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 PARSHA
 WEEKLY
MESSAGE TALES
FOR THE SHABBOS TABLE #1
#2 #3 #4 |
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By: Yanki Tauber Y2k Y4k & Y6k "The world is to exist 6,000 years. 2,000 years of desolation; 2,000 years of Torah; and the last 2,000 years are called 'The Messianic Era'". (Sanhedrin 97a) The period of desolation concluded when Abraham recognized G-d, and started promoting monotheism in the world. The period of Torah ended around the time when the Mishnah was completed. The Halachic decisions of the Sages from this time on no longer enjoyed the degree of binding authority that is accorded to the decisions of the Rabbis of the Mishnah. Now, it might seem somewhat odd to learn that we've been living in the "Messianic Era" for the last 1,760 years! Aren't we still in exile, with all it's trials and tribulations?! The Maharal explains that the term "Messianic Era" merely indicates that Moshiach's arrival is feasible if we merit it. Before the "Messianic Era" even if the Jewish people had merited Moshiach he could not have come. But now that the "Messianic Era" has commenced, it depends on us: If we merit, Moshiach will come at the beginning of the era. If we don't merit, the Geulah will be delayed. Either way, the redemption must arrive during this period. (Even if we are never worthy, the Geulah will come nevertheless). The Theme of Each Millennia According to the Ramban, these six thousand years mirror the six days of creation. He even parallels the events of each day and its corresponding millennia: On the First day of Creation, G-d created infinite light. Similarly, during the first thousand years of history, divinity abounded as people lived healthy long lives . On the Second day of Creation, the higher and lower waters were divided. In turn, the second thousand years after creation were an age of harsh judgment, including the great flood and the episode of the Tower of Bavel. On the third day, about which G-d said twice, "It was Good" - the perfection of the earth commenced - dry land appeared, and vegetation started to grow. Accordingly, during the third millennium, the purpose of creation began to take shape by means of the exodus from Egypt, and the giving of the Torah. On the Fourth day, G-d created the Sun and the Moon, and during the fourth millennium, two temples illuminated the world. On the Fifth day, the waters teemed with living creatures, and they flew over the land, alluding to the rule of the gentile nations during the fifth millennium. On the Sixth day, G-d completed the world by creating man. So, too, in the sixth millennium, the perfect and complete man - - Moshiach will be "created" and revealed. Preparing the world for the Redemption, is thus the task of the sixth millennium, in the course of which Moshiach will be revealed. |
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Tales for the Shabbos Table This week we learn of the creation of the first man; Adam. The Torah tells us that G-d brought all the animals before Adam and he gave them names. This, at first glance, was very nice of G-d to let Adam participate and make up names. something like a mayor allowing his citizens to name their streets of their town. But if we look more deeply we will see it wasn't so simple. According to Kabala the name of a thing comes from the essence of its being and attaches its soul to its body (that is why calling a person's name can awaken him from unconsciousness). And according to the Midrash (B'reshes Rabba chap. 17:4) when G-d created man the angels contested saying it was a mistake to make a creature so apt to sin, G-d answered "You will see that his wisdom is greater than yours; can you name the animals?" G-d brought out the animals, the Angels couldn't name them, Adam did, and they retracted their complaint. So we see that names are very deep and spiritual things. Now we can ask two questions: Why didn't the angels, who are certainly more spiritual than man, know the names of the animals? 2) What was so important about giving them names? If the name connects the soul to the body then the animals must have had names already, if not how could they keep living? To understand this here is a story. The Maggid of Mezeritz (the successor of the Baal Shem Tov) was an unusually gifted Talmudic scholar in fact there was no book in Judaism that he had not set to memory. But on Shabbat he would only speak and teach spiritual ideas of Chassidut. One Shabbat, however, he unexpectedly gave a long and complicated Talmudic dissertation unifying several apparently contradicting legal passages. This was a great wonder to his pupils who nonetheless dutifully repeated and memorized every word. The day after Shabbat the Maggid told one of his pupils, Rabbi Zusia of Annipoli, to set off on a journey without giving him any destination or even telling him in which direction to travel. Rab Zusia dutifully packed a small knapsack and set off, certain that his feet would take him on the right path. A week later he stopped for the night at a small inn near the city of Hamburg only to find that "Well," said the owner of the inn wincing at Rab Zusia's dusty garments, "there is one bed available but you can't have it. The room is being occupied by the great (Talmudic genius) Rabbi Refoel and I'm afraid I can't put you together with him." This Rabbi Refoel, a devoted follower of the foremost enemy (Mitnaged) of the Chassidic movement; the 'Gaon of Vilna' (a grandmaster of Talmud and the undisputed leader of Lithuanian Jewry), was on his way to Hamburg to vie for the position of chief Rabbi of the city which became vacant when the previous rabbi died some weeks ago. The rules were that every candidate had to present a 'Pilpul' (Talmudic dissertation) before the elder scholars of the city and then answer all their questions satisfactorily; the one that most found favor in their eyes would be chosen as the next chief Rabbi. Rabbi Refoel was a sure thing. His genius and erudition were almost unmatched as were his credentials, especially his closeness to the Vilna Gaon. Now he was sitting in this simple hotel room repeating the Pilpul to one last time before he went to sleep. It was very long and complex and he wanted to make sure it would go smoothly tomorrow in Hamburg. Meanwhile, in the lobby, Rab Zusia was trying desperately to convince the owner to just let him have a peek at the great Rabbi Refoel; he felt that this certainly had something to do with his mysterious mission, and finally the owner agreed. but only for a moment. He quietly opened the door (Rabbi Refoel was so deeply involved in repeating he didn't even notice) and was startled to hear that the Rabbi was reciting was the same exact subject that the Maggid had unexplainably spoken about on Shabbat! Then suddenly Rabbi Refoel stopped. He remembered
a commentary in the
Talmud; a Tosefot which he hadn't thought of that completely destroyed
the
entire line of reasoning of his presentation! Not only would his 'Pilpul' Rab Zusia immediately offered his help. Rabbi Refoel, turned around surprised to see this beggarly looking Jew and his first instinct was to refuse, but then again. he was desperate! He agreed. "But only on one condition," said Rab Zusia. "The answer I'm giving you now I heard from my master, the Maggid of Mezeritz, I want you to promise that after you are chosen tomorrow, you will go to visit him." Rabbi Refoel shuddered. The Maggid?! The head of the . heretics!!! But something made him hesitate. After all there really was no evidence for these charges. Perhaps they were empty. Not only that, but this was his only chance . he agreed. Rab Zusia repeated what he heard from the Magid solving all Rabbi Refoel's problems and the next day Rabbi Refoel appeared in Hamburg, made a perfect impression and was chosen as chief Rabbi! But he was afraid to keep his part of the bargain. So he traveled to Vilna to ask the Gaon what to do. "If you gave your word you must keep it." He answered. "You must go to this Maggid. But only on two conditions; first that you come back immediately and report to me everything you hear and see there and second that you swear before ten people that you don't tell anyone there who you are." Early the next morning Rabbi Refoel put on the garments of a wanderer and set of for the Maggid and when he arrived he was very impressed with what he saw. The prayers of the Chassidim had fervor and depth he had never experienced and so it was the Torah learning. But he had never seen anything like the Maggid in his life; the man was simply G-dly! Nevertheless he kept his head down, spoke to no one and, as Rab Zusia had not yet returned and he was certain beyond any doubt that no one here possibly knew him, Later that morning a woman brought in a chicken with a doubt if it was Kosher or not and the Maggid called his pupils over to debate the law. The question was a difficult one that had already been dealt with by the Ramba'm, the Ri'f and the Raava'd but the Maggid's pupils concluded that the bird was permissible according to all opinions. The Magid then explained the entire question according to the Kabalistic views of the Ar'i, the Rama'k and the Chayya't and also concluded that according to Kabala the bird is also kosher. Then he added. "But standing right there in the corner is Rabbi Refoel, the chief Rabbi of Hamburg, let us hear what he has to say. When the Magid called his name he felt something in his soul open up, he looked up in awe and immediately ran out of the room. His life had been changed. But when he returned to the Gaon his enthusiasm was not shared. The Gaon gathered ten of the elders listened to the entire report and concluded that it was all done through sorcery and evil. "But how do you know that your refusal to even speak to the Maggid or listen to my report is not from evil?" He asked the Gaon and received no answer. Rabbi Refoel did not dare travel to the Magid
again from respect to the Gaon
but he left the camp of the Mitnagdim completely and became a clandestine This answers our question. Sometimes calling a thing by its name can change its entire being. That is what the Maggid did with Rabbi Refoel and that is what Adam did with the animals. G-d created man to 'Improve and protect' (2:15) the entire creation. In other words; although the creation was on a very high and pure level (it was called 'Gan Eden' which means 'heaven'; it had the same purity as the afterlife does now!) nevertheless it was Adam's job to improve it. And what exactly does that mean?. It means to reveal the truth; G-d is ONE. Namely that creation is only a transparent facet of G-d's ONEness and there is, in reality, nothing other than G-d. In short: to reveal G-d in the world. This was begun by Adam when he called names to the animals and REVEALED the spiritual in the physical. True, the animals were already alive and their individual names were already conduits for their life force. But all this is part of NATURE where the physical, the physical and G-d seem to be three separate 'things' (therefore the spiritual angels are burning for G-dliness) Adam's job was to begin this process by REVEALING the spiritual in this world and this the angels couldn't do because they themselves are limited to the spiritual; only Adam had (and we still have) the ability to unite them. At the giving of the Torah there was even a greater revelation; G-d, the creator of the physical AND spiritual was revealed on Mount Sinai (and afterward in the holy of holies). But the final step is Moshiach. The Moshiach will bring the complete and constant revelation of the Creator in the entire creation "On that day G-d will be ONE and His Name ONE". That is why ADaM is the initials "Adam,
Dovid, Moshiach; he began the
process that will be completed when we do what the Lubavitcher Rebbe
says
and bring.... Rabbi Tuvia Bolton In this week's section we are introduced to G-d and told of how He created the world. The Baal Shem Tov taught that from this interesting narration we can learn that Judaism's totally unique message to the world; 'G-d is ONE', is not what most people think it is. Most people think it means that there is only one G-d (not a lot of them) who lives in heaven (or somewhere spiritual) who long ago created this physical world. But really it means that the is no other being
than G-d (In Hebrew; Ain
od milvado), He creates all that exists (even the spiritual) and He
does In other words; G-d is MUCH CLOSER (He creates us constantly) and MUCH FURTHER (He is not spiritual, rather He creates the spiritual) than is possibly conceivable. But G-d 'hid' even this when He created the
world [The word for 'world'
has the exact same spelling as 'concealed' (HeLeM)] and Adam was But he didn't succeed. And as a result the world is confused as it is today. People either don't believe there is a G-d, or they believe that He is a spiritual entity in Heaven .. but the true 'one'ness of G-d remains hidden. Why did Adam go wrong? To answer this here is a story. "Rabbi you have a visitor" announced
Rab Yaakov's servant. Rab Yaakov Rabbi Yaakov, the head of the Jewish community in Bohemia, a Chassid of the Baal Shem Tov and a very successful businessman, was well acquainted with the gentile nobility. "Hello" he said cordially as he formally stood and extended his hand to his visitor, "With whom do I have the honor of speaking". "I cannot tell you my name" said the stranger, shaking Rab Yaakov's hand, "but I come on a very important and desperate mission; I must borrow from you five hundred Guilden (about $100,000)." "Excuse me, but how do you expect me to.." Rab Yaakov stood back a half-step and looked the visitor in the eyes to see if he was normal, ".to loan you such a sum without knowing you? Have you any backers, any letters of reference, any credentials, any collateral, anything at all?"
Rab Yaakov couldn't believe his ears. He wanted to just tell the man to leave but something told him not to. He sat for a minute or two deep in thought
as the visitor just stood
looking straight ahead and he finally answered. "I won't say
no or yes,
I must travel to my rabbi, the Holy Baal Shem Tov, and ask him. Please But Rab Yaakov was in for a surprise. The Baal Shem enthusiastically encouraged him to make the loan but warned him to be sure to get a receipt. The next evening the nobleman reappeared, took the money, wrote an IOU that contained only the words "I owe Rab Yaakov 500 guilden" with no name or address and walked out the door into the night. In the course of the next few years, when he happened to see the IOU among his papers, Rab Yaakov, remembered the loan for a few seconds. Thank G-d, his businesses and investments succeeded so he didn't really feel the loss but still it puzzled him as to why the Besh't insisted on such a worthless IOU. Fifteen years later there were real worries. The local Bishop, enraged with jealousy over Rav Yaakov's success spread a blood libel against the Jews and got all the local clergy to sigh an edict evicting them all from Bohemia. The decree was to become effective six months from its signing and spelled disaster for hundreds of thousands of Jews. Rab Yaakov sped to the Baal Shem Tov for help but the Besh't told him that his only chance would be that he; Rab Yaakov, would have to travel to Italy and speak to none other than the Pope; the only man in the world that had the power to rescind the evil decree. The very idea sent shivers down Rab Yaakov's spine. Any Jew caught traveling in Italy especially in the 'holy' city of Rome, would die. According to Catholicism, the Jews were the murders of god, the enemies of mankind and the only reason not to simply exterminate them is perhaps they could all be converted to the 'true' religion. The next day Rab Yaakov bade his wife and family farewell, perhaps for the last time, set off on a ship and after several weeks, arrived on the shores of Italy. Disguised as a simple peasant, he rented a donkey and cart and began traveling according to a map he brought along. He just kept praying that the holiness of his task, the Baal Shem's blessing and his excellent disguise would protect him. After all he did know a bit of Italian; certainly HaShem would make a miracle. How to get to the Pope would definitely be a problem but he would cross that bridge when he came to it. On the third day of his journey as he was driving slowly through some town saying Psalms by heart suddenly he noticed his wagon was becoming surrounded by peasants. He only understood a bit of what they were
saying but he got the point
quickly when someone jumped on the cart, grabbed his nose and yelled Rab Yaakov sensed that this was the end. Possibly this is why the Besh't sent him; sacrificing his life would save the Jews of Bohemia. He closed his eyes, said 'Shma Yiroel!' and prepared to meet his Maker when suddenly a voice rang out and everyone became quiet. Yaakov opened his eyes and saw a tall important-looking middle aged man striding through the crowd. He walked up to Rab Yaakov took a close look at his face, smiled wickedly, took out a long sword from a sheath that was hanging from his belt yelled out 'I'll take care of this Jew' myself. Move aside! He motioned to his victim to get off the wagon, to put his hands behind his back and to walk before him. They walked this way for about fifteen minutes until they reached a large mansion. He told Rab Yaakov to enter and as soon as they were inside he closed the door, told Rab Yaakov to turn and face him, dropped his sword to the ground and threw his arms around him hugging him for several minutes saying in Russian, "Ahh thank G-d!! It is you. It is you!! Thank G-d I came in time." Rav Yaakov was sure it was some sort of mistake but he was speechless. "Do you remember me?" the man said as he held Yaakov at arms length and gazed lovingly into his eyes "You saved my life!!" Yes, it was he. It was the nobleman that borrowed the money fifteen years ago. They shook hands gratefully both exclaiming "It is a miracle!!! Thank G-d a miracle!!" They sat and when Rab Yaakov explained the reason for his trip the stranger seemed even happier. "My dear friend, I can help you, I am nothing less than a Duke and a very influential one at that. Do you know how much power a Duke has here in Italy? And to top it off I have very good connections with the Pope. I can arrange a meeting. It was like some sort of a dream. The next evening they were actually sitting before the Pope and Yaakov the Jew was explaining how it was the Pope's duty to dispel these anti-Semitic superstitions and teach forbearance and tolerance and true justice. The next day the Pope called a meeting of the Cardinal Court and put forth the suggestion that they rescind the Bohemian expulsion. When they objected, as he knew they would, he clapped his hands and a huge book was brought forth, put it on an ornate table and the Pope announced; "This is a book containing all the Papal
decisions in history from the
foundation of the Church. It is, needless to say, full of cases against The Cardinals agreed, the book was opened to an arbitrary page and the scribe read: "In the year 1456 a Jew called Yehuda was accused of poisoning the well of the Church grounds in Venice." The Cardinals winked and smiled at one another in glee. "But" the scribe continued reading, "the charges were discovered to be false and due to the lies of the priest Thaddeus who was relieved of his position for two months because of the trouble he caused to the court." The Cardinals had no choice but to agree with the Pope, a decree was signed nullifying the Bohemian expulsion and Rav Yaakov returned with the Duke to his palace. When they arrived the Duke took Rav Yaakov into his study, closed the door, took out a stack of money out of one of his desk drawers and said. " I'm returning the loan. I would like to give you interest but you see ..." he was unable to finish the sentence, tears were streaming from his eyes. Suddenly he burst out and fell to his knees weeping "I am a JEW!!!" It took several minutes for him to calm down but finally he sat Yaakov down and began to tell the story. "You see, I was born to a Jewish family in Russia, my name was Aryeh Leib but poverty drove us from place to place until finally we ended up in Paris. It's not important how, but I got involved with the wrong crowd and before my parents knew what happened I left Judaism and then Paris, and began traveling the world. "I lived a totally wanton life until fate brought me to Italy and I found favor in the eyes of a very powerful and rich Duke. He was an old man when I met him and my keen wit and business sense made him so fond of me that he actually adopted me as his son as he had no children of his own. "I had everything one could ask for, power, youth, success, pleasure and when he died I inherited even more. "But it also brought me enemies; people that were jealous and hungry for power and riches. They were very clever, they plotted behind my back and before I knew it I was charged with treason and sentenced to death. "My friends, who knew I was innocent, succeeded after several years of court battles in getting a reprieve. It was decided that if I would pay an exorbitant fine they would release me from prison and even return my title and half of my properties. "My friends helped me with some of the money and I paid most of the fine but I still lacked some five hundred guilden, a small fortune, and had exhausted all my sources in Italy. "So I asked for permission to return to Paris to collect there and it was granted but it wasn't so easy. First of all people didn't remember me and I was simply ashamed to ask for loans but also something else was happening inside of me. "I didn't understand what it was until one day as I was walking in the streets I happened to pass by a Synagogue and suddenly heard from inside the sound of a Shofar, the ram's horn the Jews sound on Rosh HaShanna. Suddenly I began to feel a strange revulsion for everything I had done in my past and a great yearning for the G-d of Israel. "I took a prayer shawl out of the box at the door, put it over my head and began weeping uncontrollably. "Then after several minutes I was approached by one of the congregants who took me aside heard my story and told me that as soon as the holiday is over I should travel to Mezibuz to the Baal Shem Tov and ask his advice. "Well, the next day I did so and saw the
face of the Baal Shem Tov I
burst out crying as I never cried before in my life. I decided then
and "But he didn't agree. He told me that, although nothing stands in the way of repentance, the only way to completely cleanse my soul is to return to Italy, take back my title and lands and live secretly as a Jew but most important to develop connections with the Pope. "He told me to dress up in my finest clothes go to your house and ask you for the money I needed to pay the court but under no circumstances to devulge my identity. "When I asked him how will I know that I have been completely forgiven he answered that when I save an entire Jewish community. And that means now." This answers our question. Adam's sin was a catastrophe. It threw the entire world into chaos for thousands of years and caused untold grief and sorrow. But hidden deep inside the sin, inside of every sin, is the possibility to transform that evil energy to good. And that will produce even a higher revelation of G-dliness that if the sin had never been done. As the Talmud teaches; The place where Baali Tsuva stand even the righteous cannot stand. Or as the Medrash and the Zohar explain on the second sentence of the Torah: "The earth was chaos and confusion and darkness on the depths": this refers to different levels and stages of exile (caused by the sin of Adam) "the spirit of G-d floated on the water" : This refers to Moshiach who will come on the merit of repentance and the secrets of the Torah both of which are called 'water'. And this is what Adam felt unconsciously when he ate from the tree of knowledge; the day the that the world will be filled with the knowledge of G-d like water" Rabbi Tuvia Bolton Torah Online Site: http://www.ohrtmimim.org/torah This opening chapter of the Torah deals in detail with the creation of the world. At first glance, why is the Torah telling us this? What do we care what day the fish or the stars were created? Or that creation took seven days? Or that it happened five thousand seven hundred some years ago? Shouldn’t the Torah be dealing with more spiritual, religious subjects? Even more … hasn’t science disproven all this? But there is a bigger question. WHY did He create the world? If we say G-d is just one of the characters in the Bible it sort of makes sense, but He isn’t. G-d is infinite and lacks nothing; He is the source of all being and constantly creates all existence from nothing. So He doesn’t need to make a world. What did He do it for? I’d like to try to answer all this with a story: It seemed like Mr. Geltman’s millions weren’t going to help him now. He was on his deathbed gasping for breath, surrounded by family and friends. The best doctors and professors in Europe and Russia had unsuccessfully treated him and now it was only a matter of minutes. Suddenly the door burst open and his son-in-law entered the room leading a very distinguished-looking man. “This is the King’s personal doctor, Professor Zaritzki,” he announced anxiously. It was a miracle that I found him…..” The Doctor approached the sick man and motioned for quiet, so he moved the family to a side of the room and continued in a whisper. “The Doctor was passing through our town. I was really lucky to get in to see him. At first he refused. I really had to talk fast, but finally he agreed to take on the case as a challenge.” “It is very serious,” Said the professor worriedly, bending over his patient. “Maybe a day ago I could have done something but now, I think it’s too late.” He thought for a split second and continued. “I’m taking a big chance but …” He took out a pad of paper from his coat scribbled something on it and gave it to one of the boys standing in the room. “Here! Take this and run to the apothecary as fast as you can, every second counts, run!” The boy dashed out the door and down the stairs while the Doctor returned to the dying man to check his pulse. But as soon as he did, a look of surprise came over his face. He ran to the window and called to the boy who had just left the building. “Young man!! Come back up. Yes come back immediately!” All eyes were on the professor as he wrote a new prescription took the previous one from the boy threw it away and told him to run as fast as possible. “Strange” he mumbled to himself as the boy dashed out the door. “Very unusual.” He returned to the patient once again, lifted one of his eyelids, suddenly gave another startled look, ran to the window and recalled the boy again. “Quite remarkable! He seems to be improving,” he said aloud. In fact it did seem that Mr. Geltman was breathing a bit easier. The same scenario repeated itself five times. Each time a different prescription was written and each time the condition of the patient improved before the boy reached the street. After a half hour Mr. Geltman actually asked for water and in less than an hour he was sitting up in bed and drinking soup. “I don’t believe my eyes!!” Said the doctor wiping his brow, obviously shaken to the essence of his being. . “I’ve never seen the likes of it in my life! Why, the man was as good as dead less than an hour ago!!” “Thank you doctor. You saved my life,” Whispered Mr. Geltman to the professor, “Thank you!” “I? I saved your life? My friend, I did nothing! I don’t even understand what happened here! It’s most incredible!! I just stood here and watched a miracle! I can’t explain it.” “I can!” Said Mr. Geltman weakly, “It’s the Baal Shem Tov. No one in the room had the faintest idea what he was talking about. “This is what happened” He continued. “It was over ten years ago.” “I decided to visit a man called the Baal
Shem Tov. Probably you never
heard of him, but among the Jews there was a lot of talk. Some people “I traveled to the city of Mezibuz where he lived and the next day I was alone with him in his study. I tried to see something unusual but I have to admit that I wasn’t very impressed. True there was something special about his eyes, but nothing worth getting so excited about. “’What brings you here?’ Asked the Besht (initials of Baal Shem Tov). “’I just came to hear a word of wisdom.’ I replied in a friendly tone. “So he looked at me and said: “’Just remember that G-d gives every doctor an angel. A small doctor has a small angel and a big doctor has a more powerful angel. And that angel is the one that does the healing.” “I waited a few seconds for him to continue and when he didn’t I got a bit angry; It had taken me several days to travel here and now I had to return with this?! ‘Excuse me!’ I said, ‘Doctors? Angels? What is it supposed to mean to me? I’m no doctor. And I’m not sick either. What type of wisdom is that?’ “But the Baal Shem just looked down, implying that the meeting was over. “Thoroughly disappointed, I left the room, traveled home and didn’t even tell anyone about it for fear of saying Loshon HaRa (Slander). But it was pretty clear to me that this man was, to say the least, not what he was made up to be. “Years passed, ten years. I succeeded in life, became wealthy and famous, married off all my children, and totally forgot that meeting. Then, a few months ago I became ill. “At first the doctors thought it was nothing, but it got worse. I went to bigger and bigger experts but nothing helped until, well you saw my condition when you entered … I was dying. “But now, the whole thing came back to me; the Besht must have been referring back then to what just happened today. “It was your angel that healed me, doctor. In fact it is your angel that has been healing ALL your patients.” The professor was dumbfounded. He felt like a little child. He didn’t want to believe it but he couldn’t deny the facts. He stood for a moment in deep thought and then asked. “Tell me, where can I see this holy man?” It seems that professor Zaritzki was a Jew, who, like so many others in his time, had left the G-d of his fathers in order to succeed in life. But now that he had clear evidence that all along he was only a vehicle for a power greater than himself he started rethinking his life. He went to the Baal Shem and returned to his Jewish soul.
That answers our questions: G-d created man to be a vehicle, a ‘partner’ The world was created mundane and void of revealed G-dliness. It is no accident that the Hebrew word for ‘void’ (Chalal) is similar to the word for ‘mundane’ (Chol) and also the word for ‘sick’ (Choleh) because it lacks life. Therefore, although the world seems to be finished it isn’t. Man’s job is to improve it and make it holy; to reveal in it the source of life and infuse it with G-dly meaning and joy. For instance the Holy Temple; it was a physical building, but all those who went there were inspired with life, holiness and Joy. That is the subject of this week’s section; G-d created a seemingly ‘finished’ mundane world and put a fully-grown man in it so he could immediately begin ‘Working and Protecting the Garden” (2:15), and this is the total reason for man’s existence. Just like Dr. Zaritzki in our story; G-d’s angel couldn’t heal without him. So that, incidentally, also solves the problem of the age of the universe. G-d simply created it and everything in it already finished i.e. ‘billions’ of years old at birth. So it could be that the scientists are correct; Scientifically the world IS very old, but that it in no way contradicts the Torah. But where the Scientists do fail is in detecting the spiritual content, the MEANING, of creation. That is why they scoff at the idea that the universe could have been created in only seven days, when really their question should be exactly the opposite: Why did G-d take seven long days to created it when He could have done so in an instant? If G-d can really create something (say, one atom) from NOTHING in NO time (because time is also a creation) then certainly He can create the entire universe from one atom in the same amount of time (i.e. no time at all). Right? So the question should be; why did He drag it out for seven long days? And the answer is; because He created the universe and EVERY detail in it according to a deep mysterious plan, (explained in such esoteric books as the Zohar and the writings of the Ari z’l). The Seven days of the week, twenty-four hours of a day, twelve months of the year, in fact each and every creation; the fish the stars etc. all point to deeply meaningful Kabalistic principles and to the Greatness and Goodness of HaShem. So that is the practical lesson of this week’s section. G-d created us to be His PARTNERS. And that it is in our hands to bring Moshiach and fix the world. When we think of it, we can realize the meaning
of what we say (And the Every deed, word and even thought we do, say or even think has the power to make a GOOD world and bring … Moshiach NOW! Rabbi Tuvia Bolton This week's section introduces
and contains the theme of the entire Torah; I want to illustrate with a story. His custom was that every morning he would return home from prayer, put down his Tallis and Tefillin, and immediately leave his house once again going from door to door collecting charity. Only after distributing it to the poor people that gathered each day at his house would he sit and have something to eat. It wasn't easy work, the rich didn't easily part with their money and the less rich didn't have much to part with, but he was happy that he could serve HaShem through this all-important commandment. One day after he finished his rounds, handed
out the money, and was just However this time he really had problems. At
each door he got an angry He turned around and there was yet another
man who had let himself in, "I But this time it was completely different.
When the owner answered the The poor man hemmed and hawed and finally answered
sheepishly. Really there are two big problems that creation
makes for serving G-d: The Spiritual is Idolatry. For instance the
one and a half billion people Once I was approached by three missionaries.
I waited for them to pause for breath and then I asked them, "Tell
me, do you believe that G-d is The second problem with creation is philosophical-physical.
Mostly the Once I was speaking to a Physics major who ridiculed the Torah's version of creation. I asked him if he could tell me what he thought existed before the original matter. He explained that there are many theories but he believes some form of energy perhaps even spiritual energy, and before the energy, a vacuum or some form of nothingness. So I asked him what he thinks would be more
difficult; to make a complicated universe from simple energy, or to
create simple energy from nothingness? "So", I concluded, "the question
on the Torah is the opposite, 'Not how did It reminds me of a joke I heard about the foolish
wise men of Chelm who when the first locomotive train entered the
town, explained to the astonished This and much more is all contained in the
first sentence of the Torah. (In That is one of the main reasons we are waiting
impatiently for the Anyone who wants a taste of this 'New' Torah
that the Moshiach will teach, Moshiach NOW!! Rabbi Tuvia Bolton |
