Ma'amar HaGeulah (The Remembrance, Ch. 3)

Ma'amar HaGeulah

-- "The Great Redemption", a reworking of Ramchal's "Ma'amar HaGeulah"

Rabbi Yaakov Feldman's series on www.torah.org

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"The Great Redemption"

The Remembrance: Ch. 3

Alot will begin to unfold by this point. We're told that “flowers (will) appear on the earth” (Song of Songs 2:12), which means to say that Moshiach Ben Yoseph and Moshiach Ben David will begin to come full bloom. And all because of the aforementioned union of Tipheret and Malchut. In fact, that process will actually "become even more vigorous, and grow stronger and stronger" in the course of this third stage of The Remembrance. For the two Divine manifestations will share "a mighty longing and a powerful love" for each other, and "the Shechina would be singing to her Husband", if you will (see para. 33). At bottom what that means to say is that G-d's longing to redeem and cling to His people will be more and more manifest.

Indeed, the period of time when "everything will be in a perpetual state of unity", when "the lights will shine brighter and brighter by the minute," and when "the gladness (that all will enjoy) will reach heights that are simply impossible to depict" will begin -- but just begin -- to blossom. For "while the King will not have come out of the garden" yet, He’ll nonetheless "be strolling about in it" (Ibid.).

What has that to do with the two Messiahs, though? We'd need to "explain something very portentous that will happen in the end of days" (see para. 34) before we can answer that.

We're told that certain "sparks of holiness" that had been ejected from their Source in the heavens above before creation "will need to return to their (original) place before the exiled can gather together" (Ibid.). Now, this touches upon a very deep and recondite celestial phenomenon far beyond the subject at hand, but let's just offer this. Once, before the universe was created, there were some mighty entities up above that were banished for some recondite reasons which will need to be restored to their former glory in order for the great redemption to come about.

Moshiach Ben Yoseph will play a major role in that rather arcane procedure. His life will be threatened in the process, but he'll be helped from above, and his part in all this will bring about a greatly needed cosmic correction. It will also lead to the appearance of Moshiach ben David.

It won't be an easy thing for Moshiach Ben Yoseph to do, the truth be known, but once he manages to succeed at it, and to defeat the evil Armilus (who some say is King Gog, referred to earlier on, or his successor; and who others say is another evil ruler) in the process, he'll set off a slew of things that will bolster the redemption (see para's. 35-36).

(c) 2006 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman and Torah.org

(Feel free to contact me at feldman@torah.org )

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