Hakitzu VeRanenu #21: The General Experience of the Two Stages of Redemption (Part Two)2 min read
If we were to be living a nation-oriented life in a spiritual sense, with a perception of our unity and essential identity expressed in our service of Torah and mitzvos, the absence of the Beis HaMikdash, Korban Pesach, and Aliyah l’Regel would penetrate exceedingly, paining us sharply. We would feel like one who is lacking something essential and foundational to his very life. But the slumber is very great, and it has left us with a stunted grasp of the chagim as they exist in their constricted state, in this way of life we have become accustomed to in exile.
Our current ideal image of Seder Night portrays a family sitting around a set table, candles lit upon a white tablecloth, everyone singing the Mah Nishtana. The pinnacle of our Yom Kippur involves an ancient melody which stirs the heart to tears that flow upon the pages of the machzor.
These are surely nice ideals for the individual, but not for the completion of our holy nation.
In the nation-oriented life, filled with the expansive spirit of the elevated Shechinah, the ideals would be mighty beyond recognition. For how can any vibration of holiness, light, and life in our experience of Yom Kippur compare to the experience of the Kohen Gadol entering the Kodesh HaKodashim, his visage shining like that of a heavenly angel; to his leaving that holy place in peace and the clarity of Hashem’s forgiveness manifested openly in the whitening of the red string?
What can possibly compare with the entire Jewish nation bowing down upon hearing the Shem Hameforash leave the mouth of the Kohen Gadol in holiness and purity, with a mighty revelation of the Shechinah?
And how can the joy and song of a single family sitting around a table compare to the holy joy of a hallel sung by every Jewish person at once, with lofty circles of dance upon the roofs of Yerushalayim after eating a k’zayis of the Korban Pesach, basking in the revelation of a holy light that saturates our souls with the goodness of Hashem’s house and the impressions of prophecy?
The longing for holiness, the illumination of prophecy, the joy of Ruach HaKodesh, cleaving of souls, purity of spirits, pleasure of essence in Hashem’s great and holy House – these are immeasurably greater than what we can currently imagine from within the structures of the individual’s life and avodas Hashem.
In summary, this inspiration began in the external realms of life, and with it came feelings of collective living, in a nationalistic sense. However, the time has come to awaken our inner structure, for awesome feelings of holiness to bud by way of Torah study, lively tefillah, and the joy of mitzvos which are filled and saturated with the light of the Shechinah and the greatness of our collective soul. This will lend awesome strength to the entire structure of holiness, to all avodas Hashem, to the prayers of each individual, and to the fulfillment of the mitzvos.
Additionally, it’s important to note that we are currently witnessing the crumbling of the nationalistic spirit. Those feelings are becoming weaker and weaker, resulting in many crises. But this is not happening because those feelings were fleeting and temporary, rather the delay of the inner awakening, the awakening of the structure of wisdom. For when the next stage does not open up, this causes the previous stages to weaken because their stream of life has dried up, preventing the progress of the nation toward its divine mission.
