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Gemara: [King David asked to know when he would die and was refused.] "Let me know how lacking I am" (Tehillim 39:5). Hashem told him: "You will die on Shabbat."
Ein Ayah: There is a certain effect that the ceasing of an individual’s actions has on the collective. In general, everyone has some influence on the group of people who are close to him. Even if that is a small group, the influence spreads by ripple effect, as people within that group have an impact upon others who are outside the original group. Certainly, the greater a person, the wider his influence will be felt. The influence of King David, as an individual, had a far-reaching but set impact that they were to have.
It is theoretically possible to know when a person would complete the allotted impact he was to have, although it would require Divine Inspiration to be able to know. However, it is impossible to know when the collective influences end and thus to know when the reason for the person to continue living will cease.
This situation is analogous to giving someone specific information that lacks significance because more general information is missing. For example, it means little to know what day of the month something will happen if one does not know the month or the year. In our context, it is possible to know when the person has completed his task from an individual perspective, but that does not provide a full picture because there are many things on the collective level that are impacted by the person as long as he is alive. These matters can remain important to the collective and the way they need to carry on their collective life in a way that they are impacted by the important individual. That is why Hashem was willing to tell David when he would die, from a specific perspective (i.e., the day of the week – Shabbat), without completing the picture clearly from a more general perspective by saying when that day would end up occurring.
This teaches an important lesson. A person’s individuality is never lost within the greater picture of the collective, as we see in the case of David. David’s value was connected to the service of Klal Yisrael, and thus he was an individual who was as connected as possible to the collective. Death is a positive development from the personal perspective of the righteous person, who receives a rest full of reward. On the other hand, his death is a cause of despair and pain for the circles he leaves behind.
If his individual interests would have to give way to the needs of the collective, David should not have died on Shabbat, because the nation was to be thereby pained at an inappropriate time. However, this is not what Hashem prescribed. To the contrary, the person’s individuality remains, just that this power impacts on the collective. At the end of David’s life, it was his individual side that was prominent, which shows that for eternity the individual concerns will continue on, with all their impact on eternal moral completeness. To reinforce this message, David, the King of Israel who will rule eternally, was told that he too would die on Shabbat to show the importance of the positive rest that his death would bring him as an individual.
Various Rabbis
Various Rabbis including those of of Yeshivat Bet El, such as Rabbi Chaim Katz, Rabbi Binyamin Bamberger and Rabbi Yitzchak Greenblat and others.
Moreshet Shaul Moreshet Shaul: A Crown and its Scepter – part II
Based on Siach Shaul, Pirkei Machshava V’Hadracha p. 294-5
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 8- "Answering Questions on the Kuzari's Proof from Mass Revelation
Rabbis in Midrash
Lessons
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Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 9 - "Seeing is Believing" (parag. 21-30)
These paragraphs elaborate on the theme that seeing and knowing is better than any attempt to prove logically, and begins explaining the difference between Israel and gentiles.
Ein Aya Various Universal Stages of the Geula Process
Rav Kook examines the various stages of redemption, explaining how (in addition to the obvious oft-mentioned stages of ingathering the exiles, reviving the Hebrew language, army, state etc.) the messianic dream of world prosperity, the State of Israel and world unity can and are realistically and logically gradually coming true.
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 8- "Answering Questions on the Kuzari's Proof from Mass Revelation
How do we know that the "claim" of mass revelation to 2,000,000 witnesses at Mt. Sinai is really true? This important class answers all of the questions skeptics ask about this claim of the Kuzari.
Ein Aya Armies Still Necessary for Balance & the War Against Wars
Rav Kook explains why the world was originally divided into the various seemingly contradicting ideologies and cultures, in order to develop each one respectively. Swords or armies symbolize how each respective ideology defends themselves, as well as deters their opposing ideologies and cultures. On the other hand, the messianic era will be one of peace, and Rav Kook explains the transition to that stage, which mankind is already undergoing.
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.
