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15 Teves 5761 - January 10, 2001 | Mordecai Plaut, director Published Weekly
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Opinion & Comment
How to Avoid the Path of Bloodshed

In this week's parsha Yaakov, the father of us all, gave us, on his deathbed, guideposts for all history. In his remarks to Yehudah, in the middle of several pesukim that most commentaries take as referring to Moshiach, Yaakov says (11): "He washes his garments in wine, and his clothing (susoh) in the blood of grapes."

The Ohr Hachaim Hakodosh has a very clear approach to this posuk. He says that the wine refers to the wine of Torah; the blood of grapes refers to our blood, Rachmono litzlan. According to the Ohr Hachaim, the choice is ours: Moshiach will come either through Torah or through blood.

"They say z"l that in the fourth exile in which the powerful redeemer will be revealed, Yisroel must have the mitzvah of Torah and, failing this, he will be delayed in coming. This is hinted to in the verse, "He washes his clothing . . . " namely, that the source of the power of the King Shiloh who is anticipated is eisek haTorah, in that Yisroel will be occupied with the wine of Torah . . . and through this wine, the Moshiach will wear garments of royalty.

"And when it says `in the blood of grapes . . . ' it means that if the time of the Geulah has come and He does not find wine -- meaning that we do not have Torah -- then the Geulah will come through the yoke and the intense golus with which the nations will pressure Yisroel.

" . . . and this is what is meant when it says `with the blood of grapes' [Editor's note: perhaps because grapes are immature and undeveloped wine and] because then it is through suffering that the souls will be purified and the holy sparks will be separated, the same way that they could be separated using Torah, except that through Torah it is pleasant labor and the other way is a labor that is not pleasant. And it says `grapes' to tell us that it is through the suffering that all the preparation will be finished just like a grape is ripened. . . . and it uses susoh [a diminutive word for `clothing'] to indicate that the clothing will be minimal."

The Ohr Hachaim Hakodosh also explains that the reference to individual grapes is to show us that the nations of the world will never control and murder a tree or a branch or even a cluster of grapes. But they will be able to kill individuals who are referred to as "grapes."

In summary, the Ohr Hachaim says, there are two paths to the Geulah and they are quite different. If the path that is ultimately followed is the one through Torah and mitzvos, then the way the Geulah is revealed will be one of divine royalty. However, if chas vesholom the Geulah comes through the path of divine vengeance, because we are not sufficiently committed and involved in Torah and mitzvos, then the Geulah will be revealed in the alternative way, in which Moshiach is said to come as a pauper riding on a donkey.

We know that our gedolim have been saying for years that the Geulah is imminent, but who can say exactly which stage we are in? Nonetheless, the choice that the Ohr Hachaim poses is certainly relevant and in these days when there is such a threat to many individual Jews there is all the more reason for strengthening our performance and support of Torah and mitzvos, to do our part to ensure that the path of the Geulah will be through extensive involvement with Torah and mitzvos.


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