Lessons
in Truth
23
Av, 5777 / August 15, 2017
Day 82 - The Footsteps of
Mashiach
SEFER SHEM OLAM Chapter Twelve:
The Birth pangs of Mashiach
(cont.)
That which the Talmud
predicts (Sanhedrin Ch. 11) will take place prior to Mashiachs arrival has, in fact, occurred in our
times. The same is true of the predictions in the final mishnah of
Masechta Sotah.
The
eleventh chapter of Masechta Sanhedrin is replete with statements
concerning the period preceding Mashiachs arrival. One passage there
(Sanhedrin 97a) is similar to the concluding Mishnah of
Masechta Sotah to which the Chofetz Chaim
referred:
With the footsteps of Mashiach
insolence will increase, and inflation will soar, the vine will give its
fruit but wine will be dear, and the government will turn to heresy, and there
will be no rebuke, the places of meeting will be used for immorality, and the
Galilee will be destroyed and the Gavlan desolated, and the border dwellers will
wander about from city to city, but will not be pitied, the knowledge of
scholars will be lost, those who fear sin will be despised, and the truth will
be hidden; youths will shame old men and old men will stand up for youngsters;
[it will be a time when] a son shames his father, a daughter rebels against her
mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, [and] a mans enemies are
the members of his household (Michah 7:6); the face of the generation
will be like the face of the dog [i.e. without shame Rashi]; [and] the
son is not ashamed before his father. On whom can we rely? [Only] on our Father
in Heaven (Mishnah Sotah 9:15).
On whom can we rely?
[Only] on our Father in Heaven. This means that before
Mashiachs arrival, the Jewish people will find themselves in a
position so precarious that everyone will come to the
realization that only Hashem can
rescue us from our plight (heard from Rabbi Moshe
Wolfson).
As the Jews headed toward the Sea
of Reeds at the time of the Exodus, they found themselves trapped on all sides
(see Shemos Ch. 14) and they
cried out in prayer to Hashem. Rashi
(citing Mechilta and
Tanchuma) writes: They
adopted the craft of their forefathers, meaning that they prayed the way
Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov would pray with a feeling and awareness that
without Hashems intervention they were totally lost.
(Claudia : ze baden op de manier dat Abraham, Isaac en Jacob zouden bidden - met een gevoel en bewustzijn dat zonder God's (Hashem=de Naam) tussenkomst ze volledig verloren zouden zijn)
This is what Hashem
had been waiting for and He immediately commanded Moshe: Speak to the Children
of Israel and let them journey! (ibid. v.15). It is this sort of recognition
which the Jewish people will need to demonstrate as a prelude to the Final
Redemption (based on the thoughts of Rabbi Yeruchom
Levovitz).
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