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“They [the Men of the Great Assembly] said three things: Be deliberate in judgment, develop many disciples, and make a fence around the Torah (Fathers 1:1).”

The Torah tells us that it is forbidden to break down fences, as it says, “One who breaks down a fence should be bitten by a snake (Eccles. 10:8).” So obviously, it is unwise to break down fences, even in the name of leaving Galut (Exile), even in the name of seeking G-d. But every fence has a gate; our job is to find it. And for that, we need the Levites, because they are the gatekeepers.

Warning: I am about to do something very manipulative, which is to ask the reader to assume a “willing suspension of disbelief.” I want you to envision Geulah, the Final Redemption, and put yourself in it. 

We can actually take a lesson concerning this from the Passover Haggadah. It says, “In every generation, a person is obligated to envision himself as if he came out of Egypt.”

There once was a wealthy man who owned many fields, but had no oxen to plough them. So he took a purse full of silver and gold coins and went to town on market day to buy oxen. This was a good man. He gave generously of his money to the poor, and offered a meal and a place to sleep to whoever needed it, but he did not believe in G-d’s active involvement with the world. He rejected the idea of Divine Providence. 

This first blogpost was inspired by the following story from the Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 98a: Rabbi Joshua ben Levi, while meditating near the tomb of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, was visited by the Prophet Elijah, may he be remembered for good.

“When will the Messiah come?” asked Joshua.

As mentioned in the previous post (The Voice of Redemption), the Talmud teaches that Ben David will come the day (hayom) we hear the voice of G-d. Simply put, when prophecy returns, we will have entered the Messianic Era, a time of redemption and freedom and love; no longer a time of alienation. Weapons of destruction will be re-formed as farming tools and the knowledge of G-d will cover the world like water covers the seabed.

The Talmud (Makkot 24a) also teaches that the 613 commandments of the Torah can be distilled down to one simple principle, “Darshuni v’chai – seek Me and live (Amos 5:4).”

In the vicinity of Kiryat Shemona in the north of Israel, there is a cemetery for sofek-Jew/sofek-Gentile, a person about whom there is a doubt whether he or she is Jewish.

I was made aware of the existence of this cemetery by Rabbi Leibl Bistritsky, zy”a, the late Chief Rabbi of Tzfat (Safed).