Saturday 9 April 2011

The Mashiach Within

יז כָּל-כְּלִי יוּצַר עָלַיִךְ, לֹא יִצְלָח, וְכָל-לָשׁוֹן תָּקוּם-אִתָּךְ לַמִּשְׁפָּט, תַּרְשִׁיעִי; זֹאת נַחֲלַת עַבְדֵי יְהוָה
וְצִדְקָתָם, מֵאִתִּי--נְאֻם-יְהוָה

54:17 No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their due reward from Me, saith the LORD. 
The prophet Isaiah describes the Nation of Israel as his servants.  We have a guarantee at the End of Days that the weapons of our enemies will not succeed in stopping us nor will their claims against us. The Christians believe that the word servant throughout Isaiah refer to Yeshu, yet it is clear from the above verse and others that the servant is the Nation of Israel itself (and that is the source of the Nations' hatred).  Yes, we are the servant of the Creator, his arm, his reflection in the Creation.

Medinat Yisrael, with all of its flaws is a vessel to build Messianic conscious on a National Level in the Land of Israel. According to Rav Kook in Orot Yisrael, "Knesset Yisrael, (which exists at the level of Throne of Glory) "is the essence of existence and in this world this essence flows into the Nation of Israel." To the degree the Nation of Israel connects to its supernal essence determines the level of the Creator's revealed light in the universe.

Expressing the Avot on A National Level


Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov were so connected to the divine that they were able to impart their middot (G-dly character traits) onto their children and children's children.  When Am Yisrael stood at Har Sinai they became a National entity that would be able to express the middot of the Avot using the divine tool of the Torah.

Avraham was the first person that reached the level of Messianic consciousness.  He passed this consciousness to the generations that followed and establishing this Messianic flow permanently in Creation is the purpose of the brit with the Almighty.

Mashiach as a National Goal


In the Laws of Kings the Rambam says that the king is the heart of the Nation.  When the Nation is on a lowly level, the king will reflect that and when the Nation of Israel rises above the mundane in a way that lifts up the world, the King will appear to be the King of Messianic caliber.

We the Nation of Israel have returned home to find our leaders without faith.  We stand in fear at their weakness and yet the answer lies within us.  We wait expectantly and yearn for Mashiach and yet he is no where to be found, but he is here.  We are him for he lies within waiting to be reflected on the faces of the Nation he is supposed to represent.  Each one of us is a "servant of the Almighty," and so we are a mini Mashiach within the daled amoth we live in.  We can rule, remove Amalek, and build a Mikdash within our personal lives.  We are the king of our reality.  Yet, we want others to do the work for us.

This week's parsha was   מְּצֹרָע Metzora where the Torah tells us:  

לד  כִּי תָבֹאוּ אֶל-אֶרֶץ כְּנַעַן, אֲשֶׁר אֲנִי נֹתֵן לָכֶם לַאֲחֻזָּה; וְנָתַתִּי
נֶגַע צָרַעַת, בְּבֵית אֶרֶץ אֲחֻזַּתְכֶם.

14:34 When ye are come into the land of Canaan, which I give to you for a possession, and I put the plague of leprosy in a house of the land of your possession; 

The word: צָרַעַת can be broken into two צָרַ עַת or in English the "time of pain/trouble." Am Yisrael has been brought back to its rightful Land, yet its house is full of pain, immersed in trouble.  There is a way out, a path forward to Mashiach, yet it is not in waiting expectantly.  The is to realize we are already here. We the collective Mashaich have come home. Despite its flaws we have returned to our house and when we realize that we are home the heart of the Nation, the true King will be revealed and we will have Geulah Shleimah.  May it be soon.

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