certain matters and circumstances. Accordingly, every day and every moment that Amalek, which represents the ultimate denial of G-d, is not eradicated causes incompletion as it were in the Holy One, Blessed Be He.

A similar idea would be the well-known phenomenon that when Jews are in exile, G-d is exiled together with them. This is to say that G-d has chosen to be affected by certain behaviors performed by mankind. Here’s how renowned author and Nobel laureate Eli Wiesel puts it:

“G-d accompanies His children into exile, this is a central theme of Midrashic and mystical thought in Jewish tradition. Just as the people of Israel’s solitude mirrors the Lord’s, so the suffering of men finds its extension in that of their Creator. Though imposed by G-d, the punishment goes beyond those upon whom it falls, encompassing the Judge himself. And it is G-d who wills it so. The Father may reveal Himself through His wrath; He may even sharpen His severity, but He will never be absent. Present at the Creation, G-d forms part of it. Let Atar Panui Minei is the key phrase of the Book of Splendor, the Zohar: No space is devoid of G-d. G-d is everywhere, even in suffering and in the very heart of punishment. Israel’s sadness is bound to that of the divine presence, the Shechinah: together they await deliverance. The waiting of the one constitutes the other’s secret dimension. Just as the distress of the Shechinah seems unbearable to the children of Israel, so Israel’s torments rend the heart of the Shechinah,” And The Sea Is Never Full.

This in no small way places additional onus and responsibility on us humans, as Mr. Wiesel continues to elucidate on G-d in Exile: “This community of suffering presents certain difficulties. Its purpose is ambiguous. Does it aim to make our human ordeal easier or more difficult to bear? Does the idea that G-d also suffers – that He suffers with us and therefore on our account – help us to bear our grief, or does it simply augment its weight? Surely we have no right to complain, since G-d, too, knows suffering; nevertheless, we can say that the suffering of the one does not cancel out the other; rather, the two are added together. In this sense, Divine suffering is not consolation but additional punishment. We are therefore entitled to ask of heaven, ‘Do we not have enough sorrow already? Why must You add Yours to it?’”

From the end our Parsha; the narrative of Amalek’s attack on the Children of Israel, we derive that when the Jewish people are in exile G-d is there with them and while Amalek, who is the ultimate threat to Israel, is not completely annihilated then G-d’s name is not complete and His throne is not complete.

This may explain the connection between the beginning of our Parsha – the exodus of the Jewish people from Egypt and the Parsha’s ending – the unprovoked attack of the Amalekites on Israel. The state of Redemption of the Jewish people, as described in the opening of our Parsha, reflects the state of Redemption and revelation of the Almighty Himself. The story of Amalek on the other hand, signifies the polar opposite; the denial of G-d’s sovereignty; the denial of the Jewish nation as G-d’s first born and their consummate oppression. This as it were causes a lack in G-d’s completion; a lack in the fulfillment of His desire for this world to be His dwelling place and for His eminence to be revealed, which leads to His incompletion.

Is this not reason enough for us to await Redemption with a sense of urgency? Perhaps for yourself you don’t feel the urgent need for Redemption, maybe Golus – exile is treating you well and you don’t feel hard-pressed to get out in a hurry. Maybe you even like Golus, but what about all the billions of people who are living in poverty, oppression and despair in this dark and ungodly excuse of a world, can you want Redemption because of them; because of their plight?

Let’s even say that the fact that a vast segment of the world is living in darkness and despair, both spiritually and physically, does not faze you to want a better world, would you do so for G-d?  in this Parsha we are taught that the need for Redemption and for the annihilation of Amalek is urgent. Every day and every moment that it is prolonged is not only accountable for all of mankind being denied physical and spiritual realization and fruition, but that the Almighty Himself, as it were, is denied completion.

This idea ties in with the occasion of the 10th day of Shevat which is celebrated this Shabbos. All things in life are guided by Divine Providence especially something as important and pivotal as the occasion of Yud Shevat. There is hence much significance in the occurrence of this event on the day of the reading of Beshalach – about Israel’s liberation from Egyptian exile and G-d’s instruction with regard to the destruction of Amalek and its urgency so as to bring about the completion of His Name and His Throne.

The 10th day of the Jewish month of Shevat is a most significant date on the Chassidic calendar. It is the Yahrtzeit of the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneerson (1880-1950) of righteous memory. It is also the day when, in 1951, the seventh Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson (1902-1994), of righteous memory, formally accepted the leadership of Chabad-Lubavitch. The Rebbe inaugurated his leadership with a historic Maamar (discourse) and address at a gathering marking the first anniversary of his predecessor’s passing.

At the beginning of the discourse the Rebbe quotes the Midrash on the verse: “I have come into My garden, My sister, My bride.” The Midrash observes that the term used is not “To the garden,” but “To My garden,” implying “To My bridal chamber – into the place in which My essence was originally revealed. For in the beginning, the essence of the Divine Presence was revealed in this lowly world.”

At the conclusion of the discourse the Rebbe cites the Midrash: “It is not given to man to tell [the Angel of Death]: ‘Wait until I have settled my accounts and arranged my household….’” Therefore, one may not delay one’s spiritual efforts and labors, for “who knows when his time will come?”

The concluding point indicates that one’s spiritual toil must be done with alacrity, while the opening Midrash indicates that this toil must be done everywhere: When a person ponders the world’s state of affairs, he realizes that the world, almost from its very beginning, is rife with un-holiness, and predisposed to un-G-dliness. The person may then well think that it is impossible for him to transform such a world into holiness and G-dliness.

 

The Rebbe therefore explains at the beginning of the discourse that the crassness that fills this world is not its true essence, but an additional aspect that was added to the world through the cosmic sin of the Tree of Knowledge, etc. In essence, however, this world contains qualities lacking even in the loftier spiritual worlds, for the “Essence of the Divine Presence was revealed in this lowly world.”

But one can still maintain: True, at the beginning of creation things were different. Now, however, the world is filled with evil and “The wicked prevail in it.” This is answered later in the discourse, where the Rebbe explains that the ultimate intent of Creation is “G-d’s desire to have a dwelling place in the nethermost world.” Since this intent will surely come to fruition and the world will be transformed into a dwelling for G-d (in the Time to Come), therefore the present untoward state of affairs is only a temporary one.

The Rebbe goes on to explain at the conclusion of the discourse that each person has his singular spiritual task in life, and “Who knows when his time will come?” Every physical aspect of this world has a preordained time and a designated person who is to spiritually refine that particular aspect; by delaying and tarrying, the person might well lose that which he was supposed to accomplish within this world. One’s spiritual tasks must therefore be carried out with promptness: not to lose one moment in the labor of disseminating Torah and Mitzvos.

In one of his later talks regarding Yud Shevat, the Rebbe summarized the aforementioned discourse upon which his entire leadership was predicated, connecting its beginning – which discusses the banishment of the Divine presence from our world and the process of its return through the spreading of Torah and Mitzvos, with its end – the urgency of the whole matter i.e., the pressing need for the return of a Divine presence through the dissemination of Torah…

The reason for this exigency says the Rebbe, is because the entire purpose of creation and the continuous process of creation, is for this sole purpose of Divine revelation.

Given the above – the notion that His Name is not complete and His throne is not complete “Until the name of Amalek is entirely obliterated,” as stated in our Parsha and will occur with the coming of Moshiach  – the urgency of the matter is well understood, as well as its connection with the Rebbe’s inaugural discourse, connecting thereby our Parsha with Yud Shevat.

On this holy Shabbos, the Shabbos of Yud Shevat and the Shabbos that we read about our exodus from Egypt, may we merit the completion of G-d’s throne and G-d’s name with the coming of the righteous Moshiach BBA.

One Comment

  • declasse' intelectual

    Part of the problem is the endorsement of the politically correct attitude to eliminate religion and religious values from being expressed in daily life. How else do you explain the continuous attack of the ACLU on any public expression or demonstration for religious values in daily life. Even the Rebbe’s promotion of a moment of reflection or thought has been under attack. And, we know, or course, that the Obama attack on the Nun’s charity organization over the contraception issue is not about health issues but about the government’s demand that the government determine how people worship and believe and that the government should determine what that would be.