Vayeira: Awaiting the Final Appearance of Hashem with the Coming of Moshiach Today
By Rabbi Shimon Raichik
In a Sicha for this week’s parsha of Vayeira the Rebbe explains the Hayom Yom for the 9th of Cheshvan which states:
“When my father (the Rebbe Rashab) was four or five years old he went to his grandfather, the Tzemach Tzedek, on Shabbos Vayeira, and began to cry as he asked, "Why did Hashem show Himself to our father Avraham - but He does not show Himself to us?" The Tzemach Tzedek answered him: "When a tzadik decides at the age of ninety-nine years that he should be circumcised, he deserves that Hashem appear to him."
Whenever the Rebbeim shared stories about their parents and grandparents, the previous Rebbeim, it was not to point out their greatness rather to teach a lesson for each of us in our daily lives. The story mentioned above is no exception. What is the lesson for each and every one of us today?
In this week's parsha Hashem came to visit Avraham Avinu because he was feeling sick from the Bris Milah. Avraham Avinu was a chariot, meaning his entire life and being was dedicated to the service of Hashem. The Alter Rebbe explains that the true life of a Tzadik is not physical. The true life of a Tzadik is defined by his emunah, his love and his fear of Hashem.
Avraham Avinu merited the physical mitzvah of Bris Milah which made him complete. One could only imagine the great simcha that Avraham Avinu felt to have achieved this mitzvah. Nevertheless the Torah does not tell us of his joy rather of his sickness.
There is a known story recounted by the Rebbe about the Modzitzer Rebbe. The Modzitzer Rebbe is renowned for many niggunim which he composed before World War II. On one occasion the Modzitzer Rebbe needed surgery and there was a shortage of anesthesia. He directed the surgeon to begin the operation once he was in the depth of one of his niggunim. With the great attachment he reached in the midst of his niggun he became oblivious to the pain of the surgery. If this is true for the Modzitzer Rebbe all the more for Avraham Avinu. Why didn't Avraham Avinu’s tremendous joy of his first physical Mitzvah of Bris Milah override his pain?
The Rebbe brings from the Tzemach Tzedek who explains that there is a spiritual sickness that correlates to and is similar to physical sickness. In Shir HaShirim the term for spiritual sickness in the higher realms is “Cholas Ahava”. This type of love is similar to the love someone has for another that is so powerful and overwhelming that it's constant and makes one feel sick. How can love make someone feel sick? The reason is because the love is so great that it constantly causes one to thirst for one-hundred-percent unification with his or her beloved. Therefore the distance that remains causes a longing and a sickness for that complete unity. This is the spiritual sickness that the neshama feels when it wants complete unity with Hashem and has not yet reached it in its entirety.
This is why Avraham Avinu was sick. There are 50 Gates of Understanding. 49 of them can be reached by a neshama on it’s own but the 50th Gate belongs to Hashem. The word ‘choleh’ in Hebrew numerically equals 49. When Avraham Avinu had the Bris he became complete and he reached the high level of the 49th Gate, yet lacked the 50th. Therefore he became sick spiritually from longing for the 50th to the extent that he became physically sick as well.
When Hashem appeared to Avraham Avinu in the beginning of this week's parsha he was healed by the revelation of the Shechina (according to the commentary of the Ramban). The Rebbe added to this that the words “to him” in the pasuk of “Hashem revealed himself to him” means that the revelation of the Shechina was internalized into his being, the 50th Gate permeated his entire being.
This same point of spiritual sickness applies to the story of the Rebbe Rashab. The Rebbe Rashab already yearned for the revelation of Hashem from a very young and tender age. This type of yearning exemplified the entire life of the Rebbe Rashab and is seen in all of the accomplishments throughout the Rebbe’s life.
We see it in the Chassidus that the Rebbe Rashab revealed. Also the Rebbe Rashab was an innovator and a revolutionary in the field of education. By founding the Yeshiva of Tomchei Temimim the Rebbe brought the study of Chassidus to an entirely new level. The focus of study of the concepts of Chassidus became similar to the involvement required in learning an in-depth sugya in the Gemara. This revolution in education did not begin at the founding of Yeshivas Tomchei Temimim rather much earlier, in this story from the Rebbe’s youth. The Rebbe named the Temimim of Tomchei Temimim “Chayolei Beis David”. He entrusted them and he deployed them to reveal Hashem's presence and to fight the darkness of the galus with the light of Chassidus to bring Moshiach.
As much as we have accomplished until now to bring Moshiach throughout the generations we have not reached its completion yet and therefore we are spiritually sick. The desire to complete the mission is our inspiration to break out of our own limits until we achieve the complete unity with the coming of Moshiach.
Why was this story revealed in our times to us and not in previous generations when they were on a higher level? It was revealed now because the Rebbeim have given us the power over the distractions that are caused by the increased darkness of our times. We have the ability to tap into this power to find within our study of the Torah and performance of mitzvahs the desire to always go higher and to connect Hashem even more, each one according to our level. We tap into the ability to do mitzvos more beautifully for ourselves and for others with ahavas Yisroel and achdus Yisroel. With this desire we guide our children towards a higher goal of an even greater and more explicit focus on learning for its own sake, to experience closeness with Hashem, and to feel Hashem’s direct involvement in our lives. It is known that the darkest point of the night is immediately before the dawn. Therefore stronger inspiration is required and this is what the Rebbeim and the study of Chassidus accomplishes.
Nevertheless someone might ask how it is possible to achieve the desire. The Rebbe Rashab once said to someone “Come into my wagon and you will be elevated.” The person asked how to get into the wagon. The Rebbe answered that there are a few steps. The first step is to think about the purpose of every physical thing he needs and to utilize it for its purpose (in the service of Hashem). The second step is to think over a concept in Chassidus for 15 minutes a day (to learn Chassidus).
When we learn from the example of Avraham Avinu and the Rebbe Rashab; when follow the guidance of the Rebbeim, learn Chassidus and educate our children in this spirit we have the necessary inspiration and strength to buck the trend of galus together with all its darkness and distractions. We have the power to reveal G-dliness in the world to complete the clean out of the final vestiges of the swamp of galus and greet Moshiach today.
A Good Shabbos
(Adapted from the Sicha for the parsha of Vayeira 5750)