The Land I Will Show You, sec. 3, chapter 4
Actions in Opposition to the Divine Plan
4. Actions in Opposition to the Divine Plan
(For the previous chapter of “The Land I Will Show You, click here. For the ToC, click here.)
An additional point of which we must treat in the subject of the return to Zion is the ramifications of the promises of redemption said in the Torah and Prophets. There is an argument that the belief in the coming of the Messiah in the way described in the written and oral Torah restrains from actions of return to the land in a way that doesn’t take into consideration the specifics of that description.
This matter too was treated of at length by Rabbi Yoel of Satmar. As we mentioned in brief in the treatment of the three oaths, his understanding of the severity of the oaths is that they express a severe and terrible prohibition, since in independent actions of redemption there inheres apostasy and denial of root principles. There is one point at the root of the opinion, which branches into three parts: Belief in the redemption in a certain form restricts actions that exchange it for a different form of deliverance, that derive, undoubtedly, from weak faith or denial. The three parts are three main points in the form of the hoped-for redemption:
The redemption will take place through the Holy One, blessed be He, alone, with no admixture of human action
Only the King Messiah will gather the dispersed ones of Israel and bring an end to subjugation under the kingdoms
Israel will not be redeemed until they all repent
We will bring excerpts from his words in this matter, and then we will explain what appears correct in this matter.
It is a fundamental principle of the faith that the Holy One, blessed be He, and none other will redeem us in the future redemption, and one who questions this is opposed to belief in Hashem and His Torah:
In Tanna D’vei Eliyahu (Seder Eliyahu Rabba chapter 10) where it speaks about the fact that the Holy One, blessed be He, dispersed Israel, it wrote this parable: “The master of the house knows where he will deposit his utensils, and when the master comes home, he will bring his utensils with him into the house.” It is clear from this that the Holy One, blessed be He alone, who is the master of the house, knows to arrange in which places He will disperse the children of Israel, as the verse states: “From Hashem are the steps of man established” (Psalms 37:23), and when the time of redemption arrives to come to His house and palace, then the Holy One, blessed be He, will gather them, He and no one else. In the Midrash Rabbah in the parashah of Lech (44, 18) to the verse “He said to Abraham, ‘know shall you know that your descendants shall be strangers’” etc. (Genesis 15:13) it explains: “Know that I have scattered them, shall you know that I will bring them in, know that I pledged them, shall you know that I will reclaim them, know that I subjugated them, shall you know that I will redeem them” end quote. Now the verse says “Know shall you know” for one must know this that the Holy One, blessed be He, alone, is the one who disperses and gathers, and besides for Him, there is no permission to mix into this.[1]
I have already quoted the words of Chazal that they said on the verse “Know shall you know”: “Know that I have scattered them, shall you know that I will bring them in, know that I subjugated them, shall you know that I will redeem them”… in matters of redemption one must know that only the Holy One, blessed be He, is the actor, and we have no permission to do anything but for repentance and good deeds, and that is why the verse deliberately said about this “Know shall you know,” since this is not like other matters… and therefore the verse warned us to know this with a certain knowledge that if with this they take for themselves, against the Law, it is certainly apostasy and absolute heresy, Heaven forbid… one who thinks that it is possible to become mighty and leave exile from our own volition and that it is our hands, is completely against the belief in Hashem, may He be blessed, and His holy Torah.[2]
This is the text of the Holy Zohar (vol. 3 pg. 6a)… “In all the exiles that Israel exiled, to all of them it gave a time and end, and in all of them Israel would return to the Holy One, blessed be He, and the Virgin Israel would return to her place at the time that He decreed on her, and now in this final exile it is not so, for she shall not return thus like the other times… rather, the Holy One, blessed be He will grab her hand and raise her up and become appeased with her and return her to His palace… she will not again arise as the other times, but I will raise her” etc., see there.[3]
Not only the future redemption, but every redemption must come from the Holy One, blessed be He, and that’s the way it was in the earlier redemptions too:
Also in the earlier redemptions although they knew the time, despite this everything happened through prophecy on a mission from the Holy One, blessed be He, for even in the days of Ezra when there wasn’t a revelation such as there was in Egypt in the days of Moshe and Aharon, still they didn’t make a move without prophecy, as is delineated in the verses, and every single move was done on a mission from the Holy One, blessed be He.[4]
The King Messiah will gather the dispersed Jews and bring an end to the subjugation to the kingdoms, and one who attempts to attain the ingathering of the exiles and freedom before it comes is denying the belief in the coming of the Messiah:
And since we hold that the King Messiah will gather our dispersed ones, based in many verses, therefore it is not in our hands to gather on our own together… for the prohibition of ascending as a wall is what they want to do on their own before its time what is going to happen through the King Messiah specifically… that since many verses prove that this won’t take place except through the King Messiah, it is a deficiency of faith for those who want to do this themselves before the coming of the Messiah.[5]
The future redemption will come only as a result of repentance, and one who thinks to bring redemption without repentance is a heretic:
And if they still haven’t done repentance… that it’s impossible for there to be redemption… for repentance precedes redemption. Therefore, one who thinks the contrary, that there is a reality of redemption without repentance, he is thinking contrary to what is explicit in the verse and is a denier of the Torah, Heaven forbid… and there in no doubt that there is no difference between one who denies this promise that it is impossible for there to be redemption without repentance and one who denies the promise of the coming of the Messiah… “There is no difference between this world and the next except subjugation to the kingdoms” (Berachos 34b), it is clear that in any event freedom from subjugation to the kingdoms depends solely on the coming of the Messiah… in many countless statements in the words of Chazal it is clear in their words that there will not be redemption and freedom from subjugation to the kingdoms until the coming of the Messiah.[6]
Those who think to ascend as a wall the majority of Israel, which is ingathering of the exiles before all of Israel repents, this is denial of the Torah.[7]
To summarize his opinion: The belief in the Messianic redemption is one of the principles of faith, and actions that replace the hoped-for redemption – in the form promised in the Torah – with any other redemption, are actions rooted in heresy and apostasy.
(For the next chapter of “The Land I Will Show You,” click here.)
[1] Va’Yoel Moshe, Essay on Three Oaths, sec. 18.
[2] Ibid., sec. 45.
[3] Ibid., sec. 75.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Ibid., sec. 79.
[6] Ibid., sec. 42.
[7] Ibid., sec. 80.