Part I
There can be no doubt that the Jewish people is going through a
very trying period at the moment. We are being attacked from
all sides, and the only neighbor giving us no trouble is the
Mediterranean ocean which, despite its stormy waves, is still
our calmest and most pleasant neighbor, compared to all the
others.
It must be said that the latest events have not taken chareidi
Jewry by surprise, since we knew that it would be impossible
for someone who rebels against Hakodosh Boruch Hu, Whose
name is Sholom, to make peace with anybody, and we sent out
warnings to that effect. Nevertheless, we are still obliged to
examine our own deeds carefully because, as we know, even if
Sdom only has fifty tzaddikim, Hashem protects the whole
city for their sake.
I would like to point out at the outset that I do not profess
to know the absolute truth, and certain sections of this
article are to be taken as suggestions only.
We first have to consider why Hashem is punishing us in this
way, as Yosef's brother said (Bereishis 42:21), "Indeed,
we are guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the
distress of his soul, when he cried out to us, and we would not
listen; therefore has this distress come upon us." After Shimon
was taken from them, and they were told to bring Binyomin, the
brothers, realizing that Hashem punishes mido keneged
mido, attributed their punishment to their behavior towards
Yosef.
We must act in a similar way. If our roads are being blocked
and they also want to take our country away from us, this must
mean that we have sinned in those same areas.
I think that the timing of the outbreak of the unrest provides
us with a clue as to why Hashem has decided to punish us in
this way. Chazal said, (Shabbos 118b) "If the Jewish
people would observe two Shabbosos properly, they would
immediately be redeemed." Why are two Shabbosos mentioned, why
is one not enough?
I would suggest that the "two Shabbosos" refer to Shabbos
Bereishis and Shabbos Ho'oretz (i.e. the
shmittah year), because together they make up one
complete Shabbos "unit." The Malbim derives this from the fact
that regarding both it says "Shabbos LaHashem." Says the
Malbim, "Both of these are testimony that Hashem rested on the
seventh day. Since, when we are told about the commandment of
Shabbos, it says `in order that your ox and ass may rest,' we
might have expected the earth to rest too, and not to grow
fruit on the seventh day, but nature takes its own course and
`works' as much as during the week. Therefore, Hashem chose to
have the earth rest once every seven years (shmittah),
so that it can compensate for the six years during which it did
not rest. That is why in parshas Mishpotim (Shmos ch.
23) the commandment to keep Shabbos follows straight on from
the mitzvah of shmittah.
"This also explains why it says in parshas Behar, `Six
years you shall sow the field, but the seventh year shall be a
Shabbas Shabboson for the land.' In other words, because
the earth is sown and its produce gathered for six consecutive
years, and the earth does not rest on Shabbos, the seventh year
becomes a Shabbos Shabboson, compensating for all the
Shabbosos of the previous six years.
"In the tochocho (Vayikro 27:35) it says, `As long as it
lies desolate it shall have rest; the rest which it had not in
your Shabbosos.' This refers to the rest which the earth did
not have during the previous cycle of seven years containing
all those Shabbosos Bereishis. This, then, is why
shmittah is distinguished from all the other holy units
of time by being compared linguistically to Shabbos
Bereishis, because shmittah really is a Shabbos
Bereishis, testifying as it does to the constant renewal of
the world, and that Hashem rested on the seventh day."
Chazal tell us, "If the Jewish people would observe two
Shabbosos properly, they would immediately be redeemed." We can
assume that the opposite is also true, and if the Jewish people
chas vesholom profane two Shabbosos, they will
immediately be punished chas vesholom. Proof of this is
provided by Yirmiyohu Hanovi, who rebuked the Jewish people
with his wrath, and witnessed the destruction of the First
Beis Hamikdosh. He is the only one of the prophets who
had nevuos about Shabbos and shmittah, warning
that failure to observe them would result in the churban,
chas vesholom.
In chapter 17, the novi warns about Shabbos
Bereishis, "But if you shall not listen to Me, to sanctify
the Shabbos day, and not to bear a burden and enter the gates
of Yerushalayim on Shabbos; then I will kindle a fire in the
gates thereof, and it shall devour the palaces of Yerushalayim,
and it shall not be quenched."
In Chapter 34 he talks about Shabbos Ho'oretz, warning
that because the Jewish people had not liberated their slaves
in accordance with the halocho, Hashem "would proclaim a
liberty for the sword, the pestilence and the famine."
The troubles this year started on Shabbos, which also happened
to be the first day of the shmittah year. Both
Shabbos Bereishis and Shabbos Ho'oretz have been
desecrated, resulting in punishment. Roads became blocked
because of the desecration of Shabbos Bereishis that
takes place on them, and they want to steal Eretz
Yisroel from us because of the desecration of Shabbos
Ho'oretz.
It may well be objected that several shmittah years have
already been desecrated and nothing happened during those
years. I would answer this by citing the Baal HaAkeido's
answer to the question why Sdom was singled out from other
countries in the world, which also contained wicked people, and
yet were not destroyed like Sdom.
He says that the sin of Sdom was that its inhabitants legalized
evil. If an individual Yid commits even a major sin in
private, without the public's knowledge, the sin is attributed
to him alone, and he will be put to death because of it by the
beis din shel mato or by the heavenly tribunal. In this
situation, the Jewish people as a whole is considered innocent,
as would have been the case with the sin of the pilegesh
begiv'oh if their beis din would have handed over
only the transgressors to the Jewish people.
If, however, even a minor sin is committed with the knowledge
and consent of the public and the legal approval of the courts,
it becomes an abominable sin for which the whole community is
held responsible, and it can only be atoned for if the public
as a whole is punished. That is why members of the tribe of
Binyomin were punished for their part in the sin, and also why
the inhabitants of Sdom were punished, because charity was made
illegal. "It is preferable", concludes the Akeida, "that the
sinners be cut off, burnt, or stoned than that one letter of
the Torah be uprooted with the consent of the public. Whoever
does not accept this, has no part in the Divine Torah."
Rav Shamshon Rafael Hirsch zt'l writes in a similar
vein, that as long as individuals sin, and the public as a
whole upholds the Torah, those individuals will receive Divine
punishment and be blotted out from the community, whereas the
rest of the nation, which observes the Torah, will continue to
be blessed in its country. If, however, the whole public adopts
a sinful way of life, which even becomes institutionalized in
the organs of the State, the collision between that society and
the Torah also becomes a collision between the Eretz
Hakedosha and the Torah, with the result that the country
spews out its inhabitants the same way that a body vomits up a
foreign substance.
As long as Shabbos was legally observed in public, as long as
there was legal backing for the so-called "status quo,"
punishment was withheld. But as soon as they decided to breach
this arrangement by declaring support for lifting the
prohibition of public transport on Shabbos, combined with the
desecration of Shabbos Ho'oretz, the situation became
very grave. Let it also not be forgotten that the Rambam rules
at the end of Hilchos Shabbos that a mechalel Shabbos
bepharhesia has the din of a goy and a
goy has no part in Eretz Yisroel.
Still, we must not despair. If we strengthen our emunoh
and improve our deeds, we can certainly have a positive
influence on our secular brethren regarding both matters in
which they are sinning, and then we will be redeemed. Lest I be
misunderstood, I would like to elaborate somewhat on these
thoughts.
A careful observer of our history in golus amongst the
nations over the last two thousand years or so, will notice
that we have always lived with the knowledge that we were
exiled from our country because of our sins and, as the Rambam
rules in Hilchos Teshuvah (7:5), "the Jewish people will
only be redeemed through repentance." The whole nation, learned
as well as unlearned, possessed this awareness.
Many nations wanted to destroy us, and did their utmost to
encourage us to give up our faith, but we survived all the
persecutions, as it says (Yeshaya 26:13), "Hashem, our G-
d, other lords beside You have had dominion over us, but we
make mention only of Your name." We also saw fulfilled the
prophecy, that "no weapon that is formed against you shall
prosper." (ibid. 54:17). During our golus in
Spain, our ancestors held high governmental positions and still
resisted all temptations. It was obvious to them that it would
not be worthwhile to give up a life of eternity for some
temporary existence. This was how we lived for many
generations.
