THEIEWISH OBSERVER THE JEWISH OBSERVER (ISSN) 0021-6615 is published monthly except July and August by the Aglidath Israel of America, 84 William Street, New York, N.Y. 10038. Second class postage paid in New York, N.Y. Subscription$22.00per year; two years, $36.00; three years, $48.00. Outside of the United States (US funds drawn 4 on a US bank only) $12.00 surcharge per year. The Barriers of Golus Single copy $3.00; foreign $4.00. Send address based on an address by Rabbi Yitzchok Kirzner, .,.. r, preparedjor changes to: The Jewish Observer, 84 William publication by Rabbi Shimon Finkelman Street, N.Y., N.Y.10038. Tel: (212) 797-9000. Printed in the U.S.A. RABBI NISSON WOLPIN, EDITOR RECAPTURING THE PAST EDITORIAL SOARD 9 DR. ERNST L. 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Harei Yetmda, ISRAEL Balaclava 3183, Vic., AUSTRALIA preparedfor publication by Miriam Margoshes THE JEWISH OBSERVER does not 34 assume responsibility for the Kashrus of any product, publication, or service The Lucky Winner advertised in its pages Rabbi Mendel Weinbach ©Copyright 1993 35 JUNE 1993 VOLUME XXVI I NO. 5 Letters to the Editor Rabbi Yitzctwk Kirzner A Message For the Three Weeks To Guide us in our Go/us Struggles arious verses in YAAKOV'S DREAM Tanach,as well as V statements by Chazal, hazal teach that the refer to golus (exile) as a situa­ deeds of our forefa­ tion where mechitzos (barriers) C thers are a portent exist between the Jew and his for their descendants. The Creator, as well as between the happenings in the lives of Jew and his fellow. And we suf­ Avraham, Yitzchak and fer because of these mechitzos. Yaakov foretell the history of In fact, the Genwra states that the Jewish people. The golus our tefillos In golus are hin­ experience is alluded to in the dered by the mechitzos life ofYaakov AvinU. who fled hamavdilos-barriers that Eretz Yisroel to escape a separate-between ourselves bloodthirsty Elsav, spent and Heaven. twenty-two years in the A related term ls that of house of the wicked Lavan, hester panim. Divtne conceal­ and at the end of his life, de­ ment, which refers to the man­ scended to Egypt as the first ner in which G-d guides the golus began. It was during happenings of His people dur­ his flight from his father's ing their golus experience. He house that Yaakov spent a ls there as always, but His involve­ night at Mount Moriah, the site where ment is not easily perceived. As the Beis Hamikdash would one day Shlomo Hamelech phrases it: "He be built. There he was shown a pro­ (G-dj was standing behind our wall, Based on an address by phetic dream: "... and behold! A lad­ observing through the windows, Rabbi Yitzchok der was set earthward and its top reached heavenward, and behold! 'This essay is based on a speech given by the late Kirzner, 7''1; . Angels of G-d were ascending and de­ Rabbi Yltzchok KlrznerinJuly, 1992, atAgUdath scending on it" (Bereishis 28, 12). Israel's Torah Project DMsion's Summer of Torah prepared for publication by According to the Midrash (Vayeira Lecture Series in the Catsld.ll Mountains. He served Rabba29,2), Yaakovwas symbolically as Director of the Citywide Outreach Educational Rabbi Shimon Finkelman Program of the Jewish Renaissance Center, in New shown the Four Kingdoms, which York. and authored The Art ofJewish Prayer, pub­ would successively ascend to subju­ lished by Jason-Aronson. His article. "Chovos gate Israel but would ultimately de­ Halevavos: Beyond the Arena of Action,~ was fea­ peering through the lattices" (Shir scend and fall from power. Accord­ tured in JO, Nov. '92. Hashirim 2,9). "Our walls" are the ingly, Yaakov saw the angel of the Rabbi Shimon Finkelman, a rebbe in Yeshiva mechitzos hamavdilos, barriers Babylonian Empire ascend 70 rungs Darchei Torah, Far Rockaway, N.Y .. is a frequent contributor to these pages, most recently, With his which we ourselves create. and then descend; the angel of Med!a article, "Rabbi Elchonon Wasserman. ?;n: Teacher We will focus on three different fac­ 1"The Midrashcites the verse (Ovadiah 1,4}, ~'If you ofTorah PerspectiVe.~ in Nov. 91. He is the author tors that result in the formation of !Edom] will rise like an eagle, and if you will place of several biographies published by ArtScroll these barriers, the third of which may Mesorah Publications, as well as the recent book, your nest among the stars, from there l will bring you down,' says G-d." 'Shabbos-Its Essence and Significance. be somewhat of a revelation. 4 111e Jewish Observer. June 1993 ascend 52 rungs and then descend; wholesome, he becomes a slave to he becomes with his inner self and, and the angel of Greece ascend 180 those very pleasures. ultimately, with Hashem. For the rungs and then descend. Yaakovwas In elucidating this point. the neshama within ourselves is the then shown the angel of Edom (i.e. Maharal makes it clear that he means through which we stay in Rome) ascend the ladd<lr but did not speaks not only of a lust for the for­ touch with Hashem; as the reality of see him descend. Yaakov became bidden, but more important, of an one's own neshamafades, so does his frightened that Edom·s dominion over-indulgence or obsession with relationship with Hashem To suc­ would last forever. The Mtdrash tells that which is pennissible. To make ceed in spiritual realms, it is not suf­ us that Hashem assuaged his fears by materialism the primary focus of ficient to believe in Hashem in an ab­ saying: "Do rwt fear my ser­ stract sense. We have to feel vant, Yaakov. Just as the that He is with us, that He is others ascended and then our companion, as it were. descended, so. too, will this When a Jew becomes con­ one descend. And even if he sumed by materialism to the will rise and seat himself point that he does not even next to Me, from there 1 will sense the G-dly spirit within cast him down."' himself, then his belief in the Why was Yaakov not One Above becomes abstract shown the descent of the an­ at best. gel of Edom (asks the The pursuit of physical Maharal) just as he was pleasure, then, is not merely a shown the descent of the mode of negative behavior. It is first three angels? And what a way of life that erects thick is the meaning of the barriers between the person Midrash's comment: " ... and Hashem And it causes even if he will rise and seat him to become distant from himself next to Me"? The the rest of Kl.al Yisroel as well. Maharal's explanation fo­ This last point is of particular cuses on two of the golus importance. People tend to barriers. look at interpersonal relation­ ships as something entirely CORRUPTED LOVE apart from the spiritual. To their understanding, relating here are two human well to others is just another attributes thatare In­ skill that can be acquired T trinsically good but through education and prac­ which man can transform tice. This is a mistake. One of into forces of unlimited de­ the beautiful truths of Juda­ struction. The first is ism is that the very qualities ahava-love. When we think of love one's life and the object of one's aspi­ that bond a Jew to his Creator, bond we think of caring, sharing, giving, rations, is to have corrupted one's him to his fellow Jew. This concept, showing sensitivity, reaching out. ability to love. 2 that the unity of Kl.al Yisroel is inter­ Each one of us has the capacity to One might think that the problem twined with each individual Jew's develop this quality within him- or with over-indulgence In the permis­ unity with Hashem is indicative of herself and thus become an indi­ sible is that when physical desire is our exalted status as G-d's Chosen vidual whose behavior reflects true left unchecked, it can ultimately lead Nation. ahavas Hashem-love of G-d, and to the forbidden. As Rabbeinu Yonah Thus, when we grow distant from ahavas habriyos-love ofone's fellow. teaches (Shaarei Teshuva; II, 18), the Hashem we grow distant from one Man, however. can take his capacity problem is much deeper. The more another. A natural result of becoming to love and corrupt it, so that ahava one involves himself in the material, consumed by materialism Is strife. becomes ta'ava-lust. Instead of us­ the more distant he becomes from the The exiles of Babylonia, Media and ing the material world as a means by spiritual.