Inheritance of the Land

Israel will not return to their land until they are all in one bundle.

Our sages said, “Israel will not be redeemed until they are all in one bundle.”

2) We must understand how Israel’s unity relates to redemption.

3) First we should consider the matter of “By what will I know,” etc., “for your seed will be a stranger,” etc., “and afterward they will come out with great substance.” It is not clear how this is an answer to Abraham’s question.

chanoch adds: These 2 quotes from the Tanach are not complete and therefore not clear. Abraham asks HaShem How will I know that the Land will belong to my progeny - paraphrase the Tanach. HaShem says in answer that the Children of israel will be strangers in a strange land and afterwards will come out with great substance - again paraphrasing the Tanach. This second quote applies to the Egyptian exodus and perhaps the final redemption.

4) We should understand the whole matter of this creation, in which man suffers so, what is it for? Could He have not delighted His creations without all that?

chanoch adds: Rabbi Ashlag is indicating that we must understand why the world is created and why we are in this world in order to understand the above 2 quotes, and by inference all of the Tanach.

5) It is written in the books that the souls cannot receive the good reward for which He has created the world and the souls if they do not have a vessel ready to receive. And the only way one can obtain that vessel is through labor and toil in observing the Mitzvot (commandments) through the pressure and the struggles that one fights with the evil inclination and the numerous prevention's and troubles. These affliction and labor in Torah and Mitzvot provide a vessel for the soul so it may be fit to receive all the delight and pleasure for which He has created all creations.

chanoch hints: The Kabbalah teaches that the doing of the Mitzvot cleanses the vessel in order to create the capacity to remove bread of shame and then to receive all goodness without feeling any bread of shame. The above pasuk hints to this teaching.

6) Now we can understand the words of Ben He He in the Mishnah, Avot, who said, “The reward matches the sorrow,” meaning that the reward is measured by the amount of sorrow. This is perplexing, for how is one’s sorrow related to one’s reward?

7) With the above said, we can thoroughly understand that all the sorrow and labor that have been prepared in the world are to provide the vessel to receive with the good reward for labor in Torah and Mitzvot. Thus, naturally, the greater one’s sorrow in Torah and Mitzvot, the greater is one’s vessel for reception of a greater reward.

chanoch adds: The above 2 pasukim are clear as written.

8) Now we can understand the Creator’s answer to Abraham’s question: “By what will I know,” etc. Abraham’s question was because he saw in the spirit of his holiness the great amount of good reward that Israel is destined to receive by inheriting the land, since observing the Mitzvot depends entirely on the land. This is why Abraham the patriarch wondered, “By what will I know that I will inherit it?” That is, “How will I know that the children of Israel will be rewarded with such great reward in such great abundance? From where would they have big vessels fit for such wondrous reception?"

In that regard, the Creator answered him: “Your seed will be a stranger and will serve them and will torment them four hundred years,” etc., for then they will have great labor in Torah and Mitzvot. This is when he understood that in this way they will certainly obtain the great vessels of reception, and the reply was completely satisfactory.

chanoch adds: I can not give you sources for what i am about to say yet for me this truth. People ask why is this last exile so long? the answer is that the 400 years was actually only 210 years. I also learned from my teachers that the true effect of the various sins of the nations require more pain and chaos than one could bear by oneself and HaShem has promised that this would be metered out to the individual in a level that they can handle. and thus the 190 missing years will be lived in other lands and other generations. Our modern Kabbalists refer to the western world as an Egypt.

9) It follows from our words that inheriting the land requires great preparation, since the virtue of Torah and Mitzvot depend entirely on that, as through it one is rewarded with all the abundance and benefit that the Creator has contemplated with regard to all the souls of Israel before He had created them. This is also why Abraham the patriarch was perplexed and did not understand from where would they take such great vessels as to be rewarded with the holiness of the land. Finally, the Creator told him that laboring in Torah and Mitzvot in the Egyptian exile will provide them with these great vessels and they will be fit for the holy land.

chanoch adds: This pasuk confirms the above comment - but of course there are other explanations.

10) This is perplexing: It is one thing with regard to those who engage in Torah, but what about those who engage in worldly matters, who are not at all prepared to engage in Torah? How will they be rewarded these vessels?

chanoch adds: Remember Rabbi Ashlag lived in a generation of the rebirth of Zionism. There was great consternation in the orthodox communities about the non observant life style of the many "fathers of Israel".

11) The answer is that this is why they said in the above mentioned commentary that Israel are not redeemed before they are all in one bundle. It is so because all of Israel are actually one body, and each organ has its unique role. For example, the head contemplates intellect and reason; the hands work and provide nourishment for the head, while the head itself does not have to work. It does not need it because the hands are quite sufficient. Likewise, the hands do not need to contemplate how to work because the head is quite enough for this.

chanoch adds: In my opinion this is the only explanation that has ever made sense to me.

12) If Israel become one bundle, like a single body, where the workers—who are the hands—provide for the head, then the labor and sorrow of those who engage in Torah and work will compensate for the workers... and this clarifies the commentary [Israel are not redeemed until they are all] in one bundle, and “a redeemer has come to Zion.”

chanoch adds: there is a question to ask. Our generation - is it the head or the hands or the legs or elsewhere or a mixture? In my opinion anyone connecting to the Zohar is the heart of the nation of Israel. The politics of the government of Israel - these people are the sexual organ. I will leave you to consider other possibilities.