Wednesday, February 15, 2017

Yeshaya 60

The fragment Yeshaya 60 verses 1-5a and 18-22, which seem to belong together:

קוּמִי אוֹרִי, כִּי בָא אוֹרֵךְ; וּכְבוֹד יְהוָה, עָלַיִךְ זָרָח. כִּי-הִנֵּה הַחֹשֶׁךְ יְכַסֶּה-אֶרֶץ, וַעֲרָפֶל לְאֻמִּים; וְעָלַיִךְ יִזְרַח יְהוָה, וּכְבוֹדוֹ עָלַיִךְ יֵרָאֶה. וְהָלְכוּ גוֹיִם, לְאוֹרֵךְ; וּמְלָכִים, לְנֹגַהּ זַרְחֵךְ. שְׂאִי-סָבִיב עֵינַיִךְ, וּרְאִי--כֻּלָּם, נִקְבְּצוּ בָאוּ-לָךְ; בָּנַיִךְ מֵרָחוֹק יָבֹאוּ, וּבְנוֹתַיִךְ עַל-צַד תֵּאָמַנָה אָז תִּרְאִי וְנָהַרְתְּ. לֹא-יִשָּׁמַע עוֹד חָמָס בְּאַרְצֵךְ, שֹׁד וָשֶׁבֶר בִּגְבוּלָיִךְ; וְקָרָאת יְשׁוּעָה חוֹמֹתַיִךְ, וּשְׁעָרַיִךְ תְּהִלָּה. לֹא-יִהְיֶה-לָּךְ עוֹד הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ, לְאוֹר יוֹמָם, וּלְנֹגַהּ, הַיָּרֵחַ לֹא-יָאִיר לָךְ; וְהָיָה-לָךְ יְהוָה לְאוֹר עוֹלָם, וֵאלֹהַיִךְ לְתִפְאַרְתֵּךְ. לֹא-יָבוֹא עוֹד שִׁמְשֵׁךְ, וִירֵחֵךְ לֹא יֵאָסֵף: כִּי יְהוָה, יִהְיֶה-לָּךְ לְאוֹר עוֹלָם, וְשָׁלְמוּ, יְמֵי אֶבְלֵךְ. וְעַמֵּךְ כֻּלָּם צַדִּיקִים, לְעוֹלָם יִירְשׁוּ אָרֶץ; נֵצֶר מטעו (מַטָּעַי) מַעֲשֵׂה יָדַי, לְהִתְפָּאֵר. הַקָּטֹן יִהְיֶה לָאֶלֶף, וְהַצָּעִיר לְגוֹי עָצוּם; אֲנִי יְהוָה, בְּעִתָּהּ אֲחִישֶׁנָּה

Two verses of this fragment appear in our list. The English Standard Version is as follows:

Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you. And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. Lift up your eyes all around, and see; they all gather together, they come to you; your sons shall come from afar, and your daughters shall be carried on the hip; then you shall see and be radiant. Violence shall no more be heard in your land, devastation or destruction within your borders; you shall call your walls Salvation, and your gates Praise. The sun shall be no more your light by day, nor for brightness shall the moon give you light; but the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory. Your sun shall no more go down, nor your moon withdraw itself; for the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your days of mourning shall be ended. Your people shall all be righteous; they shall possess the land forever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I might be glorified. The least one shall become a clan, and the smallest one a mighty nation; I am the Lord; in its time I will hasten it.

See, a description of revolutionary change, really the entrance to Olam Haba. Man will receive a longevity that may be difficult to conceive. It is a longevity that is predicated on a change of heart. The science of man can fix the errors in man, but it cannot bring him true happiness. It is written that there is "the tree of life, inside the garden." There is the place, inside the garden, which is pointed at by the Cheruvim, and by "the flaming sword that turns every way." The flaming sword "protects the way to the tree of Life," so as to prevent longevity without a change of heart, which would be a sure recipe for disaster. Know that the flame of the sword can only be identified clearly in darkness. Because, the main usefulness of a flame is in darkness.

Such is also the message of "your light has come." This is the light that was created in Bereshit 1:3, or the idea of light as in Torat Hasod. And "the darkness that shall cover the earth" is the total absence of this light among the nations: "and darkness was over the face of the deep (Bereshit 1:2)." The prophet speaks most clearly about non-physical darkness carrying non-physical light: "And thick darkness (shall cover) the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you."

When will it happen? הַקָּטֹן יִהְיֶה לָאֶלֶף, Moshiach ben Yosef will be until a thousand, that is, the big Aleph minus a little bit. The big Aleph is in 5796, in my calculations. The little bit was at first 7 years, but later it became 10 years. In its time, I will hasten it. On the other hand, a thousand minus one refers to the wars in the beginning of the State, the latest of which was the Yom Kippur war. In that war, וְהַצָּעִיר היה לְגוֹי עָצוּם, there were 600,000 men from age 20 to 60.