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February 13, 2012
Binyamin Rose: Back to the Bunker: How a life-risking act by a Christian family during the Holocaust saved a family and built a thriving community a world away
Menachem Wecker: Business Schools Teach Real Estate Despite Troubled Housing Market
February 10, 2012
Lisa M. Krieger: Man with defibrillator demands access to his own heart's information
David G. Savage: Why activists may not be in a hurry to have High Court rule on alternative marriage
February 9, 2012
Laura McMullen: 10 Least Expensive Public Schools for Out-of-State Students
Kimberly Palmer: How to actually enjoy -- relaxing, financially -- your vacation
February 8, 2012
Warren Richey: Why momentous Prop. 8 ruling might not satisfy gay-rights groups
Menachem Wecker: Though Controversial, LL.M.'s Can Lead to Specialized Legal Jobs
The Kosher Gourmet byDana Velden: Going to the bother of making soup? You know it better be good. This CREAM OF TOMATO SOUP certainly is! And it's a cinch to make, too (Includes techinques and serving secrets)
February 7, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Caught off-guard? President's Super Bowl interview with Matt Lauer gives those who need a reason not to vote for him, a darn good one
Suzanne Bohan: Leaping lizards! Tiny reptiles advancing robot design
February 6, 2012
Jonathan Tobin: Iran Threatens Israel With Destruction, But the New York Times Doesn't Hear It
Jeffrey Fleishman: In newly democratic Egypt, tens of democracy activists jailed, to stand trial; their groups are 'threatening the stability of the homeland'
Julie Deardorff : Researchers say antioxidants may not be that effective and could do more harm than good
Mark Clayton: How did Anonymous hackers eavesdrop on FBI and Scotland Yard?
February 3, 2012
Edmund Sanders : Israeli official says Iran is creating missile that could reach East Coast of US
Victoria Kim: Immigrant-smuggling ring used black drivers to avoid racial profiling
February 2, 2012
Jim Carney: Wrong number call may have saved her life
Reza Kahlili : Ex-CIA spy in Iran's Revolutionary Guard: What Obama doesn't grasp about striking deals with Tehran
Tina Susman: For woodchuck rescuer, every day is Groundhog Day
February 1, 2012
Brian Bennett: US officials see increasing threat of domestic attack from Iran
Emily Brandon: How to Take Advantage of New 401(k) Fee Disclosures
January 31, 2012
January 30, 2012
Paul Richter and Ramin Mostaghim: Misreading Teheran's limits -- deadly and economically devastating as they may be -- is a risk administration, Europe seem willing to take
Suzanne Bohan: Warning: Nap-deprived tots missing more than sleep, study finds
Meg Handley: Banks Revamping Rewards Programs to Woo Customers
January 27, 2012
Caroline B. Glick: Obama: Of course I intend to prevent a nuclear holocaust . . . in a few months
Yochonon Donn: In liberal New York City, fervently-Orthodox Jews may soon be getting a district to call their own
Jeannine Stein: An inflated ego and thinking you're 'all that' doesn't just make others sick of you, it can make you ill
Katy Hopkins: New budget rules may affect how much money you get for college
January 26, 2012
Ed Koch: To the New York Times, calling for the murder of Jews by those capable of having their incitement taken seriously isn't news
Jeannine Stein: Mental illness struck one in five U.S. adults in 2010: Report
January 25, 2012
Richard Simon: House passes two bills endorsing the use of religious symbols at military memorials
Fred Weir: Putin: Multiethnic Russia cannot survive as a US-style 'melting pot'; must find its own way
Susan Johnston: 5 Sneaky Coupon Strategies Consumers Should Watch Out For
January 24, 2012
Carol Clark: The price of your soul: How your brain decides whether to 'sell out'
Caroline B. Glick: America lost most in 'Arab Spring'. Sadly, many voters still don't grasp the extent
Warren Richey: Drug criminal scores win in GPS ruling from conservative-leaning high court
Erika Bolstad: Black conservatives gather to talk about gaining strength
January 23, 2012
Melissa Dribben: Jewish voters to play a key role in Florida's Republican primary
Jordan Rau: In quest to grow, Catholic hospital system will announce this morning its break from church
Ali Safi: U.S. envoy gives Taliban terms for peace talks
January 19, 2012
January 18, 2012
January 17, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney Jr.: No-kidding red lines: U.S. response to an Iranian nuke may be bluster, but Israel's won't be
David G. Savage: They sued their principals after slandering them online --- now the cases are headed to the Supreme Court
David Francis: Where to Invest in 2012: With stocks expected to rebound, opportunity abounds for investors
January 13, 2012
Ben Lynfield: Israeli lawmakers move to annex Jewish Judea, one museum at a time
Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz: Thriving through touch: Gentle massage helps older people with low mobility improve in mind and body
January 12, 2012
Warren Richey: Landmark Supreme Court ruling a 'resounding win' for religious groups
Warren Richey: Supreme Court says no to new rule on eyewitness testimony
John Fauber : Statins found to raise diabetes risk in postmenopausal women
Katy Hopkins : Consider This Before You Pay for an Online Degree
The Kosher Gourmet by Joseph Erdos: This mushroom and barley soup has an intense -- almost nutty -- flavor that mixes robust with Middle East. It has creaminess without cream
January 11, 2012
Shari Roan: Millions of atrial fibrillation sufferers at risk for devastating, but preventable, stroke
Tom Hussain: Pakistan -- recipient of more than $21 billion in civilian and military aid -- speeds pursuit of Iranian pipeline, defying US
David G. Savage: High court signals it won't be loosening TV's 'indecency' rules
Stephen Ceasar: Oklahoma's Islamic law amendment can't go into effect, court rules
January 10, 2012
Reza Kahlili: From an ex-CIA spy: US must exploit new split in Iran's Revolutionary Guard
Karen Kaplan: Study: Nicotine replacement products ineffective when used in real-life situations
January 9, 2012
Michael Doyle: Put through legal hell over dream home, couple fought back hard --- all the way to Supreme Court
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Jewish World Review
Why there's hope amidst the destruction
By Rabbi Yonason Goldson
The Consolation of ExileAn 18th Century rebbe's teaching about our days
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
Reunited with his long-lost son, saved from the ravages of famine, witness to the reconciliation of a family torn apart by strife and mistrust — what father would not be at peace with the world?
All the more so after a virtual lifetime of tribulations: forced into conflict with a wicked brother intent upon manipulating their father and expropriating their grandfather's legacy, forced to flee for his life after exposing his brother's duplicity, forced to contend against a scheming uncle determined to deceive and swindle him with every imaginable connivance, and finally forced to abandon all hope of seeing the completion of his life's mission in the form of his twelve sons forging themselves into the foundation of a holy nation — such had been the life of the patriarch Jacob as he stood before Pharaoh after discovering that his beloved son Joseph was still alive.
And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt for 17 years (Genesis 27:28). Says the Zohar, the kabbalistic Book of Splendor, he lived a life of contentment, forgetful of all the years of suffering that had filled his life.
But how could this be so?
Jacob knew well the prophecy revealed to his grandfather, Abraham, that his children would face four generations of slavery and find themselves pushed to the brink of spiritual and cultural extinction. He knew as well, despite the alleviation of his own personal grief, that his children and their children stood at the outset of the most bitter struggle for survival any people had ever known. Fully aware what lay ahead, how could Jacob have lived out the last years of his life in peace and contentment?
THE FRAGRANCE OF EDEN
In the middle 18th Century, the leaders of the blossoming Chassidic movement included the pious Rebbe Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk. One afternoon, the rebbe's wife came running in through the front door. "Mendel, Mendel," she exclaimed. "There's a man outside shouting that the Messiah has arrived!"
Upon hearing this news, Rebbe Menachem Mendel's eyes grew wide. He leapt to his feet and ran to the window, which he threw wide open. He then stuck his head out the window and deeply sniffed the air. After a moment, he regained his composure, closed the window, and muttered, "A Meshugah! Just some nut case."
How could the rebbe know, simply by sniffing the air, whether or not the Messiah had truly arrived?
The sages tell us that, after the Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed, the entire world experienced a physical decline proportional to the spiritual loss. Fruits became smaller and tasted less sweet. Colors become less bright, and music sounded less beautiful. The last echoes and the last traces of the paradise that was Eden vanished from the earth. However, all is not lost forever. When the messianic era arrives, the world will be restored to the way it was in the days of the Temple — indeed, as it was in the days of Eden.
The sages also teach us that smell is the most spiritual of all our senses. Therefore, because a world with the Messiah is palpably more spiritual than a world without the Messiah, the quickest way for Rebbe Menachem Mendel to determine whether the messianic era had indeed arrived was to sniff the air. Upon discerning that the air had not acquired the fragrance of Eden, the rebbe knew that the Days of Redemption remained away in the future.
But one detail of the story still requires explanation. A century later, Rebbe Menachem Mendel's great-grandson wondered why his saintly forefather needed to run to the window. Why could he not simply smell the air inside his house to discover whether the Messiah had arrived?
CONNECTION WITH THE FUTURE
Most of us, as we look forward to an eagerly-awaited event, count down toward the moment of that event's arrival with increasing impatience. Either of two reasons may apply. One the one hand, we may feel anxiety, fearing that the anticipated event will somehow fail to materialize. On the other, we may feel frustration, that circumstances are out of our hands, and that we must resign ourselves to the slow unfolding of time and happenstance to bring our objective within reach.
Under such conditions, time slows to a crawl, and the object of our anticipation remains distant from us until the instant it actually arrives.
However, if we are actively and integrally involved in bringing our objective closer, then we are neither helpless nor uncertain. When we engage the future by applying ourselves diligently to shaping its form and complexion, then we bring the future into the present, connecting ourselves with a still-distant goal so that we feel as if we have reached it long before it actually arrives.
Because Rebbe Menachem Mendel devoted every moment of his life to divine service, to Torah study, to acts of kindness, and to personal piety, every moment of his life was therefore connected to the arrival of the messianic era. For him, therefore, it was as if the time of the Messiah had already arrived. Consequently, the fragrance of his own home already carried the fragrance of Eden. Only by checking the air outside his house could the rebbedetermine whether the Messiah had come.
Similarly, when Jacob foresaw the generations of suffering that faced his descendants, he did not despair. Rather, he recognized that the culmination of his efforts, the product of his years of bitter toil, was to position his children so that each and every one of them could engage in the struggle of good against evil, of battling against corrupt enemies without and the impulses of selfishness and self-deception within.
At this moment, with the long darkness of exile stretching before him into the future, Jacob found consolation in the confidence that he had done all he could to bring the final destiny of mankind closer to its fulfillment. And just as he had finally come to know peace at the end of his life, so would his children at the End of Days.
When our enemies grow bolder, when our friends counsel us to make peace with enemies who reject peace, when the community of nations looks upon the overwhelming odds against which we stand and condemn us as aggressors — then, in the darkness of our exile, amidst intellectual dishonesty and moral blindness, we remember the consolation of our forefather Jacob, and we take comfort, as he did, in the approaching light of redemption that waits for us just beyond the horizon.
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Comment by clicking here.JWR contributor Rabbi Yonason Goldson teaches at Block Yeshiva High School in St. Louis, MO, where he also writes and lectures. Visit him at http://torahideals.wordpress.com .
© 2008, Rabbi Yonason Goldson
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