Friday Night:
Ate by the Glenners. Karen came in to be with my mother. It was a very nice meal. Chana is in Chicago during her winter break.
Shabbos Moring – January 21, 2107:
Could not sleep and finally got up at 6:00 AM. Had 1.5 bowls of delicious Cholent. Learned Chumash through Moshe’s going to Midyan and marrying Zipporah, Yisro’s daughter. I went through the Medresh Rabbah and other Seforim to find support for my Torah on Chapter 2, Verse 11.
I opened up a Sefer calling Niflous Chadoshos written by Rabbi Yechiel Moshe Greenwald who was head of Jewish court of Kamarvka and Yadamov. Rabbi Greenwald was the grandson of Tzvi Hersh Dishkis. Rabbi Greenwald was a Talmud of Admor Dovid Morgenstern and one of the few sources of Torah form Admor Dovid Morgenstern.
The first verse in Shemos:
| א ו אֵלֶּה שְׁמוֹת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל הַבָּאִים מִצְרָיְמָה אֵת יַעֲקֹב אִישׁ וּבֵיתוֹ בָּאוּ: |
The Holy Rabbi, Reb Yehoshua of Belz TZL says that we have to understand why the word הַבָּאִים is in the present tense. The correct Hebrew word that should have been used is ו בָּאִ which is past tense. The way of the world is that if a man comes to a strange land, every second he wants to leave because it is not his place. However when he stays in the new land and becomes a permanent resident, then the city is pleasant, Sotah 47A. This usage of the word that Yaakov and his sons are coming in the present tense it to convey that Yaakov our father prayed that it should be ingrained in the Jewish people that in the diaspora they will always be “coming” even if they were there for 100 years, and always want and desire to leave. (The Belzer Rebbe doesn’t say but he means that the desire is to leave the diaspora and go to Israel because that is the Jewish land.)
The Belzer Rebbe continues that this can be homiletically explained by the Verse in Yeshayahu, Chapter 27, Verse 6.
והַבָּאִים יַשְׁרֵשׁ יַעֲקֹב יָצִיץ וּפָרַח יִשְׂרָאֵל וּמָלְאוּ פְנֵי תֵבֵל תְּנוּבָה:
My great-great grandfather, Admor Chaim Yisroel from Pilav and known the Pilivar Rebbe in his Sefer Sholom Yerushalim talks about that the return to Israel in the 1880’s is the start of the coming of Moshiach. The Pilaver asks how is it possible that the people who started the movement back to Israel. Jacob implanted in the hearts of the Jews that the Jews should always be “coming” and in this merit salvation will blossom and burst forth.
which is a holy endeavor, are far away from Torah and keeping commandments, and they have no idea about the purpose of building up the land of Israel Is the start of the coming of Moshiach. They have forgotten about Shabbos and how is it possible that they merited doing this Mitzvah, The Pilaver answers the question by saying that we do not knows Gods ways. Says the Hebrew version.
Based on the words of the Belzer the answer is clear. Because of Yaakov’s prayer, there was implanted into the Jews hearts the eternal desire to go back to Israel. The secular Zionists, the people of Choviva Zion, Bilu, and others went for nationalistic reasons, anti-Semitism, and other reasons. But the real reason was a holy spark. It was through Yaakov’s prayers these secular Zionists had in their hearts a strong desire to reject the diaspora have a strong desire to go to Israel, a land that had many challenges, including swamps and poverty.
This Vort from the Belzer is how Rabbi Avrohom Yitzchok Kook saw in the secular Zionists, the holiness in their mission and he worked to bring them closer to Torah and Mitzvos.
Mayer Chase picked me up and we went to Rochel Leah’s Chosen’s Auf Ruf at Meor Hatorah. Went home for the Shabbos meal. We had my daughter and son-in-law, Rivkie and Mordy Siegal and their kids, my mother, and Karen.
Exploring Kotzk 