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.
