What Does the Redemption Look Like?
Adapted from Rabbi Braun’s sermon in 5778
We spend a lot of time in the three weeks focused on the churban, the destruction of the temples, and the death of so many Jews. And we think about the causes for those events and the reasons that we still mourn; we think about hatred and division amongst Jews and lack of spiritual growth.
That really has not changed all that much in 2000 years.
But there is another element that we should focus on and think about and that is something that has changed considerably in the last number of decades.
It pushes us to look not to the past, rather to the present and future.
What is that element?
It is the redemption – what will the geulah look like? What is our role in that redemption?
To get there I want to share a piece from Nachalat Yaakov, the commentary of the Nesivos to the Torah.
He identifies two issues that Moshe has with the tribes of Gad and Reuven who wished to remain on the other side of the Jordan.
One – He suggests that a voluntary war, a milchemet reshut, can be for personal reasons, for collection of spoils or for more benevolent reasons, to help others.
A commanded war, a milchemet mitzvah, however, can only be for one reason – to fulfill God’s command.
Therefore, Moshe objects to the objective set out by the 2 tribes (32/17)
וַאֲנַ֜חְנוּ נֵחָלֵ֣ץ חֻשִׁ֗ים לִפְנֵי֙ בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל עַ֛ד אֲשֶׁ֥ר אִם־הֲבִֽיאֹנֻ֖ם אֶל־מְקוֹמָ֑ם
“we will go first, before the people of Israel until they arrive at their places.”
According to the Nesivos, the desire to help others is inappropriate in a milchemet mitzvah. They should have only gone because God commanded them!
I will admit that this sounds really strange and will come back to it in a minute.
The Nesivos also believes that Moshe objected to the second half of that verse.
וְיָשַׁ֤ב טַפֵּ֙נוּ֙ בְּעָרֵ֣י הַמִּבְצָ֔ר מִפְּנֵ֖י יֹשְׁבֵ֥י הָאָֽרֶץ
They tell Moshe that they will leave their children in fortified cities until they return from the war.
What can be wrong with that? Why not protect the children why they are away?
Again, this will make you scratch your head – he suggests that Moshe was angry because they did not understand that there was no need to protect the kids; they would be safe no matter what!
He doubles down on this position as he tries to explain his approaches. He writes that thoughts of helping others in a commanded war is wrong because it demonstrates a lack of belief in God. In this war, God fights for us and we don’t need the help of other human beings.
The kids don’t require protection because כי שלוחי מצוה אינם ניזוקין – those on a mitzvah journey cannot he harmed.
I must admit – I struggled to understand how he could offer such an approach. Then it hit me. The Nesivos lived in Poland; he was born in 1770 and dies in 1832.
In his wildest dreams he could not have envisioned a Jewish army or nation living in the land of Israel. The only vision of redemption he could imagine was one that was totally divine. God would have to do everything because who else would?? God would fight for us and protect our children! And he read that back into the story of the first conquest of the land.
We are so fortunate to live in a very different era than the Nesivos. Not in our dreams, but in our reality, we can envision a very different type of redemptive process. It is one in which we are very involved, along with Hashem, and it is quite complicated and complex. There is plenty of room for thinking about helping the nation, people, friends etc. as we perform the mitzvah of protecting the land. It is actually an integral part of who we are as a people.
Part of the Tisha B’av of old was waiting for God to come and save us, praying for God to come and save us. Part of Tisha B’av today has to be thinking not only about God’s role in the redemption but about ours as well.
What can we do to help bring the redemption? What can we do for the people of Israel? What can we do for state of Israel?
We have come so far but there is much more work to do, and that must be part of our three weeks and Tisha B’av!
