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Moshiach in the Parsha
by Rabbi Berel Bell
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AVRAHAM'S REWARD
Breishis 18:4.
Source: Beraishis Rabah 48:10
When the 3 angels came in the form of people to visit Avraham, he treated them with great kindness. He offered them water, gave them the opportunity to wash, offered them a shady place to sit, bread to eat, a calf for meat, and he stood over them while they ate. For each act that Avraham did to honor his guests, Hashem will reward us, his children, in the same way in the days of Mashiach. * For the water -- "On that day (when Mashiach comes), living waters will come out of Jerusalem." (Zechariah 14:8) * For the washing -- "Hashem will have washed away the sins of the daughters of Zion." (Yeshayahu 4:4) * For the shade -- "And the protective cloud will provide shade in the day to protect you." (Yeshayahu 4:6) * For the bread -- "Loaves of bread will grow from the land." (Tehillim 72:16) * For the calf -- "On that day a man will keep alive one calf and two sheep (and they will be blessed so that the person will be provided for". (Yeshayahu 7:21) * For standing by -- "The king (Mashiach) will pass before them and Hashem will stand at their head." (Michah 2:13)
ARE YOU LAUGHING?
Breishis 18:12-15.
Sources: Chafetz Chaim, Igros U'Maamorim 20, Kislev 5690 After Sarah heard the angels say that even though she was so old she would have a child, the Torah tells us that Sarah laughed. This showed that she did not really believe Hashem's promise. Sarah later was very afraid and denied it, but Hashem said, "No, you laughed!" The Chafetz Chaim said he always wondered why the Torah wrote this. The Torah tries to avoid writing things which are not complimentary. Why should it write such a thing -- especially about our Matriarch Sarah?! The Chafetz Chaim explains that Hashem helped him realize the true answer to this question: it hints to what will happen before and after the Redemption. When Torah scholars announce that the Redemption is at hand, many people will laugh and not believe. But after the Redemption comes, Hashem will come to each of them and ask, "Why did you laugh?" These people will be afraid and try to deny it. They will say, "I really believed the Redemption was coming. I didn't laugh!" But Hashem will not accept this, and tell each one of them, "No, you laughed!" This teaches us how strong our belief in the imminent Redemption and the words of our Sages must be.
MASHIACH IS FOUND!
Breishis 19:15.
Sources: Beraishis Rabah 50:10. Midrash Agadah When the sun came up on the day Hashem was to destroy S'dom, the angels told Lot, "Get up and take your wife and your two daughters who are found." Why did the Torah write, "who are found"? The verse would be easy to understand without writing the phrase, "who are found"! Rabbi Yitzchak says that this word is connected with the verse (Tehillim 89:21), "I have found David my servant," which refers to Mashiach. And where did Hashem find Mashiach? In S'dom! But how does Mashiach come from S'dom? Because from one of Lot's daughters came Rus, from whom came King David, from whom comes Mashiach. In fact, the reason Lot's daughters were saved was for the sake of King David and Mashiach.
S'DOM IN THE DAYS OF MASHIACH
Breishis 19:24.
Sources: Iyov 28:5. Yechezkiel 16:53,55 The land of S'dom was originally a very beautiful place with lots of water, gardens, precious stones and gold. But the people who lived there cared only about these physical things, not about Hashem or even other people. The people of S'dom were so wicked that they have no portion in the World to Come and will not come back to life when there will be techiyas hameisim. Even the beautiful land of S'dom was destroyed and made barren and lifeless. However, when the Redemption comes and the Jewish people return to Eretz Yisrael, S'dom will return to its original state of blessing and beauty, as the prophet Yechezkiel said, "And I will return the captivity of S'dom...and your captivity...S'dom will return to the way it was...and you will return to the way you were."
RETURN WITH MASHIACH
Breishis 22:5.
Source: Beraishis Rabah 56:2 In the account of the Binding of Yitzchak, Avraham, Yitzchak and the two young men who were with them approached Mount Moriah, upon which, many years later, the Bais Hamikdash would be built. Avraham told the two of them, "You shall stay here (shvu lachem po) with the donkey." The words "shvu lachem" can also be translated "You shall return." Avraham was a prophet and saw that the Bais Hamikdash would be built and then destroyed, and that the Jewish people would be sent into exile. He also saw that Mashiach would return us to the Holy Land and rebuild the Third Bais Hamikdash. Avraham told them, "You shall return," to rebuild the Third Bais Hamikdash. And "with the donkey" refers to Mashiach, who is described as, "A humble person riding on a donkey" (Zechariah 9:9). He was therefore telling them that the Holy Temple would be built in the future by Mashiach.
THE FIRST RESURRECTION
Breishis 22:12.
Source: Pirkei D'R. Eliezer 31
At the moment the sword touched Yitzchak's neck, his soul left his body. But as soon as Hashem said, "Do not lay your hand on him," his soul returned to his body. From this Yitzchak knew that just as he was brought back to life, so too all the dead would be resurrected in the Days of Mashiach. At that moment he said the blessing (that we say every day in Shemoneh Esrei), "Blessed are you, Hashem, who gives life to the dead."
SHOFAR OF MASHIACH
Breishis 22:13.
Sources: Jer. Talmud, Taanis 2:4. Pirkei D'R. Eliezer 31 After Avraham was told not to sacrifice Yitzchak, the Torah writes, "And he looked and saw a ram, later, entangled in the bushes by its horns." What does the word "later" mean here? Rabbi Chunah said in the name of Rabbi Chinnah bar Yitzchak that the whole day Avraham watched the ram getting caught up in the bushes and then setting itself free. Hashem told him, "Like this ram, your descendants will get caught up in their sins and pass from one exile to another." Avraham asked, "Will this last forever?" Hashem answered, "In the end they will be redeemed with the horns of this ram," as it is written, "And Hashem shall sound the shofar (and take them out of exile)." (Zechariah 9:14) Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa said that every part of that ram was used: * The veins were used to make the 10 strings of King David's harp. * The skin was used to make a belt for Eliyahu HaNavi. * The left horn was used to make the shofar that was blown on Mount Sinai. * The right horn will be the shofar which Hashem will blow at the time of Redemption.
SHOFAR OF MASHIACH (2)
Breishis 22:14.
Source: Beraishis Rabah 56:10
After Avraham sacrificed the ram, the Torah says that he, "Called the name of the place `Hashem will see,' as it is referred to this day, `On the mountain where Hashem shall reveal Himself.' " This verse hints to the fact that Hashem showed Avraham the Bais Hamikdash when it was built, when it was destroyed, and its rebuilding in the days of Mashiach. 1) "He called the name of the place `Hashem will see'" -- this refers to when the Bais Hamikdash was built and when people came 3 times a year "to be seen" (Deuteronomy 16:16) by Hashem. 2) "As it is referred to this day, `On the mountain'" -- this refers to its destruction, as it is written, (Lamentations 5:18), "The mountain of Tzion, which is destroyed." 3) "Where Hashem shall reveal Himself " -- this refers to when Hashem will permanently establish the Bais Hamikdash in the Days of Mashiach, "When Hashem will rebuild Tzion and be revealed in His glory" (Tehillim 102:17).
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