Lech Lecha: Energy of Moshiach
- Ian Schwartz
- Oct 27, 2023
- 4 min read
By Ian Schwartz
כשיש מלחמה גדולה בעולם מתעורר כח משיח
“When there is a great war in the world, the energy of Moshiach Awakens”[1].
With these words Rav Kook begins his essential work Orot Hamilchama. The source for this incredible statement is found in the Midrash in this week's parsha by the war between the four and five kings. It is a bit unclear in why this war has eternal significance for us as the Jewish people. Granted, Avraham our forefather took part in this war, but beyond that there doesn’t seem to be such significance to it in the long term besides the financial, territorial, and status gains of Avraham at the time. It seems like a relatively small regional war with no significant long term effects that The Torah could have shortened into one or two pesukim. The Midrash and Rav Kook reveal to us that in this story there is hidden a great and terrible truth about the nature of Moshiach.
"אמר רבי אלעזר בר אבינא: אם ראית מלכויות מתגרות אלו באלו, צפה לרגלו של משיח. תדע שכן שהרי בימי אברהם, על ידי שנתגרו המלכויות אלו באלו באה הגאולה לאברהם".[2]
Rabbi Elazar ben Avina says: If you see two kingdoms fighting with one another, look out for the legs of moshiach. Know this is true because in the days of Avraham, through the wars of the kingdoms with one another redemption came to Avraham”.
War as we have all learned the hard way is not something we ever want. It means losing our friends and families. It means seeing horrible suffering and pain among our people. It means funeral after funeral. It means parents searching for their children and children searching for their parents. We experienced a suffering we thought was something of the past. It used to be that Tisha B'av was a day in which we struggled to connect to the suffering of generations before, but since Simchat Torah that is not a problem we face any longer. אוי מה היה לנו. If someone only lives in the world of CNN, Fox, and the New York Times there is this horrible darkness that feels inescapable.
However, a Yid cannot allow himself to become stuck in this swamp of suffering. This we learn from Avraham Avinu himself. Immediately, upon learning about the war of the four and five kings and the kidnapping of his nephew Lot, Avraham’s response is not one of despair and sadness, but of immediate strong action.
וַיִּשְׁמַ֣ע אַבְרָ֔ם כִּ֥י נִשְׁבָּ֖ה אָחִ֑יו וַיָּ֨רֶק אֶת־חֲנִיכָ֜יו יְלִידֵ֣י בֵית֗וֹ שְׁמֹנָ֤ה עָשָׂר֙ וּשְׁלֹ֣שׁ מֵא֔וֹת וַיִּרְדֹּ֖ף עַד־דָּֽן׃[3]
If we look inward at ourselves and outward towards the people around us we have seen this middah of Avraham reflected in the Jewish people. From the second we finished taking in and absorbing the reality of what happened this past Simchat Torah, there has been a tremendous change in the behavior of all of am yisrael. When I say all, I mean all. From Vizhnitz Chassidim in Bnei Brak to reform women in Delaware, anyone who feels and sees themselves as part of the Jewish people has experienced a shock to their system. Everyone recognizes that they need to do something. For some it's to change into uniform and run to the front lines, for others it's to increase and intensify their Torah learning, for others it's chesed, packing boxes for displaced families. Each person must do what they can for this war using the unique gifts and opportunities Hashem gave them. In the words of Rav Moshe Weinberger, we are in a time of “מוחין דגדלות” “mental state of greatness”.
Before Simchat Torah we thought about our lives, our wives, our families, our problems, our goals. Now we are all occupied with Klal Yisrael, with what can we do for the jewish people. This is the energy of Moshiach. To be focused on the jewish people as a whole, not on me. It's unfortunate and sad that we needed to lose so much to live this way, but clearly this was the only way for it to happen. Seemingly this war will be a longer one, a marathon and not a sprint. The real question ultimately is who will we be when the dust settles. How will we tap into this Moshiach energy to continue being Geula jews when it's over. When there is an imminent existential threat to our existence we wake up and return to being the nation we are meant to be. As the old saying goes, there are no atheists in a fox hole. However, when the war is over will we return to where we were before or retain the unity, responsibility, and greatness we all feel in this time? The clarity of right and wrong, good and evil, darkness and light can and must be continued; it would be a shame to let this great awakening of teshuva go to waste. Our avoda must be to buckle down and breathe in the רוח מלחמה. Hashem should bless us all with strength to continue in the path of Avraham Avinu - the path of action, of klal yisrael, and to bring moshiach speedily in our days.
חֲזַ֤ק וְנִתְחַזַּק֙ בְּעַד־עַמֵּ֔נוּ וּבְעַ֖ד עָרֵ֣י אֱלֹהֵ֑ינוּ וַֽיהֹוָ֔ה יַעֲשֶׂ֥ה הַטּ֖וֹב בְּעֵינָֽיו׃[4]
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