YeshivaThe torah world Gateway
Beit Midrash
- Shabbat and Holidays
- Jewish Holidays
- The Seven Weeks of Condolence
- Family and Society
- Redemption - Geula
Yeshayahu reassures the land that Hashem has not forgotten her and all her sons will return: מִהֲרוּ בָּנָיִךְ; מְהָרְסַיִךְ וּמַחֲרִיבַיִךְ מִמֵּךְ יֵצֵאוּ. שְׂאִי-סָבִיב עֵינַיִךְ וּרְאִי, כֻּלָּם נִקְבְּצוּ בָאוּ-לָךְ (Is 49:17-18) Loosely translated: "Speedily your sons come, Your destroyers will depart from you. Look around and see – all have gathered and returned to you." Quite simply (according to Rashi and others), Hashem is promising redemption in two spheres: All the Jews will return quickly to Israel and those foreigners who have been occupying and misusing the land till now, will be expelled. The first phase, of returning the Jews, is in line with other prophecies: "And it will be on that day…those lost in the land of Assyria and the outcasts in the Land of Egypt will come" (Is 27:13), "Behold I will take the children of Israel from the nations into which they have gone…and bring them into the land" (Ez. 37:21) "Hashem, Return our exiled like streams in the Negev [desert, with forceful flash floods]" (Tehillim 126). Yet the second phase is no less crucial, because if we return to the land but the foreigner aggressors remain here, much tension and difficulty is created - as we see time and again in modern day Israel, even up to this last week!
An additional and unfortunately all too relevant twist is added by the Metzudat David. Not only does the verse not specify who the "Destroyers" are, but it adds the superfluous word "ממך – from you". The destroyers are from within you: Those self-hating Jews, the informers, those spreading disunity, hatred and discord among the nation, those who spiritually caused the destruction and have since prevented the return and the rebuilding. These internal, Jewish destroyers will be expelled from the Jewish nation and land with Kibutz galuyot, not some external foreign force! How appropriate.
However, upon closer examination of the verse, a further theological point can be discerned, according to the Abarbanel. Instead of reading the verse as two separate events – return of the exiles and expulsion of the aggressors – the verse could be read as a causative conditional statement: [If] speedily your sons come, [then] your destroyers will depart. This then changes the whole focus of the prophecy. The responsibility and initiative rests with us! Hashem promises that if we all come back speedily to Eretz Yisrael, he will take care of the rest. During the beginning of the second Temple, this was definitely the case. Few returned and those who did were from the lower echelons of society. As a result they suffered untold troubles from the (new) locals. Perhaps this is the source of our current negative political situation vis a vis the modern day aggressors in Israel?
So as not to end on a pessimistic note, I would like to point out that the verse suggests two concurrent processes. It begins with the nation’s return, describes the expulsion of the destroyers and then returns to describe in greater detail the full Kibutz galuyot. This is a "work in progress" – and we are a part of it!
Rabbi Hillel Maizels
The Rabbi of Kehillat Ohel Efraim in the city of Ariel of "Bet Shalom" Shul in the Ariel University.
The Seven Weeks of Condolence Is Redemption Fixed or Flexible
Shiv'a de-Nechemta: The Philosophy of Comfort and Redemption - 1
The Seven Weeks of Condolence God's Punishment and Comfort are our Support
Shiv'a de-Nechemta: The Philosophy of Comfort and Redemption - 4
The Seven Weeks of Condolence Rebuilding Jerusalem
Shiv'a de-Nechemta: The Philosophy of Comfort and Redemption - 3
The Seven Weeks of Condolence Hester Panim, Exile and Redeption
Shiv'a de-Nechemta: The Philosophy of Comfort and Redemption - 6
The Seven Weeks of Condolence Hester Panim, Exile and Redeption
Shiv'a de-Nechemta: The Philosophy of Comfort and Redemption - 6
The Seven Weeks of Condolence Does G-d Care About Us
Shiv'a de-Nechemta: The Philosophy of Comfort and Redemption - 5
The Seven Weeks of Condolence God's Punishment and Comfort are our Support
Shiv'a de-Nechemta: The Philosophy of Comfort and Redemption - 4
Rabbis in Midrash
Lessons
fast navigation
The Land of Israel LGBT'S IN ISRAEL
The question was asked, how can one make Aliyah with the LGBT parades?
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 7 - Five Accumulative Proofs of G-d
As a preparation for the Kuzari's classic proof of G-d from the mass-revelation at Sinai, we start here with 5 other directions to strengthen our belief which also contribute to what the Kuzari will present as well.
Ein Aya Muscle & Meaning: The Dual Nature of Gevurah (Physical Strength)
Is physical strength and fitness a necessity or an ideal? Although it if often totally overlooked among topics of Judaism, Rav Kook writes that it clearly is also a necessity to deter the many enemies of Israel, but even in Y'mot HaMashiach, in the Messianic era, to a certain extent, it's ideal continues even after our enemies will have been finished off.
Chukat "HOW ENTEBBE STOLE THE BICENTENNIAL
The Difference Between Historic & Eternal"
As we approach America's 250th birthday, it's worth remembering her 200th Bicentennial birthday, on Jul. 4th 1976, when Israel "stole the show" by shocking the world & miraculously saving 101 hostages in a foreign continent. As Pres. As Pres. Trump decides which countries get priority in his new Middle-East, it's worth reminding him of the difference between historic events and eternally historic ones. This obviously connects with this week's parsha, as well!
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 6 - The Parable of the King of India
The advantages of testimony over circumstantial evidence or philosophical speculation.
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 5- "Proofs of G-d"
This may be the most important class of the entire book, where we finally get to the Jewish proof of the existence of G-d and truth of the Torah. We should follow His own direction where He tells us how to get to Him: through the Nation of Israel: Jewish history, Jewish prophets (and today, prophecies fulfilled), and national reward & punishment towards Am Yisrael.
Ein Aya One Humanity, One Creator, One Jerusalem
Rav Kook innovatively and beautifully explains this aggadeta where our sages say that after Jerusalem was destroyed her cinnamon fragrance is only found locked in a particular kingdom's treasury.
