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APPROACHING THE THRESHOLD     Current Events In Light Of The Past   The basis of this presentation are certain key Torah sources in

APPROACHING THE THRESHOLD Current Events In Light Of The Past The basis of this presentation are certain key Torah sources in

APPROACHING THE THRESHOLD
   Current Events In Light Of The Past

          new essays added! scroll down!

SHOCK, COMPLETE AND UTTER SHOCK. That is the overall reaction of most of the world to the attack and destruction of the World Trade Center's Twin Towers in New York City on September 11.

For the people who have been directly affected by this assault against humanity, there is also untold sadness and suffering. However, even that is difficult to properly feel because of the atmosphere of shock that still prevails.

It was like a deadly lightning bolt out of a clear blue sky, a destroying hurricane without the storm clouds. Here, in Israel, we know that we are at war and are therefore on guard against terrorism. When it happens, it tears our hearts to pieces, but shock is rarely a reaction.

But in America? Until September 11, terrorism was a distant reality, at least to the point that it happened that day, and how it happened. What should have been a "localized" disaster, given the terrorists and the means at their disposal to carry out their malevolent plot, turned out to be one of the most "successful" and far-reaching acts of terrorism history has ever known. Had the terrorists lived to see the results of their "handiwork," even THEY would have been surprised to see just how well they had accomplished their goals.

However, though every decent human must feel distraught and emotionally overwhelmed by what occurred to so many innocent people, not everyone is shocked. Who did not, and cannot cry for the people and world affected by a tragedy of such Biblical proportions? However, being shocked that such an event could and did occur, given Jewish and world history, is a different story altogether.

It is not that such people had foreknowledge that two of the most important symbols of American culture would be destroyed on that day. Rather, it is that the knowledge they possess implies that something of this nature HAD to happen sooner or later, and more than likely sooner than later.

1. FOUR LEVELS OF UNDERSTANDING

Imagine two people meeting for the first time, perhaps in a government office somewhere. Casually, they strike up a conversation to push away the boredom of waiting for their turn to speak to an official. However, it does not take long before their similarities lead in the direction of a new friendship.

Most people know not ask personal questions too early in a relationship, and, even if they don't, most people won't answer them at the beginning. Conversation in the beginning is usually superficial, though accurate if the people are honest. To draw anything but superficial conclusions about each other would more than likely lead to a mistake about the person.

If the relationship continues, and more trust is built up, then the people start to become more open about who they are and what they think. This will lead to a clearer understanding of each other and it  will help to explain parts of their personalities that previously were somewhat confusing, and maybe even contradictory.


If the relationship really flourishes, the secrets will start to emerge that will help to complete the picture of the person in the friend's mind, a picture that, in the end, is often quite different than the one that first emerged. It may take years before this happens (even in a marriage), but once it does, there are fewer "surprises" in the way each of the friends act in general, and towards one another.

This parable does not only address relationships in life, but life itself. In fact, the rabbis speak of four specific levels of Torah learning, four different levels of understanding from which to relate to a single idea. They range from the simplest possible explanation to the most sublime accessible to the human mind. Knowing this has tremendous implications for how we view the events of history.

In Hebrew, the names of the four levels are: Pshat, Remez, Drush, and Sod-"Simple," "Hint," "Exegetical," and, "Secret." "Pshat" is the simplest, most basic explanation of the idea; "Remez" alludes to deeper implications that are not, at first, obvious; "Drush" usually implies a traditional understanding of a concept that, perhaps, can be traced by to Moshe at Mt. Sinai, and "Sod" is the Kabbalistic explanation of the same concept.

Kabbalah teaches that unification with a concept only occurs as one delves deeper into it. Concepts that we unify with become the basis of our perception of life, and how it ought to be lived. Striving to know the "soul" of an idea is the way that we come to know our own soul better, which is what Torah learning is all about.

Applying this idea to history, which is only a phenomenally long string of concepts, it would mean that events in history can be understood on four levels:

1. What happened?
2. What are the implications?
3. What story do they really express that is not so readily available to the human eye?
4. What does it represent, Kabbalistically-speaking?

2. THE REAL EXPLANATION

It is common for people to think that the simplest explanation of an idea or event is also the most accurate explanation. However, we learn from talking to children that this is not true, to whom we tell the truth, but often in the simplest of terms. It is simple and convenient, but not necessarily the most accurate.

Truth is rarely found in generalities, but instead, in the details of life. Usually, the more profound the detail the closer it is an expression of truth. To view the events of one's life and history in general on a simplistic level is not only to misinterpret them, but to leave one vulnerable to surprise and, as we have just experienced, shock.

For example, on a "pshat" level, history is nothing more than randomly unfolding events that occur because of some kind of historical dynamic that we cannot control. I suppose it is like surfing on a wave somewhat, where you ride it and try and remain flexible enough not to be thrown by it.

However, if a person pays attention to life and its occurrences, perhaps by studying history, certain clues and patterns begin to emerge that seem to suggest, on some level, that life is not as random as it seems at first. Certain curious details begin to become clearer that suggest there is a thread to history that might be there for some reason, to accomplish some purpose.

The implications of this are very heavy. All of sudden, the events of our lives are no longer random or meaningless. In fact, they might even be "messages" of some sort, though, on this level, it might not be clear at all from whom, or why they have been sent to us. To make that leap of understanding one must climb to the next level of understanding that of "Drush."

On the level of "Drush," which literally means "investigation," more clues and more patterns begin to emerge. Like for the scientist who studies "randomly" occurring phenomena, or the doctor who wants to better understand the nature of an illness or its cure, investigation reveals and yields new direction and the formulation of rudimentary rules.

Sometimes this is only possible when there is previous information, sometimes it is the result of hard work, deep thinking, and an active imagination. Whatever the component, the information that emerges can be enough to change the direction of an entire society.

The "Sod" of life is nothing less than the very axioms of creation that dictate what must happen, and when. Sod is the expression of the purpose of creation as seen through the myriad of details that make up every last aspect of the world we can see, and the invisible one we cannot. It is a Divinely-given, Divinely-approved "peek" into the "programming" of creation so that we, mankind, can work with G-d to bring His Master Plan for creation to fruition.

It is, therefore, the most ACCURATE version of reality that exists-the TRUE pshat about everyday existence. And, it is, therefore, the most important for making sure than one lives an "accurate" lifestyle.

3. ACCURATE BUT INACCESSIBLE

Anyone who has ever learned a little Kabbalah (many people today), and who truly understand what it is (very few today), will tell you that even if it is the most accurate version of reality, it is not the most accessible one. Even should one be able to read Kabbalistic sources and render them on some level of understanding, it is clear that the ideas pre-suppose some previous high level of Torah understanding and personality development.

Thus, it almost seems like a cruel joke: the most important level of understanding is often the most confusing and least accessible level. That brings us back to "square one" again: a very small minority of people being able to spiritually and intellectually cope with higher levels of reality, while the rest of us simple folk grapple in intellectual darkness and misinterpret the events that make up our daily lives.

On the other hand, Medicine is closed to people who have not graduated as physicians, though they wish to understand health better. Architecture is closed to people who have not pursued a degree in the profession, though they yearn to build their own house.

So what do people do? They enroll in the courses, and starting from the beginning, they work their way up. They put in the necessary time and make the necessary effort to gain the knowledge and to use it properly. It is not different in the world of Torah.

However, it is a process that can take years, and not everyone has that kind of time or ability. But the knowledge they seek is crucial, and they must have it. Likewise, especially at this late period of history and because of what is transpiring in the world today, who has time to take years out of the future to understand the events of the present?

Thus, the Torah advised:

Remember the days of the world, understand the years of generation after generation. Ask you father and he will relate it to you, your elders and they will tell you. (Devarim 32:7)

Rashi explains:

REMEMBER THE DAYS: what He (G-d) did to previous generations who provoked Him to anger.

THE YEARS OF GENERATION: so that you become conscious of what might happen in the future, that He has the power to bestow good upon you and to make you inherit the Days of Moshiach and the World-to-Come.

YOUR FATHER: these are the prophets who are called "fathers."

YOUR ELDERS: these are the sages.

Pshat is that, as horrible and surreal as it may seem to be, two commercial jets were flown by terrorists into the sides of the World Trade Center towers at the beginning of an otherwise normal business day. The sheer terror and devastation they caused is unspeakable, and the mind has difficulty grasping what happened.

But it happened. For whatever reason, it happened, and there is a strong urge to get "past it," to rebuild those towers taller and stronger than ever before, and to return back to life before the disaster. On the pshat-level, what else is there to do once the mourning has ended, which, for many, it already has?

However, if one takes into account what happened and how-even just the enormity of the event itself-and just how many things should have gone wrong to thwart the terrorist plot but didn't, an under-current of history begins to emerge. Questions begin to surface, questions with heavy implications that lead somewhere, though it may not be clear at this level to where.

Investigation will lead to conclusions, and deeper investigation will lead to more questions. It is a fact of life: every investigation of any concept taken to its furthest extreme will always lead to G-d. Unfortunately, most people stop far too short to know this or to believe it, though science is learning this inadvertently.

However, even should a person be intellectually honest enough to become this engaged in the pursuit of truth and come up with the "G-d-part" of the equation, he may still fall short of knowing clearly the message inside the "envelope." He will need the help of Sod to do that, at least a little of it.

And that is precisely what we are going to start doing in the upcoming essays, G-d willing. The results will be very dramatic and quite controversial. But then again, so are the Jewish people and their history.

  * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *                        Threshold ESSAY #2

1. GENERATION OF MOSHIACH

One of the most prominent questions people who think about the situation ask is, "What does God want from us now?" Obviously He wants us to learn Torah and perform mitzvos as much as possible and with as much pure intention as we can muster, but is that it? Obviously He wants as many secular Jews as possible to come back to Torah, and as many religious Jews as possible to rid themselves of as many negative influences as possible. But, is that it?

To frame an answer, and maybe the answer to this question, we need a clue, and have one. Many sources including the Talmud (Sanhedrin 97a) talk about the "Generation of Moshiach" and what it will be like. For example, it says:


It was taught in a brisa: Rebi Yehudah says: The generation within which Moshiach will come, the "Bais HaVaad" will be for promiscuous behavior. The Gallil will be destroyed and Gablan will be demolished. The people of the border will travel from city to city and find no grace. The wisdom of the scribes will be corrupted, God-fearing men will be despised, and the faces of the leaders of the generation will be like the face of a dog. The truth will be lacking, as it says, "The truth will be missing." (Yeshayahu 59:15). What does the expression "ne'ederes" (missing) mean? It was said in the college: they will form into various groups (adarim) and disappear: He who leaves evil is regarded as foolish. (Yeshayahu 59:15). At the school of Shilah it was explained to mean that he who turns away from evil will be considered foolish in the eyes of the people ... Rebi Nehorai taught: The generation in which Ben Dovid will come the young will whiten the faces of the elderly and the elderly will rise before the young. A daughter will rebel against her mother and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. The generation will have the face of a dog; a son will not be ashamed before his father. Rebi Nechemiah says: In the generation within which Ben Dovid will come, brazenness will increase and respect will be missing. The vine will produce abundantly, yet, wine will be expensive. And all the governments will turn to heresy. Criticism will be of no avail. This helps Rebi Yitzchak, who says: Ben Dovid will not come unless all governments will have turned to heresy ... Ben Dovid will not come until informers increase. Alternatively, until the students are reduced.  Alternatively again, until the pockets will be empty of a single coin. Alternatively again, until they will relinquish hope in redemption, as it is said, "And none is saved or assisted," as if to say, there is no one upon whom Israel can depend ... (Sanhedrin 97a)

However, few clues provide as piercing an insight into the nature, and therefore the challenge, of the generation in which Moshiach will come, as this one quoted in the previous chapter:

Now you can understand what is written, "Behold, you shall die with your fathers, and this people will rise up ..." (Devarim 31:16), which is considered to be one of the verses that has no (simple) explanation (Yoma 56a). However, it can be explained with the word "rise" referring to that which comes before  and after it, and both explanations are true. For, in the future Moshe himself will reincarnate and return in the last generation as it says, "you will die with your fathers and rise." As well, in the final generation, the Generation of Desert will also reincarnate with the Erev Rav (Mixed Multitude), and this is what the posuk means, "this people will rise up." For, there is not a single generation in which Moshe Rabbeinu does not return, b'sod, "The sun rises and the sun sets"  (Koheles 1:5), and, "One generation goes, and another comes" (Koheles 1:4), in order to rectify that generation. Thus, the Generation of the Desert, along with the Erev Rav reincarnate in the final generation, "like in the days of leaving Egypt" (Michah 7:15). As well, Moshe will arise among them, since they are all from the sod of Da'as: Moshe, the Generation of the Desert, and the Erev Rav, as we have explained in Parashas Shemos.  This is why it is written after, "to which they go there (shin-mem-heh)"-which has the letters: mem-shin-heh (Moshe), since Moshe will reincarnate with them. (Sha'ar HaGilgulim, Chapter 20, p. 54)

This idea, together with the Zohar's explanation that Kibbutz Golios will last forty years (Midrash Ne'elam, Toldos 139a ), the same amount of time the Generation of the Desert wandered the desert implies that the final generation at Moshiach's time will be a tikun for the first generation. Whatever Dor HaMidbar (Generation of the Desert) didn't do right, Dor HaMoshiach will have to rectify.

One thing the Dor HaMidbar did NOT reject was  God, Torah, or mitzvos; they had been enveloped by the Divine Presence and they had learned Torah and performed mitzvos with devotion. Rather, as the Torah testifies, they rejected Eretz Yisroel and the Torah even reveals why:

... And your children of whom you said they will be taken captive, I shall bring them; they shall know the Land that you have despised. But your carcasses shall drop in this Wilderness (bamidbar). (Bamidbar 14:31-32)

2. AMERICA THE DESERT

Very ironically, Torah Jewry has long referred to America as "The Midbar." In fact, when after the Holocaust Rebi Aharon Kotler, zt"l, had to decide whether to leave Shanghai  for Eretz Yisroel or America, he did the famous "Goral HaGra" (Lottery of the Gra, that is, the Vilna Gaon). Thus he "randomly" opened up a Chumash and let Divine Providence decide to which page in order to communicate an answer through a relevant verse.

It is hard to believe that such a great rabbi, young though he was at the time, would decide his post-war fate through such a seemingly whimsical process, especially given his vast Torah knowledge already. More than likely he didn't, but that is not what concerns us here.

What concerns us is the verse he turned to, and his interpretation of it. This was his posuk:

God told Aharon, "Go to meet Moshe in the Wilderness." (Shemos 4:27)

Rabbi Kotler's interpretation of the posuk was:

AHARON Kotler GO TO MEET MOSHE, that is, Rabbi Moshe Feinstein who was waiting for him there IN THE WILDERNESS, that is, America.

Which he did. And, because Rabbi Kotler went to the "desert," called so because it was barren of Torah at that time and was a virtual spiritual wasteland from a Torah perspective, together with Rav Moshe Feinstein, zt"l, he laid many crucial foundations upon which Orthodox Jewry in America is built and thrives. His work is legendary, and in retrospect, it had clearly been the correct decision for the future of the Jewish people.

And, should a Jew say today, "Well, it may have once been a desert, but today America is a Torah paradise, teeming with yeshivos, synagogues, kosher food, and beautiful mikvaos, he should recall how the desert also bloomed for the Jews at Mt. Sinai over 330 years ago, and everywhere they traveled for that matter.

Yet, in spite of the IDEAL Torah environment of Mt. Sinai, the Jewish people were sent off to Eretz Yisroel. In spite of the fact that the Generation of the Desert never had to worry about parnassah (livelihood), attacks from foreign nations, or other distractions from learning, as long as they remained in the desert and enveloped by the Clouds of Glory, they were still sent to live in Eretz Yisroel. The question is why?

The answer to this question is from another Talmudic passage:

Rebi Shimon ben Yochai said: The Holy One, Blessed is He, gave three good gifts to Israel, and all of them were given through suffering: Torah, Eretz Yisroel, and the World-to-Come. (Brochos 5a)

To be "sandwiched" between Torah and the World-to-Come is quite a compliment for Eretz Yisroel. However, if the Talmud is listing the three Godly "gifts" according to importance (which is what it normally would do), one might have placed Eretz Yisroel first, implying that it is the least important of the three. Why did it not?

This is the vort: Eretz Yisroel is not merely a place for Jews to physically live, but rather, it is a mechanism to bring Jews closer to God. The point of the Torah is to facilitate a relationship between God and His people, whereas Eretz Yisroel is the best place in the world to take advantage of that knowledge and to implement it, specifically because we ARE so dependent upon Him there. In other words, the Talmud is teaching that:

Torah leads to Eretz Yisroel, and the two of them lead to the World-to-Come. If you love Me, then you will love Torah; if you properly love Torah, you will come to love Eretz Yisroel, for that is where you can best show Me how much you trust Me, and want to be close to Me. 

Nothing reveals the depth and closeness of a relationship more than the trust one has for another. This is why rejection of Eretz Yisroel even without a rejection of Torah can still be seen as a rejection of God:

Like the number of days that you spied out the Land, forty days, a day for a year, a day for a year, you shall bear your sins-forty years-and you will understand straying from Me. (Bamidbar 14:34)

There are many other similar references showing the importance of Eretz Yisroel to God, in Tanach and throughout the Talmud, as well as in the countless volumes of rabbinic literature.

Jews living outside of Eretz Yisroel have to understand that yearning to live in "God's Palace" (whether, practically-speaking, one can or cannot) is also the yearning to be close to God. Jews outside the Land have to understand that yearning and living for redemption is synonymous with loving the gift of Eretz Yisroel, as well as Torah and the World-to-Come.

They are inseparable, and together they bind the Jew to God.

Today, it is clear that the main issue affecting the Jewish people is Eretz Yisroel. It is at the forefront of the news, and even people who never used to discuss life in Israel and its future and being "dragged" into the discussion. History is forcing the issue and creating concern for the security of the land and the people who live here.

That is Divine Providence.

However, though exile is something that is imposed upon us against our will, Eretz Yisroel and redemption are not. They have to be chosen, results of a Jew's yearning for closeness to the God of Torah. If Israel was the most attractive country to live in physically-speaking, there would be little if any free-will at all involved in moving there.

Therefore, historically, God has often made Israel look unattractive physically, but extremely attractive spiritually. This helps to help clarify a Jew's priorities in life: relationship with the physical world, or, with the Creator of it. This had been the case for the Generation of the Desert then, and, clearly, it is the case for world Jewry today.

However, choosing to love Eretz Yisroel today, and maybe even live there is somewhat easier after the attack of September 11 than it was prior to the attack. History has taken care of that, and with each passing day it may become even more attractive for many Jews around the world than it has been for decades, maybe even centuries.

This, of course, reduces the free-will choice involved in making such a decision, and therefore the eternal reward for making it.

3. AMERICA AND GOOD

It is also highly significant how good America is, which is one of the reasons why even Torah Jews have become so attached to the land. The American Constitution borrowed from the Jewish Bible, to this very day the currency carries the name "God"(something quite remarkable in this day and age for such a modern nation as the United States), and America does a phenomenal amount of charity work around the world.

On the other hand, America has a lot of evil as well, and we're not just referring to crime. Sections of the population of the United States indulge in activities considered to be blasphemous and repulsive by Torah standards, even for non-Jews. This is the part of America that Torah Jews try to avoid and often overlook.

In other words, America is almost the only country in the world to be such a mixture of genuine good and genuine evil, a virtual "Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil."

The reason for saying this is because of our historical context. For, the Vilna Gaon taught:

Know that each day of creation alludes to a thousand years of our existence, and every little detail that occurred on these days will have its corresponding event happen at the proportionate time during its millennium. (Vilna Gaon, Safra D'Tzniusa, Chapter Five)

This is the meaning of the verse from Tehillim that says:

For, a thousand years in Your eyes are but a bygone yesterday ... (Tehillim 90:4)

       For this reason, the Kabbalists divide one thousand years by a factor of twelve to determine a period of time that corresponds to one hour of creation.  This yields:

1000 years divided by 12 = 83.33 years

     In other words, one hour of a day of creation corresponds to 83.33 years within a millennium, and the relationship between the hours of Day Six and the years of the Sixth Millennium would look like this: 


Hour    ( From Creation )   Western Date

1            5000 - 5083            1240 - 1323 CE
2            5084 - 5167            1324 - 1407
3            5168 - 5250             

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

               The Contractor Who Could Not Say "Good-Bye"

Imagine hiring a contractor to renovate a part of your house. The first day he is supposed to begin work is an exciting day, and in anticipation of his arrival you get up early and even have coffee prepared to begin the relationship off on the right foot.

As work progresses, you probably have stopped with the fresh coffee, but you still anticipate the arrival of the contractor and his crew because now you can't wait for the work to be completed, wondering "How much longer with this work shlepp on for?" You long for the day when you will once again enjoy your privacy and a clean house.

Finally, at long last, the renovation is complete. You have even paid the entire fee satisfied with the work that was done. It had taken the contractor longer than you had originally anticipated, but that is forgotten now that it is a thing of the past.

That is, until something strange happens.

All of sudden, early the next morning, you hear a familiar car engine. However, you tell yourself that it is only a coincidence, or your imagination after so many months of hearing the same car pull into your driveway around the same time. Convinced, you put your head back down on the pillow to sleep a bit more.

However, soon after there is a doorbell ring. You can't believe it. Who could be downstairs at your front door at this time in the morning, ringing your doorbell? So, you look out the bedroom window and sure enough it is the same car in the driveway that was there for the last six months at the same time everyday: the contractor is back.

So, you quickly get dressed and go downstairs, wondering what it is that the contractor left behind or forgot to do that brought him back again unannounced.

"Good morning," you say, trying to sound unfazed seeing the contractor looking as if he was ready for another complete day of work. "Did you forget something?"

"No, not at all," he says, as if nothing was unusual.

"Ah ... then why are you here this morning?" you ask, wondering if it is just a bad dream or reality.

"You know," the contractor casually says, "I came to like it here after time. Especially the coffee ... You may the best coffee, and, I thought to myself that maybe I could stay here a little while longer ..."

Stunned, you can only say, "What?" as you wonder about the sanity of the man standing before you, though he had never exhibited too unusual a behavior in the past.

You politely make him a cup of coffee this time and anxiously send him on his way. However, when he returns to your house day-after-day, you begin to see him as a terrible nuisance, and find it difficult not to be rude when he shows up each morning at your front door. You even stop enjoying the renovation he did for you because you identify it with this public nuisance that keeps showing up uninvited.

Eventually, you have no choice but to call the police and lodge a formal complaint.

Not Just A Parable

As strange a story as this may seem, it has been happening now for thousands of years in real life. In fact, it is the history of the Jewish people, though most Jews don't know it. We, of course, are the contractor in the story.

In other words, within the parable is a mystical explanation for anti-Semitism, something which defies most physical explanations by its very nature, timing, and severity. Anti-Semitism is the result of our staying on after the "job" is finished, that being the redemption of the sparks in exile.


In other words, we are sent to a place in the world to redeem the sparks there. As we undertake that work, consciously or not, our quality of life improves to allow us to go about our business. Sometimes the struggle may continue because the sparks in a particular place may require extra self-sacrifice to be drawn out. However, often life does improve and may even result in acceptance by our non-Jewish hosts.

It doesn't mean that "they" really like us deep down inside, as we have found out all through history, and as we have misunderstood for millennia now. It means that, for the time being, history is riding a wave while we reach the golden era of the present exile. Whether we are learning Torah, going to work, or punching keys on a computer keyboard, it is all about redemption of Holy Sparks.

However, like the renovation in the story above, all exiles must eventually come to an end; the limited amount of sparks expected to be redeemed demand it. And, like the contractor in the story above, if we leave at just the right moment, then not only do we get paid in full, but the "client" sends us off with a gracious thank you and a pleasant smile.

However, also like the contractor in the story, if we overstay our welcome, then the face of our host changes towards us, and makes our life less comfortable. Anti-Semitism, in other words, is Heaven's way of letting the Jewish people know the present job, that is, exile, is coming to an end.

Ya'akov Avinu: The Prototype

There is a wonderfully clear and forthright example of this very idea.

It is well known that, of all the Forefathers, Ya'akov Avinu's life was the one that was closest to being the prototype for the lives of the Jewish people. If the phrase, "ma'aseh Avos siman l'banim"-"the events of the Forefathers are a sign for the children"-applied to any of the Forefathers, it is to Ya'akov Avinu.

In so many cases, when we try to understand how to deal with our present, we look for answers in Ya'akov's past. What he did, how he acted, how he responded is always an insight into how we, his descendants, the children of his children out to respond as well in similar situations, especially while in exile.

As the Torah records, after Ya'akov impersonated his evil brother Eisav and took the blessings from his father Yitzchak, he was forced to flee home and seek refuge outside of Eretz Yisroel, in Padan Aram (Mesopotamea) in the "house of Lavan" (white house), his mother's brother. There he married, and there he worked for twenty years while he waited for the day that he would receive word from his mother that it was safe to come home once again.

A righteous person like Ya'akov would have had to have asked the obvious question, "Why me?" He would have had to have wondered why Divine Providence pushed him away from home to a foreign land to live with the greatest and most dangerous trickster of the time, regardless of the fact that he was family as well.

And, as one of the most righteous people of all history, a man who is said to have never wasted a moment having used each one in the service of God, he would have known the answer: to redeem sparks. Ya'akov would have understood from the outset of his journey that everything that had transpired, from the purchasing of the birthright to the stealing of the blessings, was just a way to get him to go where he otherwise would not have gone, to redeem the sparks that were there and to move history that much closer to fulfillment.

For, as the Arizal teaches, though Lavan was evil, he had some good in him and so did the land upon which he lived. However, when Ya'akov went to live with him and work for him, he drew out most of that good and kept doing so as long as Heaven maintained the status quo, which last for twenty years. In the twentieth year, that is when things began to change, as Ya'akov himself noticed:

Ya'akov saw the face of Lavan, and behold, it was not towards him as before. God said to Ya'akov, "Return to the land of your fathers and the place of your birth, and I will be with you." (Bereishis 31:2-3)

Maybe Lavan had just been having a bad day? Maybe he hadn't been feeling well that day? Maybe he'd feel better tomorrow and smile the same way he always had?

Maybe. However, Ya'akov understood only too well that Lavan's treatment of him and his family was completely a function of Divine Providence. As the Pesach Haggadah reminds us, "An Arami wanted to destroy our father," and would have had not God protected Ya'akov, as he declares as well:

You know that I worked for your father with all my strength, and that your father cheated me and changed my wages ten times. However, God didn't let him hurt me. (Bereishis 31:6-7)

-something that even Lavan was forced to admit in the end:

I have the power to harm you. However, the God of your father spoke to me last night and told me, "Make sure not to speak to Ya'akov either good or evil." (Bereishis 31:29)

Therefore, from Ya'akov's point of view, Lavan's slightly less-friendly-than-usual appearance had great significance, even if the result of a bad breakfast that morning. He took it as the sign that it was, one from Heaven that signaled the end of his thirty-four year exile (fourteen years in the yeshivah of Shem and Ever, and twenty years in Lavan's home). The sparks that Ya'akov had been sent to redeem had been taken; his reason for staying in Padan Aram had dissipated with the sparks themselves.

Recognizing this brought him an even clearer image of the hand of God in all that had happened, for then God spoke to him directly and confirmed his plans. And, it saved him having to witness what Lavan could really be like should he overstay his welcome and purpose there.

The moral of the story? When the sparks we were sent to redeem are at their end, the "face" of "Lavan" will change towards us, ever so slightly at the beginning and more so as we overstay our visit. Like our great and devoted forefather before us, we must ride on top of the wave of redemption, and not be caught perilously placed inside of it.
Why Sparks At All

On the surface of it, it looks like one of those childhood school games. Can you pick up all the red colored blocks by the time the bell goes off, and win the prize? However, that is only a game, and eventually the child will go home and have to deal with real life, and have to worry instead about picking up his dirty laundry before it is his mother who "goes off."

The world is made up of around five billion people, and who knows how many countries and nationalities. However, if you asked any of them, "What do you do for living?" It would be very surprising if you could find one who would answer, "Why, I gather sparks, of course. Don't you?"

Even if you narrowed the field to Jews only, and then again to Torah-living Jews only, I would still say that you would find nary a person who would mention spark-gathering in their repertoire of daily activities. You would hear things such as: learn Torah, teach Torah, take care of children, practice medicine or law, crunch numbers for an accounting firm, repair clothing, midwifery, program computers, sell computers, use computers, go for long walks, etc., etc., etc. However, redeem sparks?

"Well, I guess ... maybe somewhere in the process of taking care of my family and myself ... not to mention all my community obligations ... sparks, whatever they are ... are getting ... how did you say it, redeemed?"

The Right Priorities

The Talmud tells us the story of the son of Rebi Yehoshua ben Levi who had a near-death experience (Pesachim 50a). After returning from the brink of death, his father asked him, "My son, what did you see?" to which his son answered, "An upside-down world."

The father knew exactly what the son meant, and why he had erred. Compared to this world of which we have been a part now for over 5,762 years, the World-to-Come is just the opposite in nature. So, he explained to his recovering son,

"My son, what you saw was the correct world. This is the world that is upside down."

Imagine going to see a major play on its opening night, and upon returning from the lobby, you notice a person acting out some part from another play in front of a group of three people who have tickets for the main performance, which they are missing. All you can do is shake your head and wonder why the people would give such importance to an amateur performance while overlooking the main act.

However, as you return to your seat to catch the rest of the main event, it would be worthwhile to consider that they do the same thing in Heaven with respect to us. From their vantage point up there, which includes knowing the entire past, present, and future, and being free of the confusion that results from having an internal yetzer hara, they wonder to themselves, "Hmph! They consciously do everything except redeem sparks! What is it with those people!"

We are guilty of a classic mistake: we have made the means the ends, albeit quite innocently at times. We have come to believe that everything we do during the course of our days, weeks, months, years, lifetimes-is important unto itself. In reality, God's reality that is, it is just one of the many ways to redeem Holy Sparks and bring creation to fruition and our purpose to completion.

For example, it is Jewish law to make a blessing over food that we are about to enjoy. If you are hungry, and you want to eat a nice, red, delicious apple, then you will have to make the special blessing that has been established for fruit of the trees. If it is bread that you are about to sink your canines into, then you'll have to make the blessing for eating bread. Fish, eggs, potatoes, juice-you name it: they all need blessings said before being enjoyed

So, if you happened to chance upon a person who seems to talk to his food before eating it, you might ask him, "What are you doing? Why are you talking to your food like that?"

He, of course, would answer (hopefully), "I am not talking to my food, I am talking to God. I am making a blessing so that I can eat this sandwich with His permission."

Incredulous, you ask, "You're making a blessing so you can eat the food?" to which the person would answer, "Yes, that is right. I am hungry and Torah Jews make blessings so we can eat food."

Is he right? On a simplistic level, yes. However, on a more Kabbalistic level the true answer would be, "I am about to eat this apple so that I can make a blessing."

"What? You're eating so that you can make a blessing?"

"Yes, correct again. When one makes a blessing over food, it elevates sparks that are contained in the food and the person himself. And, elevating sparks is what life in this world is all about."

"You mean I practice medicine to elevate sparks?"

"Yes, you practice medicine, or law, or whatever else you may do, in order to elevate Holy Sparks temporarily entrapped in creation. And, it is no game either, but the purpose of everyday life and history itself. When the job is finished so will history be over, at least as we know it."

In fact, even food is just physical clothing to hide the spiritual sparks within it. It is not apples or vitamins that keep us alive or they'd be able to revive dead people as well, which, of course, they cannot. It is the sparks they hide inside that feed our souls, which in turns provides life for our bodies as long (as they are still inside our bodies).

This is why Moshe Rabbeinu was able to remain on top of Mt. Sinai for forty days and nights, and not eat or drink-once. Up atop the holy mount, Moshe received his life-giving sparks directly without passing through anything physical, such as food. This is really the deeper meaning of the verse:

Remember the way God, your God, led you for these forty years in the desert in order to test you, to see what you really thought, and whether you would keep His com-mandments or not. He afflicted you, and caused you to go hungry, and gave you manna to eat which you did not recognize, nor did your ancestors experience it-so that He could teach you that man does not live by bread alone, but by whatever God says should exist does man live. (Devarim 8:2-3)

That is, whatever contains Holy Sparks, light of God. And, if it exists, it has to have, by necessity, Holy Sparks. And if he is human, by necessity, he must redeem those Holy Sparks in one of the possible ways sanctioned by Torah law, something to which the Talmud alludes:

It is not the place that gives honor to the person, but the person who gives honor to the place, as we find at Mt. Sinai. For, the entire time that the Divine Presence dwelled upon it, the Torah says, "The sheep and cattle must also not graze by the mountain" (Shemos 34:3). Once the Divine Presence left, it says, "After the blast of the shofar, they ascended the mountain" (Shemos 19:13). (Ta'anis 21b)

For, if no one is there to redeem the sparks, what difference does a place make in the larger scheme of things?

Nevertheless, we still have not answered the question, why sparks at all. However, to do that we will have to once again bring up the discussion about the purpose of creation and our role within it. There is great method to all this spark madness, and it is the basis of the very reason for which we, and this whole entire universe, physically and spiritually, was created in the first place.

                                      Why Not Antarctica?

Let's face it, if being sent to the "four corners of the earth" is to be
taken literally, then there are still plenty of places the Jewish people have not yet moved to, willingly or unwillingly. Not that anyone else has moved there yet either, but still, for some Jews uncomfortable with the Middle-East situation, though not 100% secure in America either, the Great White North-or the Great White South-might be a last ditch option, not to mention the hot, hot Sahara Desert...

Why not? It might be far easier to battle the cold and polar bears whose feelings for us might be more "natural" and less antagonistic. Maybe God has one more final exile in mind for the Jewish people, a much colder one, after which time we'll have gone to all those corners and be ready to come home,
once-and-for-all.

At the time that God made creation He separated out a large portion of them (sparks) to make all that was to come into existence throughout the six days of creation. What remained after that (of the sparks from the world of Tohu) The Holy One, Blessed is He, left behind for man to rectify through his actions, throughout the generations until the arrival of Moshiach. They were set aside and given place in all the deserts throughout the world, from where they ascend and are constantly undergoing rectification. What this means is that they are drawn from the portions of the desert to places of settlement where they become revealed and rectified as necessary.

They represent the new and additional strength of each yield from the land, which results in straw for animals and wheat from which man makes his bread, or anything that is "quarried" from the ground. As it is written, "For silver has a source and there is a place where they refine gold" (Iyov 28:1); all of it is the result of the rejuvenation from that which flows into the places of settlement from the places of desert. (Sefer HaKlalim, Klal 19:2)

At first reading, this sounds like a difficult concept to understand.
However, as we will now learn, not only does it makes perfect sense, but it helps us to better appreciate a miracle of life that too many people take for granted too much of the time.

                                     Hidden System Of Life

After all, why are there new crops every year? Why is there feast in some years, and in other years famine? Why does the ground produce anything at all, let alone food that we can eat and enjoy? We know why this is so physically, but the question we are asking now is, what is the spiritual mechanism?

The Leshem is telling us: Holy Sparks, of course.

Like a time capsule, each Holy Spark of history has its own moment in time to be realized and used throughout the course of six millennia, before returning to its source Above. Who determines when that moment is and where it is to be used? God Himself, Who moves the sparks around to wherever He
wants them to go in order to help a person, nation, the world to fulfill its potential and role on the stage of world history. Only God can be so precise.

And, He has a whole system for doing it, and right under our very noses too. The life that we take for granted in a world that we are used to is really a very sophisticated and elaborate system for moving sparks around so that they can be available for us when we need them, as we need them.

For example, a simple wind moving north from the Sahara Desert towards a big city may be carrying dust filled with Holy Sparks, just waiting to land on the soil of some community to bring life to the ground, which, in turn, can bring life to animals. This, in turn, brings life to man who can use the Holy Sparks for a Godly purpose and thereby expend them and send them on their way back to their source.

Contrary to what many may assume, Cornflakes does not grow on the shelves of the local supermarket. The grow out in a field that was nourished by Holy Sparks, without which all the irrigation in the world could not make a difference. And, what makes a vitamin and vitamin that works is the sparks it contains within, which are invisible to the scientist and doctor. Why else would one entity be stronger or weaker than another in terms of
accomplishing a specific task?

It all comes down to the sparks inside, what kind of sparks and what their potential is. Why one place in the world is inhabitable and why one is not depends upon the sparks that are there, and their potential to maintain life on any level. How that particular place in the world responds to external conditions and man's activities will all depend upon its spiritual make-up, that is the sparks that are designated to be there.

In fact, you can think of it is a kind of spiritual gene pool, where each spark is a kind of spiritual gene with a different potential to create than other sparks. Trying to appreciate the vastness of life and its closeness to unlimited potential is just another way of appreciating the vastness of the spiritual pool of Holy Sparks. And, from there you can begin to appreciate a little of the wisdom God used to make creation, and He continues to use to
maintain creation-every moment of the day, all throughout history!

                                 Inhabitable By Sparks, Not Man

However, the question we came to answer was why there are no longer any "corners" of the world to which the Jewish people can go. The answer is that the deserts, whether they are frozen ones or ones made from sand, seem to be places not meant to be inhabited by man.

This does not mean that, if we had to that we would build some kind of enclosed city some place in the Arctic Circle, on in the middle of the Sahara Desert. And, knowing man and his ingenuity, he'd figure out some way to sustain life within it for time to come.

However, such areas in the world are not "natural" habitats for man, and at this late time in history it seems unlikely that they will become so. More than likely they are what they are because God ordained them to be places that man will not live en masse, so that they can remain to be the storage halls of Holy Sparks, until the time comes for the potential of each individual spark to be realized.

In fact, it says in the Talmud that when Adam left the Garden of Eden, he designated the places on earth that man would be able to inhabit, and thus only those places would be inhabitable (Brochos 31a). Perhaps this concept about the Holy Sparks is the reason why, and combined with the Talmud's statement they both help to explain why there are no more "corners" of the
earth for the Jewish people to flee to, as they have always done as some point in time throughout their long, arduous journey to the end of history and the Final Redemption.

In any case, without dispute, we are in the final exile of history as the Midrash indicated. This is Golus Edom-the Exile of Edom, of Eisav's descendants-and it began with the Romans back in time before the destruction of the Second Temple. We've been everywhere Edom has made his home, whether in Europe, Russia, or America. We've been just about everywhere mankind has
ever settled. It is time to go home.

The year is 5762. As I have discussed before, according to the Zohar's calculation, with which the great Kabbalist Rabbi Shlomo Elyashiv seems to concur, "Resurrection of the Dead" is destined to begin no later than 28 years from now (give or take a few months). By that time, the Zohar also explains, all the exiled Jews remaining at the end of history will have to have been gathered in already, and Moshiach will have to had already rid the world of evil.

The sparks of history will have to already be expended and returned to their sources Above.

Rome wasn't built in a day, and it probably would take longer to build up existing uninhabitable locations of the world, since they are not so user-friendly. No matter how we look at it, if life for the Jewish people takes a turn for the worst, and the "Lavans" of today no longer look at us with the same smile as they did yesterday, then we have to wonder about the sparks where we live.

If our work is finished, then staying around may defeat our purpose, and, in the end, defeat us, period.