Eretz Chefetz 9:1 Moshiach ben Yosef By Rabbi Aaron Goldscheider

okay good morning everyone bov so nice to uh so nice to see everyone everyone this morning and uh welcome welcome to to everyone who is here let me just begin with the sponsorships of uh today's year we have a regular sponsor a yearly sponsor and we announce that we thank the yearly sponsor this ISO nishmas Miram Bas shom and there's an addition sponsor today as well this is uh Haley first Frist Haley Frist is sponsoring the learning today Monday the 17th of AD Al in memory of her late father the 10th yard site elzar Ben Moshe Aron shalam so our learning this morning should beo nishas those uh that we have just dedicated the cheer on their behalf okay good morning everyone and uh very beautiful to have the opportunity to study to continue to study the words of R cook we're going to be moving into and this is on page one moving into the the ninth peric pericet of eret those that have been with us for the last year and a half or so we started the saer we started this very special volume of teachings of rev cuk and even if you're here for the very first time that's fine as well every class kind of stands uh stands on its own let me begin as an introduction to uh to our the learning and what we're going to see from of cook this morning with a uh with an anecdote with a story this is something that I I was listening this past week there was a podcast interesting podcast of the uh the daughter of Rabbi salvic Tova lonstein who was the uh the wife of and it's a podcast with her daughter and her name is estd Rosenberg raban SD Rosenberg who's the head of migdal O which is a uh women's learning program um in in the gush area right by ephrat and they're having discussions on this podcast in terms of the war in terms of what's happening in Israel today again very interesting to have the perspective of the daughter of RAB salvic and the granddaughter of Rabbi salvic that are that are discussing issues and um raban ese Rosenberg shared the following she is the the head of migalo she has I don't know the precise number a few hundred women that are studying there and they're studying gamarra for the most part they're studying more of the Yeshiva style what men have studied for many generations that she has brought that to uh to women and I would say sort of in the in the path of the ashfa of uh of her grandfather Rabbi salvic of opening up gamara study for women so she spoke about a uh a day I think goes back about a month that she was referring to which was the 100th day since the the hostages were taken captive and there was an event at the cotel at the Western Wall where tens of thousands of people came for a special daving on that day and that evening was also a special event at in Tel Aviv at the hostage Square where people are are gathering so she uh she made the following point which is very interesting she decided that she was going to take her students from mdal the women of mdal that they would uh that they would not learn the regular learning that day but they would all go to the cotel to take part in that davening at the cotel to be together and to Daven on behalf of the hostages and that she also offered the women to continue after being at the cotel I guess that was in the afternoon to continue to Tel Aviv and to be there in Tel Aviv as well with the families and with the hostages and she spoke about the difference between those two events one event was essentially a a religious event with religious people and in terms of what was done at that event in terms of daving in terms of tahim in terms of uh you know very spiritual very very religious event she described how she cried you know standing at the Cotto with thousands of people praying for those that are in in captivity and then she described the other event as well and the other event which was very different in terms of the terms of the makeup of the people in terms of it not being a place where people were do necessarily or reciting to hm but a place where people were singing secular songs songs of Hope and the faith and the kind of people that gathered at that event again was very different than the the group that was gathered at the cotel but she spoke about the importance of of both of those events in terms of what it represents and the two communities of Israel the community the religious community the uh the community of of what we might call the the daim or the Orthodox Comm community and the more secular community and how it was important for her and important for her students and as a as a a place of study and a place that they're educating young women today to see the importance of both communities and how those communities need to uh kind of bridge the gaps and and to to come together she made the following statement which I thought was an amazing statement she said when I was at the cotel and I was doing at the uh at the wall so I was praying to Hashem to change to change the decree to sort of to change the mind of Hashem as I was reciting to Hill that that God should uh God should be merciful and there should be wonders there should be Miracles and to save the hostages but then when I went later that evening to Tel Aviv to the hostage Square I was praying to Hashem that God change my mind not to change his mind to change my mind in terms of how I think about secular Jews and not to be as judgmental as I often am about Jews that are not in our community so I thought it was a very uh very insightful and very beautiful very beautiful line to talk about what it was to be at the cotel to change hashem's mind so to speak and about changing my mind that I should open my heart um in a way that maybe it hasn't been as open and and sort of that honesty and humility of uh of raban estd Rosenberg the granddaughter of Rabbi salvic and I think that's very much in line with uh as we have studied together especially those that have been with us for a while this is very much a uh an idea that comes out of the world of ruk the ashfa of ruk in terms of seeing the two communities here in erel not as not as divisive and not to see that big gap between the communities but to see how we can uh bring those communities together and uh how to create a an AKA and Reus to to create a community where there's greater love and Brotherhood and to see the and to see what unifies us as opposed what see to see what separates us so let us look at the following word yes Harriet sorry yeah yeah right right okay ABS yeah yeah no it's a good point a good point we Define ourselves we have labels on the one hand we need those that's right right right so R cook R cook spoke a lot about the idea of of thinking less about the labels and to see the uh and to see the unity and to see the goodness in everyone so let us go now into the piece and uh that we're going to see the words of ruk and uh in particular the idea of what it meant for the khim that were coming back to the land of Israel again this is very problematic in the eyes of of the religious community the Orthodox community that you had the theim you have Jews that are not religious that are leading the way that are leading the way in terms of coming back to the land of Israel of of bringing Israel back the country back and the Jewish people back and that was not not an easy thing for uh for the religious community to to uh to understand and uh and to kind of work out religiously why that was the case let's see the words of Rook the very very beautiful words of R cook this is Page One Source number one hador harishon sh M this generation this first generation of the footsteps of the Messiah and here we have rev cook and famously this is a uh one of the positions of rev cook that we are living in that time that were in a that we in the beginning of redemption we're we're living at a time he's writing this early 1900s that we're living at a time that we should hear the footsteps of the Messiah this is a time where the end of days it's beginning to be revealed shall yeu a to Israel the fact that we're coming back to the land of Israel that we're settling the land of Israel we should see this as a sign it's a Messianic a Messianic sign that this is the beginning of the footsteps of the Messiah is and here he says something which is very important he says this is the beginning of the process of the which means the physical the physical the material building up physically the Jewish people and the Jewish Land once again but the spiritual side of things that's really going to remain on the P that's going to be for for many many people and again I think he's referring in particular to the khim that it's going to be more in a concentrated form it's going to be sort of inside that it's not something that's going to uh that's going to be obvious and it's not going to play out in its fullest sense but when the Jewish people build this nation again the meaning the physical the material aspects of what it means to return to the land of Israel then it will be revealed this is stage one stage one theim coming back we're building the beautiful highways and the Beautiful buildings and the apartments throughout Israel and Tel Aviv and Kim that's the beginning of the process and physically we need to build a strong infrastructure but you know what's going to happen ultimately what's going to happen is that the spiritual aspect of the Jewish people and of these Jews living in the land of Israel that that is going to be revealed that that that that is going to come to fruition as well all the special qualities the unique spiritual qualities of the Jewish people will uh will be revealed and then the Torah and the very essence of the Torah the light of the Torah it will return in its strongest form and then will be a light to the Nations it will be a Crown of Glory in the hand of God and it will be a dim it will be again a kind of crown is it'll be in the hand of in the hands of uh in the hand of Hashem in the palm of Hashem he'll be holding poetically describing holding this great crown of Hashem in the palm of the god of Israel okay so what do we see here we see something that is very important in the thinking of rook and the philosophy of rev cook and that is that he sees the return of the Jewish people those that are building physically building the land of Israel that that is something that is uh that's something that's remarkable it's something that's so important it's something that is essential and ultimately the spiritual side will come through as well so instead of looking at it negatively that the people are coming to the land of Israel the khim and they're building this country he sees it in a positive sense and he sees the great potential in that okay in order to understand Riv cook I want to look at the following the following two two sources from the torra itself which speaks about the land of Israel and it's really fascinating when we think about how does the Torah itself describe the land of Israel how does the Torah itself describe the land of Israel now you would think that the Torah would speak about all the spiritual qualities of the land of Israel go to the land of Israel because of the the Torah of the land of Israel the ran the spiritual qualities of the land of Israel and yet the Torah speaks about other aspects of the land of Israel as well and really highlights the physical material aspect aspects of Israel and really one of the first Pim that describes the land of Israel at least uh to mosenu as he standing at the SN is the following and something that we all that we're all familiar with but we'll just read that inside this is a p that's found in saot the very beginning where Moshe is standing at the burning bush and Hashem says to Moshe this is Zion I see that my people are suffering a I hear their crying I know they're suffering I feel their pain they ra and I'm going to go down to Egypt and going to save them to bring them out the land of Israel and I'm going to bring them from that land I'm going to bring them to a land flowing with milk and honey and we're all familiar with that Poss interesting that that should be the way that Hashem describes the land of Israel why does Hashem not describe the land of Israel as a land of Torah learning as a land OFA he says the land that has a lot of milk that has a lot of honey and interesting if you look at the ramban and again there are many interpretations of what that means and there are th those commentaries that that want to put that in a more spiritual light but the ramban who is a Mystic who is a spiritualist so to speak when he speaks about I I want you to see what he writes the ran says and he understands it plain and simple Asad what does it mean this is Source number four what does it mean that it's a land flowing with milk and honey that God praises the land of Israel yes it's a good land that's a beautiful atmosphere that it's the uh the air walk out today the climate how beautiful it is outside it's February and look at the weather that we have here in Israel it's a it's a great place to live in terms of the the temperature in terms of the a there's a lot of good to find in the land of Israel meaning physically materially what does it mean there's plenty of space in the land of Israel that it's spacious for everyone that there's room for everyone what else does it mean again a spacious land it's not filled only with mountains and with uh and with valleys but it's a place with lowlands a place where it's comfortable even though yes we think about Israel with a lot of mountains and valleys but it says according to R means there are plenty of very wonderful places to live for people where it's not difficult in terms of the the layout the uh the geography mnet also a good land for raising livestock that it's good good pasture the water is good in the land of Israel and the milk of the animals will be plentiful in the land of Israel animals also need a good climate and that their milk will be healthy there's a lot of grass abundant grass in the land of Israel and the water is good in the land of Israel according to the ramban what means it means it in a very literal sense it means that physically that this is a beautiful place to live a beautiful place that Hashem has chosen for the Jewish people and it's interesting to me that the Torah and when Hashem speaks about the land of Israel speaks about the physical qualities of the land of Israel and that's part of what it means to return to the land of Israel to be in the land of Israel and we'll see why that is so important and one more example of this this is uh towards the end of the Torah this is towards the beginning talking about the beauty of the land of Israel and towards the end of the Torah in it says the following God is bringing you to a good land ER this is Source number five ER it's filled with springs has Springs of water streams of waters and springs in the valleys and in the mountains and verse that we're familiar with all the wonderful agriculture the fruits the vegetables of the land you're not going to be impoverished not going to be difficult having bread in the land of Israel your nothing will be missing for you in the land of Israel AEL the stones that can be used for metal copper that is found in theim in the mountains of Israel so here we see another example and it's again quite interesting to me that when the Torah speaks about the land of Israel the emphasis that the Torah places on the beauty of the land of Israel the physical makeup of the land of Israel and here R cook speaks about those that are coming back to the land of Israel theim those that are building the land of Israel creating a place of comfort that they're building that they're draining the swamps of Israel that they're building the land of Israel physically that that is considered to be something great the Torah speaks about is as a great quality of the land of Israel as well so now I want to go a little bit deeper and uh in terms of ruuk and the appreciation that ruuk has for those that are building the land of Israel the physical quality ities of the land of Israel again these are Jews that are coming back that are not coming back to Israel in a religious sense and a spiritual sense they're coming back believing in the land and building the land of Israel so R cook has the following idea and that is we're all familiar with the idea of mesiah Ben David that there's going to be a messiah that will come and that Messiah known as the Messiah the Messiah who is a descendant of the House of David will bring a Messianic age will bring a a time of of perfection and uh and Oneness and peace to the world but there's another personality as well that precedes Messiah Ben David it's not as well known we have what's known as Messiah Ben yose there is a mhia Ben ysf now you probably don't know that much about mhia Ben Yosef I don't know that much about mhia Ben ysf and um but we're going to learn a little bit about MH Ben y we grow up with mashiah right we pray for mashia right that there's a mhia we all know a MH and there is that mashiach but we also have a tradition of a mashiach that is going to precede that mesiah mhia that we generally speak about there was a great Rabbi he passed away actually in the 1980s RAB menel kaser he was a g he came to the land of Israel he was sent by the G rebbi to come to Israel and to build up a here in Israel he was a great one of the gim of the the last 100 years he has a set called the Tor I'm not sure if you ever seen that it's it's all the on every p in the Torah it's every every Parish every every gamarra every Zohar on every uh on every P so while he was living in the land of Israel he became a great Zionist as well and um and he wrote a saer called and this is the 1960s I believe he writes it in the 60s maybe a little bit earlier and he calls it we're in a a a tremendous remarkable TFA a remarkable time in Jewish history and he sees what's happening what's unfolding again as rev cook does he lives later than rook and he sees more in terms of what has developed in the land of Israel but he sees this as Messianic and he has a safare which is quoted in another safer called aak we'll talk about that in a moment moment and I want to Just sh share with you the opening this paragraph in which he talks about this is the top of page two in his book this is the book of raash called I turn to a lot of great rabbis Torah rabbis who are really G Torah people that are outstanding so he describes that he went and he spoke to a number of rabbis turning to Great rabbis I want to understand more about this concept of mhi Ben Yosef this msia that's going to precede the mhia mhia Ben David and what happened as he asked and all of them without exception they just were not sure even great rabbis they didn't really have a definitive answer man a bunch of these rabbis a number of them who were great and weren't even aware that this idea of mos appears in the gamar itself it's not just some esoteric Source the gamar itself the B speaks about it they thought maybe it was just you know this idea appear somewhere else so for many of them they suggest suggested yes this is something that we need to understand more more about the concept of mashia Ben yose okay so now we're going to turn to Riv cuk and Riv cuk speaks about mhia Ben yose and who is this who is this personality and what is this time this time frame that's known as mhia Ben yose this period in uh in Jewish history so here I want to just read a few lines and again we're going to the word so that the the writing of ruk which is always very very important to see the words of ruk where he speaks about the concept of mashia Ben this is page two now in the middle of the page there's a little number two right on top of it and here's the writing of uh of of rook in an article called so here we go what does Rook have to say and what is his explanation of elucidation of a mashia just as God creates man with a body and with a soul just as God has given man the ability and the potential to strengthen his body so man is made of two things man is made of body we can strengthen our body if we eat well if we get enough sleep if we if we're healthy in terms of exercise we can strengthen our body we also can strengthen our soul as well we're made up of body and soul we're a goof and a and it's important it's essential for the body to be strong and that our body is working well we have to do everything that we can and by the way R cook was famous for that it's a piece in orot as well where he talks about the importance of of the body of the Jewish uh of everyone's body but as a Jew in terms of spiritually that we need a strong body as well the rambam writes a lot about that early on in his mission of Torah the importance of physical health the rambam says everybody has to sleep how many hours according to the rambam that's right we all know it good eight hours a night Raam writes we have to eat healthy we have to sleep we have to exercise he writes about this 8 900 years ago and with that then our then the spirituality our can also be strong that combination of physical body being strong and the and the N being strong that's uh that's what we strive for and then that brings intelligence and and wisdom here's the key line while this is true and it's true of the body the physical body and all of us should be thinking about this and maybe in a more serious way eating healthy sleeping well we need a physic physically strong and then spiritually strong we get a good night's sleep we DAV in better in the morning we D with with better cavana we learn better our mind is clearer so that combination is a essential so the rambam says not only is that true of the physical and spiritual body of the Jew it's also true of Amel as well it's also true of erel as well that physically we need to be strong and then spiritually we'll be strong as well so let me read that the ra Rook writes if we are strong physically then we can also fill reach our potential spiritually as well then then we can be a holy people to our god so it's that combination which is true of the person the individual and it's true of Amel as well and now what is it what does it mean by so look at the following paragraph three more lines that we'll read together Rook says we have two personalities in the Torah who represent one representing the spiritual component of is one of theim and one that represents the physical strength of am Isel and who are they says rud we have y and we have yehud just as if we look at the Torah and look at the story and that story we have that concept of what happened early on in the Torah is a sign for all generations Ys who hamash what does Yosef represent he represents the personality who goes goes down to Egypt and what does he do he deals with physical with material with food with economy with saving the world that is he's the one that that saves a great nation he saves the world without him yov would not have survived he's the one that's providing the the physicality the food for yakob for the for the family b b Isel when everybody needed his physical sustenance and Yehuda what does Yehuda represent Yehuda goes down y UDA goes down to uh to mitzraim he goes down to Egypt and is Yehuda that sets up the Bas medish he is the one that represents the learning the last line so according to ruk what does Yos represent what is mhia Ben y mhi Ben yose represents a personality potentially a personality and a time period where the Jewish people are building themselves physically the physical the material makeup of the Jewish people of building that aspect of am Israel it's interesting what I just read to you was called the mesp or the HP and what is that a hesped that's a hesp that was given for Herzel this is part of a larger hesped that Ru cook gave in honor of Theodore Herzel and there's a question what is the sort of the status of of Herzel again very very questionable in terms of certainly his uh his his religious herzl's religious Outlook he he was not a religious person he rejected the idea of of the Torah and of God and yet rev cuk finds something very positive in Herzel and he seems to allude to the idea which is somewhat controversial that he may represent that personality that msia Ben yose because what does he do what does he accomplish in his life he's able to bring the Jewish people back to the land of Israel not the spiritual aspect of returning to the land of Israel but physically that he brings back and inspires a generation to rebuild the land of Israel so this is what if we go back to that opening statement in terms of R cook and the way that he sees those that are building the land of Israel not only is he donus so to speak that he sees something positive in building the land of Israel but what that represents is actually a very important stage of what it means for the Jewish people to return to the land of Israel and stage one is that we're going to have a return what's called Messiah Ben yose stage of R return to the land of Israel first we need to rebuild our nation and physically to build up this country and with that ruk believes that ultimately we're going to return to the Torah that's not the that's not the final stage right that's Stage One MH B Yosef mhi Ben David is going to be um a Renaissance and the Revival of spirituality and a return to Torah to turn to another statement from rook and this is found in ER and just to to highlight a line or two from in this in this paragraph that's the opening line we all need to be engaged in physically building the land of Israel that building the land of Israel is something that's considered essential and here he writes the following and just skipping two lines to the last uh the last word on the third line just as the taught that you need to serve God to see God in in all the multiplicity of ways that you could see God and and discover we also need to look forua we have to look for the potential of Salvation the return of and the ultimate Redemption this is one of the foundations of being over we're going to be asked on the Y famously have you have you waited for that day not just waited but have you looked for the potential and all the different potentials potential ities of the Jewish people return to land of Israel and that's what Rook is doing Rook sees in those that are building the land of Israel yes they may not be religious per se they may not be Sher shabas keeping kosher but look at what they're doing in terms of building the land of Israel and again not only to be danav but to see it as a stage a stage in the process mhia Ben Yosef there's a stage before the ultimate Redemption that there's going to be a Yosef kind of personality or within Amel a yose personality that's the Mas that's building the economy of the land of Israel that's building the roads that's building the hospitals that's creating an economic infrastructure for Amel that is essential for the nation and essential for spirituality as well okay attorney please yes all right good I mean without going into particulars this is where Riv cook this is where Ru cook is unique and what we're what what we just what we just studied together what we just learned together is uh what what was novel to some degree where others did see sort of the negativity and how problematic how problematic it is to have people that are that are not religious that are leading the way in terms of bringing the Jewish people back to the land of Israel and building the land of Israel rev cook not only sees that as a positive but sees it as as part of a process and part of a process that is part of our tradition part of a process process that there is a mhia Ben yose there's a period of building the land physically and they are engaged in that and they may be a Herzel in this generation maybe maybe may maybe exemplifying that uh that aspect of of what's so essential in our return yes I'll take your question yeah yes yes no I think that's I think that's the the heart and soul of R Cook's teachings he loves is that he love right that he loved everyone that he saw the best in everyone um and this is an example where he's actually pulling from tradition where he's showing sources in the Tor that speaks about that generation again as I as I as I've said before not only just to be donov and the kind of like okay let's you know let's make peace with them for the sake of making peace but here he's building them up that they actually represent they're in this mashiah Ben yose you know category of of building the land of Israel and how holy that is that that's an aspect of of mashiach as well again that's a that's quite a remarkable idea yes looks like it's the foundation it's the foundation exactly it's the foundation it's the foundation of of and the first step in a very important stage in our Redemption yes U you learned recently in Z without Torah with them the Torah will come there and very nice okay very nice so thank you for sharing that um so R cook yes Rook is a is an yes exactly what you what you just pointed out Ru cook is a Believer a great believer that this is uh that this is the beginning of a first stage of the return of the Jewish people the first stage which is more physically and materially driven But ultimately it's going to bring to uh a great spiritual Revival which we'll talk about in a moment um there was a rabbi in sad you can turn out to page three uh during the time of ruk he was known as the rbas and his name was Rak David wow wowski and uh he actually wrote to R cook we have a number of letters from him from the rvas and he he actually was uh he found it very problematic in terms of the loving relationship that RI cook had with the secular Jews and uh as we were as we were just commenting on and RI cook in this letter we're not going to read the full letter it's I have it here translated where he defends the loving relationship that he has with uh with those khim and he says something which is really quite interesting in terms of uh why he sees their uh their actions and and who they are as as uh standing out at this time and a great need to respect them and to honor them and to see their Holiness and let me read to you the following you could look at this together with me this is the second paragraph in uh uh on the on page three at the time of the footsteps of Messiah do you see that this is page three at the time of the footsteps of mashiah this is a translation of a letter that Ru cook writes to the rbas found in Iger at the time of the footsteps of the Messiah the force of suula intensifies in great measure now what does suula mean and what is he referring to he's referring to the fact that a Jew that there's really two aspects of how a Jew relates to their Judaism one is in terms of vote and what he calls in other words the choice that we have that we accepted the Torah and the Mitzvah that we perform but then there's a sagula aspect of a Jew seula means that we embedded within the soul of a Jew is a is an attachment to the Jewish people is an attachment to the land of Israel and he says at the time of mashiah as we're getting closer to mashiah according to ruk that aspect of suula of that that natural inclination and that drive that every Jew has to be connected to am is to be connected to AR Israel it intensifies it becomes even stronger this is and to Hashem as well yes and to Hashem yeah it could be Hashem as well this is the essence of he remembers the kindness of our Patriarchs and brings a redeemer to their descendants for the sake of his name with love now we say that in the amida that's the first paragraph the he remembers the of the aot he remembers the kindness of the AOS what does that mean the kindness of the AOS different ways of interpreting that one is he remembers the ofo their connection to the land of Israel how they were dedicated to the land of Israel UMO and that's going to bring G to their descendants meaning The Descendants are going to be more attached at the time of the Messianic time as the Redemption comes attached to the land of Israel in the way that the forefathers were attached to the land of Israel that is God will redeem us not by virtue of our Sayes of cook God is not necessarily looking at this time in terms of how many mitzvot every Jew is is observing again this I I think it's a bit of a radical idea which emanates from the good deeds and penitence of The Descendants meaning based on Mitzvah based on their Chua rather for the sake of his name which is expressed by way of remembering the kindness of the Patriarchs what does Ru cook say here the way that I understand it Ru cook is suggesting that at the time as we're moving closer to mashiah Hashem is going to see in Jews that are returning to the land of Israel that care for am Israel that care for the nation care for building the land of Israel that that in God's eyes is considered to be of utmost importance and God is judging those Jews differently than he has judged them over the generations that there's greatness in that act there's that there's greatness in returning to the land of Israel that's part of the Messianic the Messianic dream and the fact that they are doing that they're following that path returning to the land of Israel that is something that that according to R cook Hashem sees as outstanding and therefore we should see those Jews as outstanding as well that they're doing something that is remarkable that that is the Mitzvah of the day so to speak to return to the land of Israel the fact that they're doing that even though they don't of other mitzvot but they have that Mitzvah which is attaching themselves to what the AO did of the forefathers that that's something that's outstanding yes um I think you I I think you're right I think the major yes I think that the majority of people that are that are making Aliah I don't know the numbers exactly but I do think that it's Americans not French okay right okay that but yeah it it whether whether those are the numbers today or not at least in rev Cook's time what he saw again this generation that was coming back that was rebuilding the land of Israel the land that we have today of 1948 is very much a um very much due to that generation and that generation of Jews were again for the most part were not the religious Jews that were returning to the land of Israel certainly in the early 1900s okay why did they come why did they come so I I why did they come so at least again I'm sure there are many anwers to that question one reason why they came and I think that's what's what what R cook is alluding to in this paragraph what he believes is that they had a Cula quality that they had within them deep within them was a yearning did they know Mitzvah no were they studying Torah no but they felt as Jews a connection to a longing for a land a longing for a people a longing for building a people and that connection is a connection that really interesting do the OS to the forefathers have mitzvot are they commanded in mitzvot they don't have mitzvot yet what does a and yov what do they have what do they have as Jews what do they know as Jews when you talk about the Judaism of a Yakov what is that it's really one thing again there's like you know the midashim talk about how they keep the but what when we talk about aam and yakov's Judaism what is their Judaism how do they express their Judaism what land of Israel what does that mean okay good right so you have them in Russian the Torah doesn't ever say that the Torah doesn't say and yes you have those bash I'm not saying that they that they didn't Intuit the Torah have rues whatever it may be however you want to interpret that but on the basic level when we learn the story and we know and we know what theim say in terms of the relationship of AR yov to Judaism so they have relationship with Hashem right they communicate with Hashem and what else do we know about AB Yan Yakov is that they're attached to the land of Israel that they're living in the land of Israel that they're leaving the land of Israel that they're returning to the land of Israel that they're told to to stay in the land of Israel so land of Israel is really what it means when we talk about the Judaism of the AOS and R cook is saying that they that this generation is connecting to that idea and that's what it means that The Descendants are attaching themselves again to that to that um to that longing of the land that connection to the land that AB YK yov had and Hashem that's what happens in the Messianic age according to ruk that there is a a reignition of that that they're re-energized the Jewish people to return and connect to the land of Israel and therefore we should see that as again there's a very I think it's it's a novel idea a it's a novel idea to see that as as something that is outstanding in this generation particular and therefore we should have a great respect for those that are doing that yes Mar good okay you're you're you're saying they really running away they weren't necessarily running to that they weren't attracted to to the land per se I'm not yeah socialism yes I'm sure there are many there are many answers many ways of answering it from a religious point of view from R Cook's point of view he believes that there that seula quality that inner quality that again is not MIT related it's not intellectual but sort of a a longing and and a connection to land and people that they felt that there was that feeling that's what brought them back and R cook says we should see that in the most positive light that that's remarkable that's something that that's Jewish as well you don't judge somebody only based on how many mitzo they perform that they're that they're um that that that that longing that they have is a longing that connects them to an AR Y and yakob kind of longing for the land we should see it in that light did you want to say something okay I want to look at one last source and just share two uh two anecdotes and we'll we'll close with uh we'll close with this this is uh the following the F this is found in the gamar this is the Tami and again we spoke up this morning about stages the stages of redemption or if Cook wants to argue again this is I think a novel argument this is uh I don't I think most do not say this again this idea that a mashiah Ben yose stage that he saw before before the ultimate you know before the ultimate Redemption and maybe we're in that stage right now maybe we pass that stage of the mhia Ben Yosef again R cook says possibly Herzel is that is that personality but that there are stages to Redemption is something that is again does redemption happen in a in a split second is it that the Messiah swoops down and and all of a sudden we have redemption or is it something that plays out over time over 50 years over 100 years over 150 years so look at the following and this is one of the most famous garas that is one of the most famous sources that's quoted in terms of of redemption re this is Source number two on page three I have it in Translation below it's found in the T RAB shim and shim arbel they were taking a walk in the arbel in the valley of arbel does anybody know where arbel is yeah up north right it was early in the morning it was early in the morning they were taking a tle together they were taking a walk what is it not far from the can yeah near the canary that's right they were walking in Artis taking an early morning walk before before NES before the sun came up and they saw the first light the first glimmer of light or the glimmering of the Morning Star turned and he said so will be the Redemption of the Jewish people it happens little by little it begins to unfold but it begins to unfold be begins to unfold in a greater and greater larger and larger Mah why is that and he quotes a that hem is my light and what's interesting I wanted just to bring the end of the the end of this gar is relates to puram as we're just a few weeks away from puram it says porum is that not how the porm miracle unfolded as well the very beginning he's sitting at the king's gate and then it plays out with the next stage as as Mor is being is being led through the city on the horse he returns the king and they're the light the full light of Salvation so when we speak about and this is R cook believe strong ly and this idea that it's a process that it's stage by stage stage one the Jewish people are returning to land of Israel stage one or an early stage is that they're building the land of Israel we need to build an infrastructure we need to build buildings in roads and cities that's stage one and that we should see that as as as such an important contribution in terms of the Gula and finally the great light like that there's going to be the great light of the Salvation so we have the the idea of of mhia Ben yose we have the idea of mhia Ben David we'll we'll save page four for another time but I want to share with you two uh two anecdotes to uh to close out our learning this morning two stories one story I listened uh to a sheer of Rabbi Lao rabi is Mayor Lao who was the chief Rabbi of uh of Israel for many years one of the one of the most important religious personalities of Israel he told the following story that he was visiting Baltimore he went to Baltimore he was visiting and speaking in number of number of shs and uh when he arrived so they asked if he would speak with Rabbi rudderman if they would if he would get together with the rashash Shiva rakov rudderman rashash Shiva of of n Israel of n Israel one of the GD Torah of America in those years in the uh in the 60s I think it was when he visited and of course he said I'm happy to meet with with RAB R rudderman he went to nisel he went to his office they invited him into his uh to Rabbi rudman's office and there Rabbi rudderman was sitting with a young Rabbi at the time and he was finishing the conversation with with the young Rabbi and he overheard the conversation this is what Rabbi La wanted to share so the young Rabbi said the following to Rabbi Rudman he said I'm I'm in a Sho in a new Sho in Baltimore and there's a big mlus in the Sho right now somebody actually a a holocaust Survivor that he ordered a new Paras a new cover for the Aon and the cover of the Aon just has a mugging do it it just has a star the Star of David in the center and there are many people in the Sho that are uh that that are that that are upset about that pares they claim that that is really a symbol of Zionism of the state of Israel and they prefer not to D there's a whole group that's ready to leave the Sho so so the young Rabbi asks rudan what he thinks uh that he thinks he should do so Rudman said the following he said that um you know I remember and I remember you know I think I saw it myself said R rudderman it's certain only tradition that there are many shuls in in Poland and Eastern Europe that had a Jewish star and yeshivas that had a Jewish star on their Paras and everybody daving there there were GD Toro that DAV in such shs so the young Rabbi said I I hear I hear what you say um but you know what that was before the state of Israel that was before 1948 this is now post 1948 and everybody sees that really representing or at least this group in the sh sees that is representing the state of Israel so Rabbi rudan then said the following he said if it does represent Zionism and it does represent the state of Israel I still don't see any problem with having a star of David that represents the state of Israel on the Paras it may be true that there are those in the land of Israel today and those that have led that movement of returning to the land of Israel that were not religious but we're waiting for them and the possibility and the potential that they are going to become religious and that the state of Israel will move in that direction right we should not look at that in with negativity so that's what he that's what he told this uh this young man and that's what Rabbi Rabbi Lao what he overheard again I'm not sure how it all played out but the idea that RAB rudan was expressing is uh again in a certain sense what what what we learned this morning in terms of Riv cook that yes it's true that those people that are returning to the land of Israel and that Zionism may not have been a religious Zionism but that does not mean that there's that that's negative that's not that's not considered to be a negative rbbi rudderman put it that way R cook is really putting it in in a very very positive sense and and that the Jews that are returning not just to see them as as not negative but the greatness of that generation the greatness of those that are building the land of Israel that they're part of a an era of of a TFA of an era of of a kind of Messianic ER as well so that's one story one uh one other story just to close I'm not sure if if anyone saw this on social media there was it it was going around a couple of weeks ago kind of became viral in like the modern Orthodox and the isiv universities circles there was a uh a video that was going around of one of the hostages that was freed and he made a braa and it was uh it was held up in the isiv university in the Bas medish a rabbi held up the phone as he was making the be and the entire and the entire B medish answered aain and that they danced after after hearing the beatl I'm not sure did anybody anybody see that okay good you saw that good so Rabbi Shai Shar who's the son of referal Shar so he he kind of he told the backstory gave the backstory around uh around what happened and what occurred so by the way this is one of his name was L his name is lwis or Louise I think he pronounced his name Louise he was one of the two hostages that was freed in that daring Mission and uh they miraculously brought those uh those two hostages home Rabbi Shai shakar he's a rabbi in the five towns he's a rabbi in the Young Israel of Woodmere and the family of this man a couple of months ago came to Woodmere came to New York they spoke in a number of shs this is where their father is being held in captivity and at that time going going back a number of months and he he he had a relationship he he met them and he continued to have a relationship with his family he reached out to them a number of times he he called them on a regular basis to see how they were doing and um I think he you know helped to to raise some funds as well for the family he happened just to be coming to Israel this RAB Shai shakar the son of rakar H happened to be coming to Israel for a couple of days to see his family and as he was about to board the flight so he heard that this man was freed that that miraculous you know Mission and that they freed this man he called the family and um and how happy they were and on the flight over he was in touch with the family you know today you can have Wi-Fi on the the flight right even those 12 hours you're you're not free from from work and and all your emails so he's in touch with them as he's on his way to Israel and they write him that they would like him to come to the hospital and to meet the father as the father is coming to the hospital for the very first time as as he was freed it's going to it's going to work out as he lands that he can come directly to the hospital so he writes back that I don't really think I should necessarily be there you know this is a time it's a time that you're seeing your father for the very first time and and I'm not sure if it's my place to be there but they say no we would like you to be there and as a rabbi and we've developed a close relationship with one another that you should be there with us so he lands in uh in Tel Aviv he's now about 20 minutes uh that he can drive to the uh to tell hash hospital to meet this man Louise and the family right after he's been freed and he calls his father Rabel Shak who's one of the G Torah one of the great uh one of the great rabbis of our community and uh of the Jewish community and he calls of Usher Weiss as well who's one of the pokim one of the great pokim of of our time lives here in AR and he asked the following question he says what braa should I is there braa that I need to make when I see the hostage for the very first time because the question to say or is there like he wants to again as as a rabbi he wants to do the right thing and uh so R shar's father says I'm not sure about that let me you know let me check and rasher white says I need about a half hour to research that as well and I'll get back to you and he says I don't have a half hour I have 20 minutes until I'm going to get to the hospital so his father said say the following he says I'm not sure in terms of what braa you make but but there is a braa that he should make and you should tell him to recite the following BR of H right the BR of that as he's free to make the braa thanking Hashem for that Miracle so R then said the father he didn't say to his father but he that is what he described in the sheer he said I love my father very much but I'm I'm not going to follow my father's advice or his instructions with that because I'm meeting this man for the very first time this man is not a religious man he said he never opened a sitter he never walked into a Shool I'm not going to tell him that he has a you know an obligation to make this braa start opening a sitter and and have him make a braa it's not not appropriate for me to do that at that time so he comes to the he comes to the uh comes to the hospital and uh there's a very very beautiful beautiful meeting with the family and with Louise with this man they hug one another they're crying on each other's shoulders and um and then Louise turns to turns to RAB Shai Shak he's meeting him for the very first time he says by the way this is the first time I'm meeting an orthodox Rabbi in my life my first time ever certainly hugging an orthodox Rabbi but first time meeting an orthodox Rabbi and he then says the following he says I would like to make a braa I would like to to make a blessing if I can can and so at that moment he says okay well now I have you know now I can follow what my what my father instructed me to do so he takes out a sitter and uh he says this is the but the is that ideally a bir should be said not just yourself it should be with a minion right ideally it should be with 10 people he doesn't have 10 men there to recite the braa so he comes up comes up with the following idea very quickly he says let me call the Yu Bas medish I'll call he knows Rabbi Liu it's one of the rabbis I'll call him and even though it's a question in terms of answering I to that's on Zoom or on FaceTime but he remembered from Corona that R allows it in certain circumstances so that's what he did so he had the man look at the you know look at his cell phone recite the braa and everybody they held this up in yu to the 200 students and he said the braa reciting AA again said it was the very first time in his life that he recited AA first time opening a sitter he recited the birl and he watched as 200 students over 200 students answer aain and they all begin to dance um for him in the base medish in uh in yiva University and then Shai shakar turned to him and he said that you should know that we've been praying for you all of these months and the entire Jewish people have been praying for for you that you should be freed and you should know how much the Jewish people care for you and have been doing for you so this is quite an amazing story and that's where the story ends um but the one of the lessons of the story is something that I I believe Riv cook believed in and what we learned this morning Riv cook believed that the first stage of the Redemption is a return to the land of Israel is physically building the land of Israel but then R cook writes that ultimately that's going to to bring a great spiritual Revival to am Israel it's only a matter of time it's only a matter of time R cook says as Jews are living in the land of Israel and they're going to have yes we're going to have our beautiful Apartments we're going to have our beautiful cars we're going to have a beautiful setting all the beautiful the restaurants and the malls that we have today barem as you enter as you going into the old city you first have to walk through mamila mall all these beautiful shops and all the beautiful restaurants but then the Jewish people are going to want more than that they're going to want more than just the physical the aid they're going to want the spirituality of erit hakodesh and that's going to happen stage one is mhia Ben yose building the land of Israel we should see that as a great movement as a great gift as great people that led that movement But ultimately that all of am Israel to be unified and spiritually uh spiritually ignited in the land of Israel with everyone well amen yes we should be to see that