Dear Friends:
"The Rock! His work is perfect. Corruption is not His; the blemish is His children's." [1]
Surrounded by other nations, we live in a society where problems are always seen as coming from somewhere else. If we change a law, elect a new candidate or stop burning fossil fuel we will solve our problems and have a perfect world.
No, my friends, it doesn't work that way. "The blemish is His children's."
"Lo bashamayim hi." The solution is not out there in the heavens or across the sea; it is rather "very near to you, in your mouth and your heart...." [2]
MY mouth and MY heart!
On Yom Kippur we say "chattanu," WE have sinned, and "ashamnu," WE have been guilty. We do not say, "you" have sinned or "you" have been guilty.
I AM THE PROBLEM!
It would seem that the contemporary world is in a massive depression because they are blaming everyone else for their problems. As a result, there are no solutions! They are blundering in an endless, inescapable maze!
The simcha is if I realize that I am the problem!
I can bring about the solution through MY OWN teshuva!
Thus, the Children of Israel are overjoyed on Yom Kippur. We are filled with simcha because we understand that, by taking the onus upon ourselves, we can make a TOTAL CORRECTION in ourselves and the entire creation! The Ribono shel Olam has given us almost unlimited power through the medium of teshuva! As King David says, "In the Name of Hashem we call out. They slumped and fell, but we arose and were invigorated!" [3]
There is an amazing commentary by Rav Shimshon Dovid Pincus ZT"L on the following possukim: "These are the kings who ruled in the land of Edom..." [4] In his book, Nefesh Shimshon on Shabbos, [5] Rav Pincus says, in the name of the Ari Z"L, that these verses contain great secrets concerning all the exiles of the Children of Israel. The King who ruled Hadar is a reference to Melech ha Moshiach, "who is called Hadar." But in Divrai Hayamim, it says "Hadar died." [6] How can it be that Moshiach died?
Rav Pincus answers that question by quoting the words of Mahari Suruk, a disciple of the Ari Z"L, as follows: "Moshe knew about the heartbeat; Ezra [7] didn't know about the heartbeat." What does this mean?
Moshe Rabbeinu was able to understand that one day, in the distant future, the Children of Israel would be so weak that it would appear "Hadar died." In other words, the redemption of the Children of Israel and the coming of Moshiach would appear to be impossible because it would seem, G-d forbid, that the patient was dead!
Ezra ha Sofer could not "hear the heartbeat," but our Teacher and Eternal Leader Moshe Rabbeinu -- who loves us forever and fights for the Children of Israel despite all our rebellions -- listens closely and hears that faint, tiny heartbeat.
Am Yisroel lives! The heart is still beating! Hadar is NOT dead!
Hashem "restores life and makes salvation sprout." [8] The Rambam assures us, "I believe with perfect faith that there will be a revival of the dead, whenever the wish emanates from the Creator...." [9]
Surely, the key to life is in our mouth and our heart! We, through teshuva, can bring about the total redemption promised by our Neviim.
"For He said, ‘Yet they are My people ... and He was unto them a Savior. In all their troubles He was troubled and an angel from before Him saved them, with His love and His compassion He redeemed them; He lifted them and bore them all the days of the world." [10]
"Take words with you and return to Hashem your G-d, for you have stumbled through your iniquity. Take words with you and return to Hashem. Say to Him, ‘Forgive every sin and accept goodness, and let our lips substitute for bulls ...." [11]
Yes, my friends, with our mouths and our hearts we will return to our Father in Heaven!
Hadar lives!
We WILL see Moshiach ben Dovid!
We WILL see the Bais Hamikdosh!
"V'sechezena ainainu b'shuvcha l'tzion b'rachamim."
May our eyes behold Your return to Zion in compassion!
MAY WE SEE IT THIS YEAR!
Roy S. Neuberger
