Eternity
Investing in Diamonds
Diamonds are forever, a popular advertisement states. And
so, the ad implies, why spend money on items that are only for
short-term pleasure? The ad does make a valid point. Diamonds
are certainly not forever, but they do last thousands of years
- a lot longer than most things. But what the ad fails to mention
is that the people who own the diamonds are not forever. The
problem that has confronted civilization for time immemorial
is how people can last forever. Certainly not, as the ancient
Egyptian pharaohs deluded themselves, in massive pyramids
and mummified repose. There is no record of any of them ever
using the food and money they took with them in their tombs
for their long journey into the unknown.
What Is New?
The Chiddushei HaRim relates eternity to renewal. That
which renews itself contains the seeds of permanence. Indeed,
Koheles says there is nothing new ( ) under the sun (Koheles 1:9).
Under the sun, within the constraints of the physical
world, hischadshus , renewal and regeneration, is not possible.
Why then does the Torah give a wicked king like Pharaoh of
Egypt, the oppressor of the Jews, the description of new, as it
says: A new king arose over Egypt (Shemos 1:8)?
Says the Chiddushei HaRim, the quality of renewal is spiritual
and belongs to Am Yisrael, to enable them to rise above the
mundane in their service of G-d. We are told there is no beis
hamedrash without chiddush, newness, and constant rejuvenation
is the ideal form of service of Hashem. But when Yisrael
does not use the quality of newness and enthusiasm in the correct
way (the Torah says that in Mitzrayim the Jews did not
listen to Moshe , which the Sforno translates as a lack
of spirituality), this quality of renewal, chiddush, is transferred
to the goyim. The gentiles cannot use it spiritually and instead
apply it negatively. And so we find , he [Pharaoh]
made new decrees against the Jews (Rashi on Shemos 1:8).
The Jewish quality is used against them, but only in such a
way as to make Am Yisrael repent and look into themselves. The
punishment is not punitive, it is corrective. It is the classic cycle
of Jewish history - punishment, teshuvah, renewal (which also
corresponds to the sequence of months: Av, Elul, Tishrei, and
the specific type of avodah required in each).
In Egypt, the Jews suffer the agonies of persecution. They cry
to G-d as a result of their troubles and their cry is heeded. Egypt
is humbled by the ten plagues, and the Jews become elevated by
experiencing this divine intervention. Our nation loses its galus
mentality and rediscovers its own greatness, culminating in the
Exodus and the birth of a nation.
On the eve of the Exodus, the symbol of Egyptian idolatry -
the paschal lamb - is slaughtered. This lamb is not only the god of
Egypt, it is the mazel, the zodiac sign, of the month of Nissan. Am
Yisrael has rejected the avodah zarah of Egypt and any dependence
on mazalos (natural laws based on cause and effect). The divine
message to the emerging nation is . The Chiddushei
HaRim interprets these words as follows: Chodesh implies chiddush:
chiddush is , yours. This is the quality Am Yisrael have now regained:
the power of chiddush. Symbolically, our calendar follows
the lunar cycle, because the moon embodies this characteristic of
renewal; Rosh Chodesh is also a time for atonement because it represents
a new beginning, a fresh start.
What starts with adversity ends with elevation: the Egyptian
attempt to destroy us was instead a catalyst for our nation to
acquire its eternal quality of hischadshus, renewal, giving Yisrael
its eternal qualities.
The Small Key
The Yerushalmi (
Taanis 2:6) uses a parable to give an insight
into the source of Jewish eternity. There was once a great and
powerful king who kept his most valued and priceless possessions
in a treasury. The vault containing the treasure had only one small
key, and the king did not want a duplicate made because that
would increase security risks. However, the king was afraid that
he might lose the key. So, the king took a long chain and had the
small key firmly attached to the chain. Even if the key was in danger
of being lost, the chain would always lead him to the key.
The Yerushalmi continues to explain that the Creator joined
His divine Name to that of Yisrael for precisely this purpose.
The name contains the divine Name ; just as Hashem is
indestructible, so, too, Am Yisrael can never be destroyed.
My Rebbe, Reb Noson, used to repeat this Yerushalmi with
the comment that no attempt should be made to explain it further.
Let it speak for itself! However, it is clear that the source,
the causative factor in Jewish survival, is our link with the divine,
with the Shem Hashem. The key which is our nation is
preserved by its attachment to the chain.
How Long Is Forever?
Reb Yisrael Salanter gave an illustration of the concept of
eternity designed to make us stop and think. A tiny bird, no
bigger than your thumbnail, would come once a year to the Pacific
Ocean, with its billions of gallons of water. The bird would
fill its minute beak with a tiny drop of water and drink it. How
many years would it take for the bird, coming but once a year,
to drink the ocean dry? Said Reb Yisrael, all this time is not even
a beak-full of the ocean of time.
Entropy and Us
The physical world is governed by the principle of entropy.
Everything runs down. That which is hot cools. The fresh becomes
stale and the young grow old. Your hot cup of coffee
cools; your cold drink will not rise above room temperature.
Our light and heat come from the sun, which is literally burning
itself up by the conversion of matter to energy - energy
that is the equivalent to thousands of hydrogen bombs daily
(dont worry, there is a lot of material left in the sun still to be
used). This running down, or leveling off, is typical of the whole
universe. It is the nature of the physical. In contrast, as much
as something can be elevated from the physical, so, too, can
it be protected from this entropy effect. From the time of the
Exodus, when Yisrael uprooted the avodah zarah of Egypt from
their hearts, they became an eternal nation. Similarly, if it is sufficiently
altruistic and elevated, the act of an individual can be
imbued with eternity.
Out of This World
At the highest level, purity and elevated intentions can literally
take something out of the physical world. At the akeidah,
Avraham offered a ram in place of Yitzchak. This sacrifice, the
ram of the akeidah, was imbued with the elevation and holiness
that Avraham himself had attained as a result of successfully
surmounting this ultimate spiritual challenge.
Says the Midrash, in the name of Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa:
That ram, created in the twilight preceding the Shabbos of
Creation, was eternized. Its sinews were used for the ten
strings of the harp that David played. Its skin was used
for the girdle worn by Eliyahu. Its left horn was the shofar
blown at Sinai, at the giving of the Torah, and the right
horn - the larger one - will be used in the future to herald
the redemption, as it says, At that time the great shofar
will sound.
The period of twilight after the six days of Creation is the
bridge between the physical and the spiritual. Items created at
this time have spiritual qualities, yet are experienced materially
in the physical world. The ram of the akeidah was a physical
sacrifice, yet every aspect of it embodied spirituality and permanence.
The sinews were used in the harp of David HaMelech,
of whom we say, David, king of Israel, lives and endures. This
harp had ten strings because, Chazal say, Olam HaBa was created
with the letter yud, which has the numerical value of ten.
Just as David is timeless, so, too, is his harp, and the song he
plays is a song of eternal life.
The skin of the ram was worn by Eliyahu, because Eliyahu
HaNavi did not die, but ascended to Heaven bodily. Throughout
history, Eliyahu has visited our world when the divine decree required it.
Again, the quality of permanence. The left horn
was used at the giving of the Torah, because the Torah brings
eternal life, as we say in the blessings on the Torah, and eternal
life I have planted in your midst. The right horn will announce
the end of exile and usher in the era of eternal spirituality.
Nothing is lost from that ram. Every part of it is timeless and
enduring. Nor, indeed, is anything lost from any mitzvah done
with sheleimus, total dedication.
Visible Proof
We are not Avraham Avinus or Sarah Imeinus. We dont rub
shoulders with angels and daily experience open miracles. We
live on a different plane. Yet we, too, can rise above it, perhaps
more easily than we would have imagined. One of Israels most
successful businessmen became a baal teshuvah and, when attending
a weekend Discovery Seminar, remarked that he did
not need to be persuaded of the truth of Torah and mitzvos.
That, he said, is obvious by observation. See the yeshivah
boys and Bais Yaakov girls in the street, observe the way they
dress and the way they act, and compare them with our youth
in Tel Aviv. You need say no more. There is the proof. What I
need now is good solid learning! Without perhaps realizing it,
the yeshivah boys and the Bais Yaakov girls have risen above it
and are already a world apart from secular society.
Alchemy
Do you know what alchemy is? It is the art of changing base
metal into gold (the price of gold indicates that it was never
successfully done). But spiritual alchemy, turning a physical act
into something spiritual, is very much a reality and is recognizable
in often unexpected ways.
Sunday in Scotland
It was early Sunday morning in the remote Scotch village of
Pitlochry. I was with about seventy young men on the way back
to London after Hasmonean Summer Camp. The village of Pitlochry
is, at the best of times, in danger of dying of boredom; that
Sunday morning it seemed to be inhabited by lotus-eaters (lotus
is the legendary fruit that puts everyone to sleep). We had gathered
at the station for the 9:00 a.m. train to London, but it was
delayed by half an hour. The boys were full of energy, and they
started a rekidah, with loud singing and dancing - the noise
sounded like a major explosion in a museum. Eventually, the
train arrived and they boarded. I was standing by the door of
the train when I saw a middle-aged lady bearing down on me.
She was immaculately dressed in expensive Scotch tweeds -
she must have been one of the ladies of the land who own vast
estates in the area. I was sure she was going to berate me about
the way we had disturbed the tranquility of her Sunday morning.
Instead, she said, Thank you very much for the singing.
I have never heard singing like that before. I dont think she
meant the musical quality. She looked as if she had experienced
Italian opera at its best. But neshamah singing - that was new
to her. She wasnt used to alchemy.
A Heavenly Pram
Let me share with you one other gem. When I was young
and living in the East End of London, I knew an elderly lady
who had a passion for chesed. She would traverse the East End,
the heart of the shmatte (clothing manufacture) trade, wheeling
a large baby carriage which she filled for her children in Israel.
She would enter a large factory and ask to see the owner. She
knew them all by name Morry, Sam, Joe and they all respected her,
because they knew she took nothing for herself. She
was the archetypal Yiddishe mamme. She would point at various
items, saying I would like this or that and the Morrys, the Sams,
and the Joes dutifully loaded up her carriage.
One cold evening, she was wheeling her loot towards home
when a massive policeman blocked her way. She was not of an
age to have a baby in a pram, and which elderly woman would
venture out alone at night into the dangerous streets of that
area?
What you got in that pram? the policeman asked.
Her reply should have been recorded. Her majestys officer
was regaled with tales of the needs of poor, orphaned children,
her children; tears flowed, and the stern heart of officialdom
melted. The officer verified that she was really carrying clothing
and saw she was absolutely genuine. Madam, he said, I am
not letting you walk these streets by yourself. The policeman
escorted her to her apartment, about a mile away, walking respectfully
by the side of the carriage. When they arrived, he carried
the carriage up the stairs for her. Madam, he said, it has
been an honor to have met you. Another example of alchemy,
which elevated a pram full of clothing to celestial heights.
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