By Rabbi Nissim Lagziel
A Joke to Begin With…
Two Jews appeared before the village rabbi requesting that he make a din Torah between them regarding a monetary dispute.
The rabbi first turned to the claimant and asked him to present his case. When he finished making his claim, the rabbi nodded his head slightly and said, “You’re right.”
The accused, totally confused, turned to the rabbi and complained that he still hadn’t presented his defense. The rabbi apologized and gave the defendant an opportunity to respond to the charges. After he completed presenting his side to the story, the rabbi briefly thought about what he had just heard and then declared offhandedly: “You know what? You’re also right!”
The rabbi’s wife, who was present during the entire deliberation, turned to her husband and asked, “I don’t understand. How can they both be right?”
“My dear wife,” the rabbi replied with a smile, “you’re right too!”
***
The lion’s share of this week’s Torah portion, Parshas Ki Savo, is devoted to the subject of “blessings.” Ezra HaSofer established for the curses in Parshas Bechukosai to be read prior to the holiday of Shavuos, and for those in Parshas Ki Savo to be read before Rosh Hashanah, a regulation observed to this day. Torah commentators, such as the Ramban and Abarbanel, explain that these curses were not just designed as an exaggerated threat upon the Jewish People. In fact, they are words of Divine prophecy regarding what will occur in the future during the time of the exile. According to the Ramban, the purpose of dividing the curses into two separate Torah portions is to distinguish between what happened at the destruction of the First Beis HaMikdash and the subsequent exile to Bavel (Bechukosai) and the current exile that commenced after the destruction of the Second Temple (Ki Savo).
Abarbanel (and others) claim that the curses are mixed: some took place at the first churban, while the others occurred during the galus of Edom. He also brings numerous proofs showing how verses in this week’s parsha already took place (to our regret) in full during the various exiles the Jewish People have endured.
Four Divine Regrets
Every child who learns these verses in Torah asks himself the same questions: “Why and for what? What is the purpose behind the curses and the galus? Why did G-d create such things?”
The Talmud (Sukka 52b) already relates to these questions, and it provides some very amazing answers. “There are four creations that G-d created, yet He, as it were, regrets that He created them, as they do more harm than good. And they are: Exile, the Chaldeans, the Ishmaelites, and the yetzer ha’ra.” G-d regrets! Even He is sick of the galus (and the problems with the Arabs…), He too is looking for a way to get out of this shameful business…
However, the Gemara’s answer presents us with a far more serious problem.. We are now in the month of Elul, the month of Teshuvah. An integral part of Teshuvah is charatah — regret.
Regret means, “I have mistakenly done something bad, and I regret my actions.” As human beings, we are filled with regret. Each day, we regret what happened yesterday. But G-d? Does He actually need to show regret for something He created? Is it possible that G-d made a mistake that He needs to regret?
Furthermore, if G-d has regret for the exile, then why does He continue to create it? It’s one thing to have enough common sense to regret committing a sin, but the main thing is to stop doing it! If G-d regrets creating the exile, he should put an end to it – mamash, now! We can find the answer to these questions with interesting precision in Talmud Yerushalmi, which also cites a saying similar to the aforementioned – but slightly different…
Three Divine Astonishments
“There are three creations that G-d created, and He is astonished that He created them. And they are: the Chaldeans, the Ishmaelites, and the yetzer ha’ra.” (Yerushalmi, Ta’anis 3:4). Not only did the Talmud Yerushalmi omit the word “Exile,” but it also altered the nature of G-d’s reaction: He doesn’t regret, He’s only astonished!
The Talmud Yerushalmi is the Talmud of the future, facing forward in the direction of the Geula. It looks at everything with a new and revolutionary outlook. It doesn’t matter how things appear today, rather how it will be and appear tomorrow, in the future, at the time of the Redemption.
In contrast, the Talmud Bavli, “He has made us dwell in dark places – this is the Babylonian Talmud” (Sanhedrin 24a), looks upon everything as it appears and conducts itself today, in the time of the exile.
The “Dark” Talmud
The Talmud Bavli looks upon the present – the current situation. Now, it sees the exile, the Chaldeans, the Ishmaelites, and the yetzer ha’ra. It sees openly before its eyes the negative side, the evil within these creations. Therefore, it clearly expresses itself, sharply and unequivocally – “Four creations that He regretted creating.” Thus, it also included the exile, the greatest evil of all…
Divine regret is completely different from human regret. It doesn’t come after the action, but during! During the creation of a given created being, G-d regrets its creation! But why, after all, hasn’t He created it?
The answer is quite simple: G-d is eternal, and therefore, “the work of His hands are eternal.” While everything that G-d creates is meant to last forever, there are situations and things, e.g., the yetzer ha’ra and the Gentile nations of the world, which are two-sided. The main and revealed side is completely negative, but this creation also has a very positive side result. For example, the yetzer ha’ra, while it fights us to prevent our fulfilling Torah and mitzvos, on the other hand, it awakens us to overcome and vanquish it. The nations of the world (at least some of them…) remind us that there are unacceptable modes of conduct from which it would be appropriate to distance ourselves. Hashem’s true desire is only good, only the positive part of the bad thing. Thus, when He has regrets over something, it means that the creation of that thing is only for a certain objective. It isn’t a true creation, it doesn’t have an eternal existence. It only exists for a certain period of time (for the positive purpose existing within it), and it eventually will be nullified.
This is the Babylonian viewpoint – G-d regrets the exile (and the yetzer ha’ra) from the very moment He created them because they have no true, eternal, and essential will. In the final analysis, they are a negative entity destined to vanish once they become useless.
In contrast, the Talmud Yerushalmi is already in the era of Redemption. Then, in the days of Moshiach, the yetzer ha’ra and the nations of the world will have changed completely, root and branch – they will be only good (and not just something bad with a positive purpose)! The old and negative side within them will disappear. Thus, G-d is only “astonished” by their existence, but does not regret, for there is no regret over something good… For that very reason, He doesn’t mention the exile at all in that category, because at the Future Redemption, it will be totally non-existent. Its very being is negative, and thus it has no eternal existence!
So, who’s right? The Bavli or the Yerushalmi? The answer: “Both of them.”
So, Who’s Right?
The two of them together teach us a proper perspective on the galus. On the one hand, we always have to remember that G-d regrets the creation of the exile. Therefore, a Jew needs to feel a sense of dissatisfaction from the exile at every moment and always remember that it isn’t his true reality.
On the other hand, it’s forbidden to slip into sadness and depression as a result of the galus, its severity, and its length. We must remember that the exile is not the true reality, and very soon, it will be completely nullified!
This perspective becomes all the more important when a Jew knows that we are already on the verge of the Redemption, and all that is required of us is to hasten its arrival by increasing in Torah and mitzvos, “For a commandment is a candle, and the Torah is light.”
To Conclude with a Story:
We will conclude with a story that emphasizes the Rebbe’s unique ability to look upon the light (Geulah) coming from within and through the darkness (galus):
On Motzaei Rosh Hashanah 5737, the famous and controversial journalist Natan Yellin-Mor, came to the Rebbe for kos shel bracha.
After Rabbi Gershon Jacobson, editor of the “Algemeiner Journal” and a close friend of Mr. Yellin-Mor, introduced him to the Rebbe, the Rebbe told him he reads his column regularly, and he encouraged him to continue his work. Yellin-Mor immediately expressed his amazement to the Rebbe: How is it possible that the Rebbe reads his columns, filled with heretical statements, and even urges him to keep writing? The Rebbe replied that since each person must utilize the talents G-d gave him, he is encouraging him to continue using those talents. Then, the Rebbe also urged him to get stronger in his observance of Torah and mitzvos.
Before his passing, Yellin-Mor gave R’ Gershon Jacobson an envelope containing a column he had written, and he asked him to publicize it after his passing.
In this posthumous column, he described how he is going to Gehinom over his war against all that is holy to Jews, and there he sees a light penetrating the walls of Gehinom. “You ask what this light is?” he asks. “This is the light of the soul of the leader of the Jewish People and its holiness, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson shlita.” Yellin-Mor then laid out the story of his meeting with the Rebbe, adding that this encounter represented the only true meritorious moment of his life. ■
Good Shabbos!
Based on Likkutei Sichos, Vol. 24, Parshas Ki Savo.