| A Message from the Kalever Rebbe | |
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| On Achdus, Galus, and Geulah | |
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| When we tell the story of Yetzias Mitzrayim during the days of Pesach, we must reflect on the merits through which Bnei Yisroel in that generation were redeemed from the Egyptians. | |
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| And from this we must learn, what we ourselves ought to do, in order to merit redemption from the troubles and wars waged by the enemies of Yisroel in our own time. | |
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| The seforim explain, that the greatest sin of Bnei Yisroel in Mitzrayim was the sin of machlokes — in which they were more stricken than any other nation. | |
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| It is the way of the world, that when a shared hardship strikes a people, even those who normally disagree with one another, come together and become like brothers, helping each other, as the pasuk says (Mishlei 17:17): "A brother is born for adversity." | |
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| But Bnei Yisroel in Mitzrayim, despite all of them suffering together under the crushing weight of servitude, the Satan succeeded in stirring up disputes among them. | |
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| We find this in the Torah (Shemos 2:14): | |
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| When Moshe Rabbeinu saw two Jews quarreling — one raising his hand to strike the other — and then heard that this man was also informing on him to the authorities, then: "Moshe was afraid and said, 'Indeed, the matter is known.'" | |
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| Rashi explains, citing the Midrash: "Moshe was troubled, for he saw that there were wicked informers among Yisroel. He said: If so, perhaps they are not worthy of being redeemed. 'Indeed, the matter is known' — now I understand what I had been wondering about: why Yisroel, of all the seventy nations, should be subjected to crushing labor. But I see that they deserve it." | |
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| The Kli Yakar (Shemos 3:2) writes, that this is why Hashem showed Moshe a burning thornbush — to hint that it was precisely because of this sin that Bnei Yisroel found themselves in the exile of Mitzrayim. For even at a time when the fire of suffering was raging all around them, they behaved toward one another like the thorns of the sneh — prickly and piercing, hurting and stinging each other. | |
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| But in the end, the souls of Bnei Yisroel were refined, and they strengthened themselves to increase peace among themselves. | |
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| At that point, Hashem commanded them to take a lamb. This served as a sign that they should continue to strengthen themselves and acquire the quality of peace that is natural to the lamb, whose nature is to always live in unity. | |
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| This was one of the primary merits through which they were redeemed from Mitzrayim, as explained at length in the sefer Olelos Ephraim. | |
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| When they left Mitzrayim, the sin of machlokes had not yet been completely uprooted from them, then Hashem first brought upon them the war of Amalek. | |
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| The war itself caused them to unite in order to fight together against a common enemy. Beyond that, the danger of battle brought about a humbling of the pride in their hearts and a recognition that there is no one to rely upon except our Father in Heaven. As Chazal say (Rosh Hashanah 29a) regarding the war with Amalek: "They would subjugate their hearts to their Father in Heaven." | |
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| Through this, the quality of pride — which is the primary cause of machlokes — was uprooted from them. And in this merit they triumphed over Amalek, and merited to receive the Torah and enter Eretz Yisroel. | |
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| A Shield in Every Generation | |
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| The merit of achdus continues to protect Yisroel in every generation, preventing any accusation in Heaven that they deserve to be harmed. As Chazal say in the Midrash Tanchuma (Shoftim 18; Nitzavim 1): "When Yisroel form a single bond, even if there is avodah zarah among them, the attribute of justice does not touch them, and no nation or tongue can rule over them." | |
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| And we find that our Sages say (Yerushalmi, Pe'ah 1:1): in the generation of Dovid HaMelech there was abundant Torah, and yet they suffered losses in their wars. On the other hand, in the generation of Achav, when they were all wicked and certainly did not learn Torah, they nevertheless succeeded in winning their battles. And why? Because there was no lashon hara and no machlokes among them. | |
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| For this reason, through the power of achdus we can merit to be redeemed from galus even when we are not deserving on account of our deeds. | |
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| As the holy R' Elimelech of Lizhensk, zy"a, said: when those who tremble at the word of Hashem will be stirred to gather Bnei Yisroel together in a single bond and make peace among them, the geulah will sprout from this, and Eliyahu will come to herald good tidings. | |
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| He said, this is hinted at in the pasuk (Yeshaya 52:7): "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the herald, who announces peace, who heralds good, who announces salvation" — first they will hear a voice of peace, and through this they will then merit to hear the tidings of the great salvation. | |
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| A number of the great tzaddikim in recent generations have already said, that Mashiach was ready to come, and the cause of the prolonged galus is machlokes. | |
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| In the Toldos Yaakov Yosef (Parshas Tzav, #2), the author explains the question we ask in the Haggadah: "Mah nishtanah halailah hazeh mikol haleilos" — the intent of the question is: why has this dark galus dragged on longer than all the others? And the answer given is: "Halailah hazeh kulo matzah" — this night is entirely matzah. The word matzah is related to the word for strife, as it says (Shemos 21:22): "Ki yinatzu anashim" — "When men quarrel." The meaning is: this galus is entirely filled with machlokes in every city and town, and that is the reason the redemption has been delayed. | |
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| In this regard, a story is told about the holy R' Yisroel of Vizhnitz, the Ahavas Yisroel, zt"l. | |
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| A chassid once saw him embracing a coarse and unrefined person and showing him great warmth. The chassid asked him why he was drawing such a person so close. | |
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| He replied: "The Beis HaMikdash was destroyed on account of sinas chinam — baseless hatred. Therefore, the tikkun for this is ahavas chinam — love without reason. And in this merit we will be worthy of the geulah and the rebuilding of the Beis HaMikdash." | |
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| According to this, we can explain what we do in the middle of the Haggadah on the Seder night: | |
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| We lift a cup of wine in our hands. Wine is the drink that brings people closest together when shared in a group — which is why Chazal forbade the wine of non-Jews, so that we would not come to drink with them and grow close to them. | |
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| And over this wine we say: "V'hi" — it is this quality of achdus, symbolized by the wine in our hands, "she'amdah la'avoseinu v'lanu" — that has stood for our fathers and for us, to be saved from the enemies of Yisroel. | |
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| "Shelo 'echad' bilvad" — for only when Yisroel were not 'echad' as one person with one heart, only then was it possible for someone to "rise up against us to destroy us." | |
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| And we do this on the festival of Pesach, when we give thanks for the redemption from Mitzrayim and ask that we too merit to be redeemed. For at this time, it is incumbent upon each person to examine himself — whether he is living in peace and unity with everyone around him — and to strengthen himself to increase peace in the world. | |
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| Through this, a person can merit to be redeemed and protected from all hardship, and he also takes a part in hastening the great collective redemption, may it come speedily in our days, amen. | |
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