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Planting
in the Land
Rav
Yitzchak Hirshfeld on Parshat Shelach
Print Version
I would like to share with you a Gevaldige Malbim
on Bamidbar (14:21) which sheds light on so many
of the mysterious processes affecting the history
of the Jewish people.
The Gemara (Psachim 87b) teaches that the purpose
of Israel's exile among the nations is to make it
possible for Geirim to join the Jewish people. If
we Jews had remained isolated and insulated in our
own land then the spiritual riches to which we are
heir would have remained eternally ours and ours
alone.
But does this make sense? If sin is bad and punishment
is retribution how can the result of exile bring
about a greater good than if there had never been
an exile?
The answer lies in the proof text (Hoshea 2:25)
cited by the Gemara "Uzratiha Li Ba'aretz - I will
plant her (Israel) in the land." One plants a handful
of seeds in expectation of a great harvest of grain.
The scattering of a few seeds of Jewish presence
will ultimately bring a great harvest of souls.
The Malbim teaches that the metaphor of "planting"
must be analyzed carefully. In order for a seed
to sprout, it decays and disintegrates. Decay and
disintegration are preconditions for growth. Just
as certain seeds are not eaten but set aside for
planting, so too, certain times, certain generations
and certain people are destined for death and exile
in order to bring about the greater flowering and
flourishing of the glory of Hashem.
If there had been no Chet Hameraglim, Moshe Rabenou
would have led the Jewish people into Eretz Yisrael
in a most wondrous fashion. The redemption would
have been complete and final; no destruction, no
exile - no Geirim. All gentiles would have been
deemed forever irrelevant to the ultimate redemption.
But the Meraglim did sin - and the forty years of
wandering in the desert were the forerunners of
all future wanderings and dispersion. And then "Ve'oolam
Chai Ani V'yimaleh Kvod Hashem Et Kol Ha'aretz"
(Bamidbar 14:21) "The glory of Hashem will in the
end extend to the far corners of the world." In
the end even sin will bring about the glorification
and sanctification of His great name.
"Yitkadal V'yitkadash Shmei Rabbah!" |
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