Residents of the Land

It is well known that the Chofetz Chaim, zt”l, yearned to move the Eretz Yisrael with all of his soul, and even made several plans to leave the diaspora for the holy land. The residents of Eretz Yisrael were so excited when they heard about this that they even built a shul for him. Sadly, his desire never came to fruition.
When the Chofetz Chaim’s son, Rav Leib, visited Eretz Yisrael and then returned to galus, his father rebuked him. “Why didn’t you stay? Returning was nothing more than a foolish mistake. We are in the time known as ikvesa d’mishichah, the end of days. When Moshiach finally arrives, we cannot be sure that we will have the merit to even enter eretz Yisrael. But if we are already living in the land before Moshiach arrives we can feel secure that we will not be evicted from our home...”
When Rav Yashar, z”l, recounted this story he commented, “One may well wonder about the Chofetz Chaim’s source for this surprising teaching. I believe that his source is from the gemara. In Kesuvos 111 we find that the land and holiness of Eretz Yisrael is compared to the altar. This is learned from the proof that one who is buried in Eretz Yisrael is considered as if he is buried under the mizbeach. We see this from the verse. On the one hand we find, 'וכיפר אדמתו עמו' and it also says, 'מזבח אדמה תעשה לי'. This equates the land of Eretz Yisrael to the altar.
“Since we find in Zevachim 84 that what is brought up on the altar is not removed except under exceptional circumstances, it seems clear that the same is true of one who is already in Eretz Yisrael before Moshiach comes!”

The Laws of the Future

Many people wonder why there are so many halachos which don’t seem to have any application today. Of course on a simple level they explain the halachos of what used to be, and we can certainly learn various halachos from how these cases where dealt with. Nevertheless, why learn what is mostly not applicable today? The Chasam Sofer, zt”l, answered this question while dealing with a different query.
“Once a certain Rav asked me to explain what will happen to the parshah of Amalek in the ultimate future. Surely this evil nation will be eradicated, so why have verses discussing this in the Torah? To me this did not present a problem since there are many parshios in the Torah which will not apply in times to come on a simple level. Take Parshas Terumah, Tetzaveh and the like, which discuss the halachos of building the Mishkan. How could this possibly apply in the ultimate future?
“The answer can be understood through of our sages. They wonder why we learn the tractates dealing with sacrifices; after all, these halachos will not apply until Moshiach arrives. The gemara responds that although they are truly laws that will only apply with the coming of Moshiach, we should still learn and expound them since we will be rewarded for their study.
“The same is true regarding all other parshios that apparently no longer apply. We will receive reward for learning them since we can learn many lessons in the realm of derech eretz, mussar, and yiras Shamayim from them even if do not apply right now in the simple sense. Is learning lessons of midos tovos, derech eretz, and yiras Shamayim any less important than learning actual halachos?”

The Merit of Building Eretz Yisrael

When Ashkenazim began making aliyah to Eretz Yisrael in the modern period, groups were formed to purchase as much land as possible from the Arabs. After World War I, a group called “Neve Sha’anan” was established for this purpose. This group acquired an abundance of land in Yerushalayim. It was on land acquired by this group that the Kenesset and the original government complex was built. It should be noted that the majority of such groups at that time were founded and run by observant Jews.
On one occasion when Rav Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld, zt”l, was present at one such purchase he gave a very moving speech. “Our sages teach that Omri became king because he added a city to Yisrael. From here we see the great merit of those who are occupied with the mitzvah of building up the holy land: due to this, one merits to rule.
“In our day we see that the Zionists add many cities and yishuvim in Eretz Yisrael and this certainly gives them merits. It is possible that due to this development they will merit to rule the holy land before Moshaich comes. If this is the direction that we are heading in, it is incumbent on all of us to build religious neighborhoods and moshavim throughout the holy land, since only in this way will we stand up to those who wish to swallow up all religious sentiment, emptying the land of all holiness to form a profane state.
“Our answer can only be resounding if we have a strong presence here. We will then be able to proclaim: ‘Your plans will never come to fruition!’”
He completed his speech with the verse, 'סולו סולו המסילה סלקו מאבן'—‘Cast up, cast up the highway; gather out the stones!’” As he finished he quickly slipped off the podium, removed his coat and bent to the ground. With alacrity and enthusiasm, he began to clear away the stones, intoning the verse 'סולו סולו המסילה סלקו מאבן' over and over again, with the crowd soon following behind until a broad path was cleared.

Generation of Moshiach: Entirely Righteous or Entirely Guilty

Rav Yechiel Mordechai Gordon, zt”l, the Rosh Yeshivah of Lomza, was always filled with a burning desire for Moshiach. It is no surprise that such a sensitive person was also very concerned at the low state of spiritual development in the average Jew, especially among the disaffected. He was always filled with love for every fellow Jew and was quick to be melamed zechus on others.
He once wrote in a letter to a student: “Our sages tell us that Moshiach will come in a generation that will either be completely righteous or completely wicked. We can understand this statement in context of the verse in Shmuel which tell us that Hashem struck down, ‘seventy men, and fifty thousand men’ after they had gazed inappropriately at the ark that had returned from the Pelishtim. Our sages explain that each of those seventy was like fifty thousand. A second opinion is that each of the fifty thousand was like one of the seventy sages who sat on the Sanhedrin.
“Either way, this teaches that in heaven, numbers can sometimes work very differently than in mundane terms, especially if there is a pressing need. In this context it is quite possible that a small group of people could count like most of the generation, since quality is what will be counted. Indeed, the Zohar teaches that even one congregation that does true teshuvah can bring the ultimate redemption. It is therefore possible to fulfill a generation that is completely obligated: that is the overwhelming majority are in spiritual low places. Yet at the same time it is completely righteous since the quality of avodah of a smaller group counts like a majority.”
The Shem MiShmuel, zt”l, learns this differently. “It means that the generation will have two polar extremes. Either people will be completely righteous or the opposite.”
The Chiddushei HaRim, zt”l, taught that the statement is actually a goad to self-reflection. “It means that people will think they are completely righteous. This is the greatest failing possible!”

Moshiach: the Meaning of Inattention

Rav Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld, zt”l, would deliver a daily shiur in the shul in Batei Machseh between Mincha and Maariv. Once one of the regular attendees of the shiur asked him a question about how Moshiach will arrive. “Our sages teach that Moshiach will only arrive when we aren’t paying attention. But how can that possibly be? After all, Moshiach’s coming is a core belief mentioned in ani ma’amin which we recite daily. In addition, we daven for the advent of Moshiach in every shemonah esrei; how could we possibly forget him? ”
The Rav replied with a question of his own. “What is ‘hesech hada’as’? If someone were to tell us sitting here in shul discussing Moshiach that he has actually arrived and is standing on our street, we would be astounded and would all instinctively cry out in our shock: ‘Can it be true??’
“This is the state of distraction to which our sages referred.”
The Shem MiShmuel, zt”l, asked a similar question but offered a very different answer. “Our sages revealed that Moshiach will only come when we have given up on the redemption. Of course this cannot be literal. It can be understood in the context of a revealing statement once made by the Maggid of Mezritch, zt”l, ‘Even if I were to fall and violate a terrible sin, chas v’shalom, I would never fall away from my avodas Hashem. The reason why is because I do not serve Hashem to avoid gehinom or to attain the world to come. I serve him like a slave serves him master with no thought of reward for doing his duty.’
The Shem MiShmuel continued, “This attitude is laid down by the Mishnah in Avos: ‘Be like slaves who serve their master with no thought of reward.’ Of course serving Hashem brings one vitality and eternal life,but one should not serve Hashem only on condition of receiving reward. As our sages say in the Sifri: ‘One should not learn only to be a ben olam haba. Instead, he should act from love and the honor due to him will come.’
“This is what it means to ‘give up’ on the redemption: people will focus on serving Hashem out of love, not the reward they will receive after Moshiach arrives!”

Shabbos in Breslau

Once during the summer, Rav Yisrael of Ruzhin, zt”l, was in Breslau, Germany for Shabbos. Breslau was a spa town where one could convalesce and strengthen his health, and that was the purpose of the Rebbe’s visit.
On Friday, he saw the town’s large Jewish population heading home from shul while it was still light. This was the custom in Germany then and is still the custom in many places where one needs to eat early, especially when there are many families with young children. To the Rebbe’s shock, the people were carrying despite the town’s absolute lack of an eruv. It was clear that they felt no inhibition for their sinful behavior.
He wondered aloud, “Twenty-four hours of chilul Shabbos is not enough for them so they extend Shabbos to desecrate it for a full twenty-six hours?”
But his next comment showed how to react when Shabbos is desecrated by those who don’t know better. “Our sages teach that Moshiach will only arrive in a generation that is completely righteous or completely wicked, or חייב. But how could a generation be completely righteous? And we know that a generation cannot be completely wicked since we are promised, 'כי לא תשכח מפי זרעו'—‘For the Torah shall not be forgotten from the mouths of his children.’
He continued, “Obviously this statement means that Moshiach will come in a generation where people are either completely wicked or completely righteous. It seems clear that the people here are ready for Moshiach, since they completely disregard the Torah. But we must also be truly ready from our side, by eradicating any negative behavior and fulfilling the mitzvos perfectly, so that we are completely righteous and Moshiach can come.”

Judging Favorably

The Klausenberger Rebbe, zt”l, once gave a very inspiring shiur about judging others favorably. “The Chozeh of Lublin, zt”l, explained that the greater a tzaddik is, the more he is able to judge others favorably. A true tzaddik can even see the good in a wicked person who appears to have no positive qualities at all. The tzaddik searches and searches until he is finally able to see good even in him.
“We find a similar idea in the writings of the students of the Arizal regarding the special quality of Moshiach. He will truly understand the motivations of even the worst person, and this will enable him to always give the other the benefit of the doubt. This explains why we judges in a capital case which sentenced someone to death must fast. The gemara learns this from the verse, 'לא תאכלו על הדם'—‘Do not eat upon the blood.’ The fact that the sanhedrin found someone guilty means that they must fast. If they were truly righteous, they would have found a way to judge the murderer favorably, as expressed in the startling statement of Rabbi Tarfon and Rabbi Akiva: ‘If we were in the sanhedrin no one would ever have been killed.’ Due to their great righteousness they would have found a way to exonerate even the worst-seeming wicked person in the world.”

Waiting for Moshiach

Rav Kahaneman, the Ponevezher Rav, zt”l, recalled how he became the youngest member of the kodshim kollel of the Chofetz Chaim, zt”l, in Radin.
“A short while after I had joined the yeshiva in Radin, I left the Beis Medrash one day after Shachris, and I noticed the Chofetz Chaim, zt”l, standing by the door with his tallis bag in his hand. He looked at me in a marked manner as the baalei Mussar generally do when they want to speak with someone. Naturally, I immediately approached the Gadol.
He took me by the arm and said, “You are a kohein, so let me ask you a question: In Taanis 17 we find that since the Beis HaMikdash can be rebuilt on any weekday, it is proper nowadays for kohanim to refrain from drinking wine. We kohanim must be ready to do the avodah at all times, and since it is prohibited to do the avodah while drunk, we really shouldn’t be drinking at all. Yet the Gemara then says that our ‘kalkalah,’ that which might otherwise be our ruin, is also our rectification. Since the kohanim don’t know to which mishmar they belong now, there will be a big wait until each kohein will be told this vital information by Eliyahu HaNavi.”
The Chofetz Chaim went on, “We are taught that drinking too much wine wears off by sleeping or walking. For this reason, any negative effects of the wine will wear off by the time each kohein gets to his turn on line. Now, that’s all very well with regards to wine. But what will a kohein do who is not familiar with the seder avodah? A kohein who is not proficient in all aspects of the avodah will certainly not be able to serve! Is he not much worse off than a drunk? Traveling or sleeping will correct inebriation, not ignorance! You are a Kohein. We are waiting for Moshiach every instant. How will you do the avodah when he comes? It is incumbent upon you to learn seder kodshim right away!”
“As you can imagine, I joined the Chofetz Chaim’s kodshim kollel that very day!”