Part II
In the first part, HaRav Taub explained that
yissurim are a kindness from Hashem, to cleanse us of
our sins in Olom Hazeh. This is a kindness because the
cleansing of the neshomoh in Olom Hazeh is
immeasurably easier than the purification of the
neshomoh in Gehennom. Yissurim thus have no
connection to middas Hadin. They are solely and purely
from middas Horachamim. Yissurim also allow us to draw
truly close to Hashem in Olom Hazeh by lessening our
physical barrier to coming close to Hashem. Yissurim
are also a powerful educational tool in the hands of the
Creator, Who gives us yissurim that are measure for
measure, so that we'll know what we have to rectify, and also
how to do so.
*
In light of this, the question must be asked: If
yissurim are so beneficial, why is it permitted for us
to pray that we should never have them? On the contrary, we
ought to pray from the depths of our hearts that we should
merit to have yissurim!
The answer to this question comes from examining an even
stronger question about the prayer we recite every day: "Do
not bring us into . . . the power of nisoyon,
challenge."
A challenge is not meant to test our spiritual level. Hashem
knows exactly where we are holding. The whole reason for the
challenge is to enable us to elevate our spiritual level.
Whenever we pass a test we rise to a higher spiritual level,
which is the gain achieved by the fact we stood strong in
face of the challenge. [Therefore, it is axiomatic that a
person will never receive a challenge he cannot meet.] It
seems as though a prayer that we shouldn't be challenged is
basically a request that we should remain spiritual dwarfs in
our avodas Hashem, G-d forbid. How is it permitted to
make such a request?
The answer is that certainly the purpose of the challenge is
to enable us to grow in avodas Hashem. But if we're
not successful in passing the test, we lose horribly. We
would be lacking the spiritual growth and, more importantly,
we would have experienced a spiritual downfall as a result of
failing the test. Therefore, before we're tested we have the
right to ask not to be tested at all, lest we fail the
test.
The same thing applies to yissurim. They have enormous
benefit, as we learned. But this all depends on accepting
them in the right way — in love and with appreciation
for their great value. [This is explained at length in
Sha'arei Teshuvoh, Sha'ar Sheini, 2-5, from
haderech horishon until dibbur hamaschil
umei'inyan].
Accepting yissurim in joy is a greater level, as
Chazal say: "Those who are humiliated but don't humiliate in
return, who hear their disgrace and don't answer back, who
accept yissurim in love and joy: about them the verse
states: `And those who love Him will be like the rising of
the sun in all its power'" (Shabbos 88b).
This joy originates in the joy of receiving such precious and
beneficial yissurim, and in the joy of realizing
Hashem's love for the one who receives yissurim,
because he realizes that Hashem's love for him is the precise
reason why he receives the yissurim. As a result, the
person receiving yissurim increases his love for
Hashem. This means that someone who is able to accept
yissurim with joy will come to love Hashem as well.
But out of fear that we won't accept the yissurim at
least with love, and therefore as a result we may lose out
horribly, it's permitted to request that they should never
come. If they do come though, we must strive to accept them
with joy, or at least with love.
Creation was designed in such a way that the created beings
would bring the world to its ultimate purpose, which is "the
perfection of the universe in the Almighty's sovereignty"
(Oleinu prayer). The intermediate purpose, and the
means by which creation will come to its ultimate purpose is
kabbolas HaTorah, the acceptance of the Torah by the
Jewish people. In this aspect, only the Jewish people remain
in the original purpose of the "created beings." Only they
have the power to bring "the perfection of the universe in
the Almighty's sovereignty."
The purpose of each individual Jew is to fulfill his part in
"the perfection of the universe in the Almighty's
sovereignty." [The purpose we spoke about earlier, the
perfection of the neshomoh to enjoy the radiance of
Hashem's Presence in Olom Habo, and this purpose
— fulfilling his part in "the perfection of the
universe in the Almighty's sovereignty" are not two separate
things. Rather they are "two that are as one." This is
because the greater a Jew's portion in perfecting the
universe, the more he is perfecting his neshomoh for
the pleasure of Olom Habo. The same applies in
reverse: the more he perfects his neshomoh, the more
he increases his portion in perfecting the universe.]
The perfection of the universe is accomplished through the
avodas Hashem of every created being, from the time of
Avrohom Ovinu until our day, because through avodas
Hashem we are actually accepting upon ourselves the
Almighty's sovereignty. By the power of our acceptance we
bring all of creation, including the non-Jews, to accept upon
themselves the Almighty's sovereignty as well. This is the
plain meaning of "the perfection of the universe in the
Almighty's sovereignty."
There are two calculations operating in the world: A) The
calculation of the klal, congregation, which pertains
to how many merits the Jewish people have as an entire entity
starting from Avrohom Ovinu until our day, to bring "the
perfection of the universe in the Almighty's sovereignty."
[The calculation of the merits of the klal is based on
adding up the merits of each individual Jew throughout the
generations.]
B) The second is the calculation of how much an individual
has been successful in perfecting his neshomoh for the
sake of bliss in Olom Habo.
Sin interferes with the attainment of "perfecting the
universe in the Almighty's sovereignty," just as it
interferes with the individual goal of perfecting the
neshomoh. This is because "perfecting the universe in
the Almighty's sovereignty" means that the entire world must
recognize "there is none other than He." Sin, which is
disobedience to the Creator, is a complete contradiction to
the realization that "there is none other than He."
The individual has as an option a kindness from Hashem called
Gehennom, which purifies him of sin. The klal
has no connection to the individual's Gehennom,
because the perfection of creation has to occur in Olom
Hazeh.
When an individual leaves behind a sin that wasn't rectified
by teshuvoh or yissurim, it weighs down the
entire Klal Yisroel and interferes with "the
perfection of the universe in the Almighty's sovereignty,"
and another Jew must rectify the effect of the sin. This is
the reason for the "birth pangs" of the Moshiach, which are
the yissurim that Klal Yisroel must endure in
order to lower the burden of sins weighing down on the
klal.
The arrival of the Moshiach is similar to a woman giving
birth. The closer the moment of birth, the more intense are
the pains of childbirth. So too with Klal Yisroel, the
closer the imminent redemption, the more severe are the
yissurim. This is because it's necessary to take off
the burden of sins from the entire Klal Yisroel, to
bring "the perfection of the universe in the Almighty's
sovereignty."
According to this principle, it could be for example that the
Jewish people suffered during the Holocaust because of the
sins of Jews who lived two thousand years ago.
But this raises the question: how is that fair? Why should
Jews of the Holocaust have to suffer for sins they didn't
commit?
The answer is that there is no greater merit for the
individual Jew to perfect his neshomoh than taking
part in the perfection of the entire universe, bringing it
closer to the coming of the Moshiach. The great merit given
to the Jews of the Holocaust was that by means of their
horrific suffering a large burden of sin was taken off
Klal Yisroel, bringing creation one step closer to
"the perfection of the universe in the Almighty's
sovereignty."
[Besides this, there is as well the great reward of the
individual who grew because of the yissurim by
standing up to the challenge in joy, or at least accepting
them with love, in a way that could never have been achieved
in normal times. A Holocaust survivor, who had a pure
hashkofoh, told me: "I wish I could have one-hundredth
of the growth I had during the Holocaust, but I'm far from
it."
Once, he wanted to give his last bite of bread to another
prisoner whom he saw was close to dying of starvation,
although he knew that the next day he could very well be in
the same situation as the other prisoner because he gave up
his food today. This he was willing to do. But his "test" lay
in the fact that his friend was in the next barracks. The
Nazis, yemach shemom, were guarding the concentration
camp grounds from towers equipped with powerful search
lights, and if a prisoner attempted to cross from one
barracks to another he would be shot on the spot. Without any
realistic chances, he crossed and reached the next barracks
and gave his last piece of bread to save the life of his
fellow prisoner. Miraculously, he managed to literally dodge
the bullets and return alive and in one piece to his
barracks.]
There is no greater level of kiddush Hashem than that
of the Holocaust victims, who were killed after terrible
suffering and reached a great personal level as a result of
this kiddush Hashem. A Holocaust survivor, known for
his great spirit, wrote in his book: "I was not saved from
the Holocaust because I had so many merits, but because I
didn't have enough merit to die in a kiddush
Hashem."
We can't ask why someone "merits" to die in a kiddush
Hashem while someone else doesn't, because only Hashem
knows the answer to such a question. As a wise man once said:
"If I knew Him, I'd be Him." [Meaning, that to completely
understand the ways of Hashem we'd have to be Hashem.]
In the Covenant between the Parts, which in essence was the
covenant G-d made with Avrohom that his descendants would
have the central role in history, Avrohom was told that only
by removing the burden of sin could Bnei Yisroel come to
kabbolas HaTorah. (It's clear that sin interferes with
kabbolas HaTorah, because the essence of Torah is
fulfilling the will of the Creator at all times.) Hashem told
Avrom this would be accomplished by the Egyptian exile: "And
He said to Avrom, `You shall surely know that your seed will
be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and they will
enslave them and oppress them, for four hundred years' "
(Bereishis 15:13).
The entire creation would be perfected in the Almighty's
sovereignty by fulfillment of the posuk: "Now the sun
was ready to set, and a deep sleep fell upon Avrom, and
behold, a fright, a great darkness was falling upon him"
(Ibid. 15:12). Rashi explains, based on
midroshim: "`And behold, a fright, etc.' — An
allusion to the troubles and darkness of the exiles."
Avrohom Ovinu saw in his prophetic vision the terrible
suffering the Jewish people would have to undergo to bring
creation to perfection, and felt "a fright, and a great
darkness was falling upon him" [this would seem to indicate
that he saw the horrific suffering of the Holocaust, one of
the most severe of the birth pangs of Moshiach, along with
everything else in our long exile].
The Jewish people will have to endure suffering (if they sin)
because they are the Chosen People, which means the nation
that will bring "the perfection of the universe in the
Almighty's sovereignty," and they'll have to be cleansed from
sin as a entire nation, especially before the imminent
Redemption.
One of the wonders of history, the Yavetz wrote, is that
despite the fact that the Jewish people were persecuted
throughout the course of history they are alive and strong.
Great and mighty powers, such as the Egyptians, Babylonians,
Persians, Greeks and Romans came and ruled the world, and
today they're all but nonexistent. But the Jews are alive and
strong.
We see in our day and age the miracle of the Torah
community's reestablishment after the Holocaust, when nearly
everyone thought they'd seen the last of yeshivos and
Chassidic Jews. Nearly all the gedolim were wiped out
in the Holocaust, and the world thought Torah would never
blossom in the Jewish people as it did before. In Hashem's
great kindness though, we've seen the miracle of the
blossoming of Torah in our generation.
It's our hope that the Redeemer of Yisroel will consider the
Holocaust and the yissurim we've experienced since
then as the end of the birth pangs of the Moshiach, and we'll
immediately "perfect the universe in the Almighty's
sovereignty."
