The Eighth...

Tonight is Zot Chanukah.  It is the Eighth, the point in time where reality meets the divine.  The Maharaal in Tiferet Yisrael likens the Torah  to the Eighth.  The Torah is divine and it is that with which we refine ourselves and the world around us.  In a sense it is this that the Hashmonaim were fighting about.  The Yavanim (Greeks) believed in only what they saw and could rationalize. They believed in an intellect unguided by revelation.  The Torah is beyond that, it  represents the fusion between the divine and the physical.  It is our brit with the Creator which forces us to draw the divine light into reality through out actions. We believe in "Moshe K'Bal Torah M'Sinai." K'Bal...Receive.

Zot Chanukah is the culmination of the increasing kedushah.  It is one beyond the completion of 7 and yet that moment of moving beyond the natural order is more than just a digit, it is one that is complete change.  Ultimately that is the idea behind Moshiach.  He is like us, flesh and blood, but he is beyond.  In a sense his anointment with oil is our anointment, for he is "the heart of the Am."  One moment we are a nation with a heart of stone and the next moment we are one with a heart of flesh.  Redemption is about moving from the seventh to the eight.  We are still here, the natural order is unchanged, but inner clarity is complete and beyond.

The Midrash says points out while Moshe was the seventh, it was David who was the eighth and it is David who will reign at the end.  More than complete, a fusion of the divine and physical, a clarity of our covenant, and renewal of our Kingdom.

Our Land

It has begun.  Our Land yearns for the truth bound up within it.  It's holiness is unbounded, unfurled in front of the world.  With each new hill that is settled, claimed, the ancient Israeli returns.  No force can stop it and no power can subdue it. The argument and fight between a government that weakens in the face of world pressure and denies true Zionist heroes a house has now witnessed the children born after Oslo come of age.  No more flowers and no more hugs.  These are the children who witnessed Amona and saw that they must steer a different course. Is there a surprise?  The government knocks down homes of Jewish patriots and pours money into the modern Plishtim, the nation that is not a nation.

There is a force that is rising.  It is angry and in pain.  This is the force of the Supernal Mashiach ben Yosef imbued in the Land and that has fallen asleep in recent years.  However, the ancient Israeli has awakened, anew, alive.  "Shake yourself free, rise from the dust..."

The Final Act
Meanwhile the Kingdom of Gog U Magog is coming.  It is positioning itself on the East Side of the Jordan.  This is the Land of Gilead, the home of Eliyahu HaNavi and well inside the Land of Israel. Yet the real Israel is rising.  Authentic in spirit, free of the idolatry of Liberal Democracy.  The world will come because they cannot handle a Nation who returns to its true roots and source and does not bow tot he Bavel of Globalism.

These false leaders and peacemakers are trying to stop the final revelation of the Creator's light that comes with the rebuilding of the Beit Hamikdash and anointing of our true king and the reestablishment of the Sanhedrin.

We must settle new hills and build more houses and not let those forces who seek to prevent the complete Geulah and the full realization of the Creator's countenance from doing so.

Solutions to Our Conflict

The Nation of Israel has returned to its Land, yet we have been afraid to extend full control over our rightful inheritance.  Why is that? Essentially we lack belief/emunah.  We have long ceased to nurture the inner fire of our redemptive spirit that so pushed the founders of our nascent State.  Whether they believed in a "religious" sense isn't the point, they understood they were part of a profound change in the situation of the Jewish people.  Our generation fails to grasp that we are also part of an amazing historical current, which is flowing to a more perfect world.  We have lost sense of this so much that we are willing to part with areas of our inheritance and give it away to those who lack an historical, just, and most importantly G-dly claim.  There can never really be a two state solution, because a two state solution posits that our Land can be divided, which it cannot.

Thankfully there are those pushing for more than just the same peace slogans, and are getting the idea of one indivisible united Israel out on the table.  We must prepare in our minds and souls for a new approach. For believers in our cause there is only one solution: The One State Solution.

Is It Really Falling Apart or Getting Better?

The world is moving closer to something big and in a sense we are in the middle of the big moment already. The the divine light of the Creator, which drives our reality and pushes history has brought us to this point and yet there is a confusion as the mask falls from the faceless ruler of evil.

There is a covering through nature of the truth.  In the past it has been concentrated in evil and despotic rulers and yet now it is far worse, it is the machine bureaucracy and empty superlatives highlighting the benefit of Western thought and Democracy. The people vote and feel they have a say and so the old grievances feel less and over all connection to true ideology and the divine root of existence wanes.

This faceless ruler (the Memshelet Zadon according to Rav Wolbe in Alei Shur) is falling and with it the many things we hold dear.  Our comfortable world views are not so comfortable and we feel that things are spiralling out of control as the forces of globalization are stalled and shown to be broken.  Despite all of this, we see things are getting better, especially in Israel.  We are progressing and building and growing.  Is it perfect, no, but we are on an upward trajectory.  This is a direction towards something perfect, divine and true hidden in the world and covered by the faceless evil now becoming passe. This sublime truth of existence, the divine light and stream of G-dly consciousness is being revealed by us. 

The fall of Malchut Gog u Magog is not pretty.  It isn't supposed to be, but it is happening much more mercifully than we thought it would and that is the puzzle. We have imagined the end for centuries and this in many ways doesn't fit and yet when we learn Tanach and Gemorah and of course the writings of HaRav Kook and the Vilna Gaon we see, what is happening is exactly the way it should be.

Ruling From Above

לד  וַיָּגָר אַבְרָהָם בְּאֶרֶץ פְּלִשְׁתִּים, יָמִים רַבִּים.  {פ}

34 And Avraham sojourned in the land of the Philistines many days. {P}

In the midst of the tension and euphoria of the pending release of Gilad Shalit I want to move beyond the pros and cons of the deal since it appears to be a done deal.  We have a problem as a Nation a sickness if you will.  In a sense we have been dwelling for far too long in our Land which in irony is the same land of the Plishtim for our Lands are one and the same.  By the Torah telling us Avraham dwelt in the Land of the Plishtim it was informing us that there are times when even in our land it is not truly ours.

These Plishtim both modern and in the past are nothing more than a non nation, a mix of outcasts masquerading as an ancient clan deserving of a home land here in our Land. Gilad Shalit represents all of us for he has dwelled in the "Land of the Plishtim for many days" as we all have.  Our Nation is bound in many ways to the Palestinian struggle.  We are stuck and submerged in the lies and falsehoods of our enemies.  We know that each member of Am Yisrael is a microcosm of the whole Nation and so Gilad Shalit suffered in captivity within Israel and yet within the Land of the Plishtim at the same time.  His release is our release.  His return home is our return home

Returning A Captive

The sages teach us that the returning of a Jewish captive is greater than all other mitzvot. It is a strange mitzvah, because by redeeming a captive we are in  sense rewarding those that put the captive there, no matter the price. Yet we go forward with it anyhow.  It is dangerous!  Many are saying.  Yes it is, but we are implored in the second to last siman in Hoshen Mishpat to risk our lives to save our fellow Jew's life and/or property.  The collective Am Yisrael seems to be willing to do that.  The deal isn't fair; we all know that.  Then again life is often times not fair. The Shalits as much as we feel for them have put the nation in a tight position.  Not everyone would.  Others have sucked it up and dealt with their fate (i.e. Jonathan Pollard), because they did not want the nation to suffer like they had, but this really isn't about the Shalit family anymore, it is about us.  Are we up for the task?  Are we ready to move on in our Land and leave the land of the Plishtim behind?

Ruling Our Land

The name Gilad Shalit hints at a greater correlation between his release and the unfolding Geulah process. Shalit means ruler. Gilad is the place of Eretz Yisrael home to Eliyahu HaNavi.  We don't know the end of this story, for the story of Gilad Shalit as every captive Jew is really all of our stories.  We as a nation are a vessel for the divine light, which holds up the world.  It penetrates our being whether we are aware of it or not.  It is this role we play as a divine nation that puts us into this world as a partner in building it and nurturing it from a spiritual perspective. Gilad Shalit's release despite the emotional dilemma it causes us will help us to move forward as a Nation towards the complete redemption.  This is simply because, like Eliyahu HaNavi, we are a Nation which rules our Land from above and beyond nature. This is the very point and power behind Pidiyun HaShevuiim (redeeming a captive), it is above the intellect and forces us to believe in something bigger than ourselves. May Gilad Shalit's release be a sign for good things to come to our Nation and may it be the key which unlocks all of our captives as well as all of us.

Mozia

Just before Shabbat I took two of our kids along with a friend and his children to our Yishuv's long time defunct Givah, named Mozia.  The youth had started it years previously in response to Gush Katif, but it has since remained dormant of activity until recently.  My community's youth or at least some of them have gone away to Yeshivot and come back energized and ready to revive Mozia.  It might not be much, but it is a beginning and just like anything else, a beginning is better than nothing.

Here are the pictures...enjoy and Chag Somayach!

The kids on the way down (we are a few meters from the last house on the Yishuv)

Behind Us

One of our community's most fearless builders

Mozia's sign

Mozia and it's Succa

Doesn't look like much, but its a start

Starting a house!

"And the Lord was with Yehudah..."

יט  וַיְהִי יְהוָה אֶת-יְהוּדָה, וַיֹּרֶשׁ אֶת-הָהָר:  כִּי לֹא לְהוֹרִישׁ אֶת-יֹשְׁבֵי הָעֵמֶק, כִּי-רֶכֶב בַּרְזֶל לָהֶם.	19 And the LORD was with Yehuda; and he drove out the inhabitants of the hill-country; for he could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron.
כ  וַיִּתְּנוּ לְכָלֵב אֶת-חֶבְרוֹן, כַּאֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר מֹשֶׁה; וַיּוֹרֶשׁ מִשָּׁם, אֶת-שְׁלֹשָׁה בְּנֵי הָעֲנָק.	20 And they gave Hebron unto Caleb, as Moses had spoken; and he drove out thence the three sons of Anak.
כא  וְאֶת-הַיְבוּסִי יֹשֵׁב יְרוּשָׁלִַם, לֹא הוֹרִישׁוּ בְּנֵי בִנְיָמִן; וַיֵּשֶׁב הַיְבוּסִי אֶת-בְּנֵי בִנְיָמִן, בִּירוּשָׁלִַם, עַד, הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה.  {פ}	21 And the children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites that inhabited Jerusalem; but the Jebusites dwelt with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem, unto this day. {P}

When the HaShem is with us we are victorious.  We have come home to dwell in our ancient homeland...we have been victorious in expressing the divine will of the prophets and yet we fail to recognize it.  HaShem is with us, but we act like Binyamin and let our enemies dwell among us.  They throw rocks and kill and we do nothing. They live and prosper and grow and more of our Nation suffers.

Both the tribe of Yehudah (including Shimon) and Binyamin remained after the exile of the Northern Kingdom.  They in a sense merged together and so too these two aspects as well. There is part of our Nation which dwells alone, willing to fight for our Land and their are others who wish to have our enemies dwell among us.  This not a malicious desire, but one of misplaced focus.  We are not yet in final throes of the Geulah process where "the wolf will lie down with the lamb."  We have yet to conquer our Land fully and so we have a struggle within.

Interestingly when we returned from our first exile (both Yehudah and Binyamin) we united in vision and purpose against our internal adversaries and despite this unity we became weak and our building was frozen:

א  וַיִּשְׁמְעוּ, צָרֵי יְהוּדָה וּבִנְיָמִן:  כִּי-בְנֵי הַגּוֹלָה בּוֹנִים הֵיכָל, לַיהוָה אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל.	1 Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity were building a temple unto the LORD, the God of Israel;
ב  וַיִּגְּשׁוּ אֶל-זְרֻבָּבֶל וְאֶל-רָאשֵׁי הָאָבוֹת, וַיֹּאמְרוּ לָהֶם נִבְנֶה עִמָּכֶם--כִּי כָכֶם, נִדְרוֹשׁ לֵאלֹהֵיכֶם; ולא (וְלוֹ) אֲנַחְנוּ זֹבְחִים, מִימֵי אֵסַר חַדֹּן מֶלֶךְ אַשּׁוּר, הַמַּעֲלֶה אֹתָנוּ, פֹּה.	2 then they drew near to Zerubbabel, and to the heads of fathers' houses, and said unto them: 'Let us build with you; for we seek your God, as ye do; and we do sacrifice unto Him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us up hither.'
ג  וַיֹּאמֶר לָהֶם זְרֻבָּבֶל וְיֵשׁוּעַ, וּשְׁאָר רָאשֵׁי הָאָבוֹת לְיִשְׂרָאֵל--לֹא-לָכֶם וָלָנוּ, לִבְנוֹת בַּיִת לֵאלֹהֵינוּ:  כִּי אֲנַחְנוּ יַחַד נִבְנֶה, לַיהוָה אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל, כַּאֲשֶׁר צִוָּנוּ, הַמֶּלֶךְ כּוֹרֶשׁ מֶלֶךְ-פָּרָס.	3 But Zerubbabel, and Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of fathers' houses of Israel, said unto them: 'Ye have nothing to do with us to build a house unto our God; but we ourselves together will build unto the LORD, the God of Israel, as king Cyrus the king of Persia hath commanded us.'
ד  וַיְהִי, עַם-הָאָרֶץ--מְרַפִּים, יְדֵי עַם-יְהוּדָה; ומבלהים (וּמְבַהֲלִים) אוֹתָם, לִבְנוֹת.	4 Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and harried them while they were building,
ה  וְסֹכְרִים עֲלֵיהֶם יוֹעֲצִים, לְהָפֵר עֲצָתָם--כָּל-יְמֵי, כּוֹרֶשׁ מֶלֶךְ פָּרַס, וְעַד-מַלְכוּת, דָּרְיָוֶשׁ מֶלֶךְ-פָּרָס.	5 and hired counsellors against them, to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.
ו  וּבְמַלְכוּת, אֲחַשְׁוֵרוֹשׁ, בִּתְחִלַּת, מַלְכוּתוֹ--כָּתְבוּ שִׂטְנָה, עַל-יֹשְׁבֵי יְהוּדָה וִירוּשָׁלִָם.  {ס}	6 And in the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, wrote they an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem. {S}

This is where we are now.  We have returned under the auspices of International Agreement (Balfour Declaration) just like under Cyrus and we are surrounded by our adversaries (צָרֵי יְהוּדָה וּבִנְיָמִן). They are our enemies of old.  They have an aspect of the Plishtim and filled with the spirit of Amalek (who relishes attacking women and children).  After all we know that it was in fact Haman that was called צֹרֵר הַיְּהוּדִים.

י  וַיָּסַר הַמֶּלֶךְ אֶת-טַבַּעְתּוֹ, מֵעַל יָדוֹ; וַיִּתְּנָהּ, לְהָמָן בֶּן-הַמְּדָתָא הָאֲגָגִי--צֹרֵר הַיְּהוּדִים.

10 And the king took his ring from his hand, and gave it unto Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the Jews' enemy.

These are the only two places in the Tanach where this expression is used. Both were Amalek.

It is true that HaShem is with us and at the same time the Creator is hidden within the working of nature and geopolitics. It is hard to see how we will found our way out of this situation. We need to know one thing, one idea. Rosh Hoshanah is the time to crown HaShem the King of the world. This is not for us, but for the whole world. HaShem is guiding us to Geulah Sleima. There are enemies among us that believe we have no right to live here. They deny us our rightful place in our Ancient biblically mandated homeland. In doing so they deny the providence of the Creator and so they reveal their true hate for him and for us.

If we believe that the our G-d is the same G-d who took us out of Mitzrayim (Egypt) and is the same G-d who directs the Universe's historical forces then no matter how dark it looks and how many victims have fallen to the hands of our sworn enemies, we know that HaShem is King and he can and will bring Geulah in an instant. We just have to do our part.